1
Parents: what's one thing you'd want the Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,144
High
DISTRICT 1,006 · STATE 929
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ELIZABETH PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 340459003049
Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy
27 Martin Luther King Jr Plaza, Elizabeth, NJ 07201 · (908) 436-6767 · Union County
GRADES 09–12HIGH21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,144 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 50% of New Jersey public high schools
- CTest 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.
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
14.5:1
79 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.4:1 · STATE 12.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
81%
921 students
DISTRICT 83% · 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 9 | 296 | 26% |
| Grade 10 | 297 | 26% |
| Grade 11 | 282 | 25% |
| Grade 12 | 269 | 24% |
Student demographics
39%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 38% · 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
53.0%
NJ avg 53.1% . -9.2pp since 2023
Math
10.7%
NJ avg 41.6% . +0.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the NJSLA, New Jersey's statewide test, about 53 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 11 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all New Jersey schools, those numbers are about 53 and 42. Reading and writing scores are down about 9 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
NJSLA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 53.0% | 10.7% |
| 2023-24 | 62.2% | 10.1% |
% 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
25.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
22.1%
based on NJ schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+3.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 26% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 22% 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 Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy
Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy's state test result (25.9% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy this school | 1,144 | 80.5% | 25.9% |
| Admiral William F. Halsey Jr. Health & Public Safety Academy Elizabeth | 1,272 | 81.4% | 12.2% |
| John E. Dwyer Technology Academy Elizabeth | 1,348 | 82.0% | 12.6% |
| North Plainfield High School North Plainfield | 1,141 | 75.7% | 24.2% |
| Alexander Hamilton Preparatory Academy Elizabeth | 1,015 | 81.3% | 40.0% |
| Elizabeth High School - Frank J Cicarell Academy ELIZABETH | 1,268 | 76.8% | 62.6% |
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 Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In New Jersey | In Union County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 25.9% | #284 of 397 | #20 of 31 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 10.7% | #322 of 400 ▲ 7 | #21 of 31 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 53.0% | #188 of 395 ▼ 13 | #17 of 31 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,144 | #140 of 442 | #11 of 39 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 14.5:1 | #336 of 388 | #20 of 31 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 39.5% | #300 of 389 | #21 of 31 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 80.5% | #26 of 405 | #6 of 31 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +2.5% | #145 of 173 | #18 of 24 |
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
1,144
+43 (+4%) vs 2020
+28% since 2010-11, when it was 891
Student : Teacher
14.5:1
was 11.6:1
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 | 1,144 | 79 | 14.5:1 | 81% (921) |
| 2023-24 | 1,156 | 86 | 13.4:1 | 79% (912) |
| 2022-23 | 1,070 | 86 | 12.4:1 | 80% (851) |
| 2020-21 | 1,101 | 95 | 11.6:1 | 73% (801) |
| 2017-18 | 1,116 | 89 | 12.5:1 | 78% (875) |
| 2015-16 | 1,066 | 93 | 11.5:1 | 84% (891) |
| 2010-11 | 891 | 68 | 13.1:1 | 85% (760) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy.
Since 2017-18: students up 3% (1,116 to 1,144); teachers down 11% (89 to 79).
About Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy
Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy runs as a medium-sized high school in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The school had 1,144 students in grades 9 through 12 in 2024-25. Average enrollment for high schools in New Jersey is about 929, so this school runs 23% bigger than that.
Besides Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy, Elizabeth Public Schools runs 36 other schools. The district enrolls 27,580 students.
Hispanic students make up a majority at Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy, at 76%. The remaining shares are 17% Black and 7% White. Census estimates put the Hispanic share of Union County's population at about 35%. Pick two students at random and there is a 39% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
The count of teachers at Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy is 79 full-time equivalents, for a ratio of 14.5:1. That is 1.8 students per teacher above the 12.7:1 average for high schools in New Jersey. Around 81% of the school's students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. Public schools in Union County average 52%.
Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy is graded B- by allk12, scoring above 50% of New Jersey public high schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy scores 25.9% on state tests, averaged across results. The predicted figure, based on its student poverty level, is 22.1%.
Union County has these Census figures: the median household income is $103,202, roughly 39% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Union County is home to 180 public schools and about 99,046 public school students.
Elizabeth High School - Frank J Cicarell Academy is the nearest neighboring public school, less than a tenth of a mile away. Within five miles of Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy, there are at least 8 other public schools. Its average proficiency rate of 25.9% is below the 27.2% average for nearby schools.
Locale: Suburb: Large. In NCES terms, the school is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
The school enrolled 1,144 students in 2024-25, 43 more than the 1,101 it had in 2020-21. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 11.6:1 to 14.5:1.
The Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy community page is open for posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Union County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
579,290
Census ACS
Median income
$103,202
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
39%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
180
99,046 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Elizabeth Public Schools
- John E. Dwyer Technology AcademyHigh · 1,348 students
- Admiral William F. Halsey Jr. Health & Public Safety AcademyHigh · 1,272 students
- Elizabeth High School - Frank J Cicarell AcademyHigh · 1,268 students
- William F. Halloran School No.22Middle · 1,140 students
- Terence C. Reilly School No 7Middle · 1,130 students
- Alexander Hamilton Preparatory AcademyHigh · 1,015 students
Other schools in Elizabeth
- John E. Dwyer Technology AcademyHigh · 1,348 students
- Admiral William F. Halsey Jr. Health & Public Safety AcademyHigh · 1,272 students
- Elizabeth High School - Frank J Cicarell AcademyHigh · 1,268 students
- William F. Halloran School No.22Middle · 1,140 students
- Terence C. Reilly School No 7Middle · 1,130 students
- Alexander Hamilton Preparatory AcademyHigh · 1,015 students
Nearby schools
- Elizabeth High School - Frank J Cicarell Academy0.1 mi · 1,268
- Winfield Scott School No. 20.2 mi · 630
- Admiral William F. Halsey Jr. Health & Public Safety Academy0.2 mi · 1,272
- John E. Dwyer Technology Academy0.2 mi · 1,348
- K. Johnson D. Vaughan and M. Jackson STEM Academy0.4 mi · 740
- Nicholas S. Lacorte-Peterstown School No. 30.5 mi · 765
Frequently asked questions
About Thomas Jefferson Arts AcademyHow many students attend Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy?
Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy enrolls approximately 1,144 students in grades 09-12.
Is Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy an elementary, middle, or high school?
Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy is a high school covering grades 09-12.
How many students per teacher at Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy?
Approximately 14.5:1 students per teacher at Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy?
At Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy, the student body is approximately 7% White, 76% Hispanic, 17% Black, 1% Asian, 0% Two or more.
What district is Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy in?
Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy is part of Elizabeth Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.