The bulletin board for America's public schools. Parents, teachers, students, and staff. One community per school.
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PERTH AMBOY PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT·NCES 341293003542

William C. McGinnis Middle School

271 STATE STREET, PERTH AMBOY, NJ 08861 · (732) 376-6040 · Middlesex County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL984 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 18% of New Jersey public middle schools
  • DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
  • C+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

Enrollment
984
Middle
DISTRICT 770 · STATE 578
Student : Teacher
12.3:1
80 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.0:1 · STATE 10.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
79%
775 students
DISTRICT 76% · 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

GradeStudentsShare
Grade 629230%
Grade 736137%
Grade 833134%
Student demographics
5%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 11% · STATE 71% · US 70%
White
40%
DISTRICT 1% · STATE 37% · US 43%
Hispanic
95797%
DISTRICT 94% · STATE 35% · US 30%
Black
182%
DISTRICT 4% · STATE 14% · US 15%
Asian
20%
DISTRICT 0% · STATE 10% · US 6%
Two+
20%
DISTRICT 0% · STATE 3% · US 5%
Pacific Islander
10%
DISTRICT 0% · STATE 0% · US 0%
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
Male
50351%
Female
48149%

School pathway

Students here typically continue to
William C. McGinnis Middle School→Perth Amboy High School
Based on grade levels within Perth Amboy Public School District. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.

Discussions

+ POST

Test scores

NJSLA 2024-25 . % Meeting or Exceeding Expectations
English Language Arts
33.2%
NJ avg 53.1% . +4.8pp since 2023
Math
8.3%
NJ avg 41.6% . -0.8pp since 2023

What this means: On the NJSLA, New Jersey's statewide test, about 33 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 8 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 5 points since 2023, while math scores have held steady.

NJSLA results by year

School yearEnglish Language ArtsMath
2024-2533.2%8.3%
2023-2428.4%9.1%
% 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 · methodology
Tier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
20.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
23.1%
based on NJ schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-2.6pp
below demographic expectation

What this means: About 20% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 23% 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 William C. McGinnis Middle School

William C. McGinnis Middle School's state test result (20.5% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.

SchoolStudentsLow-incomeProficient
William C. McGinnis Middle School this school98478.8%20.5%
Union Hill Middle School
UNION CITY
86583.5%42.0%
Samuel E. Shull Middle School
PERTH AMBOY
94173.3%23.2%
Emerson Middle School
UNION CITY
99986.7%38.7%
Lincoln School
FAIRVIEW
63576.1%19.6%
West New York Middle School
WEST NEW YORK
1,08791.4%32.7%
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 William C. McGinnis Middle School ranks

Among middle schools
MeasureThis schoolIn New JerseyIn Middlesex County
State test proficiency
ranked highest first
20.5%#390 of 433#37 of 39
Math proficiency
ranked highest first
8.3%#416 of 437
▼ 5
#39 of 39
▼ 1
Reading proficiency
ranked highest first
33.2%#379 of 437
▲ 3
#33 of 39
▲ 2
Enrollment
ranked largest first
984#35 of 445#8 of 40
Students per teacher
ranked fewest first
12.3:1#344 of 417#30 of 39
Diversity index
ranked most diverse first
5.4%#415 of 419#39 of 40
Free and reduced lunch
ranked highest share first
78.8%#38 of 436#4 of 40
Enrollment change since 2017-18
ranked steepest decline first
-35.0%#11 of 282#4 of 23
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 2024-25
Enrollment
984
-414 (-30%) vs 2020
-5% since 1990-91, when it was 1,034
Student : Teacher
12.3:1
was 12.5:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Enrollment and staffing by year

School yearStudentsTeachers (FTE)Students per teacherFree and reduced lunch
2024-259848012.3:179% (775)
2023-249488311.4:177% (734)
2022-231,230100.512.2:188% (1,077)
2020-211,39811212.5:190% (1,261)
2017-181,51311413.3:194% (1,425)
2015-161,5179815.5:185% (1,297)
2010-111,4338916.1:165% (925)
2000-011,2798016.0:181% (1,030)
1990-911,0347114.6:1N/A
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for William C. McGinnis Middle School.

Since 2017-18: students down 35% (1,513 to 984); teachers down 30% (114 to 80).

About William C. McGinnis Middle School

William C. McGinnis Middle School is a large middle school with an address in PERTH AMBOY, New Jersey. The school enrolls 984 students, from grades 6 through 8. Average enrollment for middle schools in New Jersey is about 578, so this school runs 70% above that.

William C. McGinnis Middle School is one of 12 schools in Perth Amboy Public School District, which enrolls 9,845 students in total.

William C. McGinnis Middle School enrolls a student body that is 97% Hispanic. That is higher than the 24% Hispanic share among all Middlesex County residents. By the diversity index, William C. McGinnis Middle School comes in at 5%.

The teaching staff at William C. McGinnis Middle School is 80 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the ratio is 12.3:1. That ratio is over the 10.9:1 average for middle schools in New Jersey. The percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 79%. That is higher than the 42% average for public schools in Middlesex County.

The allk12 Grade for William C. McGinnis Middle School is C-. Compared with New Jersey public middle schools, the school scored higher than 18% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.

William C. McGinnis Middle School is 2.6 points below its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests (20.5% versus 23.1%), which places it in neither the top nor the bottom 10% in New Jersey.

Middlesex County has these Census figures: median household income is about $111,549, about 46% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 6%. William C. McGinnis Middle School is among the 214 public schools in Middlesex County.

The nearest other public school, Anthony V. Ceres Elementary School, is about 0.5 miles away. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. Compared with its nearest neighbors, William C. McGinnis Middle School ranks 6th of 8 on average proficiency.

The federal government classifies William C. McGinnis Middle School's location as Suburb: Large.

Federal counts put enrollment at 1,398 in 2020-21 and 984 in 2024-25, a 30% decrease.

Community posts for William C. McGinnis Middle School can cover sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.

Middlesex County at a glance

View full county profile
Population
871,290
Census ACS
Median income
$111,549
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
46%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
214
129,255 students

Quick facts

School name
William C. McGinnis Middle School
District
Perth Amboy Public School District
Address
271 STATE STREET, PERTH AMBOY, NJ 08861
Phone
(732) 376-6040
County
Middlesex County
Level
Middle
Grade range
06–08
Total enrollment
984
Teachers (FTE)
80
Student–teacher ratio
12.3:1
Free and reduced lunch
775 (79%)
Locale
21-Suburb: Large
NCES ID
341293003542
Charter school
No
Virtual school
No

Related schools

Other schools in Perth Amboy Public School District
Other schools in PERTH AMBOY
Nearby schools

Frequently asked questions

About William C. McGinnis Middle School
What is the total enrollment at William C. McGinnis Middle School?
William C. McGinnis Middle School enrolls approximately 984 students in grades 06-08.
Is William C. McGinnis Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
William C. McGinnis Middle School is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many teachers does William C. McGinnis Middle School have?
William C. McGinnis Middle School employs 80 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.3:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at William C. McGinnis Middle School?
At William C. McGinnis Middle School, the student body is approximately 0% White, 97% Hispanic, 2% Black, 0% Asian, 0% Two or more.
What district is William C. McGinnis Middle School in?
William C. McGinnis Middle School is part of Perth Amboy Public School District.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.
+ Post