The top reported proficiency rate is 27% in English language arts. The lowest is 5% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Prospect Park School Number Two/ Middle School
Prospect Park School Number Two/Middle School serves only seventh and eighth graders in the small, densely populated borough of Prospect Park, a Passaic County community that is among the most compact in New Jersey. The school’s enrollment is modest for a two-grade building. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. In a borough where alcohol sales are prohibited by local ordinance and where the Tilcon quarry has been an industrial anchor for generations, the school sits embedded in the residential fabric rather than on a separated campus. The community has a young median age, and the borough’s housing values, while rising, remain below the state median; renters make up a notable portion of households.
Academically, state test results from the New Jersey Student Learning Assessment show a pattern that families will want to examine closely. In both seventh and eighth grade math, the proportion of students scoring at proficient or advanced levels was low. English language arts results were higher than math but still well below where many parents would hope to see them. The weakest performance came in eighth grade science, where only a very small share of students met the state’s proficiency benchmark. When placed against other schools within the same grade band and county, the school’s overall proficiency index lands in the bottom quartile among districts in Passaic County that report comparable data. That comparison set is a meaningful one, since it situates the school among neighbors with similar regional demographics and resources. A parent considering this middle school would be wise to ask what academic interventions and supports are in place for students who are below grade level, especially in mathematics and science.
Because the school serves only grades seven and eight, there is no high school graduation rate to review. Nor does the available data include chronic absenteeism figures, special education or English learner counts, or information about course offerings, staffing ratios, or discipline. Those gaps limit a full picture of student support and school climate. The district as a whole, which also includes a PreK–6 elementary school, did not have publicly reported recent changes such as curriculum overhauls, facility bonds, or shifts in policy that a parent could easily find. What is clear is that after eighth grade, students leave the district to attend Manchester Regional High School, a shared school with neighboring Haledon and North Haledon, located outside the borough.
The school’s size and grade configuration create a focused, small setting. For a family living in Prospect Park, the middle school is a short walk or bus ride within the borough’s tight grid of residential streets. The compactness of the town means that civic facilities, parks, and transit stops are close at hand. Hofstra Park provides recreational space, and NJ Transit bus routes connect the borough to Paterson and beyond. But the academic data presents a clear challenge: proficiency rates across tested subjects are well below county medians. That does not mean the school lacks committed teachers or programming, but it does mean a family should investigate how the school identifies and accelerates struggling students, what enrichment is available for those who are on grade level, and what transition support is offered before students move on to high school. The picture here is one of a small, community-rooted middle school in a dense, diverse borough where academic attainment, on the measures the state reports, is an area of serious concern.
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