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)
341134000091	621	Rafael Hernandez School	Public	PK, KG-8	345 Broadway	Newark	07104	Essex County	Newark Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 481-5004	653	44	14.8	78.6%	21 (3.2%)	135 (20.7%)	492 (75.3%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	$8,503			$721			$7,782	18.1	18.3	616	5
341293003548	622	Samuel E. Shull Middle School	Public	6-8	380 Hall Avenue	Perth Amboy	08861	Middlesex County	Perth Amboy Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(732) 376-6060	865	77	11.1	81.3%	13 (1.5%)	44 (5.1%)	799 (92.4%)	5 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.3%)	$12,637			$631			$12,006	18	20.1	597	25
340348001810	623	Commercial Township School	Public	PK, KG-8	1308 North Avenue	Port Norris	08349	Cumberland County	Commercial Township School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(856) 785-0222	482	42	11.4	50.4%	304 (63.1%)	60 (12.4%)	89 (18.5%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	25 (5.2%)	$9,500			$1,198			$8,302	17.9	12.7	684	61
341269003263	624	Joseph A. Taub School	Public	6-8	202 Union Avenue	Paterson	07502	Passaic County	Paterson Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 321-0700	968	54	17.9	50.0%	35 (3.6%)	107 (11.1%)	571 (59.0%)	253 (26.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	$7,202						$7,202	17.7	18.5	614	10
341269004908	625	School 18	Public	1-8	51 E 18th Street	Paterson	07524	Passaic County	Paterson Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 321-0180	651	61	10.7	75.3%	9 (1.4%)	54 (8.3%)	581 (89.2%)	7 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$6,561						$6,561	17.7	16.9	629	4
341287001612	626	Howard M. Phifer Middle School	Public	6-8	8201 Park Ave	Pennsauken	08109	Camden County	Pennsauken Township Board of Education School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(856) 662-8511	1,010	87	11.6	35.0%	64 (6.3%)	226 (22.4%)	602 (59.6%)	87 (8.6%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	29 (2.9%)	$9,290			$325			$8,965	17.5	20.4	592	34
340459002983	627	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	912	68	13.4	87.3%	30 (3.3%)	79 (8.7%)	794 (87.1%)	7 (0.8%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$9,410			$267			$9,143	17.4	15.2	649	22
341227002412	628	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	417	37	11.4	81.1%	1 (0.2%)	213 (51.1%)	196 (47.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	5 (1.2%)	$11,933			$426			$11,507	17.4	15.4	646	18
341269000353	629	Alexander Hamilton Academy	Public	K-8	11-27 16th Avenue	Paterson	07501	Passaic County	Paterson Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(973) 321-0320	488	32	15.2	85.9%	5 (1.0%)	156 (32.0%)	324 (66.4%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$8,344						$8,344	17.3	28	533	96
340225001804	630	West Avenue School	Public	K-8	51 North West Avenue	Bridgeton	08302	Cumberland County	Bridgeton City School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(856) 455-8030	622	59	10.6	68.8%	23 (3.7%)	147 (23.6%)	440 (70.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (1.6%)	$12,057			$733			$11,324	17.2	11.7	691	61

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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 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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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.