Summary
Willard Elementary School is a top-performing public elementary school in Ridgewood, New Jersey, serving students from kindergarten to 5th grade as part of the Ridgewood Public School District. The school has consistently been ranked among the best in the state, with a 5-star rating from SchoolDigger and a statewide ranking between 30th and 104th out of over 1,300 schools in recent years.
Willard Elementary School's academic performance is exceptional, with students consistently outperforming the state averages in the NJSLA (New Jersey Student Learning Assessment) for English Language Arts and Mathematics across all grade levels. In the 2024-2025 school year, Willard's 5th-grade students achieved 88.4% proficiency in ELA and 79.3% in Mathematics, significantly higher than the state averages of 52.7% and 44.2%, respectively. The school's performance is also strong compared to the Ridgewood Public School District, with Willard often matching or exceeding the district's scores. Additionally, Willard has demonstrated exceptional performance across different student subgroups, including female, male, Asian, and white students.
Willard Elementary School's success is further highlighted by its low chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 3.6% to 16.6% in recent years, which are lower than the state average. The school also has a relatively low student-teacher ratio, ranging from 13.3 to 13.7 in recent years, which may contribute to its strong academic outcomes. Interestingly, Willard's spending per student ($9,772 in 2018-2019) is lower than the spending at some of the nearby schools, such as Godwin Elementary ($15,611) and Highland Elementary ($16,024), yet it maintains exceptional academic performance.
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