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)
341134002256	641	Chancellor Avenue School	Public	PK, KG-8	321 Chancellor Ave	Newark	07112	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 705-3870	618	33	18.7	86.7%	1 (0.2%)	537 (86.9%)	68 (11.0%)	2 (0.3%)	6 (1.0%)	4 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	$10,224			$849			$9,375	15.6	11.9	688	47
341269003384	642	School 16	Public	PK, KG-8	11 22nd Avenue	Paterson	07513	Passaic County	Paterson Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 413-2700	835	57	14.7	74.3%	22 (2.6%)	57 (6.8%)	750 (89.8%)	5 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	$6,870						$6,870	15.6	13	670	28
341269004880	643	Rev. Dr. Frank Napier Junior School	Public	1-8	55 Clinton Street	Paterson	07522	Passaic County	Paterson Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 321-0040	517	35	14.9	71.8%	7 (1.4%)	235 (45.5%)	270 (52.2%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	$10,865						$10,865	15.6	10.6	708	65
341134002304	644	Louise A. Spencer Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	66 Muhammad Ali Avenue	Newark	07108	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 733-6931	755	63	11.9	82.8%	14 (1.9%)	319 (42.3%)	417 (55.2%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	$12,119			$1,873			$10,246	15.5	15.5	643	1
340074903184	645	Millville Public Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	1101 Wheaton Avenue	Millville	08332	Cumberland County	Millville Public Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(856) 506-8143	310	27	11.4	28.7%	33 (10.6%)	151 (48.7%)	111 (35.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (4.8%)	$8,381			$2,343			$6,038	15.5	19.1	604	41
341227002412	646	Park Avenue Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	231 Park Ave	Orange	07050	Essex County	ORANGE BOARD OF EDUCATION School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 677-4124	387	39	10	60.2%	1 (0.3%)	197 (50.9%)	180 (46.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	8 (2.1%)	$11,933			$426			$11,507	15.4	18.5	614	32
340768002122	647	Union Avenue Middle School	Public	6-8	427 Union Ave	Irvington	07111	Essex County	Irvington Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 399-6885	730	53	13.7	57.1%	1 (0.1%)	510 (69.9%)	213 (29.2%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	$9,597			$204			$9,393	15.3	12.8	676	29
340096000032	648	Dr Martin Luther King Junior School Complex	Public	PK, KG-8	1700 Marmora Avenue	Atlantic City	08401	Atlantic County	Atlantic City School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 343-7380	516	51	10.1	94.0%	4 (0.8%)	365 (70.7%)	126 (24.4%)	5 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (3.1%)	$13,546			$1,934			$11,612	15.2	16.4	635	13
340459002983	649	Juan Pablo Duarte - Jose Julian Marti School No 28	Public	PK, KG-8	25 First Street	Elizabeth	07206	Union County	Elizabeth Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(908) 436-3950	915	70	13.1	85.7%	36 (3.9%)	77 (8.4%)	788 (86.1%)	10 (1.1%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,410			$267			$9,143	15.2	17.4	625	24
340786000027	650	Joseph R. Bolger Middle School	Public	6-8	100 Palmer Place	Keansburg	07734	Monmouth County	Keansburg School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 787-2007	335	28	12.1	47.2%	156 (46.6%)	82 (24.5%)	87 (26.0%)	7 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)	$15,314						$15,314	15	18.8	610	40

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.