Summary:
The Classical Academy Charter School of Clifton is the only middle school in this area, serving grades 5–8 and 185 students. In 2025–2026, its equal-grade averages were below New Jersey’s by 14 points in ELA (39% versus 53%), 10 points in mathematics (27% versus 37%), and 9 points in science (14% versus 23%). The most important finding is that these averages hide a sharp grade-level split: seventh grade was above the state in both ELA and math, while fifth grade was far below in both.
Seventh grade stands out as the school’s strongest grade-level result: ELA proficiency was 57% versus 56% statewide, and math was 49% versus 38%, a 10-point advantage. Algebra I was an even stronger result: 77% proficiency compared with 40% statewide on the End of Course measure, a 37-point lead; in the separate eighth-grade comparison, the school was at 77% versus 75%. The clearest weak spot was fifth grade, with ELA at 8% versus 52% statewide, math at 8% versus 46%, and science at 8% versus 27%. Eighth-grade math was also below the state, at 15% versus 23%, while eighth-grade science was slightly above it, at 20% versus 19%.
Results have weakened relative to the state in ELA and math, although science shows a different grade-by-grade pattern. From 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, the school’s four-grade ELA average fell 9 points while the state average fell 3; the school’s math average fell 6 points while the state average rose 1. The science average remained 9 points below the state in both years, as fifth-grade science fell 11 points but eighth-grade science rose 8. SchoolDigger’s rank history puts the school at the 54th percentile in 2025–2026, down from the 62nd percentile in 2023–2024. In 2024–2025, the student-teacher ratio was 18.5, 54% of students were free/reduced lunch eligible, and chronic absenteeism was 8%, compared with 14% statewide.
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