Graduation Rates Up For Newark Public Schools, Absenteeism Down

NEWARK, NJ — The Newark Public School District is seeing improvements in both graduation rates and student absenteeism, administrators say.

There was a record-high graduation rate of 92 percent during 2026, district officials reported.

The rate represents a 16-percentage-point increase from the district’s 76 percent graduation rate in 2018, and builds on the 90 percent graduation rate achieved in 2025.

Four high schools achieved 100 percent graduation rates in 2026:

• Bard High School Early College - Newark
• Newark School of Data Science & Information Technology
• Newark School of Fashion & Design
• Science Park High School

“Every percentage point represents more young people graduating from high school with greater opportunities ahead of them,” Board of Education President Hasani Council said.

“The board is tremendously proud of our students and grateful to the teachers, principals, families and staff members whose dedication has made these achievements possible,” Council added.

ABSENT STUDENTS

Chronic absenteeism among students has been a long-running concern in the district. However, progress continues to be made, administrators said.

The Newark Public School District reduced its chronic absenteeism rate to 8.5 percent during the 2025-26 school year, nearly two percentage points below the previous year’s rate of 10.4 percent.

According to administrators, the improvement occurred across every school category:

• Elementary schools declined from 8.8 percent to 7 percent
• High schools declined from 14.1 percent to 10.8 percent
• Specialized schools declined from 14.4 percent to 13.6 percent

The district’s average daily attendance also increased to 95.6 percent, compared with 95.1 percent the previous year and 94.8 percent two years earlier. Average daily attendance rose across elementary, high and specialized schools, and every district school recorded a rate above 90 percent.

Here are some of the methods that are being used to beef up attendance numbers in Newark:

• Daily attendance monitoring and school-level data reports
• Targeted outreach to students approaching the chronic absenteeism threshold
• Direct communication with students and families
• Case management
• Strategic deployment of attendance counselors
• School-based activities designed to encourage attendance before holidays, on early-dismissal days and on the last day of school
• More accurate attendance coding for students participating in district-sponsored programs, college visits, conferences, debates and other educational activities
• Learning best practices by networking with other districts across the country

Administrators noted that the district has aligned its chronic absenteeism analysis with the methodology used by the New Jersey Department of Education. A student is considered “chronically absent” after missing 10 percent or more of the school year. In New Jersey, that threshold is 18 absences.

“This continued progress reflects the relentless work of our principals, teachers, attendance counselors, truancy task force, and support staff, who understand that every day in school matters,” Superintendent Roger León said.

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