Page 4 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • September 8, 2010 FLOW Area Regional high schools improve ranking in state by Frank J. McMahon Both schools in the Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District improved their rankings in the recent listing of the state’s Top 100 Public High Schools in the September issue of New Jersey Monthly Magazine. The ranking of Ramapo High School improved from 23rd in 2008 to 19th in the 2010 report. The ranking of Indian Hills High School improved from 40th in 2008 to 35th in the 2010 report. The list of the top high schools in the state is based on data reported by the schools to the Department of Education and the most recent New Jersey School Report card for the 2009-10 school year. Only public high schools are included in the list. Special education, vocational-technical schools, and schools that do not have report card data are not included in the listing. Monmouth University’s Polling Institute analyzed the data by first standardizing individual indicator scores so that small differences did not have a disproportionate impact on the rankings. However, very large differences were not minimized in the relative scores. The indicators were then grouped into three categories, and the summary scores for each category were added together to arrive at the final overall score. The three categories are: school environment, student performance, and student outcomes. This year, the magazine ranked 322 of the state’s public high schools based on criteria which included grade 12 enrollment, average class size, student/faculty ratio, average combined SAT scores, advanced proficiency on the High School Proficiency Assessment language and math tests, the number of Advanced Placement courses/exams offered, the percentage of students scoring a three (out of a possible five) or higher on the Advanced Placement tests, percentage of graduates going on to four-year colleges, and the percentage of graduates going on to two-year colleges. According to this year’s ranking criteria, Ramapo had 353 seniors in 2008-09, while Indian Hills had 217. Ramapo’s average class size was 21 students. At Indian Hills, class size was 20.4 students. The student/faculty ratio was 10:1 at Ramapo and 10.9:1 at Indian Hills. Combined SAT scores were 1696 at Ramapo and 1591 at Indian Hills. At Ramapo, 22 percent of the students achieved advanced proficiency on the HSPA language test and 38 on the math test. At Indian Hills, those numbers were 30 and 33, respectively. Ramapo offers 19 AP tests, and 82 percent of the AP test takers score a three or higher. Indian Hills offers 20 AP exams, and 83 percent of those who sit for the exams score a three or higher. At Ramapo, 91 percent of the graduates went on to a four-year college and six percent went on to a two-year college. At Indian Hills, those percentages were 78 and 19, respectively. The public high school that achieved the top place listing this year was Millburn High School, the same school in the top place in the 2008 ranking of high schools. The ranking did not consider a school’s athletic programs, extracurricular activities, the availability of technology, or any other factors parents might look for in a high school, such as the district’s University Programs. Other public high schools in Bergen County that were ranked in the top 100 include: Tenafly, third place; Northern Highlands Regional in Allendale, sixth place; Ramapo, 19th place; Ridgewood, 20th place; Glen Rock, 28th place; Ramsey, 33rd place; Indian Hills, 35th place; and Waldwick, 68th place. Helpful Hints Helpful Hints from ome “Reducing your daily shower time from 10 minutes to 5 minutes saves 4,200 gallons of water a year and cuts your utility bill.” 27 Franklin Tpk, Waldwick Open Sundays 9-3 201-652-5666 Church invites women to Bible Study Franklin Lakes Baptist Church is offering “Finding Fulfillment on Life’s Uncertain Seas,” a Bible Study for women that will begin Tuesday, Sept. 14. Hours are 9:30 to 11 a.m. This 10-week program is a study of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. The book of Ephesians discusses vital issues that pertain to the human problems of rejection, insignificance, and failure. 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