Whitney E. Houston Academy

Whitney E. Houston Academy operates as a mid-sized elementary campus in EAST ORANGE, New Jersey, operated by East Orange School District. Current enrollment sits at 385 students spanning grades pre-K through 8.

Across the 19 schools in East Orange School District (8,348 students total), Whitney E. Houston Academy accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On the student-mix side, Whitney E. Houston Academy lists that nearly all students (82%) are Black. Other groups include 15% Hispanic. The wider county runs roughly 36% Black, putting the school's mix considerably more Black than the area baseline.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 30 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 12.8:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 11.4:1, putting Whitney E. Houston Academy higher than the state norm the norm. Roughly 14% of students at Whitney E. Houston Academy qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Essex County (around 54%), the school's rate is meaningfully below typical.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Whitney E. Houston Academy is in the bottom 10% of New Jersey public schools. The BeatsExpectations model predicts schools with this FRL share to land around 58.5%; Whitney E. Houston Academy posts 27.1%, -31.4 points below that line.

Around the school, Essex County reports that median household income runs about $80,789, roughly 39% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 11%. Whitney E. Houston Academy is one of 249 public schools in Essex County (combined enrollment of about 145,473 students).

The closest other public school is Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. Academy, roughly 0.1 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Whitney E. Houston Academy comes 4th of 8 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 21.1%.

Geographically, the school is in a residential area.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count grew 5%: 365 students in 2018 compared to 385 in 2025. Black enrollment moved from 96% to 82% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio widened from 10.7:1 in 2018 to 12.8:1 today.

On this page, members of the Whitney E. Houston Academy community share and discuss pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.