Best Public Schools in Zip Code 08884

Zip code 08884 includes four Spotswood schools serving PK through grade 12: G Austin Schoenly Elementary School (PK–1), E Raymond Appleby Elementary School (grades 2–5), Spotswood Memorial Middle School (grades 6–8), and Spotswood High School (grades 9–12); together, they enroll 1,631 students. Results vary considerably by grade and subject rather than pointing to one school as strongest across the board. The clearest concern is Memorial’s Grade 8 mathematics: 7% were proficient, 16 percentage points below the state, compared with above-state results in Grades 6 and 7.

High stands out on its 2025–26 Grade 11 NJGPA: ELA proficiency was 84% and mathematics was 69%, each 8 points above the state; its 2024–25 graduation rate was also strong at 93%, 4 points above the state. Memorial was 6 points above the state in Grade 6 mathematics and 2 points above in Grade 8 science. The largest listed shortfall was High’s Algebra I end-of-course result: 12% versus 40% statewide, a gap of 28 points. Other low results were Appleby Grade 4 mathematics at 28% versus 47% (19 points below the state) and Memorial Grade 8 mathematics at 7% versus 23% (16 points below). High’s favorable graduation and NJGPA results therefore sit alongside weaker Algebra I results.

Across matched results, the average school-to-state gap improved by about 4 points from 2024–25 to 2025–26, but individual results moved in different directions: Memorial improved the most overall, while Appleby’s Grade 5 science rose from 14% to 24% and its gap narrowed from 16 points below the state to 3 points below. Memorial’s Grade 8 mathematics also improved from 0% to 7%, but remains a pronounced weakness. SchoolDigger’s statewide percentile rose from 35 to 52 for Memorial and from 43 to 57 for High; Appleby rose from 31 in 2024–25 to 37, still below its 2023–24 percentile of 48. As context, in 2024–25 the free/reduced lunch eligible share was 23.5% at High, 25% at Schoenly, 30.7% at Appleby, and 30.9% at Memorial. Student–teacher ratios ranged from 9.6 at Appleby to 15.6 at Schoenly; these context measures do not explain the schools’ different results.