Union City School District (New Jersey)

For other uses, see Union City School District.

Union City School District is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in Union City, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The district is one of 31 former Abbott districts statewide that were established pursuant to the decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court in Abbott v. Burke,^[3] which are now referred to as "SDA Districts" based on the requirement for the state to cover all costs for school building and renovation projects in these districts under the supervision of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority.^[4][5]

Union City School District
The Union City Board of Education building
Address
3912 Bergen Turnpike Union City , Hudson County, New Jersey, 07087 United States
Coordinates	40.778268°N 74.031458°W / 40.778268; -74.031458
District information
Grades	PreK-12
Superintendent	Silvia Abbato
Business administrator	Anthony N. Dragona (Business Administrator) Justin Mercado (Board Secretary)
Schools	14
Affiliation(s)	Former Abbott district
Students and staff
Enrollment	12,848 (as of 2022–23)[1]
Faculty	858.0 FTEs[1]
Student–teacher ratio	15.0:1[1]
Other information
District Factor Group	A
Website	www.ucboe.us
Ind. Per pupil District spending Rank (*) K-12 average  %± vs. average 1A Total Spending $20,546 82 $18,891 8.8% 1 Budgetary Cost 17,075 90 14,783 15.5% 2 Classroom Instruction 8,555 45 8,763 −2.4% 6 Support Services 3,349 97 2,392 40.0% 8 Administrative Cost 1,404 44 1,485 −5.5% 10 Operations & Maintenance 3,293 103 1,783 84.7% 13 Extracurricular Activities 112 5 268 −58.2% 16 Median Teacher Salary 64,900 51 64,043 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 2022–23 school year, the district, comprised of 14 schools, had an enrollment of 12,848 students and 858.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 15.0:1.^[1]

The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "A", the lowest 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.^[6]

History

The city's single public high school, Union City High School, opened September 3, 2009,^[7] and was built on the site of the former Roosevelt Stadium.^[8] The $178 million school, whose signature feature is an athletic field on its second-floor roof, replaced the former Emerson High School and Union Hill High School, which were then converted to middle schools.^[9]

In conjunction with the Schools Development Authority, the district is constructing a new $93.7 million middle school for grades seven through nine that is expected to open for the 2025–26 school year, and will accommodate as many as 900 students in a six-story building covering {{Convert}132000|sqft}}.^[10]

Awards and recognition

Woodrow Wilson School was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive, during the 2004–05 school year.^[11] The Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence was awarded again to Woodrow Wilson for the 2014–15 school year.^[12][13]

Schools

Union City High School

Schools in the district (with 2022–23 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics^[14]) are:^{[15][16][17][18]}

Preschool

• Eugenio Maria de Hostos Center for Early Childhood Education^[19] (279; grades PreK-K)

Elementary schools

• Thomas A. Edison Elementary School^[20] (839; PreK–6)
• Sara Gilmore Academy School^[21] (390; 1–8)
• Henry Hudson Elementary School^[22] (295; PreK–3)
• Jefferson Elementary School^[23] (302; PreK–4)
• Colin Powell Elementary School^[24] (721; K–5)^[25]
• Theodore Roosevelt School^[26] (919; K–6)
• Veteran's Memorial Elementary School^[27] (551; PreK–5)
• George Washington Elementary School^[28] (779; PreK–6)
• Robert Waters Elementary School^[29] (976; PreK–6)

Middle schools

• Emerson Middle School^[30] (1,001; 6–8)
• Union Hill Middle School^[31] (849; 7–8)

High school

• José Martí STEM Academy^[32] (664; 9–12)
• Union City High School^[33] (3,025; 9–12)

Adult education

• Union City Adult Learning Center^[34]

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:^[35][36]

• Silvia Abbato, superintendent^[37]
• Anthony N. Dragona, business administrator^[38]
• Justin Mercado, board secretary^[39]

Board of education

The district's board of education is comprised of seven members who set policy and oversee the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration. As a Type I school district, the board's trustees are appointed by the mayor to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either two or three members up for reappointment each year. Of the more than 600 school districts statewide, Union City is one of approximately 12 districts with appointed school boards. 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.^{[40][41][42][43]}