Columbia High School

Columbia High School is a roomy secondary school in MAPLEWOOD, New Jersey, run under South Orange-Maplewood School District. The school works with 1,985 students in grades 9 through 12. Enrollment runs roughly 114% bigger than the state mean of about 929.

South Orange-Maplewood School District comprises 10 schools with combined enrollment of 6,728 students; Columbia High School is among them.

On the student-mix side, Columbia High School shows that the most-represented group is White (51%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Beyond that, the school lists 29% Black, 9% Hispanic, 7% multiracial, 4% Asian. That is meaningfully more White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 30%.

On the income-and-resources front, The school employs 140 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 14.2:1. The state averages around 12.7:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Roughly 18% of students at Columbia High School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Essex County (around 54%), the school's rate is south of typical.

After controlling for student poverty, Columbia High School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 56.2% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 54.0%.

Around the school, Essex County reports that median household income runs about $80,789, roughly 39% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Essex County runs 249 public schools (combined enrollment of about 145,473 students), of which Columbia High School is one.

Clinton Elementary School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.6 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Columbia High School. On composite proficiency, Columbia High School comes 5th of 9 in the immediate cluster, ahead of the nearby-schools average of 53.8%.

Columbia High School operates from a suburban location.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count showed little movement: 2,007 students in 2018 compared to 1,985 in 2025. Black enrollment moved from 38% to 29% across the same window.

Inside the community feed, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.