Number 5

Number 5, a cozy elementary school in Linden, New Jersey, operated by Linden Public School District, instructs 319 students, covering grades pre-K through 5. By comparison, New Jersey's public schools average about 405 students each, so Number 5 sits 21% leaner than that benchmark.

Linden Public School District comprises 11 schools with combined enrollment of 6,441 students; Number 5 is among them.

On demographics, Number 5 logs that the largest single group is Black at 49%, but no single group is in the majority. Beyond that, the school reports 40% Hispanic, 6% White, 3% multiracial. That is meaningfully more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 20%.

Looking at school resources, On paper, Number 5 has 26 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 12.3:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 11.4:1, putting Number 5 higher than the state norm the norm. Roughly 76% of students at Number 5 qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is north of Union County's rate of about 52%.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Number 5 performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 24.6%, the actual is 28.7%, a residual of +4.1 points.

In the broader community, the surrounding county (Union County) shows that the typical household earns roughly $103,202 per year, roughly 39% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 7%. Across Union County's 180 public schools (combined enrollment of about 99,046 students), Number 5 is one campus in the mix.

Joseph E. Soehl Middle School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.4 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Number 5 ranks 2nd on composite proficiency, higher than the local average of 23.5%.

The campus sits in a commuter-belt setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count held roughly steady: 319 students in 2018 compared to 319 in 2025. Black enrollment moved from 70% to 49% across the same window.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the feed for Number 5 typically covers sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.