Best Middle Schools in New Jersey

A teacher high-fives a student in a classroom.

Find the best New Jersey middle schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish New Jersey test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the NJSLA-S and NJSLA test scores by the New Jersey Department of Education. The most recent update was on Wednesday, December 3, 2025.

Be the first to know when we post new test scores and rankings!

School														Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (2025 vs 2024)					ID
Rank (of 752)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Rank (2024)	Rank Change from 2024	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	ID
721	Chaplain Charles Watters School	Public	PK, KG-8	220 Virginia Ave	Jersey City	07304	Hudson County	Jersey City Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 915-6510	586	52	11.3	83.8%	87 (14.8%)	245 (41.8%)	183 (31.2%)	46 (7.8%)	2 (0.3%)	4 (0.7%)	19 (3.2%)	$11,181			$395			$10,786	9.2	9.4	713	8		340783002808
722	Dr Martin Luther King Junior School Complex	Public	PK, KG-8	1700 Marmora Avenue	Atlantic City	08401	Atlantic County	Atlantic City School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 343-7380	544	53	10.3	91.0%	4 (0.7%)	362 (66.5%)	155 (28.5%)	8 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (2.8%)	$13,546			$1,934			$11,612	9.1	16.6	635	87		340096000032
723	Rafael Hernandez School	Public	PK, KG-8	345 Broadway	Newark	07104	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 481-5004	713	44	16.2	82.9%	22 (3.1%)	107 (15.0%)	575 (80.6%)	4 (0.6%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.4%)	$8,503			$721			$7,782	9.1	18.1	621	102		341134000091
724	Martin Center for the Arts	Public	PK, KG-8	59 Wilkinson Ave	Jersey City	07305	Hudson County	Jersey City Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 915-6590	359	34	10.5	84.4%	13 (3.6%)	217 (60.4%)	116 (32.3%)	5 (1.4%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	6 (1.7%)	$12,741			$620			$12,121	9	10.3	702	22		340783002838
725	Lincoln Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	87 Richelieu Ter	Newark	07106	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 374-2290	420	29	14.4	79.3%	0 (0.0%)	308 (73.3%)	99 (23.6%)	6 (1.4%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.2%)	$10,024			$340			$9,684	8.9	13.5	673	52		341134002302
726	Cherry Street School	Public	K-8	11 Cherry Street	Bridgeton	08302	Cumberland County	Bridgeton City School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(856) 455-8030	522	44	12	96.7%	2 (0.4%)	184 (35.2%)	309 (59.2%)	5 (1.0%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (3.6%)	$11,205			$889			$10,316	8.8	7.7	730	4		340225001790
727	Senator Frank Lautenberg School	Public	K-8	137 Carroll Street	Paterson	07501	Passaic County	Paterson Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 321-0060	605	36	16.8	70.2%	8 (1.3%)	208 (34.4%)	384 (63.5%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$8,560						$8,560	8.7	8.6	723	4		341269004884
728	Quitman Street School	Public	PK, KG-8	21 Quitman St	Newark	07103	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 733-6947	706	43	16.4	84.4%	15 (2.1%)	383 (54.2%)	284 (40.2%)	3 (0.4%)	4 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	16 (2.3%)	$12,167			$889			$11,278	8.5	11.2	697	31		341134002334
729	President Barack Obama Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	1830 Kennedy Blvd	Jersey City	07305	Hudson County	Jersey City Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 915-6550	425	35	12.1	84.0%	28 (6.6%)	238 (56.0%)	118 (27.8%)	30 (7.1%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.4%)	5 (1.2%)	$15,299			$629			$14,670	8.4	9.5	710	19		340783002824
730	West Avenue School	Public	K-8	51 North West Avenue	Bridgeton	08302	Cumberland County	Bridgeton City School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(856) 455-8030	528	56	9.4	93.2%	23 (4.4%)	140 (26.5%)	354 (67.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	10 (1.9%)	$12,057			$733			$11,324	8.3	17.2	630	100		340225001804

Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when we update our rankings!

Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for New Jersey

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for NJ student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students White Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on NJSLA English Language Arts, NJSLA Mathematics, NJSLA Algebra I, NJSLA Geometry, NJSLA Algebra II, NJSLA-S Science test scores released by the New Jersey Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on December 3, 2025, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the New Jersey Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the New Jersey Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

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.