And there’s even better news for Berkeley Heights on the horizon.

Columbia Middle School has shown resilience amid the proficiency declines reported two years ago. While the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings reflect data from the 2021-2022 school year, our internal proficiency reporting is more current—and it tells a promising story.

Let’s start with the US News and World Report Rankings based on the 2021-2022 Data.

CMS climbed 11 points in the rankings, as other middle schools on the dashboard experienced declines. This aligns with proficiency trends during the 2021-2022 period, when CMS demonstrated a smaller drop in scores compared to other schools within Berkeley Heights.

Specifically, CMS reported a 3-percentage-point decline in Math and a 4-percentage-point decline in ELA—outcomes that were better, and in some cases significantly better, than other BHPSNJ schools.

For context, Governor Livingston High School saw a 26-percentage-point drop in ELA and a 15-percentage-point drop in Math during the same period, underscoring CMS’s relative strength.

Now for the better news.

CMS made measurable improvements in 2022-2023:

Math: Up 3 percentage points from 2021-2022

Algebra: Up 6 percentage points from 2021-2022

ELA: Up 2 percentage points from 2021-2022

Science: Up 7 percentage points from 2021-2022

Good job, CMS Nation! Let’s keep this going!

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