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
21	Tenakill Middle School	Public	5-8	275 High Street	Closter	07624	Bergen County	Closter Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 768-1332	593	42	14	2.4%	272 (45.9%)	4 (0.7%)	49 (8.3%)	244 (41.1%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.0%)	18 (3.0%)	$10,466			$197			$10,269	92.8	94.1	15	6		340339000318
22	New Providence Middle School	Public	7-8	35 Pioneer Drive	New Providence	07974	Union County	New Providence School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(908) 464-9161	396	37	10.7	2.0%	219 (55.3%)	4 (1.0%)	55 (13.9%)	104 (26.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (3.5%)	$9,397			$396			$9,001	92.6	91	36	14		341131006097
23	Demarest Middle School	Public	5-8	568 Piermont Rd	Demarest	07627	Bergen County	Demarest School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(201) 768-6060	359	36	10	0.8%	208 (57.9%)	3 (0.8%)	14 (3.9%)	120 (33.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (3.9%)	$12,207			$16			$12,191	92.6	92.1	27	4		340381000334
24	Eugene A. Tighe Middle School	Public	5-8	7804 Amherst Avenue	Margate City	08402	Atlantic County	Margate City School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 822-2353	140	19	7.2	7.1%	127 (90.7%)	1 (0.7%)	9 (6.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	2 (1.4%)	$17,865			$175			$17,690	92.4	93.4	19	5		340969000162
25	Thomas Edison EnergySmart Charter School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	150 Pierce Street	Somerset	08873	Somerset County	Thomas Edison EnergySmart Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 412-7643	613	40	15.3	15.2%	85 (13.9%)	85 (13.9%)	27 (4.4%)	374 (61.0%)	5 (0.8%)	3 (0.5%)	34 (5.5%)	$7,387			$280			$7,107	92.3	93.5	18	7		340074603143
26	Science Park High School	Public	7-12	260 Norfolk Street	Newark	07102	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 733-8689	964	68	14.2	68.0%	83 (8.6%)	332 (34.4%)	502 (52.1%)	27 (2.8%)	3 (0.3%)	5 (0.5%)	12 (1.2%)	$11,449			$497			$10,952	92.3	82.2	103	77		341134002200
27	Heritage Middle School	Public	7-8	20 Foxcroft Dr	Livingston	07039	Essex County	Livingston Board of Education School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(973) 535-8000	994	82	12	2.3%	389 (39.1%)	48 (4.8%)	63 (6.3%)	451 (45.4%)	4 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	38 (3.8%)	$10,996			$02			$10,994	92	91.8	31	4		340882002128
28	Woodcliff Middle School	Public	6-8	134 Woodcliff Ave	Woodcliff Lake	07677	Bergen County	Woodcliff Lake School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(201) 930-5600	238	27	8.8	1.7%	181 (76.1%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (11.3%)	22 (9.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.4%)	$17,046			$28			$17,018	91.9	93.9	16	12		341821000936
29	Upper School	Public	3-8	143 Charlotte Pl	Englewood Cliffs	07632	Bergen County	Englewood Cliffs School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 567-7292	264	39	6.8		67 (25.4%)	10 (3.8%)	20 (7.6%)	157 (59.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.8%)	8 (3.0%)	$12,826			$216			$12,610	91.8	92.8	24	5		340477000406
30	River Dell Middle School	Public	7-8	230 Woodland Avenue	River Edge	07661	Bergen County	River Dell Regional School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 599-7246	573	49	11.7	0.7%	300 (52.4%)	10 (1.7%)	74 (12.9%)	174 (30.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	14 (2.4%)	$15,095			$247			$14,848	91.7	89.5	45	15		341226000788

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on 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.