South Orange-Maplewood School District

The South Orange-Maplewood School District in New Jersey consists of 10 schools, including 7 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 1 high school. The district serves a diverse community and has a mix of high-performing and more variable-performing schools, with some standout schools like Tuscan Elementary School and Marshall Elementary School ranking among the top elementary schools in the state.

The district's only high school, Columbia High School, stands out with a strong 91.3% four-year graduation rate and solid performance on state assessments, particularly in English Language Arts. However, the district faces some challenges, including high chronic absenteeism rates across all schools and variability in math performance, especially at the middle school level.

While the district generally outperforms the state average on assessments, there are equity concerns, as the percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch and the spending per student vary widely across the schools. This suggests that some schools may be serving more economically disadvantaged populations than others. Overall, the South Orange-Maplewood School District has a mix of high-performing and more variable-performing schools, and addressing equity and chronic absenteeism may be areas for the district to focus on improving.