Science Park Ranked First Among City's High Schools

New Jersey Monthly magazine has released its biannual rankings of the state’s public high schools based on criteria like graduation rates, student outcomes and other measures of overall school success.

New Providence High School has displaced Millburn High as the top-ranked institution in the state, a spot the Essex County school had held since 2008. A top-ranked Newark high school has also slipped in the closely watched poll this year -- Science Park High School, formerly the only Newark public high school to rank in the top 100, fell from 69th place in 2010 to 116th this year. Science Park, however, remains the highest-ranked public high school in the city.

Newark had no public high schools ranked in the top 100 in 2012.

One factor causing much of the movement in rankings since 2010 was a change last year in the way graduation rates are calculated, following a change in the way the state computed the rate. The new standard requires graduation rates be based on the performance of the “cohort” of students, the group of students that entered the given high school at the same time.

The magazine’s listings also leave out a significant number of city high schools, its many charter institutions, most of which are fairly new. All told, the magazine ranked 328 public high schools across New Jersey for its main ranking.

Along with Science High, six other city schools saw their rankings slip from 2010, including University, which dropped from 131 to 171; Technology, to 190 from 156; Central, to 277 from 274; Barringer, to 313 from 311; and East Side, to 319 from 293.

A number of city schools also saw a bump upwards this year, however: Weequahic jumped to 258 from 310; West Side to 268 from 319; Shabazz from 314 to 291; and Newark Vocational from 304 to 292.

American History High School, ranked 198th this year, had no previous ranking.

Education experts have long known that educational outcomes correlate strongly with family income, a reality addressed in a separate ranking by the magazine. This ranking looks at schools’ performance within their so-called “district factor group,” a category that lumps together schools based on the wealth of a district. District Factor Groups are used by the state Department of Education when determining aid awards and for other purposes.

Newark’s District Factor Group includes districts like Jersey City and Camden. Within this grouping, Science Park was ranked 2nd and University 5th.

The magazine also ranked the state’s vocational schools. N. 13th Street Tech was ranked 33rd out of 35 listed, while Newark Tech was ranked 34th.