Study: Hopatcong Students Near State Average

students are about as proficient in English as those statewide, but have fallen just behind their counterparts in math, according to a U.S. News & World Report released this week.

The study ranked almost 22,000 public high school from every state except Nebraska, which didn't report enough data, and the District of Columbia. The study focused on state assessments—in New Jersey's case, the High School Proficeny Assessment, or HSPA—and student success in college-level courses.

The rankings also listed the top 51 high schools in each state. Hopatcong did not crack the list.

The study said 88 percent of 179 Hopatcong students tested were at least proficient in English while the rest were only partially proficient. And on the math side, of 178 students test, only 56 percent were classified as proficient while 29 percent were only partially proficient.

Where the school really took a hit compared to other schools was regarding what the study called "college readiness." The study gave Hopatcong a 6.0 college readiness score, which was based on advanced-placement exam participation rates and percentages of students passing at least one exam.

Only 15 percent of Hopatcong students participated in AP courses. The number of AP courses offered at the high school has declined sharply since the school took a large state aid cut in 2010.

Hopatcong's student-teacher ratio was 15-to-1—just higher than the state average of 14-to-1.

Twenty percent of Hopatcong students were considered economically disadvantaged—12 percent were eligible for the free lunch program while 9 percent qualified for the reduced-price lunch program.