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Parents: what's one thing you'd want the Maxson Middle School administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
721
Middle
DISTRICT 729 · STATE 578
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PLAINFIELD PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 341314005608
Maxson Middle School
920 E SEVENTH ST, PLAINFIELD, NJ 07062 · (908) 731-4310 · Union County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL721 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
9.2:1
78 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 10.2:1 · STATE 10.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
77%
553 students
DISTRICT 78% · 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 | 251 | 35% |
| Grade 7 | 246 | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 224 | 31% |
Student demographics
28%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 30% · 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
Test scores
NJSLA 2024-25 . % Meeting or Exceeding ExpectationsEnglish Language Arts
23.4%
NJ avg 53.1% . +3.3pp since 2023
Math
12.6%
NJ avg 41.6% . +2.6pp since 2023
What this means: On the NJSLA, New Jersey's statewide test, about 23 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 13 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 up about 3 points.
NJSLA results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 23.4% | 12.6% |
| 2023-24 | 20.1% | 10.0% |
% 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
16.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
24.2%
based on NJ schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-7.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 17% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 24% 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 Maxson Middle School
Maxson Middle School's state test result (16.8% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maxson Middle School this school | 721 | 76.7% | 16.8% |
| Grace A Dunn Middle School TRENTON | 703 | 77.1% | 7.0% |
| Hedgepeth Williams Intermediate School TRENTON | 668 | 78.0% | 5.7% |
| Thomas W. Wallace Jr. Middle School VINELAND | 695 | 75.4% | 13.1% |
| North Plainfield Middle School North Plainfield | 538 | 78.6% | 21.7% |
| Hubbard Middle School PLAINFIELD | 737 | 86.4% | 19.7% |
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 Maxson Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In New Jersey | In Union County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 16.8% | #401 of 433 | #24 of 25 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 12.6% | #398 of 437 ▲ 8 | #23 of 25 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 23.4% | #407 of 437 ▼ 2 | #24 of 25 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 721 | #122 of 445 | #11 of 26 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 9.2:1 | #71 of 417 | #1 of 25 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 28.4% | #385 of 419 | #24 of 25 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 76.7% | #50 of 436 | #4 of 25 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +6.2% | #71 of 122 | #6 of 12 |
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
721
-108 (-13%) vs 2020
+25% since 1990-91, when it was 576
Student : Teacher
9.2:1
was 13.8:1
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 | 721 | 78 | 9.2:1 | 77% (553) |
| 2023-24 | 798 | 65 | 12.3:1 | 78% (622) |
| 2022-23 | 818 | 69 | 11.9:1 | 84% (689) |
| 2020-21 | 829 | 60 | 13.8:1 | 74% (610) |
| 2017-18 | 679 | 56 | 12.1:1 | 78% (530) |
| 2015-16 | 666 | 51 | 13.1:1 | 75% (502) |
| 2010-11 | 329 | 31 | 10.6:1 | 82% (269) |
| 2000-01 | 958 | 64 | 15.0:1 | 57% (542) |
| 1990-91 | 576 | 42 | 13.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Maxson Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students up 6% (679 to 721); teachers up 39% (56 to 78).
About Maxson Middle School
At 920 E SEVENTH ST in PLAINFIELD, New Jersey, Maxson Middle School operates as a mid-sized middle-grades school. It reports enrollment of 721 students in grades 6 through 8. Across middle schools in New Jersey, the average enrollment is about 578.
District-wide, Plainfield Public School District has 15 schools and 8,522 students.
Hispanic students are 83% of those enrolled at Maxson Middle School. Next come 15% Black. That compares with about 35% Hispanic among all Union County residents. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 28%.
Maxson Middle School reported 78 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25, a ratio of 9.2:1. Middle schools in New Jersey have an average ratio of 10.9:1. Roughly 77% of students at Maxson Middle School can receive free or reduced-price lunch. That rate is above the 52% average among public schools in Union County.
On a poverty-adjusted basis, Maxson Middle School falls in the middle 80% of New Jersey schools: 16.8% actual against 24.2% predicted.
For Union County, Census Bureau data show the median household earns about $103,202 a year, 39% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of people live in poverty. Counting Maxson Middle School, Union County has 180 public schools.
Charles and Anna Booker Elementary School, less than a tenth of a mile away, is the closest public school. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. On average proficiency, Maxson Middle School is 6th of 8 nearby schools with test data.
The school's locale code, Suburb: Large, means it is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment decreased by 13% across 4 years, from 829 in 2020-21 to 721 in 2024-25. Its ratio of students to teachers was 13.8:1 in 2020-21, and 9.2:1 in 2024-25.
Maxson Middle School has a community page on allk12 for topics such as athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
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 Plainfield Public School District
- Plainfield High SchoolHigh · 2,077 students
- Charles and Anna Booker Elementary SchoolElementary · 816 students
- Hubbard Middle SchoolMiddle · 737 students
- Cedarbrook Elementary SchoolElementary · 671 students
- Washington Community SchoolElementary · 557 students
- Dewitt D. Barlow Elementary SchoolElementary · 423 students
Other schools in PLAINFIELD
- Plainfield High SchoolHigh · 2,077 students
- College Achieve Central Charter SchoolCombined · 1,572 students
- Charles and Anna Booker Elementary SchoolElementary · 816 students
- Hubbard Middle SchoolMiddle · 737 students
- Cedarbrook Elementary SchoolElementary · 671 students
- Cresthaven Academy Charter SchoolElementary · 621 students
Nearby schools
- Charles and Anna Booker Elementary School0.1 mi · 816
- Frederic W. Cook Elementary School0.5 mi · 198
- Pinnacle Academy High School0.5 mi · 67
- College Achieve Central Charter School0.5 mi · 1,572
- Emerson Community School0.6 mi · 414
- Dewitt D. Barlow Elementary School0.7 mi · 423
Frequently asked questions
About Maxson Middle SchoolHow many students attend Maxson Middle School?
Maxson Middle School enrolls approximately 721 students in grades 06-08.
Is Maxson Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Maxson Middle School is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Maxson Middle School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Maxson Middle School is approximately 9.2:1 (78 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Maxson Middle School?
Student demographics at Maxson Middle School are roughly 1% White, 83% Hispanic, 15% Black, 0% Asian, 0% Two or more.
What district is Maxson Middle School in?
Maxson Middle School is part of Plainfield Public School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.