GhostOfRobertTreat OP t1_ja382po wrote on February 26, 2023 at 2:50 PM

Reply to comment by ahtasva in What’s your relationship to Newark? by GhostOfRobertTreat

Some of the district schools are good and there are lots of good charters. We’re in the process of picking a school for our child now.

ahtasva t1_ja8i622 wrote on February 27, 2023 at 5:07 PM

Wish I shared your optimism. We are in the ironbound now. Pre-school is good and o am told so is our zoned elementary, but beyond that; the stats look dismal to me. Numbers don’t lie. Low Reading and math attainment at grade level combined with high absenteeism is not a winning formula. Haven’t looked at charters so maybe that is an option.

GhostOfRobertTreat OP t1_ja919wa wrote on February 27, 2023 at 7:07 PM

I get it. The first thing is that you don’t need to send your kid to the “zoned” district school for your address. You can apply to any school in the city. To get an idea of the basic test scores for each district and charter you can start here: https://www.myschoolsnewark.org/

The state also has more comprehensive reports on each school relating to absenteeism, demographics, all kinds of stuff. Google NJ DOE school reports.

There are different applications though which is super annoying. The district schools have their own. Most of the charters have a common app but a bunch have their own individual lottery. We applied to seven schools through four applications and the drawings are at different times. It’s maddening.

If you’re in Ironbound, I would strongly consider The Gray as it’s just across 21. It’s likely where we’re sending our kid since they’re pretty deep on the wait list for Robert Treat which would be much more convenient for us. There’s also another Robert Treat campus in downtown that I know people like.