1
Alumni: what's one memory from Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
397
Middle
DISTRICT 495 · STATE 578
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ORANGE BOARD OF EDUCATION SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 341227002410
Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation
400 CENTRAL AVE, ORANGE, NJ 07050 · (973) 677-4135 · Essex County
GRADES 08–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL397 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 35% of New Jersey public middle schools
- C-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded New Jersey public middle schools
Student : Teacher
8.2:1
48 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 9.8:1 · STATE 10.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
66%
261 students
DISTRICT 71% · STATE 41%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 8 | 397 | 100% |
Student demographics
51%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 52% · STATE 71% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within ORANGE BOARD OF EDUCATION School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
NJSLA 2024-25 . % Meeting or Exceeding ExpectationsEnglish Language Arts
45.1%
NJ avg 53.1% . +5.8pp since 2023
Math
12.3%
NJ avg 41.6% . -3.0pp since 2023
What this means: On the NJSLA, New Jersey's statewide test, about 45 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 12 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all New Jersey schools, those numbers are about 53 and 42. Reading and writing scores are up about 6 points since 2023, while math scores are down about 3 points.
NJSLA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 45.1% | 12.3% |
| 2023-24 | 39.3% | 15.3% |
% Meeting or Exceeding Expectations, all students and all tested grades.
Source: NJSLA. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
30.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
30.2%
based on NJ schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+0.5pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 31% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 30% typical for New Jersey schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among New Jersey's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation
Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation's state test result (30.7% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation this school | 397 | 65.7% | 30.7% |
| Grace Wilday Junior High School ROSELLE | 482 | 73.4% | 20.9% |
| Leonard V Moore Middle School ROSELLE | 485 | 74.6% | 15.1% |
| Walter O. Krumbiegel Middle School HILLSIDE | 323 | 73.1% | 17.8% |
| Neptune Middle School NEPTUNE | 595 | 71.6% | 27.9% |
| Penns Grove Middle School PENNS GROVE | 452 | 75.4% | 13.3% |
Matched among New Jersey middle schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In New Jersey | In Essex County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 30.7% | #332 of 433 | #20 of 27 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 12.3% | #400 of 437 ▼ 15 | #23 of 28 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 45.1% | #315 of 437 ▲ 17 | #21 of 28 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 397 | #316 of 445 | #21 of 29 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 8.2:1 | #22 of 417 | #4 of 28 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 50.6% | #254 of 419 | #15 of 28 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 65.7% | #85 of 436 | #6 of 27 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -29.0% | #23 of 282 | #4 of 16 |
Ranked against other public middle schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
397
-282 (-42%) vs 2020
-23% since 1990-91, when it was 517
Student : Teacher
8.2:1
was 11.5:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 397 | 48.3 | 8.2:1 | 66% (261) |
| 2023-24 | 353 | 51.3 | 6.9:1 | 61% (214) |
| 2022-23 | 414 | 50.3 | 8.2:1 | 79% (329) |
| 2020-21 | 679 | 59 | 11.5:1 | 82% (556) |
| 2017-18 | 559 | 58.8 | 9.5:1 | 82% (460) |
| 2015-16 | 620 | 52 | 11.9:1 | 64% (397) |
| 2010-11 | 520 | 44 | 11.8:1 | 55% (288) |
| 2000-01 | 646 | 48 | 13.5:1 | 78% (506) |
| 1990-91 | 517 | 42 | 12.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation.
Since 2017-18: students down 29% (559 to 397); teachers down 18% (58.8 to 48.3).
About Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation
Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation, located in ORANGE, New Jersey, is a small middle school. Total enrollment is 397 students, and the grades served are grade 8. Middle schools in New Jersey have about 578 students on average; enrollment here is 31% lower.
ORANGE BOARD OF EDUCATION School District enrolls 5,527 students in 12 schools, including Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation.
The student body at Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation is 52% Hispanic. Beyond that, enrollment is 47% Black. The Hispanic share of the county population is lower, at 25%. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 51, compared with 70 nationally.
Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation has 48.3 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff and a student-to-teacher ratio of 8.2:1. The school's 8.2:1 compares with an average of 10.9:1 for middle schools in New Jersey. The school has 66% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The gap from the 54% average for public schools in Essex County is 12 points.
Among New Jersey public middle schools, Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation outscored 35%, which works out to a C+ on the allk12 Grade.
After adjusting for student poverty, Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation lands between the top and bottom 10% of New Jersey schools. Its average proficiency rate across its state test results is 30.7%; the prediction is 30.2%.
American Community Survey estimates for Essex County show that median household income comes to about $80,789, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 39% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 11%. The county's public schools total 249, with about 145,473 students.
Straight-line distance to the nearest public school, Orange High School, is less than a tenth of a mile. Other public schools within five miles: at least 8. On average proficiency, Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation is 4th of 8 nearby schools with test data.
Under the NCES locale system, Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation is Suburb: Large.
In 2020-21 the school reported 679 students, and in 2024-25 it reported 397. Grade changes, mergers, or boundary shifts can explain gaps this large. The ratio of students to teachers went from 11.5:1 to 8.2:1 over the same years.
This page is a place to ask questions and share updates about open houses, carpools, and field trips at Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Essex County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
863,002
Census ACS
Median income
$80,789
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
39%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
249
145,473 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in ORANGE BOARD OF EDUCATION School District
- Orange High SchoolHigh · 1,368 students
- Lincoln Avenue Elementary SchoolElementary · 728 students
- Rosa Parks Community SchoolMiddle · 593 students
- Park Avenue Elementary SchoolElementary · 423 students
- Forest Street Community Elementary SchoolElementary · 384 students
- Central Elementary SchoolElementary · 369 students
Other schools in ORANGE
- Orange High SchoolHigh · 1,368 students
- Lincoln Avenue Elementary SchoolElementary · 728 students
- Rosa Parks Community SchoolMiddle · 593 students
- Park Avenue Elementary SchoolElementary · 423 students
- Forest Street Community Elementary SchoolElementary · 384 students
- Central Elementary SchoolElementary · 369 students
Nearby schools
- Orange High School0.1 mi · 1,368
- Lincoln Avenue Elementary School0.1 mi · 728
- Forest Street Community Elementary School0.6 mi · 384
- Rosa Parks Community School0.6 mi · 593
- Central Elementary School0.6 mi · 369
- Hazel Avenue Elementary School0.7 mi · 334
Frequently asked questions
About Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and InnovationHow many students attend Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation?
Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation enrolls approximately 397 students in grades 08-08.
Is Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation an elementary, middle, or high school?
Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation is a middle school covering grades 08-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation is approximately 8.2:1 (48 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation?
At Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation, the student body is approximately 0% White, 52% Hispanic, 47% Black.
Who oversees Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation?
Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation is overseen by ORANGE BOARD OF EDUCATION School District in Essex County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.