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.

Alert! We are expecting the release of this year's test scores by the New Jersey Department of Education any day now! We will update our rankings as soon as they are released!

Alert! New test scores and rankings are expected from the New Jersey Department of Education any day now!

School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (2023 vs 2022)
ID	Rank (of 748)	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 (2023)	Average Standard Score (2022)	Rank (2022)	Rank Change from 2022	SchoolDigger Rating (2023)
341572005404	251	Valley Road School	Public	PK, KG-8	24 Valley Road	Stanhope	07874	Sussex County	Stanhope School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 347-0008	311	32	9.7	14.1%	193 (62.1%)	7 (2.3%)	87 (28.0%)	8 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	14 (4.5%)	$15,419			$346			$15,073	62.2	56.2	291	40
341335004932	252	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	389	31	12.4	23.4%	225 (57.8%)	11 (2.8%)	133 (34.2%)	19 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	$12,048			$371			$11,677	62	62.4	244	8
341638003073	253	Union Hill Middle School	Public	7-8	3800 Hudson Ave	Union City	07087	Hudson County	Union City School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 348-5936	849	65	13	90.7%	12 (1.4%)	5 (0.6%)	826 (97.3%)	6 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$10,040			$489			$9,551	61.9	51.6	326	73
340075903196	254	BelovED Community Charter School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	508 Grand Street	Jersey City	07302	Hudson County	BelovED Community Charter	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 630-4700	1,551	100	15.5	76.9%	301 (19.4%)	454 (29.3%)	476 (30.7%)	256 (16.5%)	6 (0.4%)	4 (0.3%)	54 (3.5%)	$7,699			$817			$6,882	61.8	59.5	268	14
340234003479	255	Brigantine Community School	Public	PK, KG-8	301 East Evans Blvd	Brigantine	08203	Atlantic County	Brigantine Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 266-3603	390	59	6.5	31.0%	291 (74.6%)	5 (1.3%)	53 (13.6%)	36 (9.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.3%)								61.8	42.8	405	150
341056002172	256	Glenfield Middle School	Public	6-8	25 Maple Ave	Montclair	07042	Essex County	Montclair Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 509-4172	548	65	8.4	16.6%	249 (45.4%)	141 (25.7%)	86 (15.7%)	10 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	60 (10.9%)	$12,589			$535			$12,054	61.8	48.1	359	103
340002000282	257	Discovery Charter School	Public, Charter	4-8	240 Halsey St	Newark	07102	Essex County	Discovery Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 623-0222	105	6	19	67.6%	1 (1.0%)	96 (91.4%)	6 (5.7%)	1 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$11,745			$906			$10,839	61.8	45.8	379	122
341668000216	258	Ventnor Middle School	Public	5-8	400 N Lafayette Avenue	Ventnor City	08406	Atlantic County	Ventnor City School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 487-7900	204	34	6	61.8%	83 (40.7%)	15 (7.4%)	80 (39.2%)	24 (11.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)	$6,486						$6,486	61.5	55.5	297	39
340783000539	259	Middle School # 4	Public	6-8	107 Bright Street	Jersey City	07302	Hudson County	Jersey City Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 946-5740	669	50	13.3	54.4%	92 (13.8%)	137 (20.5%)	259 (38.7%)	163 (24.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (2.7%)	$10,749			$520			$10,229	61.3	61.7	249	10
341398004498	260	Riverdale School	Public	PK, KG-8	52 Newark Pompton Turnpike	Riverdale	07457	Morris County	Riverdale School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 839-1300	285	33	8.6	11.2%	183 (64.2%)	12 (4.2%)	55 (19.3%)	16 (5.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.1%)	16 (5.6%)	$12,574			$156			$12,418	61.2	51.4	328	68

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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 6, 2023, 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

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.