Dickinson High School

Niche, a ranking and review site for schools, recently posted the rankings for best public-school districts and schools around the country using data from the Department of Education, the U.S. Census, and the FBI. The Jersey City Times took a deep dive into the rankings, and below you’ll find interesting statistics on our city’s schools as a whole and on many of the 39 individual schools the district operates. But first, a word about Niche’s methodology.

Niche looked at data and survey results on seven different categories: student academic performance, teaching, “culture and diversity,” resources and facilities, clubs and activities, sports, and overall parent and student experience. To come up with final scores for each district and high school, they weighed certain categories more than others. Academic performance received an outsize 50% weighting; teaching, diversity, and facilities were also highly influential.

A similar procedure was used to rank middle and elementary schools, however those calculations omitted extra-curricular activities and resources and facilities and included instead the score a given district received as a whole.

Jersey City has thirteen grammar schools, which are schools serving grades Pre-K–8. When tabulating its results for those entries, Niche considered grades 6 to 8 to be middle schools and grades 1 to 5 to be elementary schools.

Niche also created lists of “standout” schools. To qualify as a standout high school for instance, a school’s student body has to be at least 50% economically disadvantaged, and the school as a whole has to have achieved an overall grade of B or better. The same criteria apply to standout middle and elementary schools.

One final note concerning methodology: When Niche talks about “student to teacher ratio,” it means the number of students to full-time teachers employed by the school, not the average ratio of those groups per class.

Jersey City’s Overall Ranking

Jersey City ranks as one of the most diverse districts in the country (103 of 11,808) and boasts average college prep-test scores considerably above the national average (1160 on the SAT and 28 on the ACT versus 1060 and 20). Still, the district received an overall grade of B- due to getting a C+ for academics, which accounts for 60% of the district’s overall grade.

Best Public High Schools in Jersey City

Dr. Ronald E. McNair Academic High School, Hamilton Park

 Overall Grade: A+

  • #1 of 27 standout high schools in New Jersey
  • #10 of 472 public high schools in New Jersey
  • #1 of 24 public high schools in Hudson County

With an A+ overall grade, MHS is considered a superb public high school and indeed ranks #9 of 2,878 standout high schools in the country. McNair offers strong academics with a focus on AP courses and college prep and boasts a 98% proficiency rate in reading and 90% rate in math. Ninety-five percent of McNair students graduate from a class with an average SAT of 1330 and an average ACT of 31.

McNair came in #2 of 491 statewide on measures of diversity and has a low student-teacher ratio of 14 to 1. There is trouble in paradise though: It got only school a C- for food and for resources and facilities available to students.

 Infinity Institute, Greenville

  • Overall Grade: A
  • #3 of 27 standout high schools in New Jersey
  • #105 of 472 public high schools in New Jersey
  • #4 of 24 public high schools in Hudson County

Infinity Institute received an A+ for diversity and an A- for academics and college prep. Teachers and administration rank in the Bs. Ninety percent of Infinity students graduate and are proficient in reading; 87% are proficient in math.

As #4 of 13 Best High Schools for STEM in Hudson County, it’s no surprise that Infinity students scored an average of 1230 on the SAT and that over half take AP courses. Infinity’s student-teacher ratio is 21 to 1.

Liberty High School, Journal Square

 Overall grade: B+

  • #8 of 27 standout high schools in New Jersey
  • #185 of 472 public high schools in New Jersey
  • #7 of 24 public high schools in Hudson County

Liberty High School has a very diverse population, ranking #23 of 491 for this category within the state. (The 491 includes charter schools as well.) Overall academics and teachers are considered B grade even with a very low student-teacher ratio of 9 to 1.

Liberty’s score was dampened by low grades in college prep, administration, and extra-curricular activities, but students’ average SAT score of 1100 is above the national average. Ninety percent of Liberty students graduate. The school posts an 87% proficiency rate in reading and a 42% rate in math.

Innovation High School, West Bergen

  • Overall grade: B
  • #257 of 472 best public high schools in New Jersey
  • #4 of 24 best public high schools in Hudson County

Innovation High School scored well on measures of teaching and diversity but ranked lower than the city’s other magnet high schools because of B- scores for both academics and college prep.

Students received SAT scores of 1040 on average (just below the national average) and graduate at an 85% rate. IHS has a 12 to 1 student-teacher ratio. Despite this, only 62% of attendees are proficient in reading and 17% are proficient in math.

Other Public High Schools in Jersey City:

 Academy Of the Sciences at William L. Dickinson High School (overall grade C+)

 Best Public Middle Schools in Jersey City

 Infinity Institute, Greenville

  • Overall Grade: A
  • #7 of 28 standout middle schools in New Jersey
  • #63 of 738 public middle schools in New Jersey
  • #1 of 49 public middle schools in Hudson County

Strong showings on diversity, academics and college prep catapulted the middle school section of Infinity (the school comprises grades 6–12) to rank #7 of 28 standout schools in the state.

The school has a 21 to 1 student-teacher ratio, a B grade for teachers, a 95% proficiency rate for  reading and an 87% rate for math.

Academy I Middle School, West Bergen

  • Overall Grade: A-
  • #5 of 28 standout middle schools in New Jersey
  • #119 of 738 public middle schools in New Jersey
  • #5 of 49 public middle schools in Hudson County

Like many of the Jersey City’s other “best” middle schools, Academy I received high marks for  diversity, academics, and teachers, undoubtedly helping it qualify to be #39 of 3,106 standout middle schools in America. The school has a student-teacher ratio of 17 to 1. Ninety-one percent of students are proficient in reading, and 82% are proficient in the math.

Michael Conti School – P.S. 5, Downtown

  • Overall Grade: B+
  • #187 of 738 public middle schools in New Jersey
  • #6 of 49 best public middle schools in Hudson County

Conti is a highly diverse middle school with excellent teachers who rated A- and a low student-teacher ratio of 12 to 1. Its overall grade was brought down by student test scores that showed only 80% of students with proficiency in reading and 58% with proficiency in math.

Alfred E. Zampella School – P.S. 27, The Heights

  • Overall Grade: B+
  • #292 of 738 public middle schools in New Jersey
  • #10 of 49 best public middle schools in Hudson County

Zampella’s middle school received an A for diversity and a B+ for teachers. Despite a low student-ratio of 12 to 1, however, only two-thirds of students were proficient in reading and 52% proficient in math.

Other Public Middle Schools in Jersey City

Best Public Elementary Schools in Jersey City

 Cornelia F. Bradford School – P.S. 16, Exchange Place

  • Overall Grade: A-
  • #287 of 1,408 “best” public elementary schools in New Jersey
  • #2 of 77 public elementary schools in Hudson County

Not only did P.S. 16 rank in the top schools in both New Jersey and Hudson County, its teachers ranked #7 of 86 countywide. P.S. 16 serves grades Pre-K to 5 with a student-teacher ratio of 20 to 1. Academic strength is shown through 92% proficiency rates in both reading and math.

Michael Conti School – P.S. 5, Downtown

  • Overall Grade: B+
  • #11 of 55 standout elementary schools in New Jersey
  • #466 of 1,408 “best” public elementary schools in New Jersey
  • #5 of 77 public elementary schools in Hudson County

Diversity and teachers make this school strong, boasting a student-teacher ratio of 12-1, which may account for its coming #11 of 55 standout elementary schools statewide. On the downside, only 80% of Conti elementary school students read proficiently, and only 58% are proficient in math.

Jotham W. Wakeman School – P.S. 6, Journal Square

  • Overall Grade: B+
  • #14 of 55 standout elementary schools in New Jersey
  • #541 of 1,408 “best” public elementary schools in New Jersey
  • #9 of 77 public elementary schools in Hudson County

Wakeman scored B+ for academics and has a student-teacher ratio of 11 to 1, helping it place  #14 of 55 standout elementary schools in the state. Despite this, only 67% of its students are proficient in reading or math.

Patricia Noonan School – P.S. 26, Journal Square

  • Overall Grade: B+
  • #23 of 55 standout elementary schools in New Jersey
  • #542 of 1,408 “best” public elementary schools in New Jersey
  • #10 of 77 public elementary schools in Hudson County

P.S. 26 is considered #8 of 17 standout elementary schools in Hudson County. It gets grades of A or better for diversity and teachers, but only two-thirds of school students can read proficiently and only 62% are proficient in math. These results depressed Noonan’s score for academics to a B. The school has a very low student-teacher ratio of 9 to 1.

Nicolaus Copernicus School – P.S. 25, The Heights

  • Overall Grade: B
  • #27 of 55 standout elementary schools in New Jersey
  • #657of 1,408 “best” public elementary schools in New Jersey
  • #12 of 77 best public elementary schools in Hudson County

P.S. 25 not only received an above-average grade of B but also ranked #11 of 17 standout elementary schools in Hudson County. With good grades for diversity and teachers and a low student-teacher ratio of 11 to 1, the B rating is due to a less than stellar grade in academics, with student proficiency rates in reading and math of 66% and 53%, respectively.

Paul Rafalides School – P.S. 33, West Side

  • Overall Grade: B
  • #20 of 55 standout elementary schools in New Jersey
  • #694 of 1,408 “best” public elementary schools in New Jersey
  • #15 of 77 best public elementary schools in Hudson County

Serving only grades Pre-K to 4, P.S. 33 is one of the most diverse public elementary schools in Hudson County (#5 of 90). It merited a B for academics. Two-thirds of Rafalides students are proficient in reading; only 47% are proficient in math.

Alfred E. Zampella School – P.S. 27, The Heights

  • Overall Grade: B
  • #22 of 55 standout elementary schools in New Jersey
  • #722 of 1,408 “best” public elementary schools in New Jersey
  • #16 of 77 public elementary schools in Hudson County

Like Rafalides, Zampella ranked high in diversity but got Bs for teachers and academics. While 67% of P.S. 27 students are proficient in reading, only 52% are in math.

 Frank R. Conwell School – P.S. 3, Downtown

  • Overall Grade: B
  • #754 of 1,408 “best” public elementary schools in New Jersey
  • #19 of 77 public elementary schools in Hudson County

Conwell scored A+ for diversity and B for teachers. Despite a low student-teacher ratio of 11 to 1, only 59% of Conwell’s elementary-age students are proficient in reading, and 48% are proficient in math.

Other Public Elementary Schools in Jersey City 

Vincent Onofre is a journalist based in the tri-state area. Raised in Texas, he has found a love for the northeast and New Jersey pizza. His go-to beats include politics and civics, healthcare and education....