Summary:
Ridgewood, New Jersey, has nine schools serving students from elementary through high school: six elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school. In 2025–2026, elementary results were well above state averages: schools averaged 80% in ELA and 85% in math, compared with 49% and 47% statewide. High school results were also strong in several tested areas, including 75% in ninth-grade ELA and 68% in science, versus 51% and 29% statewide. The clearest caution is eighth-grade math, where the two middle schools averaged 19% proficient, below the state’s 23%.
Orchard Elementary led the elementary schools, with an 85% average across six ELA and math results and 69% in fifth-grade science. Somerville Elementary was close behind at 84%, including 84% in fourth-grade ELA and 88% in fourth-grade math. Hawes Elementary had the lowest six-result average, 80%—five points below Orchard—and its fourth-grade ELA score was 62%, compared with 46% statewide. Middle-school results varied sharply: eighth-grade math was 7% at George Washington Middle School and 30% at Benjamin Franklin Middle School. At Ridgewood High School, strong ELA, science and NJGPA math results contrast with 21% proficiency in Algebra I, below the state’s 40%.
Recent changes reinforce that results differ by grade and subject: elementary ELA and math averages were nearly flat overall, but fifth-grade math rose 8 percentage points while fourth-grade ELA fell 11. At the high school, ninth-grade ELA rose 9 points and science rose 8, while Algebra I fell 48 points. SchoolDigger ranks Orchard 23rd of 1,331 New Jersey elementary schools and Hawes 80th; the middle schools rank 47th and 64th of 743, and the high school ranks 89th of 434. Reported student-teacher ratios range from 10.9 to 13.0 among elementary and middle schools. For 2024–2025, free/reduced lunch eligible shares range from 1% at Willard Elementary to 5% at Orchard; these are contextual figures from a different school year, not explanations of scores.
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