Spring Garden School

As an average-sized elementary-level community in NUTLEY, New Jersey, Spring Garden School teaches 606 students from grades pre-K through 6, operated by Nutley Public School District. Compared to the state average of about 405 students per school, that is 50% larger than typical.

Within Nutley Public School District, which oversees 7 schools and 4,299 students, Spring Garden School is one campus in the system.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Spring Garden School logs that White students make up the majority at 57%. Beyond that, the school reports 22% Hispanic, 13% Asian, 5% multiracial, 2% Black. That is noticeably more White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 30%.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 34 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 18.1:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 11.4:1, putting Spring Garden School higher than the state norm the norm. An estimated 8% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is noticeably below Essex County's rate of about 54%.

After controlling for student poverty, Spring Garden School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 61.8%, the actual is 64.2%, a residual of +2.3 points.

Across the wider county, Essex County reports that median household income runs about $80,789, about 39% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 11%. In all, Essex County runs 249 public schools (combined enrollment of about 145,473 students), of which Spring Garden School is one.

Nearest neighbor: Radcliffe School, around 0.5 miles off. 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), Spring Garden School ranks 4th on composite proficiency, above the local average of 58.9%.

The campus sits in a suburban setting.

Looking at the recent track record. Spring Garden School's enrollment has edged up 67% since 2018, when it stood at 362 (now 606). The White share of enrollment fell from 68% to 57% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio loosened from 12.3:1 in 2018 to 18.1:1 today.

Inside the community feed, members of the Spring Garden School community share and discuss sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.