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
551	Richard C Crockett Middle School	Public	6-8	2631 Kuser Road	Hamilton	08691	Mercer County	Hamilton Township Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 631-4149	834	74	11.2	64.7%	208 (24.9%)	162 (19.4%)	394 (47.2%)	32 (3.8%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	36 (4.3%)	$9,929			$20			$9,909	25.8	28.7	519	32		340654006049
552	School 16	Public	PK, KG-8	11 22nd Avenue	Paterson	07513	Passaic County	Paterson Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 413-2700	813	54	15	70.6%	13 (1.6%)	44 (5.4%)	752 (92.5%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	$6,870						$6,870	25.8	19.1	609	57		341269003384
553	Gateway Regional High School	Public	7-12	775 Tanyard Rd	Woodbury Hts	08096	Gloucester County	Gateway Regional High School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(856) 848-8200	862	84	10.3	33.8%	560 (65.0%)	129 (15.0%)	140 (16.2%)	15 (1.7%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	15 (1.7%)	$16,391			$342			$16,049	25.7	32.1	488	65		340582002554
554	Paul Robeson Community School for the Arts	Public	PK, KG-8	199 Paul Robeson Blvd	New Brunswick	08901	Middlesex County	New Brunswick School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 745-5300	624	67	9.3	93.4%	2 (0.3%)	31 (5.0%)	589 (94.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$9,460						$9,460	25.6	21.3	585	31		341122005940
555	John Marshal School No. 20	Public	K-8	521 Magnolia Ave	Elizabeth	07206	Union County	Elizabeth Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(908) 436-5800	452	34	13.2	87.6%	10 (2.2%)	109 (24.1%)	328 (72.6%)	4 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,585			$304			$12,281	25.6	28.8	518	37		340459005520
556	Belleville Middle School	Public	7-8	279 Washington Ave	Belleville	07109	Essex County	Belleville Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 969-4342	685	61	11.2	71.5%	62 (9.1%)	53 (7.7%)	517 (75.5%)	38 (5.5%)	2 (0.3%)	6 (0.9%)	7 (1.0%)								25.6	23.8	558	2		340135001956
557	Benjamin Banneker Preparatory Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	11 South Sunset Road	Willingboro	08046	Burlington County	Benjamin Banneker Preparatory Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 835-8370	356	26	13.5	48.0%	7 (2.0%)	294 (82.6%)	52 (14.6%)	3 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$8,406			$294			$8,112	25.2	19.3	607	50		340074403139
558	Avenel Middle School	Public	6-8	Woodbine Avenue	Avenel	07001	Middlesex County	Woodbridge Township School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(732) 596-4210	629	76	8.2	59.5%	163 (25.9%)	129 (20.5%)	229 (36.4%)	95 (15.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (2.1%)	$9,251						$9,251	24.9	21.9	579	21		341812005972
559	Martin Luther King Junior School	Public	PK, KG-8	886 Bergen Ave	Jersey City	07306	Hudson County	Jersey City Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 915-6521	752	65	11.6	77.1%	386 (51.3%)	61 (8.1%)	131 (17.4%)	153 (20.3%)	4 (0.5%)	7 (0.9%)	10 (1.3%)	$9,613			$348			$9,265	24.8	31.3	497	62		340783002792
560	Sgt. Dominick Pilla Middle School	Public	6-8	3133 S Lincoln Ave	Vineland	08361	Cumberland County	Vineland Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(856) 691-1801	620			53.4%	189 (30.5%)	99 (16.0%)	289 (46.6%)	14 (2.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	28 (4.5%)	$12,703			$639			$12,064	24.3	22.1	577	17		341680003445

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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:

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

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

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.