NEWBURGH FREE ACADEMY

NEWBURGH FREE ACADEMY is a high school of large scale in NEWBURGH, New York, part of NEWBURGH CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT, instructing 3,550 students in grades 9 through 12. By comparison, New York's public schools average about 668 students each, so NEWBURGH FREE ACADEMY sits 431% above that benchmark.

Within NEWBURGH CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT, which oversees 12 schools and 10,762 students, NEWBURGH FREE ACADEMY is one campus in the system.

On demographics, NEWBURGH FREE ACADEMY records that Hispanic students make up the majority at 60%. Beyond that, the school logs 20% Black, 13% White, 4% multiracial, 2% Asian. That is considerably more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 24%.

On the income-and-resources front, NEWBURGH FREE ACADEMY reports 256 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 13.9:1. The state averages around 11.0:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Around 50% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), NEWBURGH FREE ACADEMY tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 56.7% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 45.0%.

Across the wider county, census data for Orange County shows the typical household earns roughly $97,178 per year, 33% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 9% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Orange County runs 82 public schools (combined enrollment of about 57,122 students), of which NEWBURGH FREE ACADEMY is one.

The closest other public school is GIDNEY AVENUE MEMORIAL SCHOOL, roughly 0.3 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts NEWBURGH FREE ACADEMY at 4th of 9; the average score across the group is 36.4%.

NEWBURGH FREE ACADEMY operates from a city-core location.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at NEWBURGH FREE ACADEMY has rose 10%, going from 3,217 students in 2018 to 3,550 in 2025. The Hispanic share of enrollment expanded from 48% to 60% over that span. Class-load math has loosened: from 12.6:1 in 2018 to 13.9:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, posts here usually surface around fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.