First Avenue School

As a sprawling K-5 school in NEWARK, New Jersey, First Avenue School caters to 1,084 students from grades pre-K through 8, operated by Newark Public School District. That puts it 168% larger than the typical public school in New Jersey, which averages around 405 students.

Newark Public School District runs 65 schools in total, collectively educating 41,502 students. First Avenue School is one of those campuses.

For racial and ethnic makeup, First Avenue School reports that 89% of students identify as Hispanic, making the school strongly Hispanic-majority; the rest breaks down as 5% Black. That is noticeably more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 25%.

Looking at the economic backdrop, The school employs 76 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 14.3:1. The state averages around 11.4:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. About 86% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. By comparison, Essex County runs at roughly 54%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully above the surrounding baseline.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, First Avenue School sits in the top 10% of New Jersey schools after the BeatsExpectations adjustment. Predicted proficiency for the school's FRL share is roughly 19.1%; actual is 39.1%, +20.0 points clear of the demographic baseline.

In the area at large, census data for Essex County shows 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. First Avenue School is one of 249 public schools in Essex County (combined enrollment of about 145,473 students).

The closest other public school is Abington Avenue School, roughly 0.2 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, First Avenue School comes 2nd of 7 in the immediate cluster, above the nearby-schools average of 22.4%.

First Avenue School operates from an inner-city location.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count edged down 10%: 1,209 students in 2018 compared to 1,084 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 82% to 89% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 16.3:1 in 2018 to 14.3:1 today.

Inside the community feed, posts here usually surface around fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.