Ridge Street School

Set in NEWARK, New Jersey, Ridge Street School is a mid-sized elementary school, part of Newark Public School District. It educates 593 students across grades pre-K through 8. By comparison, New Jersey's public schools average about 405 students each, so Ridge Street School sits 46% larger than that benchmark.

Newark Public School District comprises 65 schools with combined enrollment of 41,502 students; Ridge Street School is among them.

In terms of who attends, Ridge Street School shows that 89% of students identify as Hispanic, making the school strongly Hispanic-majority. Other groups include 9% Black. The wider county runs roughly 25% Hispanic, putting the school's mix visibly more Hispanic than the area baseline.

On the resource side, The school currently runs with 45 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 13.2:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 11.4:1 average. Roughly 81% of students at Ridge Street School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. By comparison, Essex County runs at roughly 54%, so the school's eligibility rate is above the surrounding baseline.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Ridge Street School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 21.6% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 31.9%.

In the surrounding community, the surrounding county (Essex County) reports that median household income runs about $80,789, roughly 39% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 11%. Ridge Street School is one of 249 public schools in Essex County (combined enrollment of about 145,473 students).

Elliott Street Elementary School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.3 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Ridge Street School ranks 4th on composite proficiency, above the local average of 28.1%.

Geographically, the school is in an urban area.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked down 13%: 682 students in 2018 compared to 593 in 2025. Class-load math has fell: from 16.2:1 in 2018 to 13.2:1 in 2025.

On the community side, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.