Best Public Schools in Scotch Plains, NJ

Summary:

The city of Scotch Plains, New Jersey is home to a diverse array of 15 schools, including 5 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, and 8 high schools. These schools are primarily divided between the Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District and the Union County Vocational-Technical School District, with a few additional schools under the Union County Educational Services Commission.

The standout schools in the area are the specialized high schools in the Union County Vocational-Technical School District, including Union County Technical and Union County Magnet High School, which rank among the top 6 high schools in New Jersey. These schools boast exceptional test scores, with over 90% of students proficient in English Language Arts and Mathematics, as well as 100% four-year graduation rates and 0% dropout rates. The Academy for Allied Health Sciences and Academy for Information Technology are also top performers, ranking 1st and 17th in the state, respectively.

Within the Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District, the J. Ackerman Coles Elementary School stands out as the highest-ranked elementary school, ranking 134th out of 1,342 elementary schools in New Jersey. The district's schools generally perform above the state average in English Language Arts and Mathematics, with several schools having over 70% of students proficient. The high schools in the district, such as Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, have maintained strong rankings, though with some slight declines in recent years.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2023)				Ranking (2022)				NJSLA-S Science (2023)			NJSLA English Language Arts (2023)							NJSLA Mathematics (2023)						NJSLA Algebra I (2023)			NJSLA Geometry (2023)		NJSLA Algebra II (2023)		Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2023)	Statewide Rank (2023)	State Percentile (2023)	SchoolDigger Rating (2023)	Average Standard Score (2022)	Statewide Rank (2022)	State Percentile (2022)	Rank Change from Previous Year	NJSLA-S Science 5th Grade	NJSLA-S Science 8th Grade	NJSLA-S Science 11th Grade	NJSLA English Language Arts 3rd Grade	NJSLA English Language Arts 4th Grade	NJSLA English Language Arts 5th Grade	NJSLA English Language Arts 6th Grade	NJSLA English Language Arts 7th Grade	NJSLA English Language Arts 8th Grade	NJSLA English Language Arts 9th Grade	NJSLA Mathematics 3rd Grade	NJSLA Mathematics 4th Grade	NJSLA Mathematics 5th Grade	NJSLA Mathematics 6th Grade	NJSLA Mathematics 7th Grade	NJSLA Mathematics 8th Grade	NJSLA Algebra I 8th Grade	NJSLA Algebra I 9th Grade	NJSLA Algebra I End of Course	NJSLA Geometry 9th Grade	NJSLA Geometry End of Course	NJSLA Algebra II 9th Grade	NJSLA Algebra II End of Course	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Union Regional School	Public, Alternative	2-12	1524 Terrill Road	Scotch Plains	07076	Union County	Office Of Education Department Of Children And Families	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(908) 322-1641	0				0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School	Public	9-12	667 Westfield Road	Scotch Plains	07076	Union County	Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(908) 889-8600	1,510	116	13.0	3.7%	927 (61.4%)	126 (8.3%)	248 (16.4%)	134 (8.9%)	3 (0.2%)	3 (0.2%)	67 (4.4%)	57.5	127^th of 422 public high schools	69.9%		65.8	84^th of 415 public high schools	79.8%	43			58.1							61.8								9.6	9.6	44.8	44.8			$9,238	$37	$9,201
Malcolm E Nettingham Middle School	Public	5-8	580 Park Avenue	Scotch Plains	07076	Union County	Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(908) 322-4445	917	81	11.3	5.2%	528 (57.6%)	79 (8.6%)	160 (17.4%)	101 (11.0%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	47 (5.1%)	71.3	187^th of 748 public middle schools	75.0%		72.6	173^rd of 745 public middle schools	76.8%	14	33.8	27.2				70.0	66.1	68.2	74.9				58.6	38.0	55.9	8.3	61.4		61.4					$8,253	$52	$8,201
Terrill Middle School	Public	5-8	1301 Terrill Road	Scotch Plains	07076	Union County	Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(908) 322-5215	837	71	11.7	1.4%	533 (63.7%)	42 (5.0%)	99 (11.8%)	111 (13.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (6.2%)	75	160^th of 748 public middle schools	78.6%		72.6	172^nd of 745 public middle schools	76.9%	12	39.4	28.2				61.2	56.8	68.4	75.3				65.1	58.1	64.9	0.0	63.6		63.6					$9,029	$03	$9,026
School One Elementary	Public	PK, KG-4	563 Willow Avenue	Scotch Plains	07076	Union County	Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(908) 322-7731	406	31	13.2	5.9%	226 (55.7%)	33 (8.1%)	81 (20.0%)	45 (11.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (5.2%)	71.5	406^th of 1342 public elementary schools	69.7%		81.8	256^th of 1345 public elementary schools	81.0%	150				52.3	65.8						59.1	58.5												$8,863	$53	$8,810
Howard B. Brunner Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-4	721 Westfield Road	Scotch Plains	07076	Union County	Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(908) 889-2148	425	35	12.2	3.8%	229 (53.9%)	40 (9.4%)	70 (16.5%)	56 (13.2%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	27 (6.4%)	85.7	193^rd of 1342 public elementary schools	85.6%		79.7	292^nd of 1345 public elementary schools	78.3%	99				65.3	69.1						77.8	72.6												$8,968	$35	$8,933
J. Ackerman Coles Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-4	16 Kevin Road	Scotch Plains	07076	Union County	Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(908) 757-7555	535	39	13.5	1.5%	349 (65.2%)	28 (5.2%)	61 (11.4%)	70 (13.1%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	24 (4.5%)	89	134^th of 1342 public elementary schools	90.0%		90.9	114^th of 1345 public elementary schools	91.5%	20				72.3	75.3						75.2	73.2												$7,390	$09	$7,381
Evergreen Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-4	2280 Evergreen Avenue	Scotch Plains	07076	Union County	Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(908) 889-5331	405	33	12.1	1.5%	247 (61.0%)	27 (6.7%)	54 (13.3%)	51 (12.6%)	2 (0.5%)	2 (0.5%)	22 (5.4%)	87	170^th of 1342 public elementary schools	87.3%		84.9	209^th of 1345 public elementary schools	84.5%	39				61.2	77.4						75.0	75.0												$9,438	$41	$9,397
William J. McGinn Elementary School	Public	K-4	1100 Roosevelt Avenue	Scotch Plains	07076	Union County	Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(908) 233-7950	527	40	13.1	0.6%	359 (68.1%)	14 (2.7%)	67 (12.7%)	58 (11.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (5.3%)	86.9	172^nd of 1342 public elementary schools	87.2%		78.8	307^th of 1345 public elementary schools	77.2%	135				60.4	75.0						76.3	77.7												$8,178	$04	$8,174
Hillcrest Academy-North	Public	9-12	2630 Plainfield Avenue	Scotch Plains	07076	Union County	Union County Educational Services Commission	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(908) 233-9366	81	9	9.5	80.2%	1 (1.2%)	14 (17.3%)	65 (80.2%)	1 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)																								$40,949		$40,949
Union County Magnet High School	Public	9-12	1776 Raritan Road	Scotch Plains	07076	Union County	Union County Vocational-Technical School District	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(908) 889-8288	303	16	19.0	10.2%	85 (28.1%)	20 (6.6%)	73 (24.1%)	115 (38.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (3.0%)	95.9	5^th of 422 public high schools	98.8%		96.4	4^th of 415 public high schools	99.0%	1			98.7							98.7								100.0	100.0	93.7	93.7	100.0	100.0	$8,753	$36	$8,717
Academy For Allied Health Sciences	Public	9-12	1776 Raritan Road	Scotch Plains	07076	Union County	Union County Vocational-Technical School District	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(908) 889-8288	303	16	18.4	10.9%	102 (33.7%)	37 (12.2%)	66 (21.8%)	91 (30.0%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	5 (1.7%)	97.1	1^st of 422 public high schools	99.8%		95.9	5^th of 415 public high schools	98.8%	4			95.7							98.8								93.3	93.3	97.0	97.0			$8,221	$35	$8,186
Academy For Performing Arts	Public	9-12	1776 Raritan Road	Scotch Plains	07076	Union County	Union County Vocational-Technical School District	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(908) 889-8288	231	13	18.2	4.8%	96 (41.6%)	42 (18.2%)	70 (30.3%)	8 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	9 (3.9%)	79.9	45^th of 422 public high schools	89.3%		91.5	16^th of 415 public high schools	96.1%	29			54.6							94.9								26.3	26.3					$11,042	$46	$10,996
Union County Career & Technical Institute	Public	9-12	1776 Raritan Road	Scotch Plains	07076	Union County	Union County Vocational-Technical School District	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(908) 889-8288	17	20	.8	17.6%	5 (29.4%)	6 (35.3%)	4 (23.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (11.8%)								(n/a)																								$8,313	$972	$7,341
Union County Technical	Public	9-12	1776 Raritan Rd	Scotch Plains	07076	Union County	Union County Vocational-Technical School District	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(908) 889-8288	511	24	21.3	12.3%	198 (38.7%)	90 (17.6%)	151 (29.5%)	50 (9.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	20 (3.9%)	94.9	6^th of 422 public high schools	98.6%		86	29^th of 415 public high schools	93.0%	23			78.6							94.1								75.6	75.6	90.7	90.7			$6,462	$23	$6,439
Academy For Information Technology	Public	9-12	1776 Raritan Road	Scotch Plains	07076	Union County	Union County Vocational-Technical School District	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(908) 889-8288	297	16	18.2	9.1%	100 (33.7%)	34 (11.4%)	57 (19.2%)	97 (32.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	6 (2.0%)	90	17^th of 422 public high schools	96.0%		94.6	10^th of 415 public high schools	97.6%	7			90.5							98.6								100.0	100.0	64.5	64.5			$8,671	$36	$8,635

Cities Near Scotch Plains

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Plainfield	1.22 mi	21	471^st
Edison	1.68 mi	20	147^th
Westfield	2.06 mi	15	42^nd
South Plainfield	2.33 mi	8	300^th
Clark	2.51 mi	5	220^th

See the top NJ New Jersey cities

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.