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)
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)
340078903411	551	Ocean Academy Charter School	Public, Charter	K-8	1650 Massachusetts Ave.	Lakewood	08701	Ocean County	Ocean Academy Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 987-6525	499	50	9.9	91.2%	15 (3.0%)	40 (8.0%)	444 (89.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$8,235			$954			$7,281	25.1	15	652	101
340783002832	552	Dr. Charles P. DeFuccio School	Public	PK, KG-8	214 Plainfield Ave	Jersey City	07306	Hudson County	Jersey City Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 915-6560	307	33	9.2	67.4%	44 (14.3%)	106 (34.5%)	109 (35.5%)	39 (12.7%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.6%)	4 (1.3%)	$16,245			$610			$15,635	25.1	23	570	18
340004900336	553	Red Bank Charter School	Public, Charter	PK, KG-8	58 Oakland Street	Red Bank	07701	Monmouth County	Red Bank Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 450-2092	187	24	7.8	50.8%	55 (29.4%)	11 (5.9%)	116 (62.0%)	2 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.6%)	$12,107			$652			$11,455	24.9	39.7	423	130
340077703307	554	KIPP: Cooper Norcross A New Jersey Nonprofit Corporation	Public, Alternative	K-12	525 Clinton Street	Camden	08103	Camden County	KIPP: Cooper Norcross A New Jersey Nonprofit Corporation	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 622-0905	2,247	130	17.2	97.9%	6 (0.3%)	1,192 (53.0%)	961 (42.8%)	2 (0.1%)	3 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	81 (3.6%)	$12,672			$1,819			$10,853	24.7	17.2	626	72
340912005066	555	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	453	43	10.5	39.5%	339 (74.8%)	26 (5.7%)	62 (13.7%)	3 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	22 (4.9%)	$12,249			$312			$11,937	24.5	25.2	554	1
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	503	56	8.9	49.1%	393 (78.1%)	23 (4.6%)	59 (11.7%)	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	22 (4.4%)	$15,596			$666			$14,930	24.5	24.8	556
340783002806	557	Mahatma K. Gandhi School	Public	PK, KG-8	143 Romaine Ave	Jersey City	07306	Hudson County	Jersey City Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(201) 915-6490	895	85	10.5	60.2%	260 (29.1%)	175 (19.6%)	159 (17.8%)	285 (31.8%)	1 (0.1%)	4 (0.4%)	11 (1.2%)	$10,107			$154			$9,953	24.1	19.3	608	51
340135001956	558	Belleville Middle School	Public	7-8	279 Washington Ave	Belleville	07109	Essex County	Belleville Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 969-4342	709	61	11.6	66.0%	75 (10.6%)	54 (7.6%)	518 (73.1%)	43 (6.1%)	4 (0.6%)	6 (0.8%)	9 (1.3%)								23.8	21.9	579	21
341134002304	559	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	835	61	13.6	76.6%	19 (2.3%)	285 (34.1%)	523 (62.6%)	2 (0.2%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	$12,119			$1,873			$10,246	23.7	15.5	644	85
341134002270	560	Elliott Street Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-8	721 Summer Avenue	Newark	07104	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 268-5360	881	58	15.1	85.4%	11 (1.2%)	68 (7.7%)	797 (90.5%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	$8,669			$512			$8,157	23.6	17.4	622	62

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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:

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

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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.