Merriam Avenue School

Located at 81 MERRIAM AVENUE, in NEWTON, New Jersey, Merriam Avenue School is an average-sized elementary school that serves 483 students (grades pre-K through 4), part of Newton Public School District.

Within Newton Public School District, which oversees 3 schools and 1,443 students, Merriam Avenue School is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, Merriam Avenue School logs that 43% of students identify as White, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Other groups include 42% Hispanic, 6% Black, 6% multiracial, 2% Asian. By comparison, Sussex County as a whole is about 82% White, so the school skews visibly less White than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, Merriam Avenue School records 46 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 10.5:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 11.4:1 average. About 56% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is north of Sussex County's rate of about 23%.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Merriam Avenue School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 35.7%; this one delivers 33.4%.

Zooming out to the county, the surrounding county (Sussex County) reports that median household income runs about $116,186, roughly 40% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 4%. In all, Sussex County runs 46 public schools (combined enrollment of about 19,579 students), of which Merriam Avenue School is one.

The closest other public school is Newton High School, roughly 0.5 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Merriam Avenue School comes 7th of 8 in the immediate cluster, below the nearby-schools average of 48.4%.

Merriam Avenue School operates from a town-based location.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count remained close to its prior level: 485 students in 2018 compared to 483 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share increased from 23% to 42%. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 11.6:1 in 2018 to 10.5:1 today.

On the community side, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.