August 12,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, in Newsweek’s annual ranking of public high schools 51 in N.J. made the cut. Noticeable absent was Ridgewood High School and Tenafly High School.
Ridgewood’s slip has not gone unnoticed, as many long time residents have commented ,” Years ago it was ranked highly in the nation. It fell from that to being ranked highly in the state, then down to County level and now basically is ranked no where. ”
Newsweek looked at six measurements and weighted them to come up with a “college readiness index.” The rankings are meant to show how well high schools do at preparing students for college.
Those measurements and their weight are:
Holding power: 10 percent
Ratio of counselor/full-time equivalent to student enrollment: 10 percent
Weighted SAT/ACT: 17.5 percent
Weighted AP/IB/dual enrollment composite: 17.5 percent
Graduation rate: 20 percent
College enrollment rate: 25 percent
Here’s a look at all of the New Jersey high schools that made Newsweek’s list and where they came in on the national list (in parentheses):
(2) Academy for Math, Science and Engineering, Rockaway
(4) Union County Magnet High School, Scotch Plains
(10) Middlesex Cty Acad. for Sci,, Math, & Engineering Tech., Edison
(11) Bergen County Academies, Hackensack
(12) Academy of Allied Health and Science, Neptune
(14) Biotechnology High School, Freehold
(20) High Technology High School, Lincroft
(21) Academy for Allied Health Sciences, Scotch Plains
(23) Academy for Information Technology, Scotch Plains
(27) Communications High School, Wall
(31) Middlesex County Academy for Allied Health & Biomedical Sciences, Woodbridge
(40) Chatham High School, Chatham
(41) Bergen County Technical High School – Teterboro, Teterboro
(67) Westfield High School, Westfield
(71) Ridge High School, Basking Ridge
(76) Summit High School, Summit
(84) Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science, Manahawkin
(88) Bernards High School, Bernardsville
(91) Holmdel High School, Holmdel
(108) Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School, Bridgewater
(112) Moorestown High School, Moorestown
(115) Madison High School, Madison
(127) John P Stevens High School, Edison
(131) Watchung Hills Regional High School, Warren
(137) Glen Rock High School, Glen Rock
(144) Rumson-Fair Haven Regional HS, Rumson
(158) Morris County School of Technology, Denville
(181) Marine Academy of Science and Technology, Highlands
(189) Union County Vocational Technical High School, Scotch Plains
(192) Governor Livingston High School, Berkeley Heights
(198) Montville Township High School, Montville
(203) Academy for Performing Arts, Scotch Plains
(210) Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, Scotch Plains
(217) Hillsborough High School, Hillsborough
(222 Wayne Hills High School, Wayne
(226) Allentown High School, Allentown
(227) Northern Valley Regional High School Old Tappan, Old Tappan
(233) North Hunterdon-Voorhees, Annandale
(234) Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest, Demarest
(237) Pequannock Township High School, Pompton Plains
(365) Hanover Park High School, East Hanover
(366) Mahwah High School, Mahwah
(377) Cranford High School, Cranford
(383) Livingston High School, Livingston
(417) Wayne Valley High School, Wayne
(421) Marlboro High School, Marlboro
(425) Cresskill High School, Cresskill
(429) Whippany Park High School, Whippany
(473) Kinnelon High School, Kinnelon
(482) Mount Olive High School, Flanders
(497) Middletown HS South, Middletown
https://www.newsweek.com/high-schools/americas-top-high-schools-2016
Tenafly and Millburn (Short Hills) also did not make the list, and like Ridgewood, these are usually considered some of the best public schools in NJ. Considering that these three schools consistently have high SAT scores, graduation rates and college placement, my guess is that there is an issue with the rankings and not with the schools themselves. As I am typing this, I just read that Millburn never filled out the survey for Newsweek. I would not be shocked if Ridgewood/Tenafly had the same issue. https://www.tapinto.net/towns/millburn-slash-short-hills/articles/newsweek-survey-to-millburn-high-school-never-rec
And last year Ridgewood was #102 nationally in these same Newsweek rankings. I doubt we slipped more than 400 spots in one year, especially considering the metrics that create the rankings.
These rankings are a dime a dozen. Everyone has different criteria. One includes “diversity” and Ridgewood always does bad with that.
Most kids reach their potential in Ridgewood HS. Face it, we all can’t get into Stamford but the kids do as best they can. The schools don’t make the student, the student brings a basic learning skill set
If that isn’t enough there are dozens of tutors in town ready to jump in. I will say that the tutors are not all great, they just think that they are. .
Gotta love #11. The county poaches all the best students for an elite education, stripping the local district, charging the sending district and the county taxpayers for the education. If a student and family wants an elite school for their kids, let them pay for it – full boat. Otherwise, vouchers for all kids. It’s a scam the county has played since the late school power broker John Grieco concocted. You may want to notice that they have no mandate to accept any special needs students like the local district – just an observation.
The district should spend no time worrying about these silly lists.
Focus on education. Do not alter anything about the schools to pander to there self-important polls.
School rankings and zero NJEA foot soldier’s comments about how they should be paid more.
Ridgewood probably did not participate because they knew they would rank poorly.
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Face it – RW schools have dropped significantly in quality.
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RW is a “good,and solid” school, but not a “great” school anymore.
There is too much “social engineering” bloat in the school curriculum and too many tutors in the home.
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The only reason that the students do as well as they do is because the parents instill the value of education in their children and hire tutors to support their children when the school system falls short and fails them.
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Also RW parents and students are savvy enough to build an attractive “portfolio” of the correct types of extra-curricular activities, sports and “community outreach” activities as well as building a positive social media profile in order to get accepted into one of the “right” colleges.
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RW Schools reputations are resting on the work of the parents and students… It used to be the other way around
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Sure. We should ditch somewhat objective rankings and rely on fuzzy feelings like ‘Tradition of Excellence’ – whatever that means.