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Alumni: what's one memory from School 5 that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
753
Elementary
DISTRICT 457 · STATE 405
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PATERSON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 341269004882
School 5
430 TOTOWA AVENUE, PATERSON, NJ 07502 · (973) 321-0050 · Passaic County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL753 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.0:1
58 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.2:1 · STATE 11.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
75%
563 students
DISTRICT 71% · STATE 41%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 145 | 19% |
| Grade 1 | 127 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 126 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 131 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 108 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 116 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (145) is 25% larger than its 5th grade class (116).
Student demographics
53%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 44% · 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
32.2%
NJ avg 53.1% . +4.3pp since 2023
Math
31.0%
NJ avg 41.6% . +5.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the NJSLA, New Jersey's statewide test, about 32 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 31 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 4 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 5 points.
NJSLA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 32.2% | 31.0% |
| 2023-24 | 27.9% | 25.7% |
% 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
26.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
25.2%
based on NJ schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+0.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 26% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 25% 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 School 5
School 5's state test result (26.0% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| School 5 this school | 753 | 74.8% | 26.0% |
| School 27 PATERSON | 641 | 80.8% | 24.1% |
| Alfred Zampella School JERSEY CITY | 629 | 67.4% | 40.6% |
| Richmond Avenue School Atlantic City | 609 | 87.4% | 51.1% |
| Private Nicholas Minue Elementary School CARTERET | 529 | 71.5% | 42.0% |
| Lindbergh Elementary School PALISADES PARK | 762 | 79.9% | 31.0% |
Matched among New Jersey elementary 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 School 5 ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In New Jersey | In Passaic County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 26.0% | #1,036 of 1,290 | #50 of 87 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 31.0% | #957 of 1,319 ▲ 46 | #45 of 87 ▲ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 32.2% | #1,071 of 1,319 ▲ 27 | #55 of 87 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 753 | #82 of 1,562 | #9 of 100 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.0:1 | #1,085 of 1,390 | #68 of 89 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 52.7% | #727 of 1,392 | #33 of 89 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 74.8% | #292 of 1,481 | #34 of 97 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +9.1% | #279 of 545 | #10 of 18 |
Ranked against other public elementary 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
753
+9 (+1%) vs 2020
-29% since 1990-91, when it was 1,058
Student : Teacher
13.0:1
was 12.2:1
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 | 753 | 58 | 13.0:1 | 75% (563) |
| 2023-24 | 763 | 58 | 13.2:1 | 75% (574) |
| 2022-23 | 785 | 57 | 13.8:1 | 63% (498) |
| 2020-21 | 744 | 61 | 12.2:1 | 72% (537) |
| 2017-18 | 690 | 50.5 | 13.7:1 | 86% (590) |
| 2015-16 | 774 | 54 | 14.3:1 | 86% (668) |
| 2010-11 | 1,228 | 58 | 21.2:1 | 90% (1,106) |
| 2000-01 | 1,194 | 67 | 17.8:1 | 77% (918) |
| 1990-91 | 1,058 | 67 | 15.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for School 5.
Since 2017-18: students up 9% (690 to 753); teachers up 15% (50.5 to 58).
About School 5
Located in PATERSON, New Jersey, School 5 is a high-enrollment elementary school. It enrolls 753 students in 2024-25. The grades offered are kindergarten through 5. That puts enrollment 86% larger than the 405-student average for elementary schools in New Jersey.
Paterson Public School District includes 43 schools. Together they enroll 21,372 students.
The share of Hispanic students at School 5 is 60%, a majority. It is also 34% Asian and 6% Black. For comparison, the population of Passaic County is roughly 44% Hispanic. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 53, compared with 70 nationally.
There are about 13.0 students for every full-time-equivalent teacher at School 5, which has 58. Elementary schools in New Jersey have an average ratio of 11.4:1. Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch stands at 75%. That rate is above the 61% average among public schools in Passaic County.
On BeatsExpectations, School 5 is within a point of its prediction, a result in the middle 80% of New Jersey schools.
Five-year Census Bureau estimates for Passaic County show that median household income comes to about $87,522, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 31% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 11%. The county's public schools total 155, with about 83,237 students.
Straight-line distance to the nearest public school, School 19, is about 0.4 miles. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. By average proficiency, School 5 is 5th among 9 schools close by.
NCES describes the area around School 5 as Suburb: Large, meaning in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment in 2024-25 was 753, close to the 744 recorded in 2020-21.
People who know School 5 can post here about special education services, counseling, and support programs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
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 Paterson Public School District
- Eastside High SchoolHigh · 2,073 students
- John F. Kennedy High SchoolHigh · 1,846 students
- Joseph A. Taub SchoolMiddle · 976 students
- School 16Elementary · 813 students
- Charles J. Riley/ School 9Elementary · 682 students
- School 24Elementary · 668 students
Other schools in PATERSON
- Eastside High SchoolHigh · 2,073 students
- John F. Kennedy High SchoolHigh · 1,846 students
- Paterson Charter School for Science and TechnologyCombined · 1,708 students
- College Achieve Paterson Charter SchoolCombined · 1,688 students
- Paterson Arts and Science Charter SchoolCombined · 1,330 students
- Joseph A. Taub SchoolMiddle · 976 students
Other School 5 schools
3 other US public schools in 2 states are named School 5. School 5 is the largest of the 4.
Nearby schools
- School 190.4 mi · 288
- College Achieve Paterson Charter School0.4 mi · 1,688
- School 20.4 mi · 473
- John F. Kennedy High School0.4 mi · 1,846
- Joseph A. Taub School0.6 mi · 976
- School 280.6 mi · 463
Frequently asked questions
About School 5How large is School 5?
School 5 enrolls approximately 753 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does School 5 serve?
School 5 serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
How many teachers does School 5 have?
School 5 employs 58 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 13.0:1.
What is the student diversity at School 5?
Student demographics at School 5 are roughly 1% White, 60% Hispanic, 6% Black, 34% Asian, 0% Two or more.
What district is School 5 in?
School 5 is part of Paterson Public School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.