Summary:
Cliffside Park School District includes five schools serving 3,135 students, from elementary through high school: three elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. The clearest concern is at Cliffside Park High School, where 2025–2026 Algebra II proficiency was 20%, compared with 52% statewide on the end-of-course test and 53% in grade 9—gaps of 32 and 33 percentage points.
School #5 leads the elementary schools in shared grade 3 and 4 results and is above the state in all four comparisons; in grade 3, it scored 54% in ELA and 58% in math, versus 47% and 45% at School #3. School #4 is above the state in ELA and math across grades 3–5 and leads the grade 5 science comparison, at 29% versus 24% at the middle school. School #3 is below the state in grade 3 ELA and math; the School #6/Middle School is stronger in ELA, but below the state in math in every tested grade.
Results shifted unevenly over time: School #3’s grade 3 math fell 23 percentage points, while School #4 remained above the state in all six latest grade 3–5 ELA and math results even though each was lower than the prior year. Across 35 matched comparisons, the average school-to-state gap worsened by about 5 points, with improving middle-school ELA and a narrowing high-school NJGPA math gap among the exceptions. SchoolDigger ranks School #5 at the 66th percentile and the high school at the 31st. Ratios range from 10.3 students per teacher at School #5 to 13.9 at the high school. For 2024–2025, free/reduced lunch eligible shares were 75% at School #3, 70% at the high school, 68% at the middle school and 57% at School #4; School #5’s 50% figure is from 2023–2024. These measures offer context, not an explanation for test results.
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