Best Public Schools in Union, NJ

Union, New Jersey, has 11 schools: six elementary, three middle and two high schools, serving students from elementary through high school. The strongest results are concentrated in particular grade spans, and scores vary widely even among schools serving the same grade: in 2025–2026, grade 3 math ranged by 36 points, from 66% at Washington Elementary to 30% at Battle Hill Elementary. That wide school-to-school variation is the most important finding for families comparing options.

Washington Elementary leads the supplied grade 3–4 comparisons: its ELA proficiency was 65% in grade 3 and 55% in grade 4, respectively 17 and 9 points above state results; its math scores were 66% and 64%, both 17 points above the state. Battle Hill Elementary was at the other end, with the lowest grade 3 ELA and math scores and lowest grade 4 math score. In middle school, Kawameeh Middle School led Burnet Middle School in all six grade 6–8 ELA and math results; grade 8 ELA differed by 20 points, 64% to 44%. One exception: Burnet’s grade 8 Algebra I result was 100%, 26 points above the state. Union High School scored below the state in each listed subject and grade, by 5 to 15 points.

Across matched grade and subject results from the two supplied years, the average local gap with the state improved by about 4 points in ELA and 7 points in math, though individual schools and grades moved in different directions. SchoolDigger’s statewide percentile rankings rose for all nine schools with three-year histories, by 2 to 15 points; that improvement does not mean every test score rose. Context figures do not neatly track results: in 2024–2025, free/reduced lunch eligible students were 33% at Washington and 64% at Franklin Elementary, while their reported results differed. Student-teacher ratios were also similar at Kawameeh and Burnet—12.7 and 12.8—despite their score differences. Work Readiness Academy has no test scores in the supplied data.