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
661	School 8	Public	K-8	35 Chadwick Street	Paterson	07503	Passaic County	Paterson Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 321-0080	411	35	11.7	78.3%	27 (6.6%)	21 (5.1%)	362 (88.1%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,233						$9,233	14.7	14.9	659	2		341269004888
662	William C. McGinnis Middle School	Public	6-8	271 State Street	Perth Amboy	08861	Middlesex County	Perth Amboy Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 376-6040	984	80	12.3	78.8%	4 (0.4%)	18 (1.8%)	957 (97.3%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	$12,488			$649			$11,839	14.7	15.7	649	13		341293003542
663	Belvidere Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	807 Oxford Street	Belvidere	07823	Warren County	Belvidere School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(908) 475-4001	274	25	10.7	44.2%	207 (75.5%)	6 (2.2%)	46 (16.8%)	3 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (4.0%)	$16,862			$847			$16,015	14.7	15.7	650	13		340144005796
664	Lawnside School District	Public	PK, KG-8	426 East Charleston Ave	Lawnside	08045	Camden County	Lawnside School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(856) 546-4850	333	27	12.3	48.9%	11 (3.3%)	229 (68.8%)	73 (21.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (6.0%)	$13,798			$1,024			$12,774	14.6	13.9	667	3		340834001572
665	Joseph R. Bolger Middle School	Public	6-8	100 Palmer Place	Keansburg	07734	Monmouth County	Keansburg School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 787-2007	318	25	12.5	76.4%	134 (42.1%)	68 (21.4%)	99 (31.1%)	5 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	11 (3.5%)	$15,314						$15,314	14.6	16.1	642	23		340786000027
666	Winfield Scott School No. 2	Public	PK, KG-8	125 Madison Ave	Elizabeth	07201	Union County	Elizabeth Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(908) 436-6150	630	52	12.1	82.4%	24 (3.8%)	227 (36.0%)	365 (57.9%)	14 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,616			$240			$9,376	14.4	16.2	641	25		340459005494
667	Riverside Middle School	Public	6-8	112 E Washington Street	Riverside	08075	Burlington County	Riverside Township School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(856) 461-1255	316	36	8.6	68.0%	122 (38.6%)	42 (13.3%)	148 (46.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.3%)	$13,073			$288			$12,785	14.1	13	676	9		341401000085
668	Texas Avenue School	Public	K-8	2523 Arctic Avenue	Atlantic City	08401	Atlantic County	Atlantic City School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 343-7350	496	47	10.5	91.3%	5 (1.0%)	36 (7.3%)	325 (65.5%)	129 (26.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$12,119			$1,096			$11,023	14	19.6	603	65		340096000018
669	Sussex Avenue School	Public	PK, KG-8	307 Sussex Ave	Newark	07107	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 268-5200	545	35	15.5	86.2%	7 (1.3%)	115 (21.1%)	421 (77.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	$9,703			$721			$8,982	13.9	20.4	597	72		341134002360
670	Harriet Tubman Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	504 S Tenth St	Newark	07103	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 733-6934	298	26	11.4	84.2%	0 (0.0%)	255 (85.6%)	36 (12.1%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.7%)	$9,921			$469			$9,452	13.4	16.4	639	31		341134002282

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for New Jersey

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for NJ student subgroups:

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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.