Best Public Schools in Zip Code 07650

Zip code 07650 has three schools: Lindbergh Elementary School (grades 1–6), Charles R. Smith Early Childhood Center (PK–K), and Palisades Park Junior-Senior High School (grades 7–12), all in the Palisades Park School District. Test scores are available for the elementary and junior-senior high schools, but not the early-childhood center; because the schools serve different grades, they cannot be put into a single achievement ranking. The most important overall finding is that reported core results are below state levels in most comparisons, with the largest average gaps at Lindbergh.

Palisades Park Junior-Senior High School has the standout course result: 8th-grade Algebra I was 100% proficient in 2025–2026, compared with 75% statewide, a 26-point advantage; 9th-grade Geometry was also higher, at 56% versus 50%, a 6-point advantage. But results vary by course and grade: 9th-grade Algebra I was 12% versus 22% statewide, and the Algebra I end-of-course result was 25% versus 40%. Lindbergh Elementary School had the largest shortfalls: 3rd-grade ELA was 22% versus 48% statewide, 26 points lower, and 6th-grade math was 20% versus 40%, 21 points lower. Across grades 3–6, Lindbergh averaged 28% in ELA and 28% in math, respectively 22 and 17 points below state averages.

Recent trends differ by school: across comparable results from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, Lindbergh’s state-relative gaps widened by an average of 3 points, while the junior-senior high’s narrowed by an average of 4 points. Lindbergh did have gains, including a 9-point rise in 6th-grade ELA. SchoolDigger’s rankings show Lindbergh moving from the 33rd to the 18th percentile from 2023–2024 to 2025–2026, while the high school stayed at the 24th percentile. In 2024–2025, free/reduced lunch eligible shares were 80% at Lindbergh, 74% at the high school, and 62% at the early-childhood center. The center had the lowest student-teacher ratio, 6.8, but the highest chronic absenteeism, 15%; Lindbergh’s was 6% and the high school’s 11%. These figures describe school-level patterns, not causes of student outcomes.