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)
340696000520	21	Haworth Public School	Public	PK, KG-8	205 Valley Rd	Haworth	07641	Bergen County	Haworth Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(201) 384-5526	424	48	8.8	0.7%	305 (71.9%)	2 (0.5%)	20 (4.7%)	62 (14.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (8.3%)	$17,223						$17,223	92.9	90.4	42	21
340672004260	22	Harding Township School	Public	PK, KG-8	34 Lees Hill Road	New Vernon	07976	Morris County	Harding Township School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 267-6398	285	44	6.4	2.8%	239 (83.9%)	2 (0.7%)	8 (2.8%)	18 (6.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (6.3%)	$20,191			$755			$19,436	92.6	93.9	20	2
341218000674	23	Charles DeWolf Middle School	Public	5-8	275 Old Tappan Rd	Old Tappan	07675	Bergen County	Old Tappan Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(201) 664-1475	358	30	11.9	0.8%	192 (53.6%)	2 (0.6%)	11 (3.1%)	142 (39.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (3.1%)	$9,136						$9,136	92.5	91.9	33	10
341269004924	24	School 28	Public	PK, KG-8	200 Presidential Boulevard	Paterson	07522	Passaic County	Paterson Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 321-0281	484	34	14.4	77.5%	34 (7.0%)	115 (23.8%)	272 (56.2%)	61 (12.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	$9,579						$9,579	92.3	92.5	31	7
341662000880	25	Emil A. Cavallini Middle School	Public	6-8	392 W Saddle River Rd	Upper Saddle River	07458	Bergen County	Upper Saddle River School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(201) 961-6400	381	40	9.5	0.8%	241 (63.3%)	9 (2.4%)	37 (9.7%)	76 (19.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	17 (4.5%)	$15,979			$51			$15,928	92.2	93.5	23	2
340381000334	26	Demarest Middle School	Public	5-8	568 Piermont Rd	Demarest	07627	Bergen County	Demarest School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(201) 768-6060	325	35	9.2	0.9%	194 (59.7%)	3 (0.9%)	24 (7.4%)	93 (28.6%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (3.1%)	$12,207			$16			$12,191	91.8	94.5	18	8
340123004568	27	Bay Head Elementary	Public	K-8	145 Grove Street	Bay Head	08742	Ocean County	Bay Head Borough School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(732) 892-0668	123	14	8.5	2.4%	111 (90.2%)	2 (1.6%)	6 (4.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.3%)	$17,883			$586			$17,297	91.8	78	135	108
340003600309	28	Soaring Heights Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	1 Romar Avenue	Jersey City	07305	Hudson County	Soaring Heights Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 434-4800	270	15	18.2	38.1%	31 (11.5%)	70 (25.9%)	33 (12.2%)	118 (43.7%)	1 (0.4%)	5 (1.9%)	12 (4.4%)	$8,696			$1,133			$7,563	91.5	81	115	87
340087000228	29	Alpine Elementary School	Public	K-8	500 Hillside Avenue	Alpine	07620	Bergen County	Alpine Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 768-8255	165	22	7.6	1.8%	103 (62.4%)	5 (3.0%)	8 (4.8%)	40 (24.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (5.5%)	$27,835			$860			$26,975	91.4	97.7	4	25
341226000788	30	River Dell Middle School	Public	7-8	230 Woodland Avenue	River Edge	07661	Bergen County	River Dell Regional School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 599-7246	589	49	12	1.9%	324 (55.0%)	9 (1.5%)	54 (9.2%)	190 (32.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (2.0%)	$15,095			$247			$14,848	91.3	92.6	30

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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:

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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.