William L Dickinson High School

Summary:

William L Dickinson High School is a public high school in Jersey City, New Jersey, serving 2,024 students in grades 9-12. The school faces significant academic challenges, consistently ranking in the bottom half of New Jersey high schools and earning a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Dickinson High School's academic performance is concerning, with only 29.6% of 9th graders proficient in English Language Arts and just 6.8% proficient in Algebra I, far below state and district averages. The school's four-year graduation rate has also declined, dropping from 78.8% in 2017-2018 to 66.6% in 2021-2022. Racial achievement gaps are a significant issue, with the school ranking much lower for Asian, African American, Hispanic, and White students compared to their peers statewide. Nearby Henry Snyder High School and James J Ferris High School in the Jersey City Public Schools district also struggle academically, while some schools outside the district, like Liberty High School and County Prep High School, demonstrate much stronger performance.

Chronic absenteeism has also been a growing concern at Dickinson High School, rising from 12.6% in 2016-2017 to 21.1% in 2020-2021. With over 59% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, the school serves a predominantly low-income population, which likely contributes to the academic challenges. Addressing the root causes of Dickinson High School's struggles, such as chronic absenteeism, resource inequities, and ineffective instructional practices, will be crucial in improving outcomes for the students.


Detail:

Public 9-12

 2 Palisade Ave
       Jersey City, NJ  07306-1202


(201) 714-4400

District: Jersey City Public Schools

SchoolDigger Rank:
337th of 422 New Jersey High Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $11,534 Help


Student/teacher ratio:  16.2 Help
Number of students:  2,024

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
49.7%
African American:
16.3%
Asian:
16.1%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  59.3% Help


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Performance Trends
Help
Compare Details William L Dickinson High School ranks worse than 79.9% of high schools in New Jersey. It also ranks 6th among 8 ranked high schools in the Jersey City Public Schools District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2023 the calculated Average Standard Score was 18.99. (See more...)
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The four-year cohort graduation rate measures the percentage of students at William L Dickinson High School who earn a standard high school diploma within four years of starting ninth grade.
Help
The high school dropout rate measures the percentage of students who do not complete their high school education.
Help
Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.
Student Body
Help
Compare Details William L Dickinson High School has the largest high school student body size in the Jersey City Public Schools District. Student population at William L Dickinson High School is diverse. Racial makeup is: Hispanic (49.7%), African American (16.3%), Asian (16.1%). (See more...)
Help
Compare Details 59.3% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at William L Dickinson High School is 16.2, which is the highest among 8 high schools in the Jersey City Public Schools District! (See more...)
Help
Compare William L Dickinson High School employs 124.5 full-time teachers.
Finance
Help
Compare Details The average total spent per student at William L Dickinson High School is $11,534. 4 high schools in the Jersey City Public Schools District spend more per student.
Schooldigger 2023 Rankings:

William L Dickinson High School:

SchoolDigger ranks William L Dickinson High School 337th of 422 New Jersey public high schools. (See William L Dickinson High School in the ranking list.)

High School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


English Language Learner students:
Special Education students:
Low Socio Economic Status students:
Female students:
Male students:
Asian students:
African American students:
Hispanic students:
White students:


Jersey City Public Schools:

SchoolDigger ranks Jersey City Public Schools 459th of 615 New Jersey school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Your rating for William L Dickinson High School?

Rank History for William L Dickinson High School

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Rank History for all students at William L Dickinson High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools NJ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2003 9.31 312th 343 9.0%
2004 17.22 305th 348 12.4%
2005 8.81 319th 351 9.1%
2006 14.76 309th 357 13.4%
2007 9.79 326th 361 9.7%
2008 12.54 322nd 359 10.3%
2009 19.69 317th 370 14.3%
2010 16.41 325th 371 12.4%
2011 22.31 316th 378 16.4%
2012 39.05 294th 388 24.2%
2013 18.38 342nd 396 13.6%
2014 29.07 336th 411 18.2%
2015 37.98 223rd 406 45.1%
2016 34.29 259th 409 36.7%
2017 29.38 283rd 411 31.1%
2018 31.34 283rd 415 31.8%
2019 15.61 349th 416 16.1%
2021 14.90 355th 405 12.3%
2022 20.03 333rd 415 19.8%
2023 18.99 337th 422 20.1%
See the entire list of New Jersey High School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at William L Dickinson High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools NJ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 28.04 118th 146 19.2%
2019 27.90 102nd 138 26.1%
2021 33.48 61st 101 39.6%
2022 27.39 109th 137 20.4%
2023 37.85 85th 161 47.2%
See the entire list of Best New Jersey High Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at William L Dickinson High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools NJ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 33.76 223rd 355 37.2%
2019 25.04 266th 349 23.8%
2021 18.87 294th 333 11.7%
2022 23.38 300th 344 12.8%
2023 20.64 294th 339 13.3%
See the entire list of Best New Jersey High Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at William L Dickinson High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools NJ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 45.57 157th 345 54.5%
2019 28.48 253rd 347 27.1%
2021 30.46 250th 326 23.3%
2022 36.24 184th 324 43.2%
2023 34.45 206th 344 40.1%
See the entire list of Best New Jersey High Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at William L Dickinson High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools NJ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 27.76 299th 403 25.8%
2019 15.61 341st 408 16.4%
2021 14.07 365th 402 9.2%
2022 17.94 344th 414 16.9%
2023 13.94 360th 416 13.5%
See the entire list of Best New Jersey High Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Male students at William L Dickinson High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools NJ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 28.58 283rd 405 30.1%
2019 15.91 337th 407 17.2%
2021 17.94 337th 402 16.2%
2022 21.61 301st 410 26.6%
2023 21.90 305th 414 26.3%
See the entire list of Best New Jersey High Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Asian students at William L Dickinson High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools NJ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 9.27 190th 198 4.0%
2019 1.79 190th 191 0.5%
2021 5.89 160th 165 3.0%
2022 12.06 162nd 175 7.4%
2023 4.95 157th 172 8.7%
See the entire list of Best New Jersey High Schools for Asian Students!

Rank History for African American students at William L Dickinson High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools NJ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 42.01 137th 266 48.5%
2019 32.28 167th 254 34.3%
2021 28.22 195th 247 21.1%
2022 27.34 195th 256 23.8%
2023 35.23 145th 250 42.0%
See the entire list of Best New Jersey High Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at William L Dickinson High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools NJ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 32.66 259th 368 29.6%
2019 17.41 325th 364 10.7%
2021 20.95 335th 374 10.4%
2022 25.25 287th 382 24.9%
2023 24.01 301st 385 21.8%
See the entire list of Best New Jersey High Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at William L Dickinson High School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked High Schools NJ State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 23.28 268th 340 21.2%
2019 6.63 323rd 339 4.7%
2021 6.13 332nd 336 1.2%
2022 13.99 306th 335 8.7%
2023 9.25 312th 335 6.9%
See the entire list of Best New Jersey High Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: New Jersey Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

William L Dickinson High School Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 





Data source: New Jersey Department of Education

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 1)
0%

0%

0%

0%

100%

  

Reviews:
by a student
Thursday, April 19, 2018

Open Quote It is the worse school I've ever been, the teachers are okay. Close Quote



Enrollment information for William L Dickinson High School

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Compare
Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1988 606 366 483 1003 0 n/a n/a 0 2458
1989 507 314 503 880 0 n/a n/a 0 2204
1990 435 333 490 939 0 n/a n/a 0 2197
1991 435 337 495 898 0 n/a n/a 0 2165
1992 406 337 537 948 0 n/a n/a 0 2228
1993 397 347 562 1037 0 n/a n/a 0 2343
1994 392 392 591 1104 0 n/a n/a 0 2479
1995 325 400 620 1209 0 n/a n/a 0 2554
1996 325 400 620 1209 0 n/a n/a 0 2554
1998 326 444 568 1221 7 n/a n/a 0 2566
1999 321 458 594 1209 3 n/a n/a 0 2585
2000 290 432 599 1186 6 n/a n/a 0 2513
2001 303 454 639 1196 19 n/a n/a 0 2611
2002 332 509 722 1422 21 n/a n/a 0 3006
2003 332 509 722 1422 21 n/a n/a 0 3006
2004 322 448 746 1514 119 n/a n/a 0 3149
2005 318 493 710 1489 85 n/a n/a 0 3095
2006 323 473 697 1441 57 n/a n/a 0 2991
2007 317 474 680 1409 37 n/a n/a 0 2917
2008 335 440 591 1317 39 n/a n/a 0 2722
2009 315 424 584 1213 38 27 0 0 2601
2010 303 392 526 1077 33 28 0 0 2359
2011 300 409 532 1084 27 25 0 0 2377
2012 324 415 515 1082 29 24 0 0 2389
2013 267 370 457 993 21 18 1 0 2127
2014 277 376 425 1000 30 12 2 0 2122
2015 293 365 436 1052 25 8 6 0 2185
2016 256 323 433 958 15 6 3 0 1994
2017 247 277 414 886 9 6 4 0 1843
2018 245 261 405 846 6 9 8 0 1780
2019 273 273 379 842 5 14 6 0 1792
2020 296 282 363 830 8 25 8 0 1812
2021 301 302 360 874 5 26 10 0 1878
2022 331 346 331 992 2 26 18 0 2046
2023 308 329 326 1006 14 22 19 0 2024

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at William L Dickinson High School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 2458 165.0 14.8 n/a
1989 2204 170.0 12.9 n/a
1990 2197 171.0 12.8 12.2
1991 2165 173.0 12.5 29.1
1992 2228 160.0 13.9 38.9
1993 2343 167.3 14.0 50.9
1994 2479 168.3 14.7 53.7
1995 2554 170.8 15.0 53.6
1996 2554 170.8 15.0 53.6
1998 2566 179.8 14.3 52.5
1999 2585 183.0 14.1 48.7
2000 2513 174.0 14.4 56.4
2001 2611 174.2 15.0 51.6
2002 3006 181.0 16.6 52.6
2003 3006 181.0 16.6 52.6
2004 3149 191.0 16.5 51.9
2005 3095 196.0 15.8 n/a
2006 2991 197.0 15.2 51.2
2007 2917 191.0 15.3 17.8
2008 2722 194.0 14.0 67.2
2009 2601 181.3 11.9 67.4
2010 2359 152.0 15.5 63
2011 2377 151.0 15.7 67.3
2012 2389 201.5 11.8 69.1
2013 2127 176.0 12.0 66.6
2014 2122 164.0 12.9 69.3
2015 2185 172.0 12.7 77.3
2016 1994 163.0 12.2 76.6
2017 1843 152.0 12.1 77.7
2018 1780 140.0 12.7 75.2
2019 1792 138.0 12.9 67.4
2020 1812 133.0 13.6 63.9
2021 1878 131.0 14.3 64
2022 2046 122.6 16.6 66.3
2023 2024 124.5 16.2 59.3

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio William L Dickinson High School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 2458 165.0 14.8 n/a
1989 2204 170.0 12.9 n/a
1990 2197 171.0 12.8 12.2
1991 2165 173.0 12.5 29.1
1992 2228 160.0 13.9 38.9
1993 2343 167.3 14.0 50.9
1994 2479 168.3 14.7 53.7
1995 2554 170.8 15.0 53.6
1996 2554 170.8 15.0 53.6
1998 2566 179.8 14.3 52.5
1999 2585 183.0 14.1 48.7
2000 2513 174.0 14.4 56.4
2001 2611 174.2 15.0 51.6
2002 3006 181.0 16.6 52.6
2003 3006 181.0 16.6 52.6
2004 3149 191.0 16.5 51.9
2005 3095 196.0 15.8 n/a
2006 2991 197.0 15.2 51.2
2007 2917 191.0 15.3 17.8
2008 2722 194.0 14.0 67.2
2009 2601 181.3 11.9 67.4
2010 2359 152.0 15.5 63
2011 2377 151.0 15.7 67.3
2012 2389 201.5 11.8 69.1
2013 2127 176.0 12.0 66.6
2014 2122 164.0 12.9 69.3
2015 2185 172.0 12.7 77.3
2016 1994 163.0 12.2 76.6
2017 1843 152.0 12.1 77.7
2018 1780 140.0 12.7 75.2
2019 1792 138.0 12.9 67.4
2020 1812 133.0 13.6 63.9
2021 1878 131.0 14.3 64
2022 2046 122.6 16.6 66.3
2023 2024 124.5 16.2 59.3

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for William L Dickinson High School

Help

YearExpenditures from Federal FundsExpenditures from State and Local FundsTotal Expenditures Per Pupil (All Funds)
2019 $519 (4.5%) $11,015 (95.5%) $11,534

Data source: New Jersey Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on William L Dickinson High School

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 349th of 416 High schoolsRanks 337th of 422 High schools
 4%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
9th Grade English Language Arts (William L Dickinson High School)27.129.6
 2.5%
   9th Grade English Language Arts (Jersey City Public Schools)40.641.4
 0.8%
   9th Grade English Language Arts (New Jersey)55.952.1
 3.8%
9th Grade Algebra I (William L Dickinson High School)6.66.8
 0.2%
   9th Grade Algebra I (Jersey City Public Schools)11.613.1
 1.5%
   9th Grade Algebra I (New Jersey)27.219.2
 8%
9th Grade Geometry (William L Dickinson High School)9.725
 15.3%
   9th Grade Geometry (Jersey City Public Schools)48.162.6
 14.5%
   9th Grade Geometry (New Jersey)59.150
 9.1%
End of Course Algebra I (William L Dickinson High School)6.46.8
 0.4%
   End of Course Algebra I (Jersey City Public Schools)29.926.9
 3%
   End of Course Algebra I (New Jersey)43.335.1
 8.2%
End of Course Geometry (William L Dickinson High School)5.425
 19.6%
   End of Course Geometry (Jersey City Public Schools)17.660.9
 43.3%
   End of Course Geometry (New Jersey)32.251.2
 19%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students17922024
 12.9%
African American273329
 20.5%
American Indian514
 180%
Asian379326
 14%
Hispanic8421006
 19.5%
Pacific Islander1422
 57.1%
White273308
 12.8%
Two or More Races619
 216.7%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients67.4%59.3%
 8.1%


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Frequently Asked Questions about William L Dickinson High School

William L Dickinson High School ranks in the bottom 20.1% of New Jersey high schools.

In the 2022-23 school year, 2,024 students attended William L Dickinson High School.

Students at William L Dickinson High School are 50% Hispanic, 16% African American, 16% Asian, 15% White, 1% Pacific Islander.


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the New Jersey Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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