Page 4 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • September 5, 2012 FLOW Area Regional schools ranked among top 50 in state by Frank J. McMahon Both schools in the Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District are listed among the top 50 high schools in the state in the September issue of New Jersey Monthly magazine. The ranking of Ramapo High School improved from 19th in 2010 to 17th in 2012. The ranking of Indian Hills High School decreased from 35th in 2010 to 43rd in 2012. Data for the magazine’s ranking of the state’s high schools were obtained from the New Jersey Department of Education’s most recent New Jersey School Report Card, which covers the 2010-11 school year. Only public high schools are included in the list. Leflein Associates, an independent research company in Ringwood, analyzed the data and used school environment, student performance, and student outcomes to determine the ranking. Student environment data included the sum of the standardized rank scores for average class size, the student/ faculty ratio, the percentage of faculty with advanced degrees, and the number of Advanced Placement tests offered, which was calculated as a ratio of the grade 11 and 12 enrollment in order not to penalize smaller schools. Student performance data included the sum of the standardized rank scores for average combined SAT score, the percentage of students showing advanced proficiency on HSPA, and students scoring a grade of three or higher on AP tests as a percentage of all juniors and seniors. Student outcome data included a single score based on a new graduation rate calculation (a four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate formula), introduced by New Jersey in 2011 and mandated by the federal government. The adjusted cohort formula divides a school’s number of four year graduates by the number of first-time ninth graders who entered the “cohort” four years earlier. In this year’s ranking, that formula uses four years of data for first time freshmen who entered high schools in September 2007 and graduated in 2011. The 2007 freshmen plus “transfers in” minus “transfers out” over four years are divided into the number of 2011 graduates. In the past, the rankings distinguished between students going on to four-year colleges, two-year colleges, and other postsecondary schools. The data for students going to four-year colleges was given extra weight, making it a potent driver of the results. (continued on page 15) Starry night The Franklin Lakes Public Events Committee recently held its first Movie Under the Stars. More than 200 people attended.