The top reported proficiency rate is 50% in English language arts. The lowest is 19% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Macopin Middle School
Macopin Middle School serves grades six through eight in West Milford, a sprawling, rural and heavily wooded township in northern Passaic County. The school is the single middle school for the district, which also operates five elementary schools and one high school across a large geographic area that includes the communities of Hewitt, Newfoundland, and Oak Ridge. The township itself is defined by its environment: nearly two-thirds of its land is permanently protected open space, including watersheds, reservoirs, mountains, and roughly forty lakes. Homes are spread across secluded valleys and lake communities, and there is no traditional downtown. Commercial activity is limited and concentrated along Route 23. The population has been declining modestly over recent census cycles, and the district closed one elementary school for the 2023-24 school year, consistent with that trend.
Macopin’s student body is predominantly white, with a Hispanic population making up a meaningful share of enrollment and smaller representations of Black, Asian, multiracial, and American Indian or Alaska Native students. A modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that is low relative to many districts in the region. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available in the school’s reported figures, so a parent may want to reach out to the school directly about special education and language support services.
On state assessments, the school’s results present a mixed picture. In English language arts, the share of students scoring at the proficient level or above increased from grade six through grade eight, with the eighth-grade cohort reaching just over half proficient. Math results were lower across the board and declined sharply by grade: the sixth-grade proficiency rate was moderate, seventh grade was weaker, and eighth-grade math proficiency was quite low. In eighth-grade science, less than a fifth of students met the state’s proficiency standard. When compared across districts in Passaic County, Macopin’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades fell below the midpoint of the cohort. A parent will want to look into this further with the school, particularly regarding math instruction and support in the upper middle school grades.
Because this is a middle school only, there is no graduation rate to report, and no chronic absenteeism data was available in the school’s records. Participation rates for state testing were also missing, so it is not possible to assess whether all students were tested as expected. The school functions as a regular public school within the West Milford district; it is not a charter or magnet school. No Title I status was reported for the school.
The housing market in the broader county suggests a relatively expensive area, with median listing prices above national and state benchmarks, though West Milford’s rural and lakefront character may push prices higher in certain neighborhoods. The local market has been active, with inventory and new listings both up year over year, and homes spending a median of just under a month on the market. Affordability is a consideration; the estimated monthly mortgage payment based on prevailing rates and prices is substantial.
No recent parent-relevant changes were found in the district that would affect a family’s decision, such as boundary shifts, program launches, or policy overhauls. The district brief turned up no such developments from the last several years. The school’s website is available for families seeking current program details, course offerings, and extracurricular activities, but program-level information was not provided in the data for this profile.
For a family considering Macopin Middle School, the academic picture is one where English language arts performance is on an upward trajectory through the middle grades, but math and science proficiency are areas where the school struggles relative to county peers. The setting is distinctly rural and car-dependent, with a strong conservation ethos and a slow-growth demographic trend. The student body is not economically diverse in the way many New Jersey districts are, and the school is part of a district that has been adjusting to declining enrollment. A family moving to West Milford for the outdoor recreation and open space should weigh those strengths against the academic soft spots and investigate what supports the school offers for students who need additional help in math.
See more original research from School Decision →