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
601	The Village Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	101 Sullivan Way	Trenton	08638	Mercer County	The Village Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 695-0110	361	31	11.6	83.7%	4 (1.1%)	340 (94.2%)	17 (4.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$10,151			$975			$9,176	20.5	34.9	464	137		340004600329
602	Thomas Jefferson School No. 1	Public	K-8	390 Van Houten Ave.	Passaic	07055	Passaic County	Passaic City School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 470-5501	423	39	10.9	98.1%	8 (1.9%)	9 (2.1%)	391 (92.4%)	12 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)	$11,482			$735			$10,747	20.5	18.3	617	15		341254004838
603	Middlesex County STEM Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	613 Carlock Ave	Perth Amboy	08861	Middlesex County	Middlesex County STEM Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(848) 242-1818	739	44	16.8	75.1%	28 (3.8%)	111 (15.0%)	562 (76.0%)	26 (3.5%)	5 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	6 (0.8%)	$8,572			$501			$8,071	20.4	19.5	604	1		340079503451
604	Janis E. Dismus Middle School	Public	7-8	325 Tryon Avenue	Englewood	07631	Bergen County	Englewood Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 862-6005	342	41	8.3	81.3%	12 (3.5%)	77 (22.5%)	243 (71.1%)	2 (0.6%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	6 (1.8%)	$11,153			$201			$10,952	20.3	25.2	549	55		340474000394
605	Camden's Promise Charter School	Public, Charter, Alternative	PK, KG-12	879 Beideman Ave	Camden	08105	Camden County	Camden's Promise Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(856) 365-1000	2,457	202	12.1	91.3%	15 (0.6%)	312 (12.7%)	2,115 (86.1%)	6 (0.2%)	1 (0.0%)	1 (0.0%)	7 (0.3%)	$8,782			$947			$7,835	20.3	20.6	595	10		340078503390
606	Myles J. McManus MIddle School	Public	6-8	300 Edgewood Road	Linden	07036	Union County	Linden Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(908) 486-7751	711	60	11.9	67.5%	106 (14.9%)	197 (27.7%)	349 (49.1%)	18 (2.5%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.3%)	36 (5.1%)	$9,022			$194			$8,828	19.9	19.9	599	7		340861005558
607	South River Middle School	Public	6-8	3 Montgomery Street	South River	08882	Middlesex County	South River Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 613-4073	524	51	10.1	66.8%	230 (43.9%)	29 (5.5%)	238 (45.4%)	9 (1.7%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	15 (2.9%)	$10,158			$414			$9,744	19.8	21.3	587	20		341539003650
608	Lakewood Middle School	Public	7-8	755 Somerset Avenue	Lakewood	08701	Ocean County	Lakewood Township School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 905-3600	574	67	8.5	93.0%	19 (3.3%)	34 (5.9%)	514 (89.5%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	$13,211			$902			$12,309	19.8	29.1	516	92		340822004642
609	Deerfield Township Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	419 Morton Ave	Rosenhayn	08352	Cumberland County	Deerfield Township School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(856) 451-6610	325	36	9	52.3%	139 (42.8%)	37 (11.4%)	126 (38.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (7.1%)	$13,921			$778			$13,143	19.7	18.8	613	4		340366001826
610	Helen A. Fort Middle School	Public	7-8	101 Fort Dix Road	Pemberton	08068	Burlington County	Pemberton Township School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 893-8141	584	50	11.6	52.6%	276 (47.3%)	109 (18.7%)	141 (24.1%)	10 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	46 (7.9%)	$18,350			$742			$17,608	19.7	26.1	544	66		341281001200

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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:

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

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.