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!

JUST IN! New Jersey NJSLA-S and NJSLA test scores and updated rankings for the 2023-24 school year were recently posted to SchoolDigger!

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.

School	Students/Teachers	Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)	Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
340447001064	561	Samuel M Ridgway Middle School	Public	5-8	300 Delanco Rd	Edgewater Park	08010	Burlington County	Edgewater Park Township School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(609) 871-3434	416	33	12.6	59.4%	149 (35.8%)	134 (32.2%)	101 (24.3%)	7 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (6.0%)	$14,109	$345	$13,764	23.4	13.8	668	107
341236000682	562	Palisades Park Junior-Senior High School	Public	7-12	Veterans Plaza	Palisades Park	07650	Bergen County	Palisades Park School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 941-1100	736	53	13.9	58.8%	64 (8.7%)	10 (1.4%)	480 (65.2%)	178 (24.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.5%)	$14,384	$256	$14,128	23.4	31.2	507	55
340492003070	563	Gilmore J Fisher Middle School	Public	6-8	1325 Lower Ferry Road	Ewing	08618	Mercer County	Ewing Township School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 538-9800	773	84	9.2	57.2%	144 (18.6%)	363 (47.0%)	201 (26.0%)	25 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	38 (4.9%)	$18,033	$257	$17,776	23.3	25.6	552	11
340002200285	564	Marion P. Thomas Charter School	Public, Charter, Alternative	PK, KG-12	125 Sussex Ave	Newark	07103	Essex County	Marion P. Thomas Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 621-0060	1,393	65	21.4	31.4%	4 (0.3%)	1,131 (81.2%)	230 (16.5%)	2 (0.1%)	4 (0.3%)	2 (0.1%)	16 (1.1%)	$8,798	$888	$7,910	23.3	19.3	606	42
340072703029	565	The Ethical Community Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	95 Broadway	Jersey City	07306	Hudson County	The Ethical Community Charter School School Distirct	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 984-4151	351	16	21.9	52.1%	87 (24.8%)	45 (12.8%)	79 (22.5%)	119 (33.9%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (5.1%)	$8,303	$678	$7,625	23.2	36.4	451	114
341122003379	566	Blanquita B. Valenti Community School	Public	K-8	50 Jersey Ave	New Brunswick	08901	Middlesex County	New Brunswick School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 745-5300	760	67	11.3	65.0%	2 (0.3%)	18 (2.4%)	735 (96.7%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.5%)	$8,890		$8,890	22.9	19.8	603	37
340423002064	567	Cicely L. Tyson Community Middle/High School	Public	6-12	35 Winans Street	East Orange	07017	Essex County	East Orange School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 414-8600	695	63	11	61.9%	3 (0.4%)	609 (87.6%)	79 (11.4%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	$14,501	$320	$14,181	22.9	26.9	539	28
340549005212	568	Franklin Middle School at Hamilton Street Campus	Public	6-8	415 Francis Street	Somerset	08873	Somerset County	Franklin Township Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 249-6410	667	81	8.2	53.8%	51 (7.6%)	199 (29.8%)	356 (53.4%)	39 (5.8%)	1 (0.1%)	4 (0.6%)	17 (2.5%)	$13,093	$464	$12,629	22.9	21.3	583	15
340071803014	569	Community Charter School of Paterson	Public, Charter	K-8	75 Spruce St	Paterson	07501	Passaic County	Community Charter School of Paterson	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 413-2057	900	55	16.3	90.9%	5 (0.6%)	250 (27.8%)	626 (69.6%)	9 (1.0%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (0.8%)	$10,771	$1,994	$8,777	22.6	16.3	633	64
341512000154	570	South Amboy Middle/High School	Public	6-12	200 Governor Harold G Hoffman	South Amboy	08879	Middlesex County	South Amboy School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 316-7669	594	41	14.5	50.0%	222 (37.4%)	76 (12.8%)	262 (44.1%)	25 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	7 (1.2%)	$10,459	$691	$9,768	22.5	21.9	578	8

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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 4, 2024, 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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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.

School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 743)	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 (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Rank (2023)	Rank Change from 2023	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)
340447001064	561	Samuel M Ridgway Middle School	Public	5-8	300 Delanco Rd	Edgewater Park	08010	Burlington County	Edgewater Park Township School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(609) 871-3434	416	33	12.6	59.4%	149 (35.8%)	134 (32.2%)	101 (24.3%)	7 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (6.0%)	$14,109			$345			$13,764	23.4	13.8	668	107
341236000682	562	Palisades Park Junior-Senior High School	Public	7-12	Veterans Plaza	Palisades Park	07650	Bergen County	Palisades Park School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 941-1100	736	53	13.9	58.8%	64 (8.7%)	10 (1.4%)	480 (65.2%)	178 (24.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.5%)	$14,384			$256			$14,128	23.4	31.2	507	55
340492003070	563	Gilmore J Fisher Middle School	Public	6-8	1325 Lower Ferry Road	Ewing	08618	Mercer County	Ewing Township School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 538-9800	773	84	9.2	57.2%	144 (18.6%)	363 (47.0%)	201 (26.0%)	25 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	38 (4.9%)	$18,033			$257			$17,776	23.3	25.6	552	11
340002200285	564	Marion P. Thomas Charter School	Public, Charter, Alternative	PK, KG-12	125 Sussex Ave	Newark	07103	Essex County	Marion P. Thomas Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 621-0060	1,393	65	21.4	31.4%	4 (0.3%)	1,131 (81.2%)	230 (16.5%)	2 (0.1%)	4 (0.3%)	2 (0.1%)	16 (1.1%)	$8,798			$888			$7,910	23.3	19.3	606	42
340072703029	565	The Ethical Community Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	95 Broadway	Jersey City	07306	Hudson County	The Ethical Community Charter School School Distirct	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 984-4151	351	16	21.9	52.1%	87 (24.8%)	45 (12.8%)	79 (22.5%)	119 (33.9%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (5.1%)	$8,303			$678			$7,625	23.2	36.4	451	114
341122003379	566	Blanquita B. Valenti Community School	Public	K-8	50 Jersey Ave	New Brunswick	08901	Middlesex County	New Brunswick School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 745-5300	760	67	11.3	65.0%	2 (0.3%)	18 (2.4%)	735 (96.7%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.5%)	$8,890						$8,890	22.9	19.8	603	37
340423002064	567	Cicely L. Tyson Community Middle/High School	Public	6-12	35 Winans Street	East Orange	07017	Essex County	East Orange School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 414-8600	695	63	11	61.9%	3 (0.4%)	609 (87.6%)	79 (11.4%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	$14,501			$320			$14,181	22.9	26.9	539	28
340549005212	568	Franklin Middle School at Hamilton Street Campus	Public	6-8	415 Francis Street	Somerset	08873	Somerset County	Franklin Township Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 249-6410	667	81	8.2	53.8%	51 (7.6%)	199 (29.8%)	356 (53.4%)	39 (5.8%)	1 (0.1%)	4 (0.6%)	17 (2.5%)	$13,093			$464			$12,629	22.9	21.3	583	15
340071803014	569	Community Charter School of Paterson	Public, Charter	K-8	75 Spruce St	Paterson	07501	Passaic County	Community Charter School of Paterson	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 413-2057	900	55	16.3	90.9%	5 (0.6%)	250 (27.8%)	626 (69.6%)	9 (1.0%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (0.8%)	$10,771			$1,994			$8,777	22.6	16.3	633	64
341512000154	570	South Amboy Middle/High School	Public	6-12	200 Governor Harold G Hoffman	South Amboy	08879	Middlesex County	South Amboy School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 316-7669	594	41	14.5	50.0%	222 (37.4%)	76 (12.8%)	262 (44.1%)	25 (4.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	7 (1.2%)	$10,459			$691			$9,768	22.5	21.9	578	8