Glen Ridge High School

Glen Ridge High School
Location
200 Ridgewood Avenue
Glen Ridge, NJ 07028
Information
Type Public high school
Established 1895
Principal Dirk Phillips
Asst. Principal Jonathan Heitmann
Faculty 79.3 (on FTE basis)[1]
Grades 7 - 12
Enrollment 845[1] (as of 2012-13)
Student to teacher ratio 10.66:1[1]
Color(s) Red, White & Black
Athletics conference Super Essex Conference
Team name Ridgers
Website School website

Glen Ridge High School (GRHS) is a comprehensive six-year public high school serving students in seventh through twelfth grades in Glen Ridge, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Glen Ridge Public Schools. GRHS is accredited by the New Jersey Department of Education.

As of the 2012-13 school year, the school had an enrollment of 845 students and 79.3 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.66:1. There were 0 students (0.0% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 0 (0.0% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]

The school's standardized test scores far exceed both the state and national averages. The Class of 2013 average SAT scores were 575 on the math section, 579 on the critical reading section and 565 on writing, totaling 1719 on the three sections combined (compared to a New Jersey averages of 495 math, 521 reading and 496 writing for 1512 overall). Among students taking the SAT, 69% of students met or exceeed the combined score of 1550 considered by the College Board to indicate likely college success, vs. 44% statewide.[2] The graduation rate for the class of 2013 was 97%, with 91.2% of students passing the New Jersey High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).[2]

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 27th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology.[3] The school had been ranked 12th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 4th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[4] The magazine ranked the school 5th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[5] The school was ranked 10th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state.[6] Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 113th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 21 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (87.9%) and language arts literacy (94.0%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).[7]

In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 37th in New Jersey and 1,193rd nationwide.[8] The school was ranked 452nd in Newsweek's 2009 ranking of the top 1,500 high schools in the United States and was the 10th-ranked school in New Jersey, with 2.219 AP tests taken in 2008 per graduating senior and 30% of all graduating seniors passing at least one AP exam; The school was ranked 751st nationwide in 2008.[9] In Newsweek's 2007 ranking of the country's top 1,200 high schools, Glen Ridge High School was listed in 871st place, the 23rd-highest ranked school in New Jersey.[10]

In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 836th in the nation among participating public high schools and 62nd among schools in New Jersey.[11] The school was ranked 255th in the nation and 24th in New Jersey on the list of "America's Best High Schools 2012" prepared by The Daily Beast / Newsweek, with rankings based primarily on graduation rate, matriculation rate for college and number of Advanced Placement / International Baccalaureate courses taken per student, with lesser factors based on average scores on the SAT / ACT, average AP/IB scores and the number of AP/IB courses available to students.[12]

Athletics

Glen Ridge High School competes in the Super Essex Conference, which consists of public and private high schools in Essex County and operates under the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[13] With 421 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2014-15 school year as North II, Group I for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 61 to 478 students in that grade range.[14] Prior to the NJSIAA's 2010 realignment, the school had competed in the Colonial Hills Conference which included 18 public and parochial high schools covering Essex County, Morris County and Somerset County in west Central Jersey.[15] The mascot is the Ridger (a two-headed zebra).

Glen Ridge has a diverse athletics department. The basketball, soccer, football, and lacrosse teams are the school's largest athletic programs.

The football team won the NJSIAA North II Group I state sectional championships in 1977, 1980 and 1982.[16]

Glen Ridge High School shares an ice hockey team with Verona High School and competes in the NJIHL Central Conference (Essex Division).[17][18] Each year the team hosts the Holiday Tournament at Cody Arena in West Orange. The 2004-2005 season saw the team win its first conference championship.[19]

The 2007 girls soccer team won the North II, Group I state sectional championship with a 3-1 win over second-seeded North Arlington High School in the tournament final.[20][21]

Glen Ridge rape case

Main article: Glen Ridge rape

In 1989, a group of football players from the school were involved in the sexual assault of a developmentally disabled female student, with three of the athletes convicted of sexual assault in the case.[22] Author Bernard Lefkowitz wrote about their crime in Our Guys: The Glen Ridge Rape and the Secret Life of the Perfect Suburb, which was later produced as Our Guys, a 1999 made-for-television movie.[23] The case was also the basis for the Season Eight Law & Order episode "Damaged", starring Lauren Ambrose in the role of the mentally disabled student.

Administration

Core members of the school's administration are:

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 School Data for Glen Ridge High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed March 25, 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Glen Ridge High School 2013 School Performance Report, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 14, 2011.
  3. ↑ Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
  4. ↑ Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed November 6, 2012.
  5. ↑ Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed June 14, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
  7. ↑ New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2010-2011, Schooldigger.com. Accessed March 4, 2012.
  8. ↑ Mathews, Jay. "The High School Challenge 2011: Glen Ridge High School", The Washington Post. Accessed August 17, 2011.
  9. ↑ Staff. "The Top of the Class: The complete list of the 1,500 top U.S. high schools", Newsweek, June 8, 2009. Accessed June 10, 2009.
  10. ↑ "The Top of the Class: The complete list of the 1,200 top U.S. schools", Newsweek, May 22, 2007. Accessed May 24, 2007.
  11. ↑ Streib, Lauren. "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast, May 6, 2013. Accessed May 9, 2013.
  12. ↑ Staff. "America's Best High Schools 2012", The Daily Beast / Newsweek, May 20, 2012. Accessed May 24, 2012.
  13. ↑ League Memberships – 2014-2015, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 19, 2014.
  14. ↑ 2014-2015 Public Schools Group Classification: ShopRite Cup–Basketball–Baseball–Softball for North II, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, as of July 8, 2014. Accessed November 19, 2014.
  15. ↑ Home Page, Colonial Hills Conference, backed up by the Internet Archive, as of November 19, 2010. Accessed December 15, 2014.
  16. ↑ Goldberg, Jeff. NJSIAA Football Playoff Champions, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 24, 2011.
  17. ↑ Kish, Andor. Verona Glen Ridge Hockey. Accessed April 20, 2012.
  18. ↑ 2014-2016 Co-operative Sports Programs, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 19, 2014.
  19. ↑ Yardley, Jon. 2004-05 New Jersey Scores, High School Hockey Online. Accessed November 19, 2014.
  20. ↑ Girls Soccer - North II, Group I, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 13, 2007.
  21. ↑ Celentano, Rob. "NA shows tenacity in defeat", The Record (Bergen County), November 9, 2007. Accessed December 15, 2014. "Fourth-seeded Glen Ridge defeated second-seeded North Arlington, 3-1, in the North 2, Group 1 soccer final."
  22. ↑ Hanley, Robert. "4 Are Convicted in Sexual Abuse Of Retarded New Jersey Woman", The New York Times, March 17, 1993. Accessed June 14, 2011.
  23. ↑ Mink, Eric. "Film Recounts Sad Saga Of Glen Ridge Rape Troubled-town Tale Has Problems Of Its Own", Daily News (New York), May 10, 1999. Accessed June 14, 2011.
  24. ↑ Principal, Glen Ridge High School. Accessed November 19, 2014.
  25. ↑ Assistant Principal, Glen Ridge High School. Accessed November 19, 2014.
  26. ↑ Nash, Margo. "JERSEY FOOTLIGHTS", The New York Times, August 22, 2004. Accessed March 29, 2008. "It includes Mr. Cruise's Glen Ridge High School yearbooks along with photos donated by local residents and articles chronicling the career of the actor whose name was Thomas Cruise Mapother IV when he lived in Glen Ridge with his family from about 1978 to 1980."
  27. ↑ Gary Cuozzo player profile, Database-football.com. Accessed May 1, 2007.
  28. ↑ Biography, Senator Michael J. Doherty. Accessed June 14, 2011."Doherty grew up in Glen Ridge, New Jersey and graduated from Glen Ridge High School in 1981."
  29. ↑ Fox, Ron. "WRIGHT MOVES COULD VAULT PV", The Record (Bergen County), February 22, 2001. Accessed December 8, 2007. "Returning champions -- Three-time winners Craig and Chris Wright, twins from Passaic Valley; and State champion Joe Dubuque of Glen Ridge."
  30. ↑ Roll, Erin. "Contra Band: Vampire Weekend frontsman discusses latest album", Glen Ridge Voice, January 21, 2010. Accessed June 14, 2011. "With songs that draw on almost every musical style under the sun and lyrics that refer to historical uprisings, Louis Vuitton and the Khyber Pass, it's understandable that Vampire Weekend is a little hard to classify. And that, says lead singer – and 2002 Glen Ridge High School graduate – Ezra Koenig, is just how they like it."
  31. ↑ Staff. Official Congressional Directory, Volume 103, p. 193. United States Government Printing Office, 1993. ISBN 0-16-041176-9. Accessed June 14, 2011.

External links

Coordinates: 40°47′56″N 74°12′22″W / 40.799017°N 74.206059°W