Mahwah Schools Land In Top 25 Districts In New Survey

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — An education platform that helps people decide where to live has released its annual rankings of the best school districts, and many Bergen County schools made the grade.

Niche.com, which uses reviews to help people determine where to live and send their kids to school, crunched data on 94,058 public schools and 12,192 school districts, they said. The data included test scores and graduation rates, but also includes reviews from stakeholders.

The Northern Valley Regional High School District, based in Demarest, in Bergen County, was number one in New Jersey in the 2025 Best Schools and Districts rankings, released Monday.

The district was also among 388 New Jersey school districts that earned a mention in Niche’s ranking of more than 11,000 school districts nationwide.

The district includes two public high schools serving students in Closter, Demarest, Harrington Park, Haworth, Northvale, Norwood, and Old Tappan.

Niche gave Northern Valley Regional a letter grade of A+ overall, including these grades:

• Academics: A+
• Teachers: A+
• Clubs and activities: A
• Sports: A
• Resources and facilities: B+
• Diversity: B
• College prep: A+
• Administration: A+
• Food: A+

Mahwah, Others Near The Top

Meanwhile, Mahwah came in at number 23.

It got an A overall and an A+ for college prep.

Academics, sports, and clubs also got an A. It got a B for diversity. See the grades here.

Ridgewood was fourth, Tenafly came in at 6, and River Dell, Rutherford, and Pascack Valley were also near the top.

The top 25 school districts in New Jersey and the letter grades assigned by Niche include:

1. Northern Valley Regional High School District, A+
2. Princeton Public Schools, A+
3. Millburn Township School District, A+
4. Ridgewood Public School District, A+
5. West Windsor-Plainsboro School District, A+
6. Tenafly Public School District, A+
7. Summit Public School District, A+
8. Mountain Lakes School District, A+
9. School District of the Chathams, A+
10. Haddonfield Public Schools, A+
11. Moorestown Township Public Schools, A+
12. Livingston Board of Education School District, A+
13. New Providence School District, A+
14. Bernards Township School District, A+
15. South Brunswick School District, A+
16. Morris Hills Regional School District, A+
17. West Essex Regional School District, A+
18. West Morris Regional High School District, A+
19. Westfield Public School District, A+
20. Somerset Hills Regional School District, A+
21. River Dell Regional School District, A
22. Rutherford School District, A
23. Mahwah Township Public School District, A
24. Glen Ridge Public School District, A
25. Pascack Valley Regional High School District, A

The top five school districts nationwide are concentrated in two states, Illinois and New York. They are:

1. Adlai E. Stevenson High School District 125 (Illinois)
2. Glenbrook High School District 225 (Illinois)
3. Evanston Township High School District 202 (Illinois)
4. East Williston Union Free School District (New York)
5. Syosset Central School District (New York)

The rankings differ from others that rely almost exclusively on test scores and academic performance in that it also includes input from students, alumni and parents, as well as quantitative data from sources such as the U.S. Department of Education to evaluate teachers, resources and facilities.

Patch Editor Michele Rotuno-Johnson contributed to this story.