The top reported proficiency rate is 55% in English language arts. The lowest is 11% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Memorial Middle School
Memorial Middle School serves grades six through eight in the Woodland Park School District, a single regular public school in Passaic County. The school sits in a suburban borough roughly three square miles in area, about twenty miles west of New York City, a place that describes itself as a mix of residential, retail, office, and industrial properties set along mountain and river edges. The borough was formerly known as West Paterson before a referendum changed the name. This is a car-oriented community with highway access via Interstate 80, U.S. Route 46, and State Route 3, and no walkable downtown core; schools and civic buildings are distributed across separate campuses rather than clustered in a single center.
The student body draws from the borough, and high school students attend Passaic Valley Regional High School in neighboring Little Falls. The district itself shows no recent major parent-relevant changes reported in available public sources, leaving the operational picture steady and straightforward. A modest share of students at Memorial qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student population is roughly evenly split between students who identify as Hispanic and students who identify as White, with smaller numbers of Black, Asian, multiracial, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students.
On the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments, the school shows a split pattern across subjects. In English language arts, the share of students scoring proficient or above runs around half across grades six, seven, and eight, with grade seven a bit higher than the others. In math, proficiency rates are lower, with roughly a quarter to a third of students meeting the bar. Science results, tested only in grade eight, show a small share of students reaching proficiency. When measured against other districts in Passaic County, Memorial Middle School’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits above the midpoint. That comparison set includes roughly thirty county districts, so the school lands in the middle of the pack on the high side, not at the top but not in the bottom tier either. The data do not provide chronic absenteeism rates or a graduation rate, which is expected for a school that serves only middle grades.
The borough’s housing market reflects a suburb with notable growth in recent decades. The population increased between the last two census counts and again in an estimate a few years later. The borough describes itself as highly developed, with limited remaining developable land, though a share remains open space because of municipal and county parks and reservoirs. Typical home values in the area are above national benchmarks, and the median listing price in the county has shown steady upward movement. Rents in the area take up a notable share of typical household income, making homeownership a stretch for many residents relative to local earnings. The county housing market has been active, with a recent uptick in new listings and a moderate supply of homes for sale.
A parent or resident evaluating this school should consider academic fit carefully. The school provides a regular middle school program with no special magnet or charter designations, and Title I status is not reported, so it is unclear whether the school receives federal funding for low-income students. The strengths are in English language arts, where a solid majority of students reach proficiency in some grades, and the school’s overall performance positions it above the middle among county peers. The weaker math and science results, particularly the very low science proficiency, suggest a parent may want to ask the school directly about curriculum supports, intervention strategies, and how the middle school prepares students for high school coursework at Passaic Valley Regional. The absence of reported data on special education and English learner populations makes it harder to assess how well the school supports students with those needs, another area a prospective family may wish to explore with the school or district office. The setting is suburban and car-dependent, with limited street life or pedestrian amenities, and the borough’s recent growth and elevated housing costs mean families relocating here are entering a competitive market.
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