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)
340459005508	551	Abraham Lincoln School No. 14	Public	K-8	50 Grove Street	Elizabeth	07202	Union County	Elizabeth Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(908) 436-5828	840	74	11.4	83.1%	56 (6.7%)	83 (9.9%)	678 (80.7%)	20 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	$10,502			$228			$10,274	25.8	25.7	544	7
340492003070	552	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	791	89	8.8	50.1%	166 (21.0%)	358 (45.3%)	196 (24.8%)	25 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	42 (5.3%)	$18,033			$257			$17,776	25.6	26.4	537	15
341116004036	553	Neptune Middle School	Public	6-8	2300 Heck Avenue	Neptune	07753	Monmouth County	Neptune Township School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 776-2200	648	71	9.1	45.2%	94 (14.5%)	271 (41.8%)	215 (33.2%)	20 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	48 (7.4%)	$13,565			$585			$12,980	25.4	25	554	1
340912005066	554	Pennsville Middle School	Public	6-8	4 William Penn Avenue	Pennsville	08070	Salem County	Pennsville School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(856) 540-6200	440	42	10.6	39.1%	332 (75.5%)	28 (6.4%)	57 (13.0%)	6 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	16 (3.6%)	$12,249			$312			$11,937	25.2	24.5	562	8
341134003374	555	Salome Urena Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	284 First Avenue	Newark	07104	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 733-8280	443	40	11	80.8%	9 (2.0%)	53 (12.0%)	359 (81.0%)	7 (1.6%)	13 (2.9%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,232			$137			$12,095	24.9			(n/a)
341300006101	556	Pinelands Regional Junior High School	Public	7-8	590 Nugentown Road	Little Egg Harbor	08087	Ocean County	Pinelands Regional School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 296-3106	520	55	9.4	42.3%	398 (76.5%)	27 (5.2%)	69 (13.3%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.6%)	20 (3.8%)	$15,596			$666			$14,930	24.8	29.8	510	46
340282006146	557	Carteret Junior High School	Public	7-8	195 Washington Ave	Carteret	07008	Middlesex County	Carteret Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(732) 541-8960	607	45	13.6	73.6%	56 (9.2%)	114 (18.8%)	285 (47.0%)	136 (22.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	15 (2.5%)								24.7			(n/a)
341815002688	558	Woodbury Junior-Senior High School	Public	6-12	25 N. Broad Street	Woodbury	08096	Gloucester County	Woodbury City Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(856) 853-0123	829	70	11.8	62.5%	174 (21.0%)	324 (39.1%)	252 (30.4%)	11 (1.3%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	62 (7.5%)	$15,502			$1,059			$14,443	24.4	18.7	611	53
340744005905	559	Hopatcong Middle School	Public	4-7	1 David Road	Hopatcong	07843	Sussex County	Hopatcong Borough School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 398-8804	428	35	12.3	25.7%	232 (54.2%)	25 (5.8%)	154 (36.0%)	14 (3.3%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	$11,825						$11,825	24.4	33.5	480	79
341164003337	560	North Plainfield Middle School	Public	7-8	34 Wilson Avenue	North Plainfield	07060	Union County	North Plainfield School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(908) 769-6040	489	50	9.7	66.1%	51 (10.4%)	83 (17.0%)	342 (69.9%)	10 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	$8,550			$03			$8,547	24.1	23.9	564	4

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for New Jersey

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

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.