Best Middle Schools in Zip Code 08069

Zip code 08069 has one listed middle school, Penns Grove Middle School, serving grades 6–8 with 452 students in the Penns Grove-Carneys Point Regional School District. Its 2025–2026 proficiency results were below New Jersey’s in every reported subject and grade: the equal-grade averages were 20% in ELA versus 53% statewide, and 10% in math versus 34% statewide. The largest reported gap was in 8th-grade Algebra I, where 26% met proficiency compared with 75% statewide. The most important finding is that students’ results lagged state results across all reported categories.

There is no school-to-school comparison in this list: Penns Grove is both the highest- and lowest-ranked school listed. Within the school, 8th-grade ELA was strongest in 2025–2026 at 23%, while 6th-grade ELA was lowest at 15%; math peaked in 7th grade at 15% and was lowest in 8th grade at 5%. These grade differences matter: ELA proficiency rose across grades 6–8, while math fell sharply from 7th to 8th grade. Among the state comparisons, the 8th-grade Algebra I gap was especially large at 48 points; End-of-Course Algebra I was 26% versus 40% statewide, a 14-point gap.

ELA and math averages moved closer to state results between 2024–2025 and 2025–2026, but Algebra I and science did not. The ELA average rose from 16% to 20%, narrowing its state gap from 40 to 34 points; math rose from 7% to 10%, narrowing its gap from 26 to 24 points. In contrast, Algebra I fell from 67% to 26% in both reported school categories, and 8th-grade science fell from 7% to 4%. SchoolDigger gives Penns Grove 0 stars; its ranking rose from the 5th percentile in 2023–2024 to the 7th percentile in 2025–2026. In 2024–2025, 75% of students were free/reduced lunch eligible, the student–teacher ratio was 11.3, and chronic absenteeism was 25%, compared with 14% statewide.