West Orange Schools Ranked On New U.S. News List: ‘Best K-8’

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Several elementary and middle schools in West Orange have been ranked among the best in New Jersey, according to a new list released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report.

For the inaugural list, U.S. News published rankings and data on more than 80,000 public elementary and middle schools across the United States. Schools are ranked at the state and district levels. The best charter schools and best magnet schools ranked as stand-alone categories.

To determine the rankings, U.S. News used data from the U.S. Department of Education to analyze two areas at each school:

• Math and reading proficiency — or how well students perform on state assessments
• Math and reading performance — or how well they perform compared with expectations

The state assessment data used in the rankings is from the 2018-19 school year and, therefore, predates any effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on test-taking.

Here’s a look at how West Orange schools rated compared to the other New Jersey schools that made the list:

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

• St. Cloud Elementary School - 141
• Mount Pleasant Elementary School - 164
• Redwood Elementary School - 211
• Gregory Elementary School - 215
• Hazel Avenue Elementary School - 485
• Kelly Elementary School - 507
• Washington Elementary School - 544

MIDDLE SCHOOLS

• Roosevelt Middle School - 213
• Edison Middle School - 295
• Liberty Middle School - 247

Nationally, California has 5,534 ranked elementary schools — the most of any state — followed by Texas at 4,446; New York at 2,211; Florida at 2,128; and Illinois at 2,038 schools. California also has the most ranked middle schools with 2,319, followed by Texas at 1,942; Illinois at 1,243; New York at 1,219; and Florida at 997.

See the complete list of 2021’s Best K-8 Schools.

This article contains reporting by the Patch national desk

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