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
51	Robert R Lazar Middle School	Public	6-8	123 Changebridge Road	Montville	07045	Morris County	Montville Township School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 331-7100	798	76	10.5	4.1%	429 (53.8%)	11 (1.4%)	92 (11.5%)	233 (29.2%)	4 (0.5%)	3 (0.4%)	26 (3.3%)	$14,639			$70			$14,569	89.6	92	28	23		341065004336
52	Bay Head Elementary	Public	K-8	145 Grove Street	Bay Head	08742	Ocean County	Bay Head Borough School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(732) 892-0668	125	19	6.7		112 (89.6%)	2 (1.6%)	6 (4.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (4.0%)	$17,883			$586			$17,297	89.6	67.7	209	157		340123004568
53	Glen Rock Middle School	Public	6-8	600 Harristown Road	Glen Rock	07452	Bergen County	Glen Rock Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(201) 445-7700	642	59	10.8	1.1%	408 (63.6%)	4 (0.6%)	26 (4.0%)	173 (26.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	30 (4.7%)	$15,503			$28			$15,475	89.6	85.9	74	21		340597000077
54	East Brook Middle School	Public	5-8	190 Spring Valley Road	Paramus	07652	Bergen County	Paramus Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 261-7800	555	56	9.8	15.9%	224 (40.4%)	16 (2.9%)	87 (15.7%)	190 (34.2%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.5%)	34 (6.1%)	$14,097						$14,097	89.5	86.6	68	14		341242000692
55	Bedminster Township Public School	Public	PK, KG-8	234 Somerville Road	Bedminster	07921	Somerset County	Bedminster Township Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(908) 234-0768	412	49	8.4	13.1%	220 (53.4%)	7 (1.7%)	88 (21.4%)	70 (17.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	25 (6.1%)	$17,615			$650			$16,965	89.4	88.9	51	4		340132005120
56	Benjamin Franklin Middle School	Public	6-8	335 North Van Dien Ave	Ridgewood	07451	Bergen County	Ridgewood Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(201) 670-2780	627	57	10.9	2.6%	343 (54.7%)	7 (1.1%)	57 (9.1%)	166 (26.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	53 (8.5%)	$11,177						$11,177	88.6	78.3	135	79		341383000766
57	Shrewsbury Borough Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	20 Obre Place	Shrewsbury	07702	Monmouth County	Shrewsbury Borough School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(732) 747-0882	439	52	8.4	0.7%	383 (87.2%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (5.5%)	11 (2.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (4.8%)	$14,231			$86			$14,145	88.6	88.1	58	1		341497004102
58	Eric S. Smith Middle School	Public	6-8	2 Monroe Street	Ramsey	07446	Bergen County	Ramsey School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(201) 785-2313	613	71	8.6	5.7%	451 (73.6%)	13 (2.1%)	61 (10.0%)	66 (10.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (3.4%)	$11,092						$11,092	88.3	81.7	108	50		341359000732
59	Orange Avenue School	Public	3-8	901 Orange Avenue	Cranford	07016	Union County	Cranford Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(908) 709-6257	750	64	11.6	0.8%	584 (77.9%)	20 (2.7%)	85 (11.3%)	28 (3.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (4.4%)	$7,540						$7,540	88.3	89.8	43	16		340357005462
60	Academy I	Public	6-8	209 Bergen Avenue	Jersey City	07305	Hudson County	Jersey City Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 915-6500	415	31	13.6	53.7%	97 (23.4%)	55 (13.3%)	71 (17.1%)	178 (42.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	11 (2.7%)	$10,195			$392			$9,803	88.2	91.6	33	27		340783000142

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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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.