The top reported proficiency rate is 86% in English language arts. The lowest is 43% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on George Washington Middle School
George Washington Middle School serves grades six through eight in Ridgewood, an affluent suburban village in Bergen County roughly twenty miles northwest of Midtown Manhattan. Ridgewood is a primarily residential community with tree-lined neighborhoods and a walkable downtown along East Ridgewood Avenue, where shops and restaurants cluster. The village is largely built out, with housing predominantly owner-occupied single-family homes, and its population grew modestly over the last decade. Commuters rely on the NJ Transit Main Line station for rail service to Hoboken and New York City.
The school is one of two middle schools in the Ridgewood Public School District, which also operates six elementary schools and one high school spread across the village on separate campuses. The district's administrative offices and school board set policy district-wide, but each middle school serves its own attendance zone.
Enrollment falls in the hundreds, a mid-sized middle school for its grade band, with roughly equal numbers across sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial Asian share, a smaller Hispanic share, a small Black share, and a share of students identifying as two or more races. A very small fraction of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the affluence of the community. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, which limits a full picture of the school's support services.
State assessment results for the 2024-25 school year show a pattern of strong performance in English language arts across all three grades tested. In both sixth and seventh grade math, a large majority of students scored proficient or above. Eighth grade math tells a different story: a much smaller share of students reached the proficient threshold. That sharp drop may be tied to the fact that many eighth graders take Algebra I, which is assessed through a separate end-of-course exam rather than the grade-level NJSLA test, meaning only a subset of eighth graders takes the grade-level math assessment, but the data does not confirm that explanation, so a parent may want to look into this further with the school. Eighth grade science results show fewer than half of students scored at the proficient or above level. The school's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades sits above the midpoint when compared to other districts in Bergen County, consistent with the strong ELA scores and the math profile at sixth and seventh grades.
A graduation rate is not applicable here, as the school serves only middle grades.
There is no publicly reported information on program offerings, magnet status, Title I status, discipline rates, course access, staffing ratios, or chronic absenteeism. Because the school is a regular public middle school and not an alternative or special-purpose school, these gaps may simply reflect data that was not collected or published for this profile. Without these details, a full assessment of student support structures, elective options, and classroom environment is not possible from the available information.
The school is located on Washington Place in Ridgewood, within a short distance of the village's downtown and civic amenities such as the Ridgewood Public Library and Veterans Field. The district itself, based on the research conducted for this report, does not appear to have undergone major parent-relevant changes in the last four years that would affect the day-to-day experience of families, such as a redistricting, a facility bond, or a leadership transition.
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