1
What's the vibe like in the hallways at Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering right now?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
650
High
DISTRICT 1,281 · STATE 929
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PASSAIC CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 341254003433
Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering
291 Lafayette Avenue, Passaic, NJ 07055 · (973) 470-5504 · Passaic County
GRADES 06–12HIGH21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL650 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 88% of New Jersey public high schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A+Beats 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 high schools
Student : Teacher
12.3:1
53 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.6:1 · STATE 12.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
100%
650 students
DISTRICT 99% · STATE 41%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 47 | 7% |
| Grade 7 | 74 | 11% |
| Grade 8 | 57 | 9% |
| Grade 9 | 117 | 18% |
| Grade 10 | 130 | 20% |
| Grade 11 | 101 | 16% |
| Grade 12 | 124 | 19% |
Student demographics
18%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 12% · 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
Test scores
NJSLA 2024-25 . % Meeting or Exceeding ExpectationsEnglish Language Arts
79.7%
NJ avg 53.1% . +0.1pp since 2023
Math
49.9%
NJ avg 41.6% . +12.1pp since 2023
What this means: On the NJSLA, New Jersey's statewide test, about 80 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 50 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all New Jersey schools, those numbers are about 53 and 42. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2023, while math scores are up about 12 points.
NJSLA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 79.7% | 49.9% |
| 2023-24 | 79.6% | 37.8% |
% 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of NJ schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
56.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
11.4%
based on NJ schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+44.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 56% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 11% typical for New Jersey schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 45 points, placing it in New Jersey's top 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 Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering
Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering's state test result (56.1% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering this school | 650 | 100.0% | 56.1% |
| Passaic Preparatory Academy Passaic | 710 | 100.0% | 34.3% |
| Harrison High School HARRISON | 795 | 90.1% | 25.0% |
| Lakewood High School LAKEWOOD | 1,295 | 92.0% | 33.6% |
| Bound Brook High School Bound Brook | 579 | 83.6% | 19.9% |
| Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Academy Elizabeth | 842 | 86.9% | 13.5% |
Matched among New Jersey high 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 Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In New Jersey | In Passaic County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 56.1% | #84 of 397 | #2 of 21 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 49.9% | #91 of 400 ▲ 52 | #3 of 21 ▲ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 79.7% | #45 of 395 ▲ 34 | #2 of 21 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 650 | #278 of 442 | #14 of 24 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.3:1 | #199 of 388 | #11 of 19 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 18.2% | #380 of 389 | #17 of 19 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 100% | #1 of 405 | #1 of 22 |
Ranked against other public high 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
650
-234 (-26%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
12.3:1
was 14.0:1
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 | 650 | 53 | 12.3:1 | 100% (650) |
| 2023-24 | 694 | 53.5 | 13.0:1 | 100% (694) |
| 2022-23 | 745 | 56 | 13.3:1 | 100% (745) |
| 2020-21 | 884 | 63 | 14.0:1 | 100% (884) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering.
About Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering
Students in Passaic, New Jersey, attend Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering, a small high school. The latest federal count shows 650 students in grades 6 through 12. The average for high schools in New Jersey is about 929 students, so this school is 30% smaller than average.
Across its 19 schools, Passaic City School District enrolls 11,877 students. Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering is one of those schools.
Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering enrolls a student body that is 90% Hispanic. Other reported shares: 7% Asian and 2% Black. That compares with about 44% Hispanic among all Passaic County residents. By the diversity index, Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering comes in at 18%.
At Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering, 53 full-time-equivalent teachers work with students, a ratio of about 12.3:1. High schools in New Jersey average about 12.7:1, a similar figure. Roughly 100% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. The 61% average for public schools in Passaic County is 39 points lower.
allk12 grades Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering an A. The grade compares the school only with New Jersey public high schools, because each state gives its own test.
The school's average proficiency rate on state tests, 56.1%, is 44.6 points above the 11.4% the model predicts from its free or reduced-price lunch share. That result is in the top 10% of New Jersey schools.
In Passaic County (population about 521,012), median household income is about $87,522, roughly 31% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering is one of 155 public schools in Passaic County, which together enroll about 83,237 students.
The closest public school, Passaic Preparatory Academy, is less than a tenth of a mile from Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Among the 7 closest schools with test data, this one included, Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering ranks 2nd on average proficiency.
NCES lists the school's locale as Suburb: Large. That means it sits in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
A comparison of 2020-21 and 2024-25 shows enrollment down 26%, from 884 to 650. The school's ratio fell from 14.0:1 to 12.3:1 between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
Questions about science fairs, picture day, and bus routes can be posted here. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Passaic County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
521,012
Census ACS
Median income
$87,522
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
31%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
155
83,237 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Passaic City School District
- Passaic High School No. 12High · 2,484 students
- Mahatma Gandhi School Number 25Elementary · 903 students
- William B. Cruise Memorial School No. 11Elementary · 805 students
- Mario Drago School No. 3Elementary · 776 students
- Martin Luther King Jr. School No. 6Elementary · 754 students
- Passaic Gifted and Talented Academy School No. 20Middle · 742 students
Other schools in Passaic
- Passaic High School No. 12High · 2,484 students
- Passaic Arts and Science Charter SchoolCombined · 2,175 students
- Mahatma Gandhi School Number 25Elementary · 903 students
- William B. Cruise Memorial School No. 11Elementary · 805 students
- Mario Drago School No. 3Elementary · 776 students
- Martin Luther King Jr. School No. 6Elementary · 754 students
Nearby schools
- Passaic Preparatory Academy0.0 mi · 710
- Passaic High School No. 120.3 mi · 2,484
- William B. Cruise Memorial School No. 110.4 mi · 805
- Casimir Pulaski School No. 80.4 mi · 77
- Passaic Gifted and Talented Academy School No. 200.4 mi · 742
- Thomas Jefferson School No. 10.4 mi · 423
Frequently asked questions
About Passaic Academy for Science and EngineeringHow large is Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering?
Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering enrolls approximately 650 students in grades 06-12.
What grades does Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering serve?
Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering serves grades 06-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering is approximately 12.3:1 (53 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering?
Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering reports a student body of 0% White, 90% Hispanic, 2% Black, 7% Asian, 0% Two or more.
Who oversees Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering?
Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering is overseen by Passaic City School District in Passaic County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.