Mario Drago School No. 3

Mario Drago School No. 3 operates as a roomy elementary-level community in Passaic, New Jersey, one of the schools within Passaic City School District. Current enrollment sits at 776 students spanning grades pre-K through 8. Compared to the state average of about 405 students per school, that is 92% larger than typical.

Within Passaic City School District, which oversees 19 schools and 11,877 students, Mario Drago School No. 3 is one campus in the system.

Looking at the student body, Mario Drago School No. 3 logs that 85% of students identify as Hispanic, making the school strongly Hispanic-majority. Other groups include 6% Asian, 4% White, 3% Black, 2% multiracial. That is considerably more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 44%.

On the resource side, Mario Drago School No. 3 reports 70 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 11.1:1. That tracks the state average closely. An estimated 98% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Passaic County (around 61%), the school's rate is north of typical.

After controlling for student poverty, Mario Drago School No. 3 sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 12.8%; this one delivers 18.7%.

Across the wider county, ACS estimates for Passaic County put median household earnings sit near $87,522, 31% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 11%. In all, Passaic County runs 155 public schools (combined enrollment of about 83,237 students), of which Mario Drago School No. 3 is one.

Nearest neighbor: Thomas Jefferson School No. 1, around 0.6 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Mario Drago School No. 3 comes 6th of 7 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 32.5%.

Mario Drago School No. 3 operates from a bedroom-community location.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Mario Drago School No. 3 has remained close to its prior level, going from 787 students in 2018 to 776 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 12.2:1 in 2018 to 11.1:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.