Summary:
Passaic has 16 schools—9 elementary, 3 middle, 3 high schools and 1 alternative school—with reported test results spanning grades 3 through 11. Results vary sharply from school to school: in 2025–2026, grade 7 proficiency ranged by 71 percentage points in ELA and 74 points in math. The most important finding for families is that a citywide picture hides very different results at individual schools.
Passaic Gifted and Talented Academy School No. 20 led the reported schools in grades 3 and 6: 69% were proficient in grade 3 ELA and 66% in math, while grade 6 results were 71% in ELA and 46% in math. Passaic Academy for Science and Engineering led grade 7 with 80% proficient in ELA and 78% in math—24 and 40 points above state rates—and had 52% proficiency in grade 11 science, compared with 29% statewide. At the other end, William B. Cruise Memorial School No. 11 had 9% grade 7 ELA and 4% math proficiency; Passaic High School No. 12 had 10% grade 9 ELA and 16% grade 11 math, well below state rates of 51% and 61%.
Grade 6 averages across the same 11 schools fell between the two reported years: ELA declined from 44% to 34%, widening the gap below the state from 12 to 17 points; math went from 19% to 17%, with its state gap widening from 21 to 24 points. There are exceptions: Passaic Preparatory Academy grade 11 math rose from 60% to 76%. SchoolDigger ranked Gifted and Talented in the 61st statewide percentile in 2025–2026, down from the 66th the prior year; Science and Engineering moved from the 66th to the 57th. For income context, Passaic Arts and Science Charter School reported 68% free/reduced lunch eligible in 2024–2025, while Mario Drago School No. 3 reported 98%; other schools reported Community Eligibility, meaning all students receive free meals, with no percentage. Results are not reported for every school and grade, and the figures do not explain why results differ.
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