Trenton Public Schools


The Trenton Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district, serving students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Trenton, in Mercer County, 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 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.
As of the 2023–24 school year, the district, comprised of 25 schools, had an enrollment of 15,459 students and 976.4 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 15.8:1. The district was the sixth-largest in the state in 2025.

History

In the 1944 case Hedgepeth and Williams v. Board of Education, where two Black students were not permitted to attend their nearest junior high school that was only open to white students, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation was outlawed by the New Jersey State Constitution and that it was unlawful for schools to segregate or refuse admission to students on the basis of race.
The district had been 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.

Awards and recognition

Washington Elementary School was recognized by Governor Jim McGreevey in 2003 as one of 25 schools selected statewide for the First Annual Governor's School of Excellence award.

Schools

Schools in the district are:
;Preschool
  • Early Childhood Learning Center
;Elementary schools
  • Cadwalader Elementary School
  • Dr. Crosby Copeland Elementary School
  • Benjamin Franklin Elementary School
  • Benjamin C. Gregory Elementary School
  • William Harrison Elementary School
  • Patton J. Hill Elementary School
  • Darlene C. McKnight Elementary School
  • Gershom Mott Elementary School
  • Luis Muñoz-Rivera Elementary School
  • Carroll Robbins Elementary School
  • Paul Robeson Elementary School
  • Joseph Stokes Elementary School
  • George Washington Elementary School
;Intermediate schools
;Middle schools
;High schools

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:

Board of education

The district's board of education is comprised of nine members who set policy and oversee 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 three seats up for election each year held as part of the April school 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.
The Trenton Public Schools had been a Type I school district, a system under which the board's seven trustees were 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, Trenton was one of about a dozen districts with appointed school boards. This was the case until the passage of a November 2022 referendum, which changed the district to a Type II district with nine elected members.