West Orange Public Schools

The West Orange Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district serving students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in West Orange in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.[3]

This article is about the school district in New Jersey. For the school district in Texas, see West Orange-Cove Consolidated Independent School District.

West Orange Public Schools
Address
179 Eagle Rock Avenue
West Orange
, Essex County, New Jersey, 07052
United States
Coordinates40.794148°N 74.234557°W / 40.794148; -74.234557
District information
GradesPreK to 12
SuperintendentHayden Moore
Business administratorTonya Flowers
Schools12
Students and staff
Enrollment6,718 (as of 2019–20)[1]
Faculty632.5 FTEs[1]
Student–teacher ratio10.6:1[1]
Other information
District Factor GroupGH
Websitewww.woboe.org
Ind.Per pupilDistrict
spending		Rank
(*)		K-12
average		 %± vs.
average
1ATotal Spending$22,31789$18,89118.1%
1Budgetary Cost16,1888214,7839.5%
2Classroom Instruction10,664968,76321.7%
6Support Services2,011342,392−15.9%
8Administrative Cost1,583721,4856.6%
10Operations & Maintenance1,605491,783−10.0%
13Extracurricular Activities26056268−3.0%
16Median Teacher Salary82,62310064,043
Data from NJDoE 2014 Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending.[2]
*Of K-12 districts with more than 3,500 students. Lowest spending=1; Highest=103

As of the 2019–20 school year, the district, comprised of 12 schools, had an enrollment of 6,718 students and 632.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.6:1.[1]

The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "GH", the third-highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.[4]

Since opening its first school in 1895, the district has expanded to include seven elementary schools, three middle schools and one high school.[5] In the 1990s, the district was ranked among the top 1% of schools in the nation by The Washington Post.

Awards, recognition and rankings

The district was selected as one of the 2023 Best Communities for Music Education in the nation by the National Association of Music Merchants.[6]

During the 2008-09 school year, Hazel Avenue School was recognized with the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education,[7] the highest award an American school can receive.[8][9] In 2022, Redwood Elementary was named as a National Blue Ribbon School, along with eight other schools in the state and 297 schools nationwide.[10] [11]

Schools
Washington Elementary School
Edison Middle School

Schools in the district (with 2019–20 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[12]) are:[13][14]

Early education
  • Betty Maddalena Early Learning Center[15] (with 71 students in PreK)
Elementary schools
  • Gregory Elementary School[16] (454 students; in grades K-5)
    • Makeida Hewitt, principal
  • Hazel Avenue Elementary School[17] (320; K-5)
    • Joel Castillo, principal
  • Kelly Elementary School[18] (455; PreK-5). The school was renamed in May 2016 in honor of Mark and Scott Kelly, identical twins who attended what was then Pleasantdale School starting in second grade before becoming NASA astronauts.[19]
    • David Marion, principal
  • Mount Pleasant Elementary School[20] (353; K-5)
    • Marc Lawrence, principal
  • Redwood Elementary School[21] (509; K-5)
    • Kimya Jackson, principal[22]
  • St. Cloud Elementary School[23] (356; K-5)
    • Eric Price, principal
  • Washington Elementary School[24] (417; K-5)
    • Marie DeMaio, principal
Middle schools
  • Thomas A. Edison Middle School[25] (516; 6)
    • Steven Melendez, principal
  • Liberty Middle School[26] (536; 7-8)
    • Xavier M. Fitzgerald, principal
  • Roosevelt Middle School[27] (487; 7-8)
    • Lionel O. Hush, principal
High School

Defunct school facilities
  • Three schools have occupied the same location on Gaston Street. The first was the original West Orange High School, built in 1898. It burned down in 1913, was rebuilt, and linked by a shared auditorium to Fairmount Avenue Elementary School. In 1912, the elementary school had been built behind the high school with its entrance on Fairmount Avenue. (At that time, Fairmount Avenue ran parallel to Gaston Street but it no longer exists.) In 1922, when a new high school was constructed on Northfield Avenue (now Seton Hall Prep), the old high school was transformed into Gaston Street Junior High School. Fairmount Avenue Elementary School remained the same. In the 1950s, Gaston Street Junior High School closed, and the building was transformed once again and became part of Fairmount Elementary School, and then later into the Board of Education offices. In 1972, Fairmount Elementary School dropped the "Avenue" from its name and it was moved to a new building on the corner of Northfield and Gregory Avenues (now the Golda Och Academy Lower School Campus). The board of education offices remained on Gaston Street and took over both old school buildings. In the late 1970s, both buildings were demolished and the board of education offices were relocated to Eagle Rock Avenue School. The Gaston Street/Fairmount Avenue land parcel became the site of the Fairmount House (now the John P. Renna Jr.) Senior Citizens Housing Complex. A small portion of the land became an extension of the parking lot for the adjacent Town Hall.
  • Eagle Rock Avenue Elementary School – Converted into new Board of Education offices.
  • Fairmount Elementary School – Sold and became Solomon Schechter Day School Lower Campus (Jewish).
  • West Orange High School (Northfield Avenue) – Sold and became Seton Hall Preparatory School (Catholic).
  • West Orange Mountain High School – Built in 1960 as a second high school, located behind Abraham Lincoln Junior High School with its entrance on Conforti Avenue. It became the "new" West Orange High School when the two high schools merged in 1984.
  • Abraham Lincoln Junior High School – On Pleasant Valley Way, it was adjacent and connected to West Orange Mountain High School through a pair of corridor/bridges. The two schools shared an auditorium. Later, when West Orange Mountain High School became the "new" West Orange High, Lincoln was closed and the building absorbed by the "new" high school in order to enlarge it.

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:[29][30]

  • Hayden Moore, superintendent of schools[31]
  • Tonya Flowers, business administrator and board secretary[32]

Board of education

The district's board of education, comprised of five members, sets policy and oversees the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration. As a Type II school district, the board's trustees are elected directly by voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either one or two seats up for election each year held (since 2012) as part of the November general election. The board appoints a superintendent to oversee the district's day-to-day operations and a business administrator to supervise the business functions of the district.[33][34][35]

References
  1. District information for West Orange Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 1, 2021.
  2. Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending April 2013, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 15, 2013.
  3. West Orange Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, West Orange Public Schools. Accessed October 3, 2023. "Purpose: The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades Pre-Kindergarten through twelve in the West Orange School District. Composition: The West Orange School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of West Orange."
  4. NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed October 30, 2014.
  5. About, West Orange Public Schools. Accessed October 28, 2021. "The West Orange Public School District has been educating students since 1895 when the historic Washington Elementary School opened its doors. Today, the district boasts eleven extraordinary schools."
  6. "West Orange School District Receives 2023 Best Communities For Music Education Recognition", West Orange Public Schools. Accessed June 26, 2023. "The West Orange School District has again received recognition as a 2023 Best Communities for Music Education by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM).... This year, Best Communities for Music Education recognized 830 school districts and 78 schools across 43 states for outstanding efforts & support for music education."
  7. U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Schools Program: 2008 Schools, United States Department of Education. Accessed April 5, 2011.
  8. "CIBA cited as one of the best by Education Department", Journal Inquirer, November 16, 2006. "The Blue Ribbon award is given only to schools that reach the top 10 percent of their state's testing scores over several years or show significant gains in student achievement. It is considered the highest honor a school can achieve."
  9. "Viers Mill School Wins Blue Ribbon; School Scored High on Statewide Test", The Washington Post. September 29, 2005. "For their accomplishments, all three schools this month earned the status of Blue Ribbon School, the highest honor the U.S. Education Department can bestow upon a school."
  10. 2022 National Blue Ribbon Schools All Public and Non‐Public Schools, National Blue Ribbon Schools Program. Accessed June 26, 2023.
  11. Redwood Elementary School - West Orange, NJ, National Blue Ribbon Schools Program. Accessed June 26, 2023.
  12. School Data for the West Orange Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 1, 202.
  13. Schools, West Orange Public Schools. Accessed October 3, 2023.
  14. New Jersey School Directory for the West Orange Public Schools, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 29, 2016.
  15. Betty Maddalena Early Learning Center, West Orange Public Schools. Accessed October 28, 2021.
  16. Gregory Elementary School, West Orange Public Schools. Accessed October 28, 2021.
  17. Hazel Avenue Elementary School, West Orange Public Schools. Accessed October 28, 2021.
  18. Kelly Elementary School, West Orange Public Schools. Accessed October 28, 2021.
  19. Pearlman Robert Z. "Kelly Elementary: Astronaut Twins Honored with Grade School Renaming", Space.com, May 19, 2016. Accessed May 20, 2016. "Mark and Scott Kelly, who 44 years ago transferred into the second grade at Pleasantdale Elementary, returned to West Orange, New Jersey for the renaming of their alma mater. Kelly Elementary School was dedicated to the two hometown heroes during an outdoor ceremony held on the front lawn the school with city and school leaders, students and teachers."
  20. Mount Pleasant Elementary School, West Orange Public Schools. Accessed October 28, 2021.
  21. Redwood Elementary School, West Orange Public Schools. Accessed October 28, 2021.
  22. "Redwood Elementary / Homepage". www.woboe.org. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  23. St. Cloud Elementary School, West Orange Public Schools. Accessed October 28, 2021.
  24. Washington Elementary School, West Orange Public Schools. Accessed October 28, 2021.
  25. Thomas A. Edison Middle School, West Orange Public Schools. Accessed October 28, 2021.
  26. Liberty Middle School, West Orange Public Schools. Accessed October 28, 2021.
  27. Roosevelt Middle School, West Orange Public Schools. Accessed October 28, 2021.
  28. West Orange High School, West Orange Public Schools. Accessed October 28, 2021.
  29. Central Office Personnel, West Orange Public Schools. Accessed October 28, 2021.
  30. New Jersey School Directory for Essex County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 29, 2016.
  31. Superintendent, West Orange Public Schools. Accessed October 3, 2023.
  32. Business Office, West Orange Public Schools. Accessed October 3, 2023.
  33. New Jersey Boards of Education by District Election Types - 2018 School Election, New Jersey Department of Education, updated February 16, 2018. Accessed January 26, 2020.
  34. Comprehensive Annual Financial Report of the West Orange School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2020. Accessed October 28, 2021. "The West Orange Board of Education (the 'Board' or the 'District') is an instrumentality of the State of New Jersey, established to function as an education institution. The Board consists of five elected officials and is responsible for the fiscal control of the District. "
  35. Members of the Board, West Orange Public Schools, updated August 29, 2023. Accessed October 3, 2023.
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