At the October 7th BOE meeting, Mr.Morgan and Ms.Brogan were busy bashing NJ Monthly’s high school ranking methodology. They didn’t do sufficient research because that ranking is weighted heavily on several factors related to academics. Most other factors get minor weights. RHS has fallen to 36th because of AP related factors. (For an AB comparison, Glen Rock ranked 2nd. This negates any major influences of demographics or magnate school inclusion.)
4 generations here and I do not agree with your subjective essay about Ridgewood schools declining compared to other public schools. Your observation about no child left behind being a negative is valid for all public schools not just Ridgewood. Private schools will likely continue to benefit from this advantage but truth is they always have. Rank History for Ridgewood High School, does not show decline. This graph shows how well Ridgewood High School is performing relative to other high schools in New Jersey. https://www.schooldigger.com/go/NJ/schools/1383000764/school.aspx?t=tbRankings
US NEWS STATE of NJ RANK:
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Eleven (not even the TOP 11 BTW) of the top 25 on the list are magnet or Vocational schools (which is not “more than half the top 25” but I guess math is hard for you)
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Also these PUBLIC (non-magnet) Schools are ranked AHEAD of Ridgewood:
#5 – Elizabeth High School
#6 – Princeton High School
#7 – Chatham High School
#10 West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North
#11 – Livingston High School
#12 – Summit Senior High School
#13 – Millburn High School
#14 – Glen Ridge High School
#15 – Ridge High School, Basking Ridge
#18 – West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
#19 – Mountain Lakes High School
#20 – Tenafly High School
#23 – Northern Highlands Regional High School
#25 – Montgomery High School #26 – Ridgewood High School
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. US NEWS NATIONAL RANK:
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RIDGEWOOD IS RANKED #583 (almost below 600) in NATIONAL Rank
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. US NEWS COLLEGE READINESS (arguably the most important ranking)
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RIDGEWOOD HAS A 53.6% COLLEGE READINESS rating (barely half of the students graduate as ready for college).
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——————————— STATE OF NJ’s OWN SCHOOL RANKINGS
. You are also ignoring that THE STATE OF NJ ranked Ridgewood High School as 83 out of the 385 NJ high schools.
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Neighboring Glen Rock was ranked #13
(the top twelve on the NJ State list are specialized “academies” and vocational schools which have academic standards for acceptance)
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Here’s some other (local) schools that are ranked higher than Ridgewood:
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#20 – Pascack Hills (Pascack Valley)
#25 – Northern Valley – Demarest
#28 – Tenafly
#29 – Mahwah
#45 – Northern Valley – Old Tappan
#46 – Pascack Valley
#48 – River Dell
#52 – Indian Hills
#55 – Emerson
#56 – Fair Lawn
#60 – Northern Highlands
#61 – Fort Lee
#72 – Waldwick
#73 – New Milford
#76 – Bergenfield
#82 – Ramapo
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Then Ridgewood at #83
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But at least we beat out Dumont (ranked #84)
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. No Matter how you look at the data, it IS NOT good news for Ridgewood.
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