'Tradition Of Excellence' Continues As Ridgewood HS Celebrates 125 Years

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — The students come back every year. Some are doctors. Some own businesses. Others are veterans.

Regardless of what they do, they all come back to say thank you.

The legacy that the thousands of alumni from Ridgewood High School continue to carry on is that of a school that prepared them for life beyond Ridgewood.

"When you talk to alumni from 30 or even 50 years ago, they all say how well Ridgewood High School prepared them for life," said Principal Tom Gorman, 1987 alumnus himself. "I think 125 years of being here bears out that tradition of excellence."

The school has been on the forefront of both academic and educational innovations designed to enhance students' experiences and how they learn.

There is a new academies program that integrates literature with the arts, English and social studies.

Every student has a Chromebook and uses Google education applications. There is a new Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) lab with a 3-D printer and a STEM student club, along with robotics classes.

But beyond Chromebooks and sciences labs are people.

Through the Ridgewood High School Alumni Association, former students are hosting seminars and interacting with current students, telling them about their respective fields and giving them advice. The association will celebrate the school's 125th anniversary with a party at Veterans Field. (Click here for more information.)

"Technology is not going to be used 100 percent of the time when people are out there in real world," Gorman said. "We want our students to make meaningful connections with people, including the teachers, about the subject matter they are studying."

Alumni agree.

Keith Dawkins is a member of the class of 1988 and president of the alumni association.

"I learned a lot from Ridgewood and the local ecosystem, about working hard," said Dawkins, a executive vice president with Nickeloden. "But there is also a tremendous sense of family in Ridgewood, especially the high school."

Send local news tips, photos, and press releases to daniel.hubbard@patch.com. Get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our new app. Download here.

Patch file photo