Howell Schools Receive Strong Marks In Annual Ratings

HOWELL, NJ — Howell Township's school districts — both the elementary/middle school district and the Freehold Regional High School District that includes Howell High School — have received high marks from data compiler Niche, which looked at school districts across the country leading into the 2019-2020 school year.

The high school district ranked 68th out of 377 school districts rated on the website, according to rankings released Monday as part of the website's 2020 K-12 rankings. Freehold Regional received an A overall, while the K-8 district received an A- overall.

Each New Jersey district received a letter grade in the following categories: Academics; Diversity; Teachers; College Prep; Clubs & Activities; Health & Safety; Administration; Sports; Food; and Resources & Facilities.

To arrive at the rankings, Niche looked at data from the U.S. Department of Education as well as test scores, college data, and ratings collected from Niche users. (You can read more about the methodology here.)

The top-ranked school district in New Jersey is Princeton. Niche gave Princeton an A or an A+ in all categories except for diversity (B+), sports and food (B). Last year, Millburn was number 1.

Here are the Freehold Regional grades:

1. Academics A
2. Diversity B-
3. Teachers A
4. College Prep A+
5. Clubs & Activities A
6. Health & Safety A-
7. Administration A-
8. Sports A+
9. Food B+
10. Resources & Facilities B+

Here are the Howell K-8 district grades:

1. Academics B+
2. Diversity B
3. Teachers A-
4. College Prep NG
5. Clubs & Activities A-
6. Health & Safety A
7. Administration A
8. Sports (no grade; applies only to districts with high schools)
9. Food A
10. Resources & Facilities A-

Here are reviews from the students of the Freehold Regional High School District:

"All schools are fairly different yet similar," a junior in the district wrote. "Many of the school's facilities are outdated and overdue. (Example: No A/C in 5 out of 6 schools). There are some good teachers but plenty of bad ones due to the ridiculous (tenure) rules and with many students just being downright lost causes. However, there are some gems and is in a good area. Overall, it is a fine school district with some opportunity. Admin's kinda are clueless tho."

Another junior wrote: "I really enjoy my time at school, but at the same time it often feels like administrators don’t care about me or my interests. Scheduling is an absolute nightmare. Otherwise the school culture is great and the teachers are fantastic! It’s just the administration that makes school painful some of the time."

Some students posted Howell High School reviews on the Howell K-8 site.

"The atmosphere at the High School is very friendly and welcoming; people are mainly very open-minded," an alumnus wrote in 2017. "If I had to relive my high school years again and go through the dramatic weight changes and constant acne, I would definitely attend Howell High School than any other school. It was accepting and created a sense of security for all students. Teachers also demonstrated mentor like relations and always remained professional, yet friendly and guided."

"My High School Experience at Howell H.S. was great! I found out how much I liked law in my senior year," a recent graduate wrote. "More often than not the students at Howell High School are very prepared for College, we have a variety of different level classes including Honors and AP. Our Principal is proactive about safety and it is much appreciated by the students and parents as well. ... The only thing I would change is in the 2018/19 school year we went to block scheduling. I did prefer the old way."

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