Middle Schools in Freehold Township School District

The two middle schools in Freehold Township School District serve grades 6–8 and enroll similar numbers of students: 582 at Dwight D. Eisenhower School and 574 at Clifton T. Barkalow School. In 2025–2026, both schools were above state results in every reported ELA, math, Algebra I, and grade 8 science comparison. Their clearest advantage was Algebra I: end-of-course proficiency was 92% at Eisenhower and 97% at Barkalow, compared with 40% statewide; the most important takeaway is that both schools outperformed the state across all these reported comparisons.

Barkalow had the stronger overall profile, leading in seven of the nine comparable results: it was ahead in ELA grades 6 and 8, math grades 6 and 8, both Algebra I measures, and grade 8 science. Its three-grade averages were 69% in ELA and 54% in math, versus 67% and 50% at Eisenhower. Eisenhower’s notable strength was grade 7, where it led Barkalow by 11 percentage points in ELA and 9 points in math. Grade 8 math was the lowest math result at both schools—35% at Eisenhower and 45% at Barkalow—though both were above the state’s 23%.

Results changed unevenly from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026: both schools improved in grade 8 math and both Algebra I measures, while ELA fell in four of the six school-grade comparisons. Across the schools, average ELA proficiency declined from 70% to 68%, but the advantage over the state widened from 13 to 15 percentage points; the math average rose from 49% to 52%, widening its state advantage from 16 to 18 points. SchoolDigger ranks Barkalow 117th of 743 schools (84th percentile) and Eisenhower 155th (79th percentile). As context, in 2024–2025, 16% of Eisenhower students and 15% of Barkalow students were free/reduced lunch eligible; student-teacher ratios were 8.5 and 8.2, respectively. These figures describe the schools but do not explain their results.