LEAD Charter School

LEAD Charter School is one of the very small senior highs in Newark, New Jersey, one of the schools within LEAD Charter School, with 333 students on its rolls from grades 9 through 12. By comparison, New Jersey's public schools average about 929 students each, so LEAD Charter School sits 64% leaner than that benchmark.

LEAD Charter School is a school of LEAD Charter School, the district that handles curriculum, staffing, and budget for the campus.

Demographically, LEAD Charter School records that nearly all students (85%) are Black. Beyond that, the school shows 6% Hispanic, 5% White, 3% Native American. That is meaningfully more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 36%.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 5 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 66.6:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 12.7:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Around 65% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is north of Essex County's rate of about 54%.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), On a poverty-adjusted basis, LEAD Charter School sits in the bottom 10% statewide. Predicted proficiency from the FRL regression is roughly 30.3%; actual is 3.5%, a gap of -26.8 points.

In the area at large, ACS estimates for Essex County put median household earnings sit near $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. Across Essex County's 249 public schools (combined enrollment of about 145,473 students), LEAD Charter School is one campus in the mix.

Camden Street Elementary School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.2 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, LEAD Charter School comes 8th of 8 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 28.9%.

The campus sits in a high-density setting. LEAD Charter School is a charter school, which puts it inside the public-school system but outside the standard district-managed model.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count increased 171%: 123 students in 2018 compared to 333 in 2025. Black enrollment moved from 92% to 85% across the same window. Class-load math has widened: from 40.3:1 in 2018 to 66.6:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, the feed for LEAD Charter School typically covers school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.