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
681	Park Avenue Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	231 Park Ave	Orange	07050	Essex County	ORANGE BOARD OF EDUCATION School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 677-4124	423	34	12.6	65.2%	1 (0.2%)	223 (52.7%)	193 (45.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	5 (1.2%)	$11,933			$426			$11,507	12.6	17.4	628	53		341227002412
682	School 3	Public	K-8	448 Main Street	Paterson	07501	Passaic County	Paterson Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 321-0030	167	18	9.2	95.2%	3 (1.8%)	4 (2.4%)	157 (94.0%)	3 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$8,917						$8,917	12.6	13.7	670	12		341269004878
683	Wildwood Middle School	Public	6-8	4300 Pacific Ave	Wildwood	08260	Cape May County	Wildwood City School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 522-7922	157	19	8.3	87.9%	22 (14.0%)	13 (8.3%)	118 (75.2%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.9%)	$19,878			$1,800			$18,078	12.5	10.1	705	22		341794006039
684	McCorristin Charter School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	175 Leonard Avenue	Hamilton	08610	Mercer County	McCorristin Charter School District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(609) 586-3705	400	4	100	71.3%	5 (1.3%)	184 (46.0%)	203 (50.8%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.8%)								12.4			(n/a)		348036806180
685	Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Educational Complex	Public	PK, KG-8	851 E 28th Street	Paterson	07513	Passaic County	Paterson Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 321-0300	513	49	10.5	66.1%	6 (1.2%)	130 (25.3%)	365 (71.2%)	11 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$12,303						$12,303	12.3	12.1	687	2		341269005916
686	Dr. E. Alma Flagg School	Public	PK, KG-8	150 Third St	Newark	07104	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 268-5190	570	41	13.9	94.2%	2 (0.4%)	106 (18.6%)	461 (80.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	$9,797			$979			$8,818	12.3	11.4	696	10		341134005976
687	Veterans Memorial Middle	Public	6-8	424 S Main Rd	Vineland	08360	Cumberland County	Vineland Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(856) 794-6918	603	54	11.1	72.0%	76 (12.6%)	83 (13.8%)	418 (69.3%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (3.6%)	$13,388			$1,017			$12,371	12.1	10.8	698	11		341680001908
688	Thirteenth Avenue School	Public	PK, KG-8	359 Thirteenth Ave	Newark	07103	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 733-7045	833	52	16	68.7%	2 (0.2%)	370 (44.4%)	438 (52.6%)	6 (0.7%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (1.7%)	$10,835			$1,067			$9,768	11.8	12.1	686	2		341134002364
689	The Barack Obama Green Charter School	Public, Charter	6-12	35 Watchung ave	Plainfield	07060	Union County	The Barack Obama Green Charter High School District	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(877) 643-4064	358	25	14.3	78.2%	1 (0.3%)	92 (25.7%)	262 (73.2%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	$9,321			$950			$8,371	11.7			(n/a)		340074003047
690	Mckinley Community School	Public	PK, KG-8	15 Van Dyke Ave	New Brunswick	08901	Middlesex County	New Brunswick School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 745-5300	524	64	8.1	92.9%	6 (1.1%)	81 (15.5%)	431 (82.3%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.6%)	$12,963						$12,963	11.6	15.4	654	36		341122003466

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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

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.