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.
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.
Since opening its first school in 1895, the district has expanded to include seven elementary schools, three middle schools and one high school. 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.
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, the highest award an American school can receive. In 2022, Redwood Elementary was named as a National Blue Ribbon School, along with eight other schools in the state and 297 schools nationwide.
Betty Maddalena Early Learning Center (with 71 students in PreK)
Elementary schools
Gregory Elementary School (454 students; in grades K-5)
Makeida Hewitt, principal
Hazel Avenue Elementary School (320; K-5)
Joel Castillo, principal
Kelly Elementary School (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.
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.
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:
Hayden Moore, superintendent of schools
Tonya Flowers, business administrator and board secretary
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.
^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."
^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."
^"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."
^"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."
^"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."
^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."
^Annual Comprehensive 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. "
^Members of the Board, West Orange Public Schools, updated August 29, 2023. Accessed October 3, 2023.
