Thomas Jefferson Middle School, Rockaway NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Thomas Jefferson Middle School

Thomas Jefferson Middle School serves students in fourth through eighth grade in Rockaway Borough, a small historic town in Morris County. The school is the sole upper-elementary and middle school for the district, with students feeding in from Lincoln Elementary School. The setting is an integrated town environment; the school building sits on East Main Street in the walkable downtown area, and high school students attend Morris Hills High School, also located within the borough.

The school’s enrollment is modest for a middle school serving five grade levels. The student body is majority white, with a substantial Hispanic population making up the largest minority group, followed by smaller shares of Asian and Black students. About a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that positions the school below the poverty level typical of many districts in the county.

Academically, the picture is mixed and varies noticeably by grade and subject. In English language arts, the school shows a clear upward trajectory: proficiency rises steadily from fourth grade through eighth grade, with eighth graders posting a strong result. This late-grade strength suggests that students who stay in the school through its full sequence tend to develop solid reading and writing skills by the time they leave for high school. Math performance is more uneven. Fourth graders turned in a respectable showing, but fifth through seventh grades fell below that mark, with a modest rebound in eighth grade. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quarter of districts in Morris County, a county with many high-performing districts. That comparative position is driven largely by the weaker math results and by science scores where proficiency was low in both fifth and eighth grade. A parent considering this school would want to ask about how math and science instruction is structured across the middle grades and what supports are in place for students who are not yet meeting benchmarks.

The district recently adopted a new literacy curriculum for the school year, which may contribute to the reading gains seen in the upper grades. Voters approved a sinking fund for facility repairs at Thomas Jefferson and the elementary school, covering roof, HVAC, masonry, and security work, so the physical plant is on a path toward improvement. A proposed budget was defeated by voters, and the board adopted a budget with no tax increase, which may affect program resources going forward.

Data on special education and English learner populations was not available in the records used here, so the level of specialized support staffing is unclear. Discipline data, chronic absenteeism, and staffing ratios were also absent, leaving gaps in the picture of daily school environment.

Rockaway Borough itself is a dense, walkable town with a historic downtown, parks, and a river running through it. Housing values in the ZIP code are well above the national median, and the county housing market is active, with homes selling fairly quickly. The borough is largely built out, and the population has been stable in recent years. Families who value a small-town, walkable setting with a historic character may find the community appealing, while those looking for a middle school with uniformly high test scores across all subjects and grades would want to explore the school’s approach to math and science further.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 464%

School 64% · District 64%

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

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 33%

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 34 pts below county median

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 41%

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 735%

School 35% · District 35%

even with state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 845%

School 45% · District 45%

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 50%

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 544%

School 44% · District 44%

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 656%

School 56% · District 56%

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

Grade 745%

School 45% · District 45%

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

Grade 880%

School 80% · District 80%

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Science

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 20%

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

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 30%

▲ 17 pts above state median · even with county median

This schoolRockaway Borough 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-income44%Higher-income54%10 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income29%Higher-income51%23 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income47%Higher-income60%13 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income25%Higher-income58%33 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income55%Higher-income86%31 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income58%Higher-income69%11 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income22%Higher-income39%17 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income26%Higher-income47%20 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income15%Higher-income47%32 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income36%Higher-income47%11 pp gap