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)
340222004602	401	Veterans Memorial Middle School	Public	6-8	105 Hendrickson Avenue	Brick	08724	Ocean County	Brick Township Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 785-3000	871	81	10.7	33.0%	597 (68.5%)	75 (8.6%)	154 (17.7%)	13 (1.5%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (3.6%)	$8,586			$223			$8,363	42.9	42.4	409	8
340126000001	402	William Shemin Midtown Community School #8	Public	PK, KG-8	550 Avenue A	Bayonne	07002	Hudson County	Bayonne School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 858-5984	1,210	96	12.6	67.8%	478 (39.5%)	201 (16.6%)	419 (34.6%)	62 (5.1%)	7 (0.6%)	2 (0.2%)	41 (3.4%)	$8,530			$312			$8,218	42.8	39.3	436	34
340330004766	403	Woodrow Wilson Middle School	Public	6-8	1400 Van Houten Avenue	Clifton	07013	Passaic County	Clifton Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(973) 470-2348	1,189	109	10.9	57.1%	349 (29.4%)	57 (4.8%)	671 (56.4%)	96 (8.1%)	7 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	7 (0.6%)	$12,567						$12,567	42.6	43.9	398	5
341029003432	404	Joyce Kilmer School	Public	4-8	21 West Church Street	Milltown	08850	Middlesex County	Milltown School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(732) 214-2370	449	41	11	15.6%	309 (68.8%)	19 (4.2%)	96 (21.4%)	13 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	11 (2.4%)	$7,516						$7,516	42.6	55.4	298	106
340918006092	405	Lumberton Middle School	Public	6-8	30 Dimsdale Drive	Lumberton	08048	Burlington County	Lumberton Township Board of Education	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 265-0123	384	34	11.1	24.7%	167 (43.5%)	104 (27.1%)	56 (14.6%)	15 (3.9%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	40 (10.4%)	$12,723			$146			$12,577	42.4	46	376	29
340774000069	406	Christa McAuliffe Middle School	Public	6-8	35 South Hope Chapel Road	Jackson	08527	Ocean County	Jackson Township School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 833-4701	722	72	10	41.6%	363 (50.3%)	50 (6.9%)	269 (37.3%)	16 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (3.0%)	$13,417			$84			$13,333	42.4	47.6	364	42
340126002720	407	Mary J Donohoe Community School	Public	PK, KG-8	25 East 5th Street	Bayonne	07002	Hudson County	Bayonne School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 858-5969	459	29	15.8	61.7%	221 (48.1%)	87 (19.0%)	107 (23.3%)	20 (4.4%)	3 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	20 (4.4%)	$11,493			$695			$10,798	42.3	40.2	431	24
341602005946	408	Kenneth R. Olson Middle School	Public	5-8	132 New Road	Tabernacle	08088	Burlington County	Tabernacle Township School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 268-0153	314	31	10	9.9%	270 (86.0%)	5 (1.6%)	27 (8.6%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (3.5%)	$10,423			$150			$10,273	42.3	57.1	281	127
340077903353	409	College Achieve Central Charter School	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	365 Emerson Ave	Plainfield	07062	Union County	College Achieve Central Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(908) 625-1879	1,403	102	13.7	73.3%	3 (0.2%)	293 (20.9%)	1,098 (78.3%)	4 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.3%)	$8,250			$601			$7,649	42.2	37.3	453	44
340945005967	410	Manchester Township Middle School	Public	6-8	2759 Ridgeway Rd	Manchester	08759	Ocean County	Manchester Township School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 657-1717	582	60	9.7	41.4%	325 (55.8%)	45 (7.7%)	152 (26.1%)	25 (4.3%)	3 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	31 (5.3%)	$14,119			$376			$13,743	42.2	40.7	425	15

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for NJ student subgroups:

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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

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

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.