Midland School #1, Rochelle Park NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Midland School #1

Midland School #1 serves the children of Rochelle Park from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, a single-building public school in a small, nearly built-out Bergen County township. With an enrollment that is about average for a K-8 school in the area, the student body is predominantly Hispanic and white, with smaller Asian and Black populations. About one in seven students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a modest poverty rate that suggests the community is largely middle-income. Rochelle Park itself is primarily residential, with some commercial anchors like the headquarters of a specialty retailer, and it borders the larger retail hub of Paramus. The housing market here is expensive, typical of Bergen County, and the township has seen only modest population growth in recent years.

Academically, the picture at Midland School is mixed, and the pattern across grade levels is wide. On the state’s English language arts assessments, performance in the upper grades is a clear strength: seventh and eighth graders post strong proficiency rates, with the majority of students meeting the bar. Fourth grade also performs solidly. But the lower elementary grades and fifth and sixth grades show softer results, with fewer than half of students proficient. The math results follow an even more uneven trajectory. Fourth graders do well, and third and seventh graders land around the midpoint. Fifth grade drops, and by sixth and especially eighth grade, the share of students scoring proficient falls sharply, with eighth grade math a particular area of concern. Science scores for fifth and eighth graders also trend below the state average. When compared with other districts in Bergen County, Midland School’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades lands in the bottom quarter. A parent looking at these results will want to dig into how the school supports students in math, particularly in the middle grades, and how it prepares eighth graders for the transition to high school.

Because Midland School stops at eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. Rochelle Park families send their high school students to Hackensack High School under a long-standing sending-receiving arrangement with the Hackensack Public Schools. This means the district itself does not control the high school experience, and families who value continuity through twelfth grade should consider whether that arrangement works for them. The district brief did not surface any recent curriculum changes, referendums, or major shifts in pedagogy.

Several data points are missing. The school does not report counts of students with individualized education plans or English learners, so it is not possible to assess special education or language support staffing from the available information. Chronic absenteeism rates and discipline data were also not provided, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about attendance patterns and school climate. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and it does not appear to have Title I status.

For a family considering Rochelle Park, Midland School offers a pre-K through eighth grade pathway in a small-town setting with access to a county park and recreational amenities. The lower poverty rate and predominantly white and Hispanic demographics shape the peer environment, but the academic results suggest that the school serves some grade levels more effectively than others. A parent whose child struggles with math, especially approaching the middle school years, will want to understand what interventions are in place. The high school destination is fixed and outside the district’s control, which is a factor for families looking for a single K-12 experience. Overall, this is a school that performs unevenly by grade and subject, and the decision to enroll here hinges on fit with a child’s particular needs and a family’s tolerance for the sending-receiving high school arrangement.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 50%

even with state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 475%

School 75% · District 75%

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 616%

School 16% · District 16%

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 44 pts below county median

Grade 751%

School 51% · District 51%

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 89%

School 9% · District 9%

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 336%

School 36% · District 36%

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 467%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 544%

School 44% · District 44%

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 41%

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 36 pts below county median

Grade 778%

School 78% · District 78%

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 873%

School 73% · District 73%

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Science

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 33%

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 820%

School 20% · District 20%

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

This schoolRochelle Park School District, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 4Lower-income65%Higher-income68%3 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income30%Higher-income56%26 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income40%Higher-income42%2 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income83%Higher-income74%9 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income82%Higher-income70%12 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income82%Higher-income71%11 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income10%Higher-income54%44 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income20%Higher-income14%6 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income39%Higher-income58%19 pp gap