Three Ridgewood/Glen Rock Schools Named Top Performers in NJ

Two elementary schools from Glen Rock and one from Ridgewood have been named high-performing "Reward Schools" by the state Department of Education.

Byrd and Central elementary schools in Glen Rock and Orchard Elementary in Ridgewood were included in a list of 57 Reward Schools throughout the state released this month. Last year, 112 schools were selected as Reward Schools.

"A Reward School is a school with outstanding student achievement or growth over the past three years," according to a description provided by the state DOE.

The two types of Reward Schools include high-performing, which indicates the school has a high level of schoolwide proficiency and graduation rates, and high-progress, which indicates the school has a high level of student growth, as measured by their median Student Growth Percentiles. Byrd and Central View were categorized as high-performing schools while Orchard received a nod for high growth.

In calculating which schools are Reward Schools, the state takes into account data from the 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years, including NJASK, HSPA and APA exams.

Other Bergen County schools commended by the state as Reward Schools included Wyckoff's Sicomac Elementary School; Fair Lawn's Lyncrest Elementary School; Alpine Elementary School; Bergen Academy; Bergen Tech; Hillside Elementary School in Closter; and Charles DeWolf Middle School in Old Tappan.