Best Public Schools in Orange, NJ

Summary:

The city of Orange, New Jersey is home to 11 schools, including 8 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 1 high school, all part of the Orange Board of Education district. The district is ranked 488 out of 609 school districts in New Jersey and is rated 1 out of 5 stars by SchoolDigger.

Among the standout schools in the district, Heywood Avenue Elementary School has the highest performance on standardized tests, with proficiency rates above the district and state averages in both English Language Arts and Mathematics. Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation, a middle school, also stands out with the highest performance on Algebra I and Geometry tests, with proficiency rates well above the district and state averages. Additionally, Forest Street Community Elementary School has the second-highest performance on standardized tests among the elementary schools.

However, the data also reveals significant disparities in academic performance across the district, with some schools struggling with very low proficiency rates. The district as a whole faces challenges, including a high chronic absenteeism rate of 14.9%, which is significantly higher than the state average, and wide funding discrepancies, with spending per student ranging from $8,884 to $46,744. Addressing these issues will be crucial for the Orange Board of Education to improve student outcomes and provide quality education to all students in the city.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				NJGPA English Language Arts (2025)	NJGPA Mathematics (2025)	NJSLA-S Science (2025)			NJSLA English Language Arts (2025)							NJSLA Mathematics (2025)						NJSLA Algebra I (2025)				NJSLA Geometry (2025)		Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	NJGPA English Language Arts 11th Grade	NJGPA Mathematics 11th Grade	NJSLA-S Science 5th Grade	NJSLA-S Science 8th Grade	NJSLA-S Science 11th Grade	NJSLA English Language Arts 3rd Grade	NJSLA English Language Arts 4th Grade	NJSLA English Language Arts 5th Grade	NJSLA English Language Arts 6th Grade	NJSLA English Language Arts 7th Grade	NJSLA English Language Arts 8th Grade	NJSLA English Language Arts 9th Grade	NJSLA Mathematics 3rd Grade	NJSLA Mathematics 4th Grade	NJSLA Mathematics 5th Grade	NJSLA Mathematics 6th Grade	NJSLA Mathematics 7th Grade	NJSLA Mathematics 8th Grade	NJSLA Algebra I 8th Grade	NJSLA Algebra I 9th Grade	NJSLA Algebra I 10th Grade	NJSLA Algebra I End of Course	NJSLA Geometry 9th Grade	NJSLA Geometry End of Course	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Orange High School	Public	9-12	400 Lincoln Ave	Orange	07050	Essex County	ORANGE BOARD OF EDUCATION School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 677-4050	1,368	86	16.0	64.8%	2 (0.1%)	661 (48.3%)	697 (51.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (0.5%)	14	398^th of 434 public high schools	8.3%		13.9	387^th of 429 public high schools	9.8%	11	60.8	30.6			7.5							23.6								14.6	9.1	14.2	31.3	29.4	$11,681	$190	$11,491
Cleveland Street Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-7	355 Cleveland St	Orange	07050	Essex County	ORANGE BOARD OF EDUCATION School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 677-4100	255	31	8.2	75.3%	0 (0.0%)	127 (49.8%)	126 (49.4%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	20.6	1090^th of 1347 public elementary schools	19.1%		14.1	1164^th of 1338 public elementary schools	13.0%	74			0.0			44.8	32.4	26.9	48.8	50.0			13.3	21.0	18.5	21.4	32.4								$11,904	$437	$11,467
Forest Street Community Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-7	651 Forest St	Orange	07050	Essex County	ORANGE BOARD OF EDUCATION School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 677-4120	384	33	11.8	70.1%	2 (0.5%)	175 (45.6%)	198 (51.6%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.8%)	27.6	986^th of 1347 public elementary schools	26.8%		28.3	964^th of 1338 public elementary schools	28.0%	22			8.4			26.1	56.5	48.6	51.0	62.8			17.4	36.7	20.0	16.0	40.5								$9,797	$522	$9,275
Heywood Avenue Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-7	421 Heywood Ave	Orange	07050	Essex County	ORANGE BOARD OF EDUCATION School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 677-4105	363	31	11.7	58.1%	3 (0.8%)	279 (76.9%)	66 (18.2%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (3.3%)	30.8	943^rd of 1347 public elementary schools	30.0%		35.4	863^rd of 1338 public elementary schools	35.5%	80			26.5			32.5	42.6	45.5	45.4	63.9			34.2	29.2	29.4	29.5	41.1								$11,274	$312	$10,962
Lincoln Avenue Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-7	216 Lincoln Ave	Orange	07050	Essex County	ORANGE BOARD OF EDUCATION School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 677-4130	728	63	11.5	71.8%	7 (1.0%)	323 (44.4%)	386 (53.0%)	4 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	6 (0.8%)	15.1	1174^th of 1347 public elementary schools	12.8%		15.6	1136^th of 1338 public elementary schools	15.1%	38			6.4			16.7	27.9	29.0	41.7	52.5			23.6	19.8	9.6	27.8	17.9								$9,475	$416	$9,059
Oakwood Avenue Community School	Public	PK, KG-7	135 Oakwood Ave	Orange	07050	Essex County	ORANGE BOARD OF EDUCATION School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 677-4095	272	28	9.7	75.0%	2 (0.7%)	175 (64.3%)	89 (32.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.2%)	12.7	1206^th of 1347 public elementary schools	10.5%		12.8	1188^th of 1338 public elementary schools	11.2%	18			5.0			22.7	27.2	25.0	45.8	41.4			8.3	12.5	5.0	16.7	23.3								$10,552	$432	$10,120
Orange Preparatory Academy School of Inquiry and Innovation	Public	8	400 Central Ave	Orange	07050	Essex County	ORANGE BOARD OF EDUCATION School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 677-4135	397	48	8.2	65.7%	1 (0.3%)	187 (47.1%)	207 (52.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	26.8	541^st of 752 public middle schools	28.1%		29.7	512^th of 743 public middle schools	31.1%	29				4.9							45.1							12.3	96.6			96.6			$12,917	$383	$12,534
Park Avenue Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	231 Park Ave	Orange	07050	Essex County	ORANGE BOARD OF EDUCATION School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 677-4124	423	34	12.6	65.2%	1 (0.2%)	223 (52.7%)	193 (45.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	5 (1.2%)	14.4	1185^th of 1347 public elementary schools	12.0%		19.1	1088^th of 1338 public elementary schools	18.7%	97			6.3			23.5	39.2	14.2	30.1	25.5			19.6	32.7	12.2	14.5	9.8								$11,933	$426	$11,507
Central Elementary School	Public	K-2	33 Cleveland Street	Orange	07050	Essex County	ORANGE BOARD OF EDUCATION School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 677-4000	369	27	13.9	86.7%	2 (0.5%)	91 (24.7%)	275 (74.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)
Rosa Parks Community School	Public	3-7	369 Main Street	Orange	07050	Essex County	ORANGE BOARD OF EDUCATION School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 677-4515	593	52	11.3	84.1%	2 (0.3%)	178 (30.0%)	402 (67.8%)	4 (0.7%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.7%)	39.5	444^th of 752 public middle schools	41.0%		27.9	525^th of 743 public middle schools	29.3%	81			17.8			28.6	34.3	46.0	49.5	48.2			22.3	29.8	36.3	26.8	35.9								$8,884	$492	$8,392

Cities Near Orange

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
West Orange	0.62 mi	13	206^th
East Orange	0.9 mi	21	455^th
South Orange	1.33 mi	5	103^rd
Newark	1.93 mi	88	459^th
Bloomfield	2.07 mi	11	290^th

See the top NJ New Jersey cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the New Jersey Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.