Best Middle Schools in New Jersey

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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.

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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
671	Peshine Avenue School	Public	PK, KG-8	433 Peshine Avenue	Newark	07112	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 733-7004	635	47	13.5	79.5%	3 (0.5%)	354 (55.7%)	268 (42.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	2 (0.3%)	5 (0.8%)	$11,004			$2,293			$8,711	13.2	21.7	581	90		341134002266
672	New Brunswick Middle School	Public	6-8	1125 Livingston Avenue	New Brunswick	08901	Middlesex County	New Brunswick School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 745-5300	829	99	8.3	94.8%	1 (0.1%)	28 (3.4%)	795 (95.9%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	$10,184						$10,184	13	12.5	681	9		341122002936
673	Dr. William H. Horton Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	291 N 7th St	Newark	07107	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 268-5260	690	48	14.3	88.3%	1 (0.1%)	137 (19.9%)	549 (79.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.4%)	$9,470			$682			$8,788	13	11.9	691	18		341134002280
674	Dr Lena Edwards Academic Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	509 Bramhall Ave.	Jersey City	07304	Hudson County	Dr Lena Edwards Academic Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 433-5300	383	27	14.1	77.3%	0 (0.0%)	292 (76.2%)	83 (21.7%)	3 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.3%)	$10,336			$1,186			$9,150	12.9	16.7	633	41		340075603185
675	Toussaint L'Ouverture-Marquis de Lafayette School No. 6	Public	PK, KG-8	1071 Julia St	Elizabeth	07201	Union County	Elizabeth Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(908) 436-5600	1,001	81	12.3	87.3%	64 (6.4%)	194 (19.4%)	727 (72.6%)	12 (1.2%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,262			$234			$9,028	12.9	14.5	661	14		340459005498
676	Lakeside Middle School	Public	6-8	2 N Sharp St	Millville	08332	Cumberland County	Millville School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(856) 293-2420	929	82	11.3	79.2%	221 (23.8%)	303 (32.6%)	344 (37.0%)	5 (0.5%)	3 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	52 (5.6%)	$9,743			$398			$9,345	12.8	14.3	662	14		341032000271
677	Trenton Stem-to-Civics Charter School	Public, Charter	6-12	1555 Pennington Raod	Ewing	08618	Mercer County	Trenton Stem-to-Civics Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 619-2000	562	21	26.7	24.6%	3 (0.5%)	369 (65.7%)	170 (30.2%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	16 (2.8%)	$8,463			$1,091			$7,372	12.8	12	689	12		340077003291
678	Maxson Middle School	Public	6-8	920 E Seventh St	Plainfield	07062	Union County	Plainfield Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(908) 731-4310	721	78	9.2	76.7%	6 (0.8%)	106 (14.7%)	601 (83.4%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	$9,328			$135			$9,193	12.7	12.3	683	5		341314005608
679	Belmont Runyon Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	1 Belmont Runyon Way	Newark	07108	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 733-6920	508	36	14.1	75.8%	6 (1.2%)	389 (76.6%)	101 (19.9%)	5 (1.0%)	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.6%)	$13,240			$3,240			$10,000	12.7	19.8	600	79		341134002234
680	Hawkins Street School	Public	K-8	8 Hawkins St	Newark	07105	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 465-4920	660	47	14	89.4%	107 (16.2%)	53 (8.0%)	498 (75.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	$9,204			$723			$8,481	12.6	13.6	672	8		341134002284

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for New Jersey

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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

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.