NJ’s Top 100 Public High Schools Ranked By U.S. News

NEW JERSEY — Hundreds of public high schools in New Jersey were ranked among the 2023-24 Best High Schools, released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report.

Families can use the annual rankings to compare schools at the national, state and local levels on factors such as academic performance, graduation rates and college readiness, according to a news release. U.S. News reviewed 25,000 schools and ranked 17,680 of them.

The top 42 schools in New Jersey also cracked the top 1,000 nationally. All told, there were 476 Garden State high schools on the U.S. News list.

Here are the top 100 public high schools in New Jersey (the first number represents the state ranking; the second in parentheses is the national ranking):

1. (No. 26 nationally) Union County Magnet High School, Scotch Plains
2. (No. 39 nationally) Middlesex County Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Technologies, Edison
3. (No. 64 nationally) High Technology High School, Lincroft
4. (No. 65 nationally) Middlesex County Academy for Allied Health, Woodbridge
5. (No. 72 nationally) Biotechnology High School, Freehold
6. (No. 77 nationally) Dr. Ronald E. McNair High School, Jersey City
7. (No. 78 nationally) Bergen County Academies, Hackensack
8. (No. 88 nationally) Bergen County Technical High School - Teterboro
9. (No. 122 nationally) Academy for Information Technology, Scotch Plains
10. (No. 230 nationally) Academy for Allied Health Sciences, Scotch Plains
11. (No. 248 nationally) Monmouth County Academy of Allied Health and Science, Neptune
12. (No. 278 nationally) Elizabeth High School, Elizabeth
13. (No. 311 nationally) Glen Ridge High School, Glen Ridge.
14. (No. 316 nationally) Marine Academy of Science and Technology, Highlands
15. (No. 374 nationally) Infinity Institute, Jersey City
16. (No. 391 nationally) Northern Valley Regional High School District, Demarest
17. (No. 441 nationally) West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North, Plainsboro
18. (No. 456 nationally) Livingston High School, Livingston
19. (No. 457 nationally) Millburn High School, Millburg
20. (No. 469 nationally) West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South, West Windsor
21. (No. 475 nationally) Chatham High School, Chatham
22. (No. 480 nationally) Union County Tech, Scotch Plains
23. (No. 494 nationally) Summit Senior High School, Summit
24. (No. 496 nationally) Tenafly High School, Tenafly
25. (No. 516 nationally) Ridge High School, Basking Ridge
26. (No. 534 nationally) Princeton High School, Princeton
27. (No. 554 nationally) John P. Stevens High School, Edison
28. (No. 565 nationally) Mountain Lakes High School, Mountain Lakes
29. (No. 579 nationally) Central Jersey College Prep Charter School, Somerset
30. (No. 595 nationally) Academy for Mathematics Science and Engineering, Rockaway
31. (No. 654 nationally) Science Park High School, Newark
32. (No. 691 nationally) Haddonfield Memorial High School, Haddonfield
33. (No. 726 nationally) Montgomery High School, Skillman
34. (No. 754 nationally) Communications High School, Wall
35. (No. 784 nationally) Ridgewood High School, Ridgewood
36. (No. 865 nationally) Technology High School, Newark
37. (No. 873 nationally) Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan
38. (No. 912 nationally) Liberty High School, Jersey City
39. (No. 918 nationally) Glen Rock High School, Glen Rock
40. (No. 935 nationally) Madison High School, Madison
41. (No. 939 nationally) Northern Highlands Regional High School, Allendale
42. (No. 968 nationally) Pascack Hills High School, Montvale
43. (No. 1,016 nationally) Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School, Rumson
44. (No. 1,019 nationally) Alexander Hamilton Preparatory Academy, Elizabeth
45. (No. 1,035 nationally) Columbia High School, Maplewood
46. (No. 1,042 nationally) Ramapo High School, Franklin Lakes
47. (No. 1,058 nationally) Bergen Arts and Sciences Charter School, Garfield
48. (No. 1,066 nationally) Leonia High School, Leonia
49. (No. 1,085 nationally) Westfield High School, Westfield
50. (No. 1,112 nationally) Whippany Park High School, Whippany
51. (No. 1,157 nationally) New Providence High School, New Providence
52. (No. 1,175 nationally) Kinnelon High School, Kinnelon
53. (No. 1,196 nationally) Bergenfield High School, Bergenfield
54. (No. 1,197 nationally) West Essex High School, North Caldwell
55. (No. 1,202 nationally) Montclair High School, Montclair
56. (No. 1,208 nationally) High Tech High School, Secaucus
57. (No. 1,234 nationally) Marlboro High School, Marlboro
58. (No. 1,236 nationally) Robbinsville High School, Robbinsville
59. (No. 1,247 nationally) Hunterdon Central Regional High School, Flemington
60. (No. 1,252 nationally) Moorestown High School, Moorestown
61. (No. 1,288 nationally) Park Ridge High School, Park Ridge
62. (No. 1,300 nationally) River Dell High School, Oradell
63. (No. 1,331 nationally) West Morris Mendham High School, Mendham
64. (No. 1,348 nationally) Holmdel High School, Holmdel
65. (No. 1,369 nationally) Bernards High School, Bernardsville
66. (No. 1,375 nationally) East Brunswick High School, East Brunswick
67. (No. 1,389 nationally) Verona High School, Verona
68. (No. 1,405 nationally) Hillsborough High School, Hillsborough
69. (No. 1,450 nationally) Mahwah High School, Mahwah
70. (No. 1,466 nationally) Ramsey High School, Ramsey
71. (No. 1,482 nationally) Cresskill High School, Cresskill
72. (No. 1,485 nationally) Midland Park Jr./Sr. High School, Midland Park
73. (No. 1,505 nationally) Metuchen High School, Metuchen
74. (No. 1,531 nationally) South Brunswick High School, Monmouth Junction
75. (No. 1,562 nationally) Fair Lawn High School, Fair Lawn
76. (No. 1,650 nationally) Bridgewater-Raritan Regional High School, Bridgewater
77. (No. 1,651 nationally) Cherry Hill High School East, Cherry Hill
78. (No. 1,662 nationally) Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, Scotch Plains
79. (No. 1,667 nationally) North Star Academy Charter School of Newark
80. (No. 1,724 nationally) Governor Livingston High School, Berkeley Heights
81. (No. 1,725 nationally) Pascack Valley High School, Hillsdale
82. (No. 1,760 nationally) Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Sci, Manahawkin
83. (No. 1,773 nationally) Morris County School of Technology, Denville
84. (No. 1,781 nationally) Randolph High School, Randolph
85. (No. 1,807 nationally) Indian Hills High School, Oakland
86. (No. 1,829 nationally) Parsippany Hills High School, Morris Plains
87. (No. 1,832 nationally) Morris Hills High School, Rockaway
88. (No. 1,856 nationally) West Morris Central High School, Chester
89. (No. 1,904 nationally) Red Bank Regional High School, Little Silver
90. (No. 1,949 nationally) Montville Township High School, Montville
91. (No. 1,992 nationally) Manasquan High School, Manasquan
92. (No. 2,020 nationally) Hopewell Valley Central High School, Pennington
93. (No. 2,021 nationally) Rutherford High School, Rutherford
94. (No. 2,092 nationally) Parsippany High School, Parsippany
95. (No. 2,121 nationally) Fort Lee High School, Fort Lee
96. (No. 2,147 nationally) Point Pleasant Beach High School, Point Pleasant Beach
97. (No. 2,167 nationally) Colts Neck High School, Colts Neck
98. (No. 2,196 nationally) Hanover Park High School, East Hanover
99. (No. 2,208 nationally) Pequannock Township High School, Pompton Plains
100. (No. 2,240 nationally) Essex County Donald M. Payne Sr. School of Technology, Newark

In general, the highest-ranked schools had students who performed well on state assessments for math, reading, and science, U.S. News said. They also performed strongly in meeting the needs of underserved students, including those who are Black, Hispanic or from low-income households. The schools had a breadth of curriculum offerings and high graduation rates, and their students performed well on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams.

U.S. News said eleven of the top 20 ranked schools were charter or magnet schools.

In national rankings, the top five schools are, respectively: The Early College at Guilford, Greensboro, North Carolina; Signature School at Evansville, Indiana; The School for Advanced Studies in Miami; The Davidson Academy of Nevada at Reno; and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology at Alexandria, Virginia.