Summary:
The city of Hackensack, New Jersey has only one middle school, Hackensack Middle School, which serves grades 5-8 with a total enrollment of 1,402 students. The school is part of the Hackensack School District, which is ranked 466 out of 609 districts in New Jersey and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.
Hackensack Middle School is performing significantly below the state averages in academic achievement, with proficiency rates that are 10-20 percentage points lower than the state in most subject areas and grade levels. The school's statewide ranking has declined over the past few years, going from 520 out of 748 New Jersey middle schools in 2022-2023 to 568 out of 752 in 2024-2025, with a 1-star rating. The school has a high chronic absenteeism rate of 14.9% in the 2023-2024 school year, and a high percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch at 54.07% in 2023-2024.
Despite the relatively high per-student spending of $13,905 in the 2018-2019 school year and a low student-teacher ratio of 11.3 to 1 in the 2023-2024 school year, the outcomes at Hackensack Middle School do not seem to be commensurate with the investment. Addressing the root causes of the low performance, such as attendance, resource allocation, and instructional quality, may be crucial for improving outcomes at the school.
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