Top 10 High Schools In NJ, According To New Report Cards

NEW JERSEY — The top-performing high schools in the state are all magnet schools, state data shows, with career-focused secondary schools rated higher in measures of academic progress than their traditional peers.

Along with the school performance reports released the first week of April are school-by-school summative scores for each school as well as ratings, which assign each school a number score that measures how well the building is doing in academic achievement and progress compared with its peers.

The top 10-performing high schools in the state all allow students to focus on subjects such as engineering, math, science, and technology, according to school report cards. Patch has also included a list of the non-magnet high schools which had the highest summative scores.

Many of NJ’s 2,364 public schools are included on the ratings list, though some were left off if there was not enough data to calculate a proper score.

"Summative scores" provide a number from 1-99, and are based on factors such as graduation rates, proficiency and progress in English language arts and math, and chronic absenteeism rates (students absent more than 10 percent of school days).

The ratings for high schools are based on graduation and absenteeism rates and standardized scores. This includes both growth and proficiency in English language arts and math, and students' English language proficiency as well as four- and five-year graduation rates.

Elementary and middle school scores are based on absenteeism, standardized test scores and student progress, according to the state Department of Education.

Higher scores are better, and certain schools with lower scores are put into categories for support and improvement. Due to the cancellation of statewide assessments in 2019-20 and 2020-21, student growth data are not available for those school years.

Schools are compared to one another based on grade level, as well, in the "summative ratings." For example, schools that only serve elementary students are compared with one another. These are percentile ratings from 1-100, so a school with a rating closer to 100 is among the best of its peers.

Jersey City's Infinity Institute is one of these; this magnet school serving grades 6-12 had a summative score of 85.55 and ranked in the 100th percentile.

Related articles:

• New NJ School Performance Reports Show Student Struggles Post-COVID
• School Ratings Return In NJ: See Where Your School Ranks

Here are the top 10 high schools in the state based on the NJ DOE’s reports for 2021-22. Non-magnet schools are below in a separate list.

Top 10 high schools by report card score

High Technology High School (Middletown, Monmouth Co.)
Summative score: 97.38
Summative rating: 100

Monmouth County Academy of Allied Health and Science (Neptune Twp.)
Summative score: 97.23
Summative rating: 99.72

Edison Academy Magnet School (Edison, Middlesex Co.)
Summative score: 97.08
Summative rating: 99.44

Biotechnology High School (Freehold Twp., Monmouth)
Summative score: 96.93
Summative rating: 99.17

Bergen County Technical High School - Teterboro
Summative score: 96.89
Summative rating: 98.89

Union County Magnet High School (Scotch Plains)
Summative score: 96.17
Summative rating: 98.61

Academy for Mathematics, Science and Engineering (Rockaway, Morris Co.)
Summative score: 96.08
Summative rating: 98.33

Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science (Stafford Twp., Ocean Co.)
Summative score: 96.06
Summative rating: 98.06

STEM Innovation Academy of the Oranges (South Orange, Essex Co.)
Summative score: 95.34
Summative rating: 97.78

Hunterdon County Academies (Annandale)
Summative score: 94.93
Summative rating: 97.50

Top 10 non-magnet high schools by report card score

Liberty High School (Jersey City PS, Hudson Co.)

Summative score: 90.60

Summative rating: 94.72

Tenafly High School (Tenafly Public SD, Bergen Co.)

Summative score: 89.96

Summative rating: 93.61

Chatham High School (SD of the Chathams, Morris Co.)

Summative score: 89.37
Summative rating: 93.06

Glen Rock High School (Glen Rock Public SD, Bergen Co.)

Summative score: 89.03
Summative rating: 92.78

Livingston High School (Livingston SD, Essex Co.)

Summative score: 88.48

Summative rating: 92.50

Cedar Grove High School (Cedar Grove Twp. SD, Essex Co.)

Summative score: 87.02
Summative rating: 91.94

New Providence High School (New Providence SD, Union Co.)

Summative score: 86.62
Summative rating: 91.67

West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South (West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional SD, Mercer Co.)

Summative score: 85.21
Summative rating: 91.11

Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest (Northern Valley Regional HSD, Bergen Co.)

Summative score: 84.25
Summative rating: 90.56

Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (Rumson-Fair Haven Regional HSD, Monmouth Co.)

Summative score: 83.97
Summative rating: 90.28

The scores were established to comply with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaced the No Child Left Behind Act. The state did not score schools in 2019-20 and 2020-21, because the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted state testing and New Jersey was granted a waiver from accountability- related requirements under ESSA.

In every state, ESSA requires school districts to measure student performance and develop a “State Report Card” which parents can explore online, with quantifiable measurements like a score or a letter grade for how schools are performing. ESSA also requires states to report how much money, on average, they spend per student.

The summative scores are included in the NJ school performance reports, but not on the front page.