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)
341533002424	281	Maplewood Middle School	Public	6-8	7 Burnett St	Maplewood	07040	Essex County	South Orange-Maplewood School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 378-7660	721	79	9.1	15.3%	372 (51.6%)	200 (27.7%)	76 (10.5%)	23 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (6.8%)	$6,140						$6,140	58.5	56	292	11
340534005336	282	Frankford Township School	Public	PK, KG-8	4 Pines Road	Branchville	07826	Sussex County	Frankford Township Consolidated School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 948-3727	504	57	8.9	9.3%	450 (89.3%)	2 (0.4%)	25 (5.0%)	4 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (4.6%)	$16,040			$466			$15,574	58.3	71	180	102
340141003750	283	Belmar Elementary	Public	PK, KG-8	1101 Main Street	Belmar	07719	Monmouth County	Belmar Elementary School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 681-2388	394	55	7.1	51.3%	135 (34.3%)	11 (2.8%)	224 (56.9%)	4 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (5.1%)	$15,538			$1,241			$14,297	58.2	54.1	310	27
340213003752	284	Bradley Beach Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	515 Brinley Avenue	Bradley Beach	07720	Monmouth County	Bradley Beach School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 775-4413	205	37	5.5	50.7%	63 (30.7%)	9 (4.4%)	127 (62.0%)	2 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	3 (1.5%)	$15,320			$1,194			$14,126	58.2	29.4	514	230
341326000366	285	Pohatcong Township School	Public	PK, KG-8	240 Rte 519	Phillipsburg	08865	Warren County	Pohatcong Township School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(908) 859-8155	307	31	9.8	23.1%	230 (74.9%)	19 (6.2%)	50 (16.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	7 (2.3%)	$14,021			$344			$13,677	58	37.9	445	160
341386004944	286	Martin J. Ryerson School	Public	6-8	130 Valley Road	Ringwood	07456	Passaic County	Ringwood School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 962-7063	378	38	9.9	7.1%	308 (81.5%)	4 (1.1%)	48 (12.7%)	4 (1.1%)	5 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.4%)	$10,434			$59			$10,375	57.9	58	276	10
340774004624	287	Carl W. Goetz Middle School	Public	6-8	835 Patterson Road	Jackson	08527	Ocean County	Jackson Township School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(732) 833-4610	989	84	11.7	22.5%	652 (65.9%)	56 (5.7%)	222 (22.4%)	34 (3.4%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.3%)	21 (2.1%)	$8,153			$09			$8,144	57.8	58.2	274	13
341227002404	288	Heywood Avenue Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-7	421 Heywood Ave	Orange	07050	Essex County	ORANGE BOARD OF EDUCATION School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 677-4105	367	33	11.2	62.9%	4 (1.1%)	275 (74.9%)	71 (19.3%)	1 (0.3%)	3 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (3.5%)	$11,274			$312			$10,962	57.6	48.5	356	68
341134002202	289	University High School	Public	8-12	55 Clinton Pl	Newark	07108	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 374-3190	426	41	10.3	83.6%	1 (0.2%)	343 (80.5%)	74 (17.4%)	5 (1.2%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,448			$636			$11,812	57.5	22.2	582	293
340471000380	290	Emerson Junior Senior High	Public	7-12	131 Main Street	Emerson	07630	Bergen County	Emerson Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 262-4447	440	48	9.2	9.1%	287 (65.2%)	8 (1.8%)	94 (21.4%)	35 (8.0%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.7%)	12 (2.7%)	$15,333			$60			$15,273	57.4	59.2	269	21

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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.