Best Schools in W. Orange, New Jersey

West Orange runs eight ranked public schools through a single district, and the numbers tell a consistent story: seven of those eight schools — 88% — score 7.0 or higher on a 10-point scale. The district average sits at 7.8, a mark that puts West Orange ahead of many similarly sized New Jersey communities.

The elementary tier carries the district's strongest performers. Gregory Elementary leads the city with an 8.8 rating, the highest score of any school in West Orange. St. Cloud Elementary follows at 8.6, and both Hazel Avenue Elementary and Edison Middle School hold 8.2 ratings. Redwood Elementary rounds out the top five at 7.7. The concentration of high-scoring elementaries means most children entering kindergarten in West Orange land in a school rated 7.7 or above.

The middle school picture holds up well, too. Edison Middle's 8.2 keeps performance strong through the transition years — a grade band where scores drop sharply in many other districts. Parents moving to West Orange don't face a performance cliff after elementary graduation.

Practically speaking, West Orange is a low-variance district. With 88% of schools clearing the 7.0 threshold and a tight spread from 7.7 to 8.8 among the top five ranked schools, your street address matters less here than in districts where strong and struggling schools sit blocks apart. Families comparing elementary options have the most to weigh: the gap between Gregory (8.8) and St. Cloud (8.6) is narrow, but Gregory's top-of-city rating makes it a natural anchor for parents prioritizing the highest-performing placement. For middle school, Edison's 8.2 matches or beats the feeders most students come from — an uncommon continuity that simplifies the long-range planning families typically dread.