Ranking of the Top High Schools in New Jersey

New Jersey Monthly has produced this biennial ranking since 1994. But after twelve years it was time to reassess our assessment. So we fine-tuned our criteria, taking into account factors such as class size and teachers with advanced degrees. The resulting ranking is part of the most comprehensive education package the magazine has ever produced.* For the first time, we compare schools of similar socioeconomic backgrounds. We report on the value of Advanced Placement classes and the dilemma posed by alternative paths to a high school diploma.

 

Here's the List:

1. McNair Academic (Jersey City)
2. Tenafly
3. Millburn
4. Montgomery
5. Mountain Lakes
6. Glen Rock
7. Northern Highlands Regional (Allendale)
8. Pascack Hills
9. West Windsor--Plainsboro South
10. Glen Ridge
11. Ridge (Bernards Twp.)
12. Chatham
13. Princeton
14. Livingston
15. Cresskill
16. Northern Valley Regional (Demarest)
17. Haddonfield Memorial
18. West Windsor--Plainsboro North
19. Holmdel
20. Summit
21. Governor Livingston (Berkeley Heights)
22. Westfield
23. Pascack Valley (Hillsdale)
24. Ridgewood
25. Northern Valley Regional (Old Tappan)
26. New Providence
27. Ramsey
28. Ramapo (Franklin Lakes)
29. West Morris Mendham
30. Voorhees (Lebanon Twp.)
31. Highland Park
32. Randolph
33. Rumson -- Fair Haven
34. West Essex (North Caldwell)
35. Kinnelon
36. Indian Hills (Oakland)
37. Northern Hunterdon Regional (Clinton Twp.)
38. Watchung Hills Regional
39. Cranford
40. Park Ridge
41. West Morris Central (Chester)
42. Cherry Hill East
43. James Caldwell (West Caldwell)
44. Jonathan Dayton (Springfield)
45. Paramus
46. Mahwah
47. Verona
48. Madison
49. Montville
50. Bernards (Bernardsville)
51. Emerson
52. Hanover Park
53. Science (Newark)
54. Whippany Park
55. Cedar Grove
56. Metuchen
57. Hunterdon Central (Flemington)
58. Eastern Regional (Voorhees)
59. Hopewell Valley Central (Pennington)
60. East Brunswick
61. River Dell Regional (Oradell)
62. Fair Lawn
63. Moorestown
64. Scotch Plains -- Fanwood
65. Morristown
66. Midland Park
67. Leonia
68. Point Pleasant Beach
69. Oecan Twp.
70. Wayne Hills
71. Morris Knolls (Denville)
72. Wayne Valley
73. Sparta
74. Somerville
75. South Brunswick
76. Marlboro
77. Haddon Twp.
78. Pequannock Twp.
79. Columbia (Maplewood)
80. Delaware Valley Regional (Alexandria)
81. Westwood
82. J.P. Stevens (Edison)
83. Bridgewater-Raritan
84. Parsippany
85. Middletown South
86. New Milford
87. Parsippany Hills
88. Rutherford
89. Red Bank Regional
90. Montclair
91. Arthur L. Johnson (Clark)
92. Hasbrouck Heights
93. Ocean City
94. Shore Regional (West Long Branch)
95. Freehold Borough
96. Waldwick
97. Ridgefield Memorial
98. West Orange
99. Fort Lee
100. Hillsborough

 

Methodology

Data for New Jersey Monthly's biennial ranking of the state’s high schools were obtained from the state Department of Education’s most recent New Jersey School Report Card (covering the 2004–2005 school year).

Only public high schools were included. Special-education and vocational-technical schools, as well as schools with no report card data, were excluded.Monmouth University’s Polling Institute analyzed the data by first standardizing scores for individual statistics so that small differences did not have a disproportionate impact on the rankings and large differences were not minimized.

These statistics were grouped into three categories. Each category was given equal weight in the rankings.The categories used in the rankings are:

1. School Environment: The sum of the standardized scores for average class size; student-to-faculty ratio; student-to-computer ratio; percentage of faculty with advanced degrees; and number of AP tests offered compared to the total number of juniors and seniors (a calculation designed to avoid penalizing smaller schools).

2. Student Performance: The sum of the standardized scores for average combined SAT score; percentage of students achieving advanced proficiency on HSPA; and students scoring a 3 or higher on AP tests as a percentage of all juniors and seniors.

3. Student Outcomes: A single combined score of graduation rate multiplied by the percentage of graduates going on to post-secondary education. Those going on to a 4-year college were given a weight of 1.5, those going to a 2-year college were given a weight of 1, and those going to other colleges or post-secondary schools were given a weight of .67.Other New Jersey Report Card statistics that were not part of the ranking calculation include the percentage of students taking the SAT; the two-year change in SAT scores; the percentage of all eligible students taking an AP test; and the percentage of graduates going directly into a job or the military after high school.

A Word of Thanks

New Jersey Monthly conducted a series of meetings with leaders from New Jersey United for Higher School Standards; Business Coalition for Educational Excellence at the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce; New Jersey Parent Teacher Association; New Jersey Education Association; New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association; and New Jersey School Boards Association. These meetings yielded changes to the criteria used in our rankings. While not every organization taking part in these discussions agrees with each of the new criteria, these meetings generated a productive discussion on what makes high schools successful.