Memorial Elementary School vs Ridge Ranch Elementary School

Memorial Elementary School and Ridge Ranch Elementary School sit just 0.5 miles apart in Paramus, New Jersey, and their overall ratings are nearly identical — Ridge Ranch edges Memorial by 0.1 points, 9.2 to 9.1 out of 10. The state rank gap is more telling: Ridge Ranch sits at #35 of 2,463 New Jersey schools, while Memorial lands at #46 of 2,463 — both firmly elite, but Ridge Ranch claims the higher statewide position.

The two schools split the academic ledger in opposite directions. Memorial Elementary School scores 9.3/10 in academics versus Ridge Ranch Elementary School's 8.9/10 — a 0.4-point advantage for Memorial. Ridge Ranch reverses that gap on growth, earning a 9.6/10 versus Memorial's 8.9/10, a 0.7-point lead that reflects stronger year-over-year student progress relative to expectations. Families prioritizing raw proficiency will favor Memorial; those focused on whether kids are accelerating beyond their starting points will find Ridge Ranch's growth score more compelling.

The demographic and structural profiles are close but not identical. Ridge Ranch Elementary School enrolls 343 students against Memorial Elementary School's 295, making Ridge Ranch the larger campus by 48 students. Student-teacher ratios are similar — 12.3:1 at Memorial versus 12.7:1 at Ridge Ranch — giving Memorial a marginal classroom-size edge. Free and reduced-price lunch eligibility sits at 11% at Memorial and 12% at Ridge Ranch, indicating comparable socioeconomic compositions at both schools.

One concrete structural difference separates them: Memorial Elementary School serves grades PK through 04, while Ridge Ranch Elementary School serves kindergarten through 04, giving Memorial an additional pre-kindergarten entry point. For families with a child approaching school age before kindergarten, Memorial is the only one of the two with a publicly available pre-K program. Both schools are elementary-only campuses, so middle school transitions will apply equally when students exit at the end of fourth grade.