These 5 Bergen County Middle Schools Were Ranked At The Top

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Middle school is often a tough time — kids' bodies are changing, their friends are changing. But some middle schools find a way to teach a broad range of students and find success, according to one list.

U.S. News & World Report researchers based their new 2025 ranking of the nation’s best public middle schools on data from the U.S. Department of Education. The researchers analyzed 59,128 middle schools for the report, and ranked close to 30,000 of them.

They ranked elementary schools as well as middle schools.

To get their list, they looked at state assessments of students who were proficient or above proficient in math and reading/language arts, while also accounting for students’ background and their achievements in core subjects. Student-teacher ratios were used to break ties.

The rankings are intended as an evaluation tool to give parents a snapshot of certain districts, said LaMont Jones, managing editor for education at U.S. News, in a news release. Each student and family is different.

According to U.S. News, the top 25 public middle schools in New Jersey are:

1. School 28, Paterson Public School District
2. Infinity Institute, Jersey City Public Schools
3. Upper School, Englewood Cliffs School District
4. Thomas Edison Energysmart Charter School
5. Mendham Township Middle School
6. Princeton Charter School
7. Forrestdale School, Rumson Borough School District
8. Markham Place School, Little Silver Boro School District
9. Ho-Ho-Kus Public School, Ho-Ho-Kus School District
10. Hatikvah International Academy Charter School
11. Brookside School, Allendale Public School District
12. Sara M. Gilmore Academy, Union City School District
13. Mountain View School, Mendham Borough School District
14. Deerfield Elementary School, Mountainside School District
15. Knollwood School, Fair Haven School District
16. Millburn Middle School, Millburn Township School District
17. Harding Township School, Harding Township School District
18. Tenafly Middle School, Tenafly Public School District
19. John Adams Middle School, Edison Township School District
20. Academy I, Jersey City Public Schools
21. Woodcliff Middle School, Woodcliff Lake School District
22. Woodrow Wilson Middle School, Edison Township School District
23. Old Turnpike School, Tewksbury Township School District
24. Nicholas Oresko Community School, Bayonne School District
25. Cranbury School, Cranbury Township School District

To see the full list, click here.

Editor Michele Rotuno-Johnson contributed to this story.