Here’s Why Millburn High School Didn’t Make Newsweek’s ‘Best Of’ List For 2016

MILLBURN, NJ — When the “best of” lists start flying, sometimes the real story is why a school didn’t make the cut.

On Thursday, Millburn Public School District officials issued a statement explaining why Millburn High School was missing from Newsweek’s annual list of Best Public High Schools in the nation, which named MHS as the 13th best school nationwide in 2015.

• See related article: 'Best Schools' List: Millburn High School Ranks 13th In America

“We were surprised by the omission, and were able to reach out to Newsweek to ascertain that, although Millburn High School was invited to participate in this year’s survey, the email invitation and application sent by Newsweek never reached us,” Superintendent Christine Burton stated.

“We have enhanced our email security in recent months, and unfortunately the message went to a spam folder via the district’s robust filtering program,” Burton continued. “As a result, the high school did not submit the application. We have whitelisted Newsweek for the future. We do understand there are other New Jersey high schools (Princeton, West Windsor, Tenafly, Mountain Lakes, New Providence) that were in the rankings in prior years but are also among the missing this year.”

Neighboring school officials in Livingston, made a similar claim in 2015, asserting that the district never received a data request from Newsweek. Livingston High School placed 383rd on the nationwide list this year.

• See related article: Livingston Officials Respond: 'Best High Schools' List Is Incomplete

Burton concluded her statement about MHS’s omission in 2016 by saying that after reviewing data and criteria in comparison to the high schools on the list, school officials are confident that the district would have ranked “as high as always.”

• See related article: 51 N.J. Public High Schools Rank Among Nation's Best In Newsweek's 2016 List

“While high rankings in published lists are always a nice affirmation of the school district’s achievements, we view them as just one of many things that make our district great,” Burton said. “We are proud of the numerous accomplishments of our students, teachers and administrators every day and every year.”

• See related article: Millburn Ranked Among Nation's Top School Districts In 2016, And In N.J.

Send local news tips, photos and press releases to eric.kiefer@patch.com