New Jersey's Best School Districts 2020: New Rankings Released

Data compiler Niche has ranked New Jersey's best school districts for the 2019-2020 school year. The rankings were released Monday as part of the website's 2020 K-12 rankings – and they came just as state officials have been coming to grips with reports of possible school funding shortfalls.

Each New Jersey district received a letter grade in the following categories: Academics; Diversity; Teachers; College Prep; Clubs & Activities; Health & Safety; Administration; Sports; Food; and Resources & Facilities.

National rankings (for those in the top 100 in America) are in parenthesis.

To arrive at the rankings, Niche looked at data from the U.S. Department of Education as well as test scores, college data, and ratings collected from Niche users. (You can read more about the methodology here.)

The top-ranked school district in New Jersey is Princeton. Niche gave Princeton an A or an A+ in all categories except for diversity (B+), sports and food (B). Last year, Millburn was number 1.

West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District had one of the steepest drops from last year, falling from 3rd to 11th.

These ratings come as New Jersey continues to battle over school funding. A recently released report said New Jersey still doesn't have enough money for schools – and that means at least 166 of them may need to tax to get more. Read more: 166 NJ School Districts Need Money – And May Need To Tax: Report

Here is the full list of the top 162 districts, as ranked by Niche.com:

1. Princeton Public Schools (#17 nationally)
2. Millburn Township School District (#20 nationally)
3. Livingston Board of Education School District (#30 nationally)
4. Summit Public School District (#48 nationally)
5. Tenafly Public School District (#49 nationally)
6. Northern Valley Regional High School District (#55 nationally)
7. Mountain Lakes School District (#71 nationally)
8. Bernards Township School District (#83 nationally)
9. Haddonfield Public Schools (#87 nationally)
10. Montgomery Township School District (#94 nationally)
11. West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District
12. Hopewell Valley Regional School District
13. South Brunswick School District
14. Westfield Public School District
15. Hillsborough Township Public School District
16. Ridgewood Public School District
17. Fair Lawn School District
18. Moorestown Township Public School District
19. Mahwah Township Public School District
20. West Morris Regional High School District, Chester
21. Holmdel Township School District
22. Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District, Martinsville
23. Cranford Public School District
24. New Providence School District
25. East Brunswick Township School District
26. North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District, Annandale
27. Pascack Valley Regional High School District, Montvale
28. Parsippany-Troy Hills Township School District
29. Pompton Lakes School District
30. Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District, Oakland
31. Berkeley Heights School District
32. Ramsey School District
33. Montclair Public Schools
34. Randolph Township School District
35. Glen Rock Board of Education
36. River Dell Regional School District, River Edge
37. Morris Hills Regional School District, Denville
38. Edison Township School District
39. Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District
40. Somerset Hills Regional School District, Bernardsville
41. West Essex Regional School District, North Caldwell
42. Glen Ridge Public School District
43. Robbinsville Public Schools
44. Sparta Township Public School District
45. Mount Olive Township School District
46. Fort Lee School District
47. Montville Township School District
48. Metuchen Public School District
49. Leonia Public School District
50. Madison Public School District
51. Westwood Regional School District
52. Point Pleasant Beach School District
53. Lenape Regional High School District, Shamong
54. Old Bridge Township School District
55. Upper Freehold Regional School District
56. Wayne Township Public School District
57. Kinnelon School District
58. Hanover Park Regional High School District, East Hanover
59. Paramus Public School District
60. The School District of the Chathams
61. Bergenfield Borough School District
62. Dumont Public School District
63. Lawrence Township Public School District
64. Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District
65. Park Ridge School District
66. Hasbrouck Heights School District
67. Monroe Township School District
68. Freehold Regional High School District
69. Highland Park School District
70. West Orange Public Schools
71. Cherry Hill School District
72. Rutherford School District
73. Cresskill Public School District
74. Ocean City School District
75. Somerville Public School District
76. Cinnaminson Township Public Schools
77. Piscataway Township School District
78. Egg Harbor Township School District
79. Point Pleasant Boro School District
80. Waldwick School District
81. Delsea Regional High School District, Franklinville
82. Wall Township Public School District
83. Emerson Public School District
84. South Orange-Maplewood School District
85. Secaucus Board of Education
86. Ridgefield School District
87. Clearview Regional High School District, Mullica Hill
88. New Milford Public School District
89. Atlantic County Vocational School District, Mays Landing
90. Springfield Public School District
91. Midland Park School District
92. Caldwell-West Caldwell School District
93. Roxbury Township School District
94. Middletown Township Public School District
95. Verona Public School District
96. Washington Township School District, Sewell
97. Southern Regional School District, Manahawkin
98. Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District, Mays Landing
99. Manasquan School District
100. Woodstown-Pilesgrove Regional School District
101. Morris School District
102. Weehawken Public School District
103. Northern Burlington County Regional School District, Columbus
104. East Windsor Regional School District
105. Roselle Park Board of Education
106. Collingswood Public School District
107. Middlesex Borough School District
108. Kingsway Regional School District, Woolwich Twp.
109. Woodbridge Township School District
110. Haddon Township School District
111. Cedar Grove Township School District
112. Pequannock Township School District
113. Spotswood Public School District
114. Teaneck School District
115. Haddon Heights School District
116. Ocean Township School District (Oakhurst)
117. Burlington Township Board of Education
118. South Plainfield School District
119. Jackson Township School District
120. Pittsgrove Township School District
121. Bloomfield Township School District
122. Hammonton School District
123. Phillipsburg School District
124. Lodi School District
125. Butler Public School District
126. Toms River Regional School District
127. Nutley Public School District
128. Boonton Town School District
129. North Brunswick Township School District
130. Bordentown Regional School District
131. Clark Township Public Schools
132. South Hunterdon Regional School District, Lambertville
133. Plumsted Township School District
134. Palmyra Public School District
135. Hackensack School District
136. Delran Township School District
137. Hawthorne Public School District
138. Franklin Township Public School District, Somerset
139. Vernon Township School District
140. Newton Public School District
141. Sayreville School District
142. Ridgefield Park School District
143. Audubon Public School Disrict
144. Hackettstown Public School District
145. Bayonne School District
146. Black Horse Pike Regional School District, Blackwood
147. Hazlet Township Public School District
148. Wallington School District
149. West Deptford Township School District
150. Bogota Public School District
151. Palisades Park School District
152. Manchester Township School District
153. Union Township School District (Union)
154. Hamilton Township School District (Hamilton)
155. Warren Hills Regional School District, Washington]
156. Jefferson Township School District
157. Pinelands Regional School District, Little Egg Harbor
158. Lower Cape May Regional School District
159. Middle Township Public School District
160. Jersey City School District
161. Dunellen Public School District
162. Pitman Boro School District

According to Niche, the Glenbrook High Schools District 225 in Illinois is the best school district in the country overall.

With an overall Niche grade of A+, the district received a grade of A+ in academics, teachers, clubs and activities, college prep and health and safety. In the category of diversity, Niche awarded the school district a B.

Read the whole list here.