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Louise A. Spencer Elementary School

Public Grades PK, KG-8
1217th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 1,331 New Jersey Elementary Schools
Better than 9% of New Jersey elementary schools
Summary

Louise A. Spencer Elementary School serves pre-K through grade 8 and enrolls 774 students in Newark, in the Newark Public School District. Its results have a striking contrast: Algebra I proficiency is high, but results in the standard tested subjects are generally far below state averages. Across tested grades, average proficiency was 24% in ELA, 16% in math and 4% in science, compared with 51%, 40% and 23% statewide. The most important concern is that standard academic results remain weak, especially in math, while chronic absenteeism is unusually high.

Algebra I is a clear bright spot: 83% were proficient on the end-of-course measure, compared with 25% in the district and 40% statewide; only Oliver Street School had a higher visible nearby result. This strength does not extend to standard math: Spencer was below the district in every tested grade, and grade 8 math proficiency was just 7%, versus 14% in the district and 23% statewide. Grade 5 ELA was a relative bright spot, at 26%, slightly above the district’s 25% but well below the state’s 52%. Absenteeism was 26% in 2024–25—the highest reported nearby rate, compared with 21% at Link Community Charter School—and above the district’s 10% and state’s 14%.

Recent trends are mixed: from 2022–23 to 2025–26, the average ELA result slipped from 24% to 24% (a drop of 1 point before rounding), while math rose from 12% to 16%, a gain of 5 points that still leaves a large state gap. In 2025–26, SchoolDigger ranked Spencer at the 9th percentile statewide and gave it 0 stars; the district ranked at the 10th percentile with 1 star. Spencer’s student–teacher ratio was relatively low among nearby schools at 12.6 in 2024–25, while 86% of students were free/reduced lunch eligible that year. SchoolDigger’s English Language Learner Students ranking was notably stronger than the overall ranking: the school was at the 39th percentile, versus the 9th overall. Its African American Students ranking fell sharply, from the 57th percentile in 2024–25 to the 20th in 2025–26.

774
Students ?
12.6
Student/teacher ratio ?
$21,501
Per pupil spending ?
86.2%
Free/reduced lunch eligible (2024-25) ?
 66 Muhammad Ali Avenue
       Newark, NJ  07108-2914

(973) 733-6931

District: Newark Public School District


Students who attend Louise A. Spencer Elementary School usually attend:

High:    Barringer High School
    Central High School
    East Side High School
    Malcolm X Shabazz High School
    More...
Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
64.7%
African American:
32.4%
White:
1.3%
more
 See top rated New Jersey elementary schools

 Compare Louise A. Spencer Elementary School to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
▲ Ranking trend: Improving — 1st percentile in 2016 → 9th in 2026
Strengths
✓Ranking is trending up — up 8 percentile points since 2016
Worth a look
!Test scores below the New Jersey average (19% vs 43% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (9th percentile)
!High chronic absenteeism (26% vs 14% New Jersey)
Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?
This school19%
District avg24%
New Jersey avg43%
Elementary school
1,217th of 1,331
New Jersey public elementary schools ?
Bottom 9%▲ up 8 pts since 2016
From bottom 1% (2016) to bottom 9% (2026)
See the entire ranking list of New Jersey Elementary Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
Middle school
641st of 743
New Jersey public middle schools ?
Bottom 14%▲ up 13 pts since 2016
From bottom 1% (2016) to bottom 14% (2026)
See the entire ranking list of New Jersey Middle Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
26th of 42Elementary Schools in the Newark Public School District
547th of 607Newark Public School District 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)
Elementary school ranking
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNew Jersey percentileRating
202611.51217 of 13318.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202518.11128 of 134716.3%★☆☆☆☆
202416.01130 of 133815.5%★☆☆☆☆
202312.31201 of 134210.5%★☆☆☆☆
202210.11241 of 13457.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20217.41266 of 13173.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20194.31320 of 13602.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20185.01306 of 13533.5%☆☆☆☆☆
20176.81276 of 13525.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20162.71338 of 13460.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20154.61322 of 13572.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20140.51361 of 13630.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20130.61363 of 13670.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20120.51357 of 13630.4%☆☆☆☆☆
201115.71195 of 136012.1%★☆☆☆☆
20102.71321 of 13542.4%☆☆☆☆☆
20093.01308 of 13462.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20084.11283 of 13384.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20073.01292 of 13292.8%☆☆☆☆☆
200614.51160 of 131411.7%★☆☆☆☆
20053.51249 of 13034.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20047.11199 of 12987.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20034.21125 of 12046.6%☆☆☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNew Jersey percentileRating
202626.6349 of 43419.6%★☆☆☆☆
202551.2197 of 46357.5%★★★☆☆
202437.6297 of 46936.7%★★☆☆☆
202331.7332 of 46328.3%★☆☆☆☆
202231.2360 of 49427.1%★☆☆☆☆
202128.9356 of 45621.9%★☆☆☆☆
201918.8470 of 52210.0%★☆☆☆☆
201819.2419 of 51719.0%★☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNew Jersey percentileRating
202635.2356 of 58138.7%★★☆☆☆
202540.4318 of 59746.7%★★☆☆☆
202440.2290 of 55948.1%★★☆☆☆
202333.6317 of 49936.5%★★☆☆☆
202228.7351 of 48928.2%★☆☆☆☆
202124.0350 of 41114.8%★☆☆☆☆
201920.0385 of 46316.8%★☆☆☆☆
201828.2319 of 43426.5%★☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNew Jersey percentileRating
202612.41187 of 13119.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202518.01083 of 132618.3%★☆☆☆☆
202416.31098 of 131716.6%★☆☆☆☆
202314.51131 of 131814.2%★☆☆☆☆
202211.61182 of 132610.9%★☆☆☆☆
20218.41239 of 12904.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20195.81264 of 13315.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20185.61272 of 13334.6%☆☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNew Jersey percentileRating
202625.7808 of 99118.5%★☆☆☆☆
202531.9707 of 103231.5%★★☆☆☆
202429.0715 of 98927.7%★☆☆☆☆
202324.9750 of 98223.6%★☆☆☆☆
202219.1792 of 95316.9%★☆☆☆☆
202115.9852 of 8964.9%☆☆☆☆☆
201911.0798 of 89911.2%★☆☆☆☆
201816.5738 of 87015.2%★☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNew Jersey percentileRating
202624.5844 of 100215.8%★☆☆☆☆
202534.6731 of 102328.5%★☆☆☆☆
202434.2617 of 93934.3%★★☆☆☆
202329.9643 of 91029.3%★☆☆☆☆
202222.2685 of 86320.6%★☆☆☆☆
201912.5802 of 94815.4%★☆☆☆☆
201815.1879 of 9426.7%☆☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNew Jersey percentileRating
202613.51169 of 130610.5%★☆☆☆☆
202521.81037 of 131821.3%★☆☆☆☆
202417.71070 of 131318.5%★☆☆☆☆
202312.11166 of 131511.3%★☆☆☆☆
202211.11194 of 13249.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20217.81232 of 12975.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20194.01289 of 13353.4%☆☆☆☆☆
20186.31263 of 13345.3%☆☆☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNew Jersey percentileRating
202512.6971 of 10235.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202317.3812 of 95815.2%★☆☆☆☆
202221.2746 of 94921.4%★☆☆☆☆
20198.4975 of 10073.2%☆☆☆☆☆
201827.2686 of 100131.5%★★☆☆☆
Middle school ranking
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNew Jersey percentileRating
202615.3641 of 74313.7%★☆☆☆☆
202522.9573 of 75223.8%★☆☆☆☆
202423.7559 of 74324.8%★☆☆☆☆
202315.5644 of 74813.9%★☆☆☆☆
202215.5643 of 74513.7%★☆☆☆☆
20219.9618 of 6525.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20197.3703 of 7455.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20186.2688 of 7163.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20178.3664 of 7126.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20164.2709 of 7130.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20154.1704 of 7131.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20140.2716 of 7170.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20131.8686 of 7042.6%☆☆☆☆☆
201215.2581 of 67714.2%★☆☆☆☆
201119.0574 of 68416.1%★☆☆☆☆
20101.4669 of 6771.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20092.5645 of 6642.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20084.6608 of 6405.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20078.5569 of 6319.8%☆☆☆☆☆
200631.4474 of 61522.9%★☆☆☆☆
20052.8567 of 5995.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20042.3558 of 5885.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20030.7570 of 5740.7%☆☆☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNew Jersey percentileRating
202638.0204 of 33138.4%★★☆☆☆
202526.9272 of 35924.2%★☆☆☆☆
202458.0110 of 35268.8%★★★☆☆
202343.2185 of 36148.8%★★☆☆☆
202236.7225 of 35636.8%★★☆☆☆
202129.7215 of 29126.1%★☆☆☆☆
201920.0288 of 32611.7%★☆☆☆☆
201816.1284 of 32612.9%★☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNew Jersey percentileRating
202636.9209 of 33637.8%★★☆☆☆
202553.4121 of 34364.7%★★★☆☆
202445.3137 of 32057.2%★★★☆☆
202336.0180 of 28837.5%★★☆☆☆
202242.8134 of 27050.4%★★★☆☆
202125.6170 of 19713.7%★☆☆☆☆
201929.6159 of 22730.0%★★☆☆☆
201828.7143 of 20229.2%★☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNew Jersey percentileRating
202613.7644 of 71610.1%★☆☆☆☆
202522.0574 of 72821.2%★☆☆☆☆
202424.7537 of 71725.1%★☆☆☆☆
202315.6623 of 72013.5%★☆☆☆☆
202216.5623 of 72614.2%★☆☆☆☆
202110.3594 of 6255.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20198.0657 of 7036.5%☆☆☆☆☆
20186.5650 of 6804.4%☆☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNew Jersey percentileRating
202619.8515 of 58912.6%★☆☆☆☆
202537.6371 of 60839.0%★★☆☆☆
202427.8447 of 58924.1%★☆☆☆☆
202320.5499 of 58715.0%★☆☆☆☆
202216.6537 of 5919.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202115.8456 of 4805.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201914.5473 of 5249.7%☆☆☆☆☆
201810.8475 of 5045.8%☆☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNew Jersey percentileRating
202624.7497 of 59015.8%★☆☆☆☆
202540.5357 of 61341.8%★★☆☆☆
202447.6274 of 58453.1%★★★☆☆
202330.9394 of 56830.6%★★☆☆☆
202231.7376 of 54931.5%★★☆☆☆
201916.5455 of 54115.9%★☆☆☆☆
201810.0467 of 52210.5%★☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNew Jersey percentileRating
202616.7616 of 71413.7%★☆☆☆☆
202526.3529 of 72627.1%★☆☆☆☆
202424.5540 of 71924.9%★☆☆☆☆
202317.8598 of 71816.7%★☆☆☆☆
202217.1614 of 73015.9%★☆☆☆☆
202111.9584 of 6358.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20197.7668 of 6974.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20187.5644 of 6754.6%☆☆☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankNew Jersey percentileRating
202543.2250 of 50750.7%★★★☆☆
202221.2480 of 53510.3%★☆☆☆☆
201819.5421 of 47110.6%★☆☆☆☆
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)
Elementary school
English Language Learner (2026)39th percentile+30 vs school
African American (2026)20th percentile+11 vs school
Hispanic (2026)18th percentile+10 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2026)16th percentile+7 vs school
Male (2026)10th percentile~ school
Female (2026)9th percentile~ school
Special Education (2025)5th percentile-11 vs school
Middle school
Special Education (2025)51st percentile+27 vs school
African American (2026)38th percentile+25 vs school
English Language Learner (2026)38th percentile+24 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2026)16th percentile~ school
Male (2026)14th percentile~ school
Hispanic (2026)13th percentile~ school
Female (2026)10th percentile-4 vs school
By subject vs New Jersey (2025-2026) ?
Algebra I83%+36 vs state
English Language Arts24%-27 vs state
Mathematics16%-25 vs state
Science4%-19 vs state

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Frequently Asked Questions about Louise A. Spencer Elementary School

Louise A. Spencer Elementary School ranks in the bottom 8.6% of New Jersey elementary schools.

Students at Louise A. Spencer Elementary School are 65% Hispanic, 32% African American, 1% White.

In the 2024-25 school year, 774 students attended Louise A. Spencer Elementary School.

Rate Louise A. Spencer Elementary School!



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Latest New Jersey data All new data »
2025–26 NJGPA, NJSLA & NJSLA-S test scoresNewNov 4, 2026
2019–20 through 2024–25 school spending dataOct 6, 2026
2024–25 attendance data, dropout rates & graduation ratesJun 13, 2026
2024–25 NJGPA, NJSLA & NJSLA-S test scoresDec 3, 2025


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.

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