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LEAD Charter School

Public, Charter Grades 9-12

395^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 434 New Jersey High Schools

Better than 9% of New Jersey high schools

Summary

LEAD Charter School is a public charter high school located in Newark, New Jersey, serving grades 9-12 with a total enrollment of 280 students. The school is part of the LEAD Charter School District, which is ranked 592 out of 609 districts in New Jersey and has a 0-star rating from SchoolDigger.

LEAD Charter School consistently ranks in the bottom quartile of LEAD Charter School's academic performance, with only 6.7% of students proficient or better in Algebra I, compared to the state average of 38.2%. The school's graduation rate is on par with nearby public high schools, but its dropout rate is significantly higher, ranging from 1.0% to 32.4% in recent years. Additionally, LEAD Charter School has a much higher chronic absenteeism rate, ranging from 14.9% to 71.4%, compared to the 14.9% rate at the nearby public high schools.

Interestingly, the nearby public high schools, such as West Side High School, Central High School, and American History High School, generally perform better than LEAD Charter School on state assessments, graduation rates, and other key metrics, despite serving a higher percentage of low-income students. Addressing the high rates of chronic absenteeism and dropout at LEAD Charter School could be a key focus area for the school to improve overall academic outcomes.

333

Students ?

66.6

Student/teacher ratio ?

$7,324

Per pupil spending ?

65.5%

Free/discounted lunch ?

201 Bergen Street
Newark, NJ 07103-2402

(862) 772-1724

District: LEAD Charter School

Racial breakdown:

African American:

85.3%

Hispanic:

5.7%

White:

5.4%

See top rated New Jersey high schools

Compare LEAD Charter School to nearby high schools!

At a glance

▬ Ranking trend: Holding steady — 5th percentile in 2019 → 9th in 2025

Worth a look

!Test scores below the New Jersey average (44% vs 50% meeting standards)

!In the lower quartile statewide (9th percentile)

!Graduation rate below the New Jersey average (32% vs 91%)

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school44%

District avg44%

New Jersey avg50%

395^th of 434

New Jersey public high schools ?

Bottom 9%▲ up 4 pts since 2019

From bottom 5% (2019) to bottom 9% (2025)

See the entire ranking list of New Jersey High Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

592^nd of 609LEAD Charter School among New Jersey districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	New Jersey percentile	Rating
2025	14.3	395 of 434	9.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	18.4	366 of 429	14.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	13.1	376 of 422	10.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	8.7	397 of 416	4.6%	☆☆☆☆☆

African American

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	New Jersey percentile	Rating
2025	31.7	207 of 283	26.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	38.4	162 of 282	42.6%	★★☆☆☆
2023	24.5	198 of 250	20.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	11.7	254 of 254	0.0%	☆☆☆☆☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	New Jersey percentile	Rating
2025	26.5	334 of 426	21.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	30.8	312 of 420	25.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	9.3	394 of 416	5.3%	☆☆☆☆☆
2019	4.2	403 of 408	1.2%	☆☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	New Jersey percentile	Rating
2019	14.1	322 of 347	7.2%	☆☆☆☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	New Jersey percentile	Rating
2025	9.1	400 of 426	6.1%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	34.2	277 of 419	33.9%	★★☆☆☆
2023	13.0	362 of 414	12.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	4.7	406 of 407	0.2%	☆☆☆☆☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

African American (2025)27th percentile+18 vs school

Female (2025)22nd percentile+13 vs school

Low Socio Economic Status (2019)7th percentile+3 vs school

Male (2025)6th percentile-3 vs school

By subject vs New Jersey (2024-2025) ?

English Language Arts61%-20 vs state

Science7%-24 vs state

Algebra I7%-32 vs state

★

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Schools Near LEAD Charter School

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 8th Grade	NJSLA-S Science 11th Grade	NJSLA English Language Arts 7th Grade	NJSLA English Language Arts 8th Grade	NJSLA English Language Arts 9th Grade	NJSLA Mathematics 7th Grade	NJSLA Algebra I 8th Grade	NJSLA Algebra I 9th 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
LEAD Charter School	Public, Charter	9-12	201 Bergen Street	Newark	07103	Essex County	LEAD Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(862) 772-1724	333	5	66.6	65.5%	18 (5.4%)	284 (85.3%)	19 (5.7%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (3.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	14.3	395^th of 434 public high schools	9.0%		18.4	366^th of 429 public high schools	14.7%	29	60.7			7.4							6.7			$7,324	$814	$6,510
Bard Early College High School	Public	9-12	321 Bergen Street	Newark	07103	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 733-8363	395	32	12.5	62.5%	2 (0.5%)	257 (65.1%)	124 (31.4%)	4 (1.0%)	2 (0.5%)	3 (0.8%)	3 (0.8%)	57.6	158^th of 434 public high schools	63.6%		44.8	230^th of 429 public high schools	46.4%	72		84.9		23.1			58.9			44.0	44.0	7.7	7.7	$10,089	$279	$9,810
Newark Vocational High School	Public	9-12	301 West Kinney St	Newark	07103	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 733-7308	591	59	10.0	86.6%	11 (1.9%)	257 (43.5%)	308 (52.1%)	3 (0.5%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.4%)	18.7	368^th of 434 public high schools	15.2%		12.9	393^rd of 429 public high schools	8.4%	25	67.7	25.5		8.1			41.3			5.6	5.6
John F. Kennedy School	Public	9-12	311 S Tenth St	Newark	07103	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 733-6788	143	22	6.5	79.0%	1 (0.7%)	81 (56.6%)	58 (40.6%)	2 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)														$34,476	$428	$34,048
Science Park High School	Public	7-12	260 Norfolk Street	Newark	07102	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 733-8689	964	68	14.2	68.0%	83 (8.6%)	332 (34.4%)	502 (52.1%)	27 (2.8%)	3 (0.3%)	5 (0.5%)	12 (1.2%)	87.4	20^th of 434 public high schools	95.4%		82.8	46^th of 429 public high schools	89.3%	26			56.8	73.8	88.2	92.2	98.1	86.2	92.2	85.8	88.0	68.2	68.2	$11,449	$497	$10,952
West Side High School	Public	9-12	403 South Orange Avenue	Newark	07103	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 733-7019	541	44	12.4	81.1%	2 (0.4%)	436 (80.6%)	96 (17.7%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.7%)	15.2	387^th of 434 public high schools	10.8%		9.7	411^th of 429 public high schools	4.2%	24	73.8	17.9		3.8			6.7			2.9	2.9			$14,251	$797	$13,454
Central High School	Public	9-12	250 18th Avenue	Newark	07103	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 733-6378	1,051	78	13.5	74.5%	8 (0.8%)	554 (52.7%)	465 (44.2%)	8 (0.8%)	3 (0.3%)	4 (0.4%)	9 (0.9%)	8.5	423^rd of 434 public high schools	2.5%		8.6	413^th of 429 public high schools	3.7%	10	55.2	14.8		5.9			11.6			3.3	3.3			$16,638	$864	$15,774
Essex County Newark Technical	Public	9-12	91 West Market St	Newark	07103	Essex County	Essex County Schools of Technology	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 412-2204	606	56	10.8	86.1%	9 (1.5%)	238 (39.3%)	347 (57.3%)	4 (0.7%)	3 (0.5%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	44.6	237^th of 434 public high schools	45.4%		42.8	240^th of 429 public high schools	44.1%	3		76.4		9.1			55.9			26.6	26.6	25.8	23.7	$7,912	$961	$6,951
Essex Rch	Public	8-12	461 463 Central Avenue	Newark	07107	Essex County	Office Of Education Juvenile Justice Commission	No	(n/a)	No	No	(973) 648-7078	0				0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
American History High School	Public	9-12	74 Montgomery St	Newark	07103	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 733-7333	386	35	11.0	78.5%	5 (1.3%)	197 (51.0%)	174 (45.1%)	4 (1.0%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.0%)	14.6	391^st of 434 public high schools	9.9%		15.9	379^th of 429 public high schools	11.7%	12	70.1	28.6		2.6			16.3			4.7	4.7			$11,890	$624	$11,266

Frequently Asked Questions about LEAD Charter School

How many students attend LEAD Charter School?

In the 2024-25 school year, 333 students attended LEAD Charter School.

What is the racial makeup of LEAD Charter School?

Students at LEAD Charter School are 85% African American, 6% Hispanic, 5% White, 3% American Indian.

Is LEAD Charter School a good school?

LEAD Charter School ranks in the bottom 9.0% of New Jersey high schools.

What district is LEAD Charter School in?

LEAD Charter School

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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.