James F. Murray School

James F. Murray School operates as a sprawling K-5 school in JERSEY CITY, New Jersey, overseen by Jersey City Public Schools. Current enrollment sits at 642 students spanning grades pre-K through 8. That puts it 59% bigger than the typical public school in New Jersey, which averages around 405 students.

Jersey City Public Schools runs 39 schools in total, collectively educating 24,151 students. James F. Murray School is one of those campuses.

Looking at the student body, James F. Murray School reports that 30% of students identify as Black, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Other groups include 26% Hispanic, 23% White, 15% Asian, 4% Pacific Islander. By comparison, Hudson County as a whole is about 12% Black, so the school skews meaningfully more Black than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 47 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 13.7:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 11.4:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. About 77% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. By comparison, Hudson County runs at roughly 68%, so the school's eligibility rate is higher than the surrounding baseline.

After controlling for student poverty, James F. Murray School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 23.8% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 33.7%.

In the surrounding community, the surrounding county (Hudson County) logs that the typical household earns roughly $91,795 per year, 49% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 11%. James F. Murray School is one of 130 public schools in Hudson County (combined enrollment of about 86,216 students).

Nearest neighbor: University Academy Charter High School, around 0.3 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, James F. Murray School comes 3rd of 9 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 26.6%.

The campus sits in a city-core setting.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at James F. Murray School has fell 24%, going from 844 students in 2018 to 642 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share ticked up from 8% to 23%.

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