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Louise A. Spencer Elementary School

Public Grades PK, KG-8
1128th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 1,347 New Jersey Elementary Schools
Better than 16% of New Jersey elementary schools
Summary

Louise A. Spencer Elementary School is a public elementary school serving grades PK-8 in Newark, NJ, with 835 students. The school is part of the Newark Public School District, which is ranked 534 out of 609 districts in New Jersey and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Despite having a relatively low student-teacher ratio of around 12-14 students per teacher, Louise A. Spencer Elementary consistently ranks in the bottom 15-20% of New Jersey elementary schools, with a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger. The school's proficiency rates on the NJSLA assessments are significantly below the state and district averages across all grades and subjects, with less than 50% of students meeting or exceeding expectations in English Language Arts and less than 25% in Mathematics. Additionally, the school has had chronic absenteeism rates ranging from 11.5% to 27.3% over the past few years, which are much higher than the state and district averages.

Interestingly, the nearby schools in the Newark Public School District show a wide range of academic performance, with some schools (e.g., South Street Elementary, Oliver Street School) performing significantly better than Louise A. Spencer Elementary, while others (e.g., Grover Cleveland Elementary, Quitman Street School) are also struggling. The high percentage of economically disadvantaged students at Louise A. Spencer Elementary, with over 75% qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, may be contributing to the school's challenges.

774
Students ?
12.6
Student/teacher ratio ?
$12,119
Per pupil spending ?
86.2%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 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 — 3rd percentile in 2015 → 16th in 2025
Strengths
Ranking is trending up — up 13 percentile points since 2015
Worth a look
!Test scores below the New Jersey average (34% vs 44% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (16th percentile)
!High chronic absenteeism (27% vs 15% New Jersey)
Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?
This school34%
District avg24%
New Jersey avg44%
Elementary school
1,128th of 1,347
New Jersey public elementary schools ?
Bottom 16%▲ up 14 pts since 2015
From bottom 3% (2015) to bottom 16% (2025)
See the entire ranking list of New Jersey Elementary Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
Middle school
573rd of 752
New Jersey public middle schools ?
Bottom 24%▲ up 23 pts since 2015
From bottom 1% (2015) to bottom 24% (2025)
See the entire ranking list of New Jersey Middle Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
16th of 38Elementary Schools in the Newark Public School District
534th of 609Newark 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
African American (2025)57th percentile+41 vs school
English Language Learner (2025)47th percentile+30 vs school
Hispanic (2025)31st percentile+15 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)29th percentile+12 vs school
Male (2025)21st percentile+5 vs school
Female (2025)18th percentile~ school
Special Education (2025)5th percentile-11 vs school
Middle school
English Language Learner (2025)65th percentile+41 vs school
Special Education (2025)51st percentile+27 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)42nd percentile+18 vs school
Hispanic (2025)39th percentile+15 vs school
Male (2025)27th percentile+3 vs school
African American (2025)24th percentile~ school
Female (2025)21st percentile-3 vs school
By subject vs New Jersey (2024-2025) ?
Science71%+46 vs state
English Language Arts37%-17 vs state
Mathematics18%-23 vs state

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Frequently Asked Questions about Louise A. Spencer Elementary School

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.

Louise A. Spencer Elementary School ranks in the bottom 16.3% of New Jersey elementary schools.


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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.





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