West Essex High School

West Essex High School operates as a mid-tier senior high in NORTH CALDWELL, New Jersey, operated by West Essex Regional School District. Current enrollment sits at 1,061 students spanning grades 9 through 12.

West Essex Regional School District runs 2 schools in total, collectively educating 1,619 students. West Essex High School is one of those campuses.

For racial and ethnic makeup, West Essex High School reports that 80% of the student body identifies as White. Other groups include 10% Hispanic, 6% Asian, 2% Black. The wider county runs roughly 30% White, putting the school's mix noticeably more White than the area baseline.

Looking at school resources, On paper, West Essex High School has 93 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 11.4:1. The state averages around 12.7:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. An estimated 3% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. By comparison, Essex County runs at roughly 54%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully below the surrounding baseline.

With demographic context factored in, West Essex High School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 64.4%, the actual is 55.8%, a residual of -8.6 points.

Zooming out to the county, census data for Essex County shows the typical household earns roughly $80,789 per year, 39% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. West Essex High School is one of 249 public schools in Essex County (combined enrollment of about 145,473 students).

The closest other public school is West Essex Middle School, roughly 0.2 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts West Essex High School at 3rd of 4; the average score across the group is 58.0%.

The school occupies a bedroom-community site.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at West Essex High School has shrank 4%, going from 1,108 students in 2018 to 1,061 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share decreased from 84% to 80%.

On allk12, members of the West Essex High School community share and discuss open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.