NCES CCD 2024-25 19 schools NJ

Best-Resourced Schools in Clifton, NJ

Compiled from official source data by .

19 public K-12 schools in Clifton from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.

PlainSchools home → About this data
19
Schools
10,639
Students
55.8/100
Avg Resource Index
11.3:1
Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

Broad resource and staffing advantage

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Clifton has more public-school enrollment than 82% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Clifton lands in the upper national tier on both the average Resource Investment Index and teacher staffing intensity. Those measures come from different inputs: the index combines reported counselors, gifted access, attendance, and staffing, while the staffing percentile compares the city's student-teacher ratio directly. Agreement across both measures is stronger evidence of broad reported capacity than either score alone, though neither is a test-score rating or a guarantee about an individual classroom.

Combined-grade campuses shape the local portfolio

8 of Clifton's 19 listed schools use NCES's combined or “other” grade-level classification. Citywide averages therefore blend campuses serving unusually broad or nonstandard grade spans with conventional elementary, middle, and high schools. Grade configuration is a first-order comparison here, not a minor label.

Campus spread matters more than the city mean

The 31-point gap between School #16 and Clifton Early Learner Academies - Brighton shows the range hidden by Clifton's average Resource Investment Index. The city figure is useful for national placement, but families ultimately choose among campuses with different grade spans, enrollment, district affiliations, and reported support fields. Start with schools serving the relevant grade level, then compare the index components rather than assuming the city average describes any one classroom.

City enrollment
Top 18%
School count
Top 16%
Resource Index average
96th percentile
Teacher staffing
93rd percentile

Clifton High School accounts for 29.6% of all Clifton public-school enrollment

That dominant concentration means Clifton-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade level: High. The share measures enrollment concentration only; it does not establish how districts allocate programs, capital, or staff. Enrollment-weighted aggregates give this entity more weight than any smaller peer, while an unweighted entity average treats every record equally.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Clifton school enrollment varies 24× across entities

Clifton school enrollment ranges from 130 students (lowest) to 3,150 students (highest), a spread of 3,020 students. That spread is wider than typical and predicts noticeable gaps in service quality between the highest and lowest areas. Per-school staffing and program breadth can differ sharply at opposite ends of that enrollment range, so the city average should not be treated as a typical campus.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Clifton reports 53.0% free-lunch eligibility

The reported share clears the 50% majority mark. Title I operates under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015), but its statutory allocation uses additional LEA-level counts and rules not represented by this average. This percentage is an economic-need context measure; it does not establish a Title I award, show dollars received, or describe how funds are distributed among campuses.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Clifton student-teacher ratio is 11.3:1 — low (typically associated with smaller schools or per-school staffing investment that often correlates with stronger per-student supports)

student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe

# School Score
1. School #16 72
2. School #9 69
3. School #4 67
4. School #8 66
5. School #11 62
6. School #14 58
7. School #15 58
8. School #1 58
9. School #5 57
10. School #2 55
11. School #3 54
12. Clifton High School 51
13. School #13 51
14. Classical Academy Charter School of Clifton 51
15. Christopher Columbus Middle School 48
16. School #17 48
17. Woodrow Wilson Middle School 47
18. School #12 47
19. Clifton Early Learner Academies - Brighton 41

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Clifton

Ranked by the Simpson student-body diversity index (0-100) from NCES race and ethnicity data, where higher means a more evenly mixed student body. It measures mix, not quality.

  1. 1 School #16 70.3/100
  2. 2 School #14 65.1/100
  3. 3 School #2 64.8/100
  4. 4 School #4 63.9/100
  5. 5 Classical Academy Charter School of Clifton 62.8/100

What do families ask about schools in Clifton?

Which Clifton school has the highest Resource Investment Index? ▼

School #16 has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Clifton schools in this federal-data comparison at 72/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Clifton, NJ? ▼

Clifton has 19 public schools with a total enrollment of 10,639 students. 1 are charter schools. Average student-teacher ratio: 11.3:1.

Other Cities in New Jersey

Newark
81 schools
Jersey City
52 schools
Paterson
46 schools
Elizabeth
38 schools
Trenton
34 schools
Hamilton
27 schools

Side-by-side: Compare any two schools or districts in New Jersey →

Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. The Resource Investment Index uses reported student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance; it is not an academic rating. Cities must include at least five schools to be listed. This public-data comparison is for informational purposes: verify current enrollment, attendance boundaries, and programs with the school district before acting. See the guide to understanding NCES data.