Cherry Hill Public Schools earned top marks in college preparation but lagged in facilities and administration in Niche's 2027 Best School Districts rankings, released Monday, Sept. 28.

The district scored an A+ in college prep and an A- in both academics and diversity, according to its Niche profile page. But several categories pulled the district down: administration drew a C+, food a C and resources and facilities a C-.

Cherry Hill did not make the cut. The district was absent from Niche's list of New Jersey districts that earned an overall grade of A- or better.

Two neighboring Camden County districts did. Haddonfield Public Schools ranked seventh in the state, and Moorestown Township Public School District ranked ninth, Patch reported.

Northern Valley Regional High School District, in Bergen County, topped New Jersey's list with an A+ overall grade. It posted 78 percent reading proficiency, 75 percent math proficiency and a 98 percent graduation rate.

The statewide top 10 also included West Windsor-Plainsboro, Tenafly, Mountain Lakes, Ridgewood, Summit, Princeton and the Chathams.

Haddonfield's profile showed A+ grades in academics, teachers, college prep and sports, with its weakest mark a C- in diversity. Cherry Hill, by contrast, earned an A- in diversity but only a B+ in teachers.

The annual rankings draw on federal and state data, school statistics and more than 3 million reviews from students, parents and teachers. Niche founder and CEO Luke Skurman said in a Sept. 28 press release that the 2027 edition covers more than 93,000 public schools, 30,000 private schools and 11,000 districts nationwide.

"Families deserve a complete view of their options, whether they're evaluating schools in their area or exploring what's available elsewhere," Skurman said.

For 2027, Niche updated its methodology by creating separate public and private rankings for categories including arts, diversity, college prep and teachers.

Cherry Hill's Niche profile shows 83 user reviews with an average rating of 3.8 out of 5. Proficiency data on the page comes from the New Jersey Department of Education's 2024-25 standardized testing program.

No public response from Cherry Hill Public Schools regarding the rankings had appeared as of Saturday, Oct. 3.