ORANGE BOARD OF EDUCATION School District

The ORANGE BOARD OF EDUCATION School District consists of 12 schools, including 8 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 2 high schools, serving students in the Orange, New Jersey area. The district as a whole is ranked 488 out of 609 in New Jersey and is rated 1 star out of 5 by SchoolDigger, indicating significant challenges and room for improvement.

Within the district, a few schools stand out. The STEM Innovation Academy of the Oranges is the highest performing high school, ranked 15th out of 429 New Jersey high schools and rated 5 stars out of 5. It boasts strong academic performance, with 90.7% of 9th graders proficient or better in English Language Arts and 62.9% proficient or better in Geometry. In contrast, many other schools in the district struggle, with proficiency rates well below the state average. Another relatively high-performing school is Heywood Avenue Elementary School, which ranks 943 out of 1,347 New Jersey elementary schools and is rated 2 stars out of 5.

The data also reveals significant disparities within the district. Several schools have very high free/reduced lunch rates, indicating high levels of economic disadvantage, and there is a wide range in per-student spending, from $8,884 at Rosa Parks Community School to $46,744 at Orange Early Childhood Center. Additionally, the district as a whole struggles with a high chronic absenteeism rate of 14.9%, which likely contributes to the overall low performance. While the challenges are significant, the success of the STEM Innovation Academy of the Oranges demonstrates that with the right resources and strategies, schools in the district can achieve strong academic outcomes.