1
Which teacher or staff member at Christopher Columbus Middle School deserves more recognition?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,092
Middle
DISTRICT 1,174 · STATE 578
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CLIFTON PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 340330004764
Christopher Columbus Middle School
350 PIAGET AVENUE, CLIFTON, NJ 07011 · (973) 470-2360 · Passaic County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,092 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 50% of New Jersey public middle schools
- C-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded New Jersey public middle schools
Student : Teacher
9.1:1
120 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 10.0:1 · STATE 10.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
74%
809 students
DISTRICT 64% · STATE 41%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 337 | 31% |
| Grade 7 | 348 | 32% |
| Grade 8 | 407 | 37% |
Student demographics
46%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 53% · STATE 71% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Christopher Columbus Middle School→Clifton High School
Based on grade levels within Clifton Public School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
NJSLA 2024-25 . % Meeting or Exceeding ExpectationsEnglish Language Arts
39.0%
NJ avg 53.1% . +2.6pp since 2023
Math
25.8%
NJ avg 41.6% . +0.3pp since 2023
What this means: On the NJSLA, New Jersey's statewide test, about 39 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 26 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all New Jersey schools, those numbers are about 53 and 42. Reading and writing scores are up about 3 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.
NJSLA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 39.0% | 25.8% |
| 2023-24 | 36.4% | 25.5% |
% Meeting or Exceeding Expectations, all students and all tested grades.
Source: NJSLA. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
32.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
25.6%
based on NJ schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+6.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 32% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 26% typical for New Jersey schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among New Jersey's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Christopher Columbus Middle School
Christopher Columbus Middle School's state test result (32.2% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christopher Columbus Middle School this school | 1,092 | 74.1% | 32.2% |
| Lincoln Middle School KEARNY | 763 | 72.5% | 28.2% |
| William F. Halloran School No.22 ELIZABETH | 1,140 | 78.1% | 67.8% |
| Long Branch Middle School LONG BRANCH | 1,142 | 81.6% | 22.6% |
| Terence C. Reilly School No 7 ELIZABETH | 1,130 | 78.5% | 69.5% |
| Franklin L. Williams School JERSEY CITY | 906 | 81.9% | 25.5% |
Matched among New Jersey middle schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Christopher Columbus Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In New Jersey | In Passaic County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 32.2% | #324 of 433 | #16 of 21 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 25.8% | #336 of 437 ▼ 13 | #16 of 21 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 39.0% | #349 of 437 ▲ 1 | #16 of 21 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,092 | #24 of 445 | #2 of 22 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 9.1:1 | #61 of 417 | #4 of 19 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 46.2% | #291 of 419 | #12 of 19 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 74.1% | #60 of 436 | #4 of 21 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -9.1% | #163 of 282 | #6 of 14 |
Ranked against other public middle schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
1,092
-80 (-7%) vs 2020
+21% since 1990-91, when it was 901
Student : Teacher
9.1:1
was 9.9:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 1,092 | 120 | 9.1:1 | 74% (809) |
| 2023-24 | 1,146 | 115 | 10.0:1 | 74% (847) |
| 2022-23 | 1,158 | 118.5 | 9.8:1 | 72% (833) |
| 2020-21 | 1,172 | 118 | 9.9:1 | 65% (766) |
| 2017-18 | 1,201 | 115 | 10.4:1 | 66% (791) |
| 2015-16 | 1,199 | 112 | 10.7:1 | 69% (831) |
| 2010-11 | 1,127 | 85 | 13.3:1 | 56% (632) |
| 2000-01 | 998 | 80 | 12.5:1 | 29% (288) |
| 1990-91 | 901 | 63 | 14.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Christopher Columbus Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 9% (1,201 to 1,092); teachers up 4% (115 to 120).
About Christopher Columbus Middle School
Christopher Columbus Middle School sits in CLIFTON, New Jersey, and is classified as a middle school. The school serves grades 6 through 8. Enrollment is 1,092 students. That is 89% above the average of about 578 students for middle schools in New Jersey.
Federal data list 19 schools in Clifton Public School District, with 10,516 students enrolled.
At Christopher Columbus Middle School, 71% of students are Hispanic. Other students are 19% White, 5% Asian, and 3% Black. That is higher than the 44% Hispanic share among all Passaic County residents. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 46%.
There are about 9.1 students for every full-time-equivalent teacher at Christopher Columbus Middle School, which has 120. By comparison, the average for middle schools in New Jersey is 10.9:1. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility at Christopher Columbus Middle School is about 74%. That rate is above the 61% average among public schools in Passaic County.
Among New Jersey public middle schools, Christopher Columbus Middle School outscored 50%, which works out to a B- on the allk12 Grade.
A school with Christopher Columbus Middle School's lunch-eligibility share in New Jersey is predicted to score 25.6%. Christopher Columbus Middle School scores 32.2%, 6.6 points above that line.
For Passaic County, Census Bureau data show the median household earns about $87,522 a year, 31% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 11% of people live in poverty. Counting Christopher Columbus Middle School, Passaic County has 155 public schools.
Christopher Columbus Middle School is about 0.2 miles from School #1, its nearest public school. Christopher Columbus Middle School has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Local comparison: Christopher Columbus Middle School ranks 4th of 9 nearby schools, at 32.2% versus a 30.3% average.
Christopher Columbus Middle School falls in the Suburb: Large locale category, used for schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment decreased 7% over 4 years, reaching 1,092 in 2024-25.
You can use this page to share news and ask questions about open houses, carpools, and field trips. You can also rate the school on this page.
Passaic County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
521,012
Census ACS
Median income
$87,522
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
31%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
155
83,237 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Clifton Public School District
- Clifton High SchoolHigh · 3,150 students
- Woodrow Wilson Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,255 students
- School #12Elementary · 560 students
- School #17Elementary · 501 students
- School #13Elementary · 443 students
- School #2Elementary · 401 students
Other schools in CLIFTON
- Clifton High SchoolHigh · 3,150 students
- Woodrow Wilson Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,255 students
- School #12Elementary · 560 students
- School #17Elementary · 501 students
- School #13Elementary · 443 students
- School #2Elementary · 401 students
Nearby schools
- School #10.2 mi · 255
- School #30.4 mi · 257
- Classical Academy Charter School of Clifton0.5 mi · 185
- School #40.6 mi · 130
- School #110.7 mi · 376
- School #150.9 mi · 282
Frequently asked questions
About Christopher Columbus Middle SchoolHow large is Christopher Columbus Middle School?
Christopher Columbus Middle School enrolls approximately 1,092 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Christopher Columbus Middle School serve?
Christopher Columbus Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Christopher Columbus Middle School?
Approximately 9.1:1 students per teacher at Christopher Columbus Middle School.
How diverse is Christopher Columbus Middle School?
Christopher Columbus Middle School reports a student body of 19% White, 71% Hispanic, 3% Black, 5% Asian, 1% Two or more.
Who oversees Christopher Columbus Middle School?
Christopher Columbus Middle School is overseen by Clifton Public School District in Passaic County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.