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If you had an hour of school board time for Columbia Middle School, what would you bring up?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
523
Middle
DISTRICT 390 · STATE 578
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BERKELEY HEIGHTS SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 340153005436
Columbia Middle School
345 PLAINFIELD AVE, BERKELEY HTS, NJ 07922 · (908) 464-1600 · Union County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL523 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 84% of New Jersey public middle schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
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
10.0:1
52 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.0:1 · STATE 10.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
3%
14 students
DISTRICT 3% · 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 | 171 | 33% |
| Grade 7 | 158 | 30% |
| Grade 8 | 194 | 37% |
Student demographics
62%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 59% · 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
Columbia Middle School→Governor Livingston High School
Based on grade levels within Berkeley Heights School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
NJSLA 2024-25 . % Meeting or Exceeding ExpectationsEnglish Language Arts
79.9%
NJ avg 53.1% . +3.1pp since 2023
Math
66.1%
NJ avg 41.6% . -3.5pp since 2023
What this means: On the NJSLA, New Jersey's statewide test, about 80 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 66 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 are down about 4 points.
NJSLA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 79.9% | 66.1% |
| 2023-24 | 76.8% | 69.6% |
% 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
66.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
64.7%
based on NJ schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+2.0pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 67% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 65% 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 Columbia Middle School
Columbia Middle School's state test result (66.7% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia Middle School this school | 523 | 2.7% | 66.7% |
| Brookside School Allendale | 502 | 2.0% | 78.7% |
| William R. Satz School HOLMDEL | 455 | 2.9% | 68.5% |
| George Washington Middle School RIDGEWOOD | 644 | 1.9% | 69.6% |
| Warren Middle School Warren | 547 | 7.7% | 63.7% |
| Fieldstone Middle School Montvale | 443 | 9.5% | 64.7% |
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 Columbia Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In New Jersey | In Union County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 66.7% | #45 of 433 | #7 of 25 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 66.1% | #74 of 437 ▼ 34 | #8 of 25 ▼ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 79.9% | #62 of 437 ▲ 3 | #7 of 25 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 523 | #235 of 445 | #18 of 26 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 10.0:1 | #126 of 417 | #3 of 25 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 62.0% | #141 of 419 | #9 of 25 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 2.7% | #407 of 436 | #20 of 25 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.6% | #182 of 282 | #4 of 13 |
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
523
-21 (-4%) vs 2020
+100% since 1990-91, when it was 261
Student : Teacher
10.0:1
was 9.5:1
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 | 523 | 52.2 | 10.0:1 | 3% (14) |
| 2023-24 | 536 | 55.2 | 9.7:1 | 2% (11) |
| 2022-23 | 560 | 52.4 | 10.7:1 | 1% (4) |
| 2020-21 | 544 | 57 | 9.5:1 | 1% (7) |
| 2017-18 | 566 | 49.6 | 11.4:1 | 2% (13) |
| 2015-16 | 568 | 49 | 11.6:1 | 3% (16) |
| 2010-11 | 606 | 45 | 13.5:1 | 0% (3) |
| 2000-01 | 557 | 41 | 13.6:1 | 1% (6) |
| 1990-91 | 261 | 29 | 9.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Columbia Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 8% (566 to 523); teachers up 5% (49.6 to 52.2).
About Columbia Middle School
Columbia Middle School is a public middle-grades school run by Berkeley Heights School District in BERKELEY HTS, New Jersey. Enrolled students number 523 students, in grades 6 through 8.
Berkeley Heights School District serves 2,340 students across 6 schools.
Columbia Middle School's enrollment is 56% White. The next largest groups are 20% Asian, 14% Hispanic, 8% multiracial, and 2% Black. In Union County overall, about 39% of residents are White. Columbia Middle School has a diversity index of 62%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
Dividing enrollment by its 52.2 full-time-equivalent teachers gives a ratio of about 10.0:1. The average ratio among middle schools in New Jersey is 10.9:1, higher than at this school. Columbia Middle School reports 3% of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Across public schools in Union County, the average is 52%.
Measured against New Jersey public middle schools, Columbia Middle School receives an A-. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
The BeatsExpectations prediction for Columbia Middle School is 64.7%, and its average proficiency rate on state tests is 66.7%.
Union County has these Census figures: median household income is about $103,202, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 39%, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. Columbia Middle School is among the 180 public schools in Union County.
Mary Kay McMillin Early Childhood Center is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.5 miles away. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Among its closest neighbors with test data, Columbia Middle School is 4th of 6 on proficiency.
Federal data place Columbia Middle School in the Suburb: Large locale, which means it is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment was 544 in 2020-21 and 523 in 2024-25, a decrease of 21 students.
Threads on this page can be about school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Union County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
579,290
Census ACS
Median income
$103,202
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
39%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
180
99,046 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Berkeley Heights School District
- Governor Livingston High SchoolHigh · 849 students
- Mary Kay McMillin Early Childhood CenterElementary · 256 students
- Thomas P. Hughes SchoolElementary · 250 students
- William Woodruff SchoolElementary · 238 students
- Mountain Park SchoolElementary · 224 students
Other schools in BERKELEY HTS
- Thomas P. Hughes SchoolElementary · 250 students
- William Woodruff SchoolElementary · 238 students
- Mountain Park SchoolElementary · 224 students
Other Columbia Middle schools
10 other US public schools in 8 states are named Columbia Middle. Columbia Middle School is the 8th largest of the 11.
- Columbia Middle SchoolGrovetown, GA · 903 students
- Columbia Middle SchoolMOSES LAKE, WA · 875 students
- Columbia MiddleAdelanto, CA · 754 students
- Columbia MiddleSunnyvale, CA · 697 students
- Columbia Middle SchoolAURORA, CO · 636 students
Nearby schools
- Mary Kay McMillin Early Childhood Center0.5 mi · 256
- Thomas P. Hughes School0.6 mi · 250
- Mountain Park School0.8 mi · 224
- William Woodruff School0.9 mi · 238
- Gillette Elementary School1.6 mi · 215
- Allen W. Roberts School1.7 mi · 641
Frequently asked questions
About Columbia Middle SchoolHow large is Columbia Middle School?
Columbia Middle School enrolls approximately 523 students in grades 06-08.
Is Columbia Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Columbia Middle School is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many teachers does Columbia Middle School have?
Columbia Middle School employs 52 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 10.0:1.
What is the student diversity at Columbia Middle School?
Student demographics at Columbia Middle School are roughly 56% White, 14% Hispanic, 2% Black, 20% Asian, 8% Two or more.
What district is Columbia Middle School in?
Columbia Middle School is part of Berkeley Heights School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.