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
241	Branchburg Central Middle School	Public	6-8	220 Baird Road	Branchburg	08876	Somerset County	Branchburg Township School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(908) 526-1415	458	57	8	12.4%	295 (64.4%)	28 (6.1%)	64 (14.0%)	54 (11.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (3.7%)	$17,027			$91			$16,936	64.2	76.1	152	89		340216005154
242	Richard Butler School	Public	5-8	30 Pearl Place	Butler	07405	Morris County	Butler Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 492-2079	291	31	9.5	34.4%	175 (60.1%)	3 (1.0%)	101 (34.7%)	7 (2.4%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	3 (1.0%)	$9,699			$85			$9,614	64.1	64.8	237	5		340252004170
243	Bogota Junior/Senior High School	Public	8-12	2 Henry C Luthin Place	Bogota	07603	Bergen County	Bogota Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(201) 441-4808	475	38	12.5	59.6%	50 (10.5%)	45 (9.5%)	342 (72.0%)	34 (7.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.8%)	$9,163						$9,163	64.1	54.4	313	70		340192000284
244	Hardyston Township Middle School	Public	5-8	183 Wheatsworth Road	Hamburg	07419	Sussex County	Hardyston Township School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 823-7000	261	21	12.4	9.2%	192 (73.6%)	12 (4.6%)	39 (14.9%)	5 (1.9%)	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (4.2%)	$8,162			$152			$8,010	64.1	63.9	243	1		340678000729
245	Frankford Township School	Public	PK, KG-8	4 Pines Road	Branchville	07826	Sussex County	Frankford Township Consolidated School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 948-3727	505	53	9.5	14.7%	454 (89.9%)	3 (0.6%)	29 (5.7%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (3.2%)	$16,040			$466			$15,574	63.8	57.9	291	46		340534005336
246	Lakeside School	Public	6-8	316 Lakeside Avenue	Pompton Lakes	07442	Passaic County	Pompton Lakes School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 835-7100	370	32	11.4	34.9%	213 (57.6%)	10 (2.7%)	122 (33.0%)	19 (5.1%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.4%)	$12,048			$371			$11,677	63.7	59.9	278	32		341335004932
247	Slocum Skewes School	Public	3-8	650 Prospect Ave	Ridgefield	07657	Bergen County	Ridgefield School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 943-4299	654	70	9.4	49.2%	158 (24.2%)	30 (4.6%)	324 (49.5%)	131 (20.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.5%)	8 (1.2%)	$11,589			$183			$11,406	63.5	59.6	280	33		341377000750
248	Maplewood Middle School	Public	6-8	7 Burnett St	Maplewood	07040	Essex County	South Orange-Maplewood School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 378-7660	762	80	9.5	18.6%	406 (53.3%)	174 (22.8%)	89 (11.7%)	29 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	61 (8.0%)	$6,140						$6,140	63.4	57.5	293	45		341533002424
249	William F. Halloran School No.22	Public	2-8	612 Pulaski Street	Elizabeth	07202	Union County	Elizabeth Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(908) 436-4860	1,140	80	14.3	78.1%	125 (11.0%)	156 (13.7%)	826 (72.5%)	30 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	$6,924			$188			$6,736	63.3	75.9	153	96		340459005524
250	Southern Regional Middle School	Public	7-8	75 Cedar Bridge Road	Manahawkin	08050	Ocean County	Southern Regional School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 597-9481	865	82	10.5	28.6%	712 (82.3%)	18 (2.1%)	119 (13.8%)	8 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (0.9%)	$11,153			$229			$10,924	63.3	67.5	212	38		341548005944

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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:

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

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

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.