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What's one thing Clifton High School gets right about preparing students for what comes next?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
3,150
High
DISTRICT 553 · STATE 929
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CLIFTON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 340330004762
Clifton High School
333 COLFAX AVENUE, CLIFTON, NJ 07013 · (973) 470-2312 · Passaic County
GRADES 09–12HIGH21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL3,150 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 39% of New Jersey public high schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded New Jersey public high schools
Student : Teacher
14.0:1
225 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 10.6:1 · STATE 12.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
67%
2,106 students
DISTRICT 64% · STATE 41%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 782 | 25% |
| Grade 10 | 746 | 24% |
| Grade 11 | 815 | 26% |
| Grade 12 | 807 | 26% |
Student demographics
49%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 53% · STATE 71% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Based on grade levels within Clifton Public School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
NJSLA 2024-25 . % Meeting or Exceeding ExpectationsEnglish Language Arts
37.4%
NJ avg 53.1% . -7.2pp since 2023
Math
17.3%
NJ avg 41.6% . -3.5pp since 2023
What this means: On the NJSLA, New Jersey's statewide test, about 37 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 17 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all New Jersey schools, those numbers are about 53 and 42. Reading and writing scores are down about 7 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 4 points.
NJSLA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 37.4% | 17.3% |
| 2023-24 | 44.6% | 20.8% |
% Meeting or Exceeding Expectations, all students and all tested grades.
Source: NJSLA. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
25.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
29.6%
based on NJ schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-4.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 25% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 30% typical for New Jersey schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among New Jersey's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Clifton High School
Clifton High School's state test result (25.0% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clifton High School this school | 3,150 | 66.9% | 25.0% |
| Passaic County Technical Institute WAYNE | 3,565 | 59.8% | 51.5% |
| Kearny High School KEARNY | 1,825 | 70.4% | 27.4% |
| Vineland Senior High School VINELAND | 2,736 | 61.7% | 9.9% |
| Belleville High School BELLEVILLE | 1,590 | 69.9% | 18.6% |
| East Side High School NEWARK | 2,046 | 77.2% | 12.9% |
Matched among New Jersey high schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Clifton High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In New Jersey | In Passaic County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 25.0% | #291 of 397 | #12 of 21 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 17.3% | #273 of 400 ▼ 13 | #11 of 21 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 37.4% | #273 of 395 ▲ 7 | #12 of 21 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 3,150 | #2 of 442 | #2 of 24 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.0:1 | #321 of 388 | #17 of 19 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 49.4% | #240 of 389 | #8 of 19 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 66.9% | #80 of 405 | #5 of 22 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +9.3% | #88 of 173 | N/A |
Ranked against other public high schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
3,150
+259 (+9%) vs 2020
+46% since 1990-91, when it was 2,162
Student : Teacher
14.0:1
was 13.6:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 3,150 | 224.8 | 14.0:1 | 67% (2,106) |
| 2023-24 | 3,141 | 221.8 | 14.2:1 | 61% (1,927) |
| 2022-23 | 3,059 | 220.9 | 13.8:1 | 62% (1,904) |
| 2020-21 | 2,891 | 213 | 13.6:1 | 56% (1,608) |
| 2017-18 | 2,883 | 204.5 | 14.1:1 | 56% (1,604) |
| 2015-16 | 3,036 | 226 | 13.4:1 | 55% (1,667) |
| 2010-11 | 3,373 | 196 | 17.2:1 | 37% (1,235) |
| 2000-01 | 3,055 | 199 | 15.3:1 | 19% (595) |
| 1990-91 | 2,162 | 153 | 14.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Clifton High School.
Since 2017-18: students up 9% (2,883 to 3,150); teachers up 10% (204.5 to 224.8).
About Clifton High School
Clifton High School is classified as a high school. It is located in CLIFTON, New Jersey. Total enrollment is 3,150 students, and the grades served are 9 through 12. It has 239% more students than the average for high schools in New Jersey (about 929).
The district, Clifton Public School District, has 10,516 students enrolled across 19 schools.
Of every 100 students at Clifton High School, about 66 are Hispanic. Other reported shares: 24% White, 5% Asian, and 4% Black. Passaic County's residents are about 44% Hispanic, 22 points below the school's share. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Clifton High School scores 49%.
With 224.8 full-time-equivalent teachers, the student-to-teacher ratio is about 14.0:1. Statewide, high schools in New Jersey average 12.7:1. Roughly 67% of students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
Clifton High School earns a C+ on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 39% of New Jersey public high schools.
Test results at Clifton High School are 4.6 points below what its free or reduced-price lunch share predicts (25.0% actual, 29.6% predicted).
For the population of Passaic County, median household income comes to about $87,522, roughly 31% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Passaic County's 155 public schools enroll about 83,237 students and include Clifton High School.
The closest school to Clifton High School is School #2, located about 0.4 miles away. In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of Clifton High School. Its average proficiency rate of 25.0% is below the 36.9% average for nearby schools.
The school is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more, according to its NCES locale (Suburb: Large).
Over the 4 years from 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment rose 9%.
The discussion board for Clifton High School is open to topics like pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Passaic County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
521,012
Census ACS
Median income
$87,522
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
31%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
155
83,237 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Clifton Public School District
- Woodrow Wilson Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,255 students
- Christopher Columbus Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,092 students
- School #12Elementary · 560 students
- School #17Elementary · 501 students
- School #13Elementary · 443 students
- School #2Elementary · 401 students
Other schools in CLIFTON
- Woodrow Wilson Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,255 students
- Christopher Columbus Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,092 students
- School #12Elementary · 560 students
- School #17Elementary · 501 students
- School #13Elementary · 443 students
- School #2Elementary · 401 students
Other Clifton High schools
One other US public school is named Clifton High. Clifton High School is the largest of the 2.
- Clifton High SchoolCLIFTON, TX · 311 students
Nearby schools
- School #20.4 mi · 401
- School #30.5 mi · 257
- Woodrow Wilson Middle School0.7 mi · 1,255
- School #130.8 mi · 443
- School #150.9 mi · 282
- School #141.0 mi · 355
Frequently asked questions
About Clifton High SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Clifton High School?
Clifton High School enrolls approximately 3,150 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does Clifton High School serve?
Clifton High School serves grades 09-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Clifton High School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Clifton High School is approximately 14.0:1 (225 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Clifton High School?
Clifton High School reports a student body of 24% White, 66% Hispanic, 4% Black, 5% Asian, 0% Two or more.
Who oversees Clifton High School?
Clifton High School is overseen by Clifton Public School District in Passaic County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.