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Alumni: what's one memory from University High School that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
426
High
DISTRICT 670 · STATE 929
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·NEWARK PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 341134002202
University High School
55 CLINTON PL, NEWARK, NJ 07108 · (973) 374-3190 · Essex County
GRADES 08–12HIGH11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL426 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 59% of New Jersey public high schools
- C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats 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
11.8:1
36 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.4:1 · STATE 12.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
82%
350 students
DISTRICT 80% · 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 | 119 | 28% |
| Grade 10 | 107 | 25% |
| Grade 11 | 94 | 22% |
| Grade 12 | 106 | 25% |
Student demographics
36%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 53% · 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
School pathway
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Newark Public School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
NJSLA 2024-25 . % Meeting or Exceeding ExpectationsEnglish Language Arts
73.5%
NJ avg 53.1% . +14.8pp since 2023
Math
23.4%
NJ avg 41.6% . +11.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the NJSLA, New Jersey's statewide test, about 74 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 23 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 15 points since 2023, while math scores are up about 11 points.
NJSLA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 73.5% | 23.4% |
| 2023-24 | 58.7% | 12.1% |
% 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
30.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
21.2%
based on NJ schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+9.3pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 31% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 21% 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 University High School
University High School's state test result (30.5% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| University High School this school | 426 | 82.2% | 30.5% |
| West Side High School Newark | 541 | 81.1% | 5.6% |
| Newark Sch of Data Science and Information Technology Newark | 414 | 79.5% | 33.3% |
| University Academy Charter High School JERSEY CITY | 429 | 80.2% | 17.9% |
| Weequahic High School NEWARK | 592 | 70.4% | 6.6% |
| Henry Snyder High School JERSEY CITY | 729 | 78.1% | 11.0% |
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 University High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In New Jersey | In Essex County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 30.5% | #251 of 397 | #22 of 39 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 23.4% | #235 of 400 ▲ 80 | #21 of 39 ▲ 4 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 73.5% | #65 of 395 ▲ 139 | #7 of 39 ▲ 15 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 426 | #339 of 442 | #30 of 42 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.8:1 | #171 of 388 | #14 of 37 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 36.3% | #327 of 389 | #27 of 37 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 82.2% | #20 of 405 | #6 of 40 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -23.7% | #17 of 200 | #2 of 14 |
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
426
-60 (-12%) vs 2020
-22% since 1990-91, when it was 548
Student : Teacher
11.8:1
was 11.3:1
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 | 426 | 36 | 11.8:1 | 82% (350) |
| 2023-24 | 447 | 40 | 11.2:1 | 83% (373) |
| 2022-23 | 426 | 41 | 10.4:1 | 84% (356) |
| 2020-21 | 486 | 43 | 11.3:1 | 70% (340) |
| 2017-18 | 558 | 40 | 13.9:1 | 72% (402) |
| 2015-16 | 536 | 45 | 11.9:1 | 65% (350) |
| 2010-11 | 479 | 36 | 13.3:1 | 81% (390) |
| 2000-01 | 492 | 47 | 10.5:1 | 80% (396) |
| 1990-91 | 548 | 47 | 11.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for University High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 24% (558 to 426); teachers down 10% (40 to 36).
About University High School
A low-enrollment high school in NEWARK, New Jersey, University High School is part of Newark Public School District. Enrollment totals 426 students across grades 8 through 12. That puts enrollment 54% below the 929-student average for high schools in New Jersey.
Newark Public School District counts 65 schools and 41,502 students, including University High School.
Of every 100 students at University High School, about 77 are Black. The school is also 21% Hispanic. The Black share of the county population is lower, at 36%. The diversity index for University High School is 36%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
The school had 36 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25. Its student-to-teacher ratio is 11.8:1. The gap from the 12.7:1 average for high schools in New Jersey is 0.9 students per teacher. The school reported 82% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-25. The 54% average for public schools in Essex County is 28 points lower.
Among New Jersey public high schools, University High School outscored 59%, which works out to a B on the allk12 Grade.
BeatsExpectations compares each school's average proficiency rate across its state test results with a prediction based on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility. For University High School, the prediction is 21.2% and the result is 30.5%.
In the wider Essex County area, the median household earns about $80,789 a year, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 39% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 11%. University High School shares Essex County with 248 other public schools.
University High School's nearest public school is Hawthorne Avenue School (about 0.2 miles). There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles. Of the 8 nearby schools with scores, including this one, University High School is 1st on average proficiency.
The school's federal locale classification is City: Large.
Over the 4 years from 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment decreased 12%.
People who know University High School can post here about open houses, carpools, and field trips. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Essex County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
863,002
Census ACS
Median income
$80,789
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
39%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
249
145,473 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Newark Public School District
- East Side High SchoolHigh · 2,046 students
- Barringer High SchoolHigh · 1,894 students
- Ann Street SchoolElementary · 1,294 students
- Lafayette Street SchoolElementary · 1,213 students
- First Avenue SchoolElementary · 1,084 students
- Early Childhood School - NorthElementary · 1,076 students
Other schools in NEWARK
- North Star Academy Charter SchoolCombined · 6,714 students
- TEAM Academy Charter SchoolCombined · 6,406 students
- Great Oaks Legacy Charter SchoolCombined · 2,169 students
- East Side High SchoolHigh · 2,046 students
- Barringer High SchoolHigh · 1,894 students
- Marion P. Thomas Charter SchoolCombined · 1,410 students
Other University High schools
14 other US public schools in 11 states are named University High. University High School is the 11th largest of the 15.
- UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOLORANGE CITY, FL · 2,855 students
- UNIVERSITY HIGHORLANDO, FL · 2,514 students
- University HighIrvine, CA · 2,307 students
- University High SchoolWACO, TX · 1,752 students
- University High SchoolSpokane Valley, WA · 1,410 students
Nearby schools
- Hawthorne Avenue School0.2 mi · 444
- People's Achieve Community Charter School0.4 mi · 796
- Thurgood Marshall Elementary School0.5 mi · 393
- Avon Avenue School0.6 mi · 485
- George Washington Carver Elementary School0.6 mi · 736
- Belmont Runyon Elementary School0.7 mi · 508
Frequently asked questions
About University High SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at University High School?
University High School enrolls approximately 426 students in grades 08-12.
What grades does University High School serve?
University High School serves grades 08-12.
How many students per teacher at University High School?
Approximately 11.8:1 students per teacher at University High School.
What is the student diversity at University High School?
Student demographics at University High School are roughly 1% White, 21% Hispanic, 77% Black, 1% Asian.
Is University High School public or private?
University High School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Newark Public School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.