Black River Middle School

Black River Middle School operates as an intimate 6-8 campus in Chester, New Jersey, run under Chester Township School District. Current enrollment sits at 352 students spanning grades 6 through 8. That puts it 39% smaller than the typical public school in New Jersey, which averages around 578 students.

Black River Middle School is one of 3 schools operated by Chester Township School District, a district that instructs 1,005 students overall.

Looking at the student body, Black River Middle School reports that 72% of the student body identifies as White; the rest reads as 15% Hispanic, 8% Asian, 2% multiracial.

On the resource side, Black River Middle School logs 36 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 9.9:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 10.9:1, putting Black River Middle School tighter than the state norm the norm. Roughly 6% of students at Black River Middle School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Morris County (around 19%), the school's rate is noticeably below typical.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Black River Middle School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 63.0% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 64.4%.

In the area at large, the surrounding county (Morris County) logs that median household earnings sit near $137,326, roughly 58% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 3%. Black River Middle School is one of 156 public schools in Morris County (combined enrollment of about 72,239 students).

Dickerson Elementary School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.9 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Black River Middle School ranks 4th on composite proficiency, above the local average of 63.1%.

Black River Middle School operates from a low-density location.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Black River Middle School has shrank 9%, going from 387 students in 2018 to 352 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 83% to 72% across the same window.

Within the allk12 community for this school, recent activity here tends to focus on fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.