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)
340861005560	581	Joseph E. Soehl Middle School	Public	6-8	300 East Henry St.	Linden	07036	Union County	Linden Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(908) 486-0550	662	60	11	61.6%	73 (11.0%)	225 (34.0%)	318 (48.0%)	12 (1.8%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (4.8%)	$9,465			$1,450			$8,015	21.4	26.8	534	47
340459005510	582	Christopher Columbus School No. 15	Public	K-8	511 Third Ave	Elizabeth	07202	Union County	Elizabeth Public Schools	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(908) 436-5730	666	48	13.8	83.6%	28 (4.2%)	25 (3.8%)	609 (91.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,543			$243			$9,300	21.4	20.4	594	12
340549005212	583	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	730	82	8.9	53.3%	56 (7.7%)	245 (33.6%)	370 (50.7%)	39 (5.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.4%)	17 (2.3%)	$13,093			$464			$12,629	21.3	19.2	601	18
340423000273	584	Benjamin Banneker Academy	Public	PK, KG-8	500 South Clinton Street	East Orange	07018	Essex County	East Orange School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 266-4320	502	31	16.1	57.8%	5 (1.0%)	450 (89.6%)	39 (7.8%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.2%)	$10,883			$366			$10,517	21.2			(n/a)
340420002732	585	East Newark Elementary School	Public	K-8	501 11 North Third Street	East Newark	07029	Hudson County	East Newark School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 481-6800	227	21	10.8	84.1%	17 (7.5%)	4 (1.8%)	202 (89.0%)	3 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	$10,532			$1,154			$9,378	21.2			(n/a)
341539003650	586	South River Middle School	Public	6-8	3 Montgomery Street	South River	08882	Middlesex County	South River Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 613-4073	530	49	10.8	60.4%	224 (42.3%)	29 (5.5%)	247 (46.6%)	14 (2.6%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	14 (2.6%)	$10,158			$414			$9,744	21.2	25.2	552	34
340963005240	587	Alexander Batcho Intermediate School	Public	5-8	100 North 13th Avenue	Manville	08835	Somerset County	Manville School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(908) 231-8521	485	40	12.2	57.5%	164 (33.8%)	44 (9.1%)	260 (53.6%)	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.6%)	10 (2.1%)	$6,739			$115			$6,624	21.2	24.9	555	32
341296005862	588	Phillipsburg Middle School	Public	6-8	200 Hillcrest Blvd.	Phillipsburg	08865	Warren County	Phillipsburg School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(908) 454-3400	664	61	10.8	70.2%	261 (39.3%)	156 (23.5%)	188 (28.3%)	5 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (8.0%)	$14,763			$488			$14,275	21	22.5	581	7
341680003445	589	Sgt. Dominick Pilla Middle School	Public	6-8	3133 S Lincoln Ave	Vineland	08361	Cumberland County	Vineland Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(856) 691-1801	714			0.4%	252 (35.3%)	113 (15.8%)	306 (42.9%)	9 (1.3%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	30 (4.2%)	$12,703			$639			$12,064	20.8	25.4	548	41
341113004028	590	Woodrow Wilson	Public	PK, KG-8	210 West Sylvania Ave	Neptune City	07753	Monmouth County	Neptune City School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 775-5319	252	29	8.6	50.4%	61 (24.2%)	74 (29.4%)	94 (37.3%)	4 (1.6%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (7.1%)	$16,187			$742			$15,445	20.5	25.2	550	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:

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.