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Does West Side High School have enough mental health and stress support?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
541
High
DISTRICT 670 · STATE 929
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·NEWARK PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 341134002208
West Side High School
403 South Orange Avenue, Newark, NJ 07103 · (973) 733-7019 · Essex County
GRADES 09–12HIGH11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL541 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 7% of New Jersey public high schools
- FTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
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
12.4:1
44 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.4:1 · STATE 12.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
81%
439 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 | 92 | 17% |
| Grade 10 | 141 | 26% |
| Grade 11 | 151 | 28% |
| Grade 12 | 157 | 29% |
Student demographics
32%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
Test scores
NJSLA 2024-25 . % Meeting or Exceeding ExpectationsEnglish Language Arts
6.7%
NJ avg 53.1% . -6.6pp since 2023
Math
2.9%
NJ avg 41.6% . -0.8pp since 2023
What this means: On the NJSLA, New Jersey's statewide test, about 7 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 3 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 7 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
NJSLA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 6.7% | 2.9% |
| 2023-24 | 13.3% | 3.7% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of NJ schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
5.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
21.8%
based on NJ schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-16.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 6% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 22% typical for New Jersey schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 West Side High School
West Side High School's state test result (5.6% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Side High School this school | 541 | 81.1% | 5.6% |
| University High School NEWARK | 426 | 82.2% | 30.5% |
| Weequahic High School NEWARK | 592 | 70.4% | 6.6% |
| Willingboro High School WILLINGBORO | 845 | 69.0% | 9.1% |
| Newark Sch of Data Science and Information Technology Newark | 414 | 79.5% | 33.3% |
| 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 West Side High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In New Jersey | In Essex County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 5.6% | #389 of 397 | #38 of 39 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 2.9% | #388 of 400 ▼ 14 | #37 of 39 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 6.7% | #387 of 395 ▼ 2 | #37 of 39 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 541 | #314 of 442 | #28 of 42 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.4:1 | #207 of 388 | #17 of 37 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 31.9% | #352 of 389 | #32 of 37 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 81.1% | #24 of 405 | #7 of 40 |
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
541
-79 (-13%) vs 2020
-53% since 1990-91, when it was 1,144
Student : Teacher
12.4:1
was 14.1:1
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 | 541 | 43.5 | 12.4:1 | 81% (439) |
| 2023-24 | 621 | 43.5 | 14.3:1 | 78% (483) |
| 2022-23 | 609 | 46 | 13.2:1 | 77% (467) |
| 2020-21 | 620 | 44 | 14.1:1 | 63% (389) |
| 2010-11 | 965 | 68 | 14.2:1 | 77% (739) |
| 2000-01 | 1,068 | 86 | 12.4:1 | 64% (687) |
| 1990-91 | 1,144 | 99 | 11.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for West Side High School.
About West Side High School
As a small high school, West Side High School serves students in Newark, New Jersey. Students in grades 9 through 12 make up the school's enrollment of 541 students. High schools in New Jersey average about 929 students, which makes this school 42% below average.
West Side High School is part of Newark Public School District, where 65 schools serve 41,502 students.
The share of Black students at West Side High School is 81%. Enrollment also includes 18% Hispanic. The school's Black share is 44 points above the 36% share among Essex County residents. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 32%.
The school lists 43.5 full-time-equivalent teachers and a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.4:1. It is about the same as the 12.7:1 average for high schools in New Jersey. A total of 439 students, or 81%, are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. On average, public schools in Essex County report 54%.
West Side High School earns a D on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 7% of New Jersey public high schools.
Given its lunch-eligibility share, the predicted average proficiency rate across its state test results for West Side High School is 21.8%. It actually posts 5.6%, which is 16.1 points lower and in the bottom 10% of New Jersey schools.
Five-year Census Bureau estimates for Essex County show that the median household earns about $80,789 a year, about 39% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 11% of residents are in poverty. Essex County has 249 public schools with about 145,473 students, including West Side High School.
West Side High School's nearest public school is John F. Kennedy School (about 0.2 miles). In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of West Side High School. By average proficiency, West Side High School is 6th among 7 schools close by.
By NCES locale, the school is City: Large, or inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
A 13% drop took enrollment from 620 in 2020-21 to 541 in 2024-25. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 14.1:1 to 12.4:1.
West Side High School has a community page on allk12 for topics such as pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. 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 West Side High schools
One other US public school is named West Side High. West Side High School is the largest of the 2.
- WEST SIDE HIGH SCHOOLGREERS FERRY, AR · 213 students
Nearby schools
- John F. Kennedy School0.2 mi · 143
- Thirteenth Avenue School0.3 mi · 833
- Michelle Obama Elementary School0.3 mi · 198
- Fourteenth Avenue School0.5 mi · 104
- Harriet Tubman Elementary School0.5 mi · 298
- LEAD Charter School0.6 mi · 333
Frequently asked questions
About West Side High SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at West Side High School?
West Side High School enrolls approximately 541 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does West Side High School serve?
West Side High School serves grades 09-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at West Side High School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at West Side High School is approximately 12.4:1 (44 FTE teachers).
How diverse is West Side High School?
West Side High School reports a student body of 0% White, 18% Hispanic, 81% Black, 0% Asian, 1% Two or more.
Who oversees West Side High School?
West Side High School is overseen by Newark Public School District in Essex County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.