Science Park Ranked One of NJ's Best High Schools

Three Newark schools have earned top honors in the U.S. News' annual Best High Schools rankings released Tuesday.

Science Park High School came in as the 43rd best high school in Newark and is ranked No. 1,274 nationally, while Essex County Vocational-Technical Schools earned bronze medals for its N. 13th Street Campus and West Market Street Campus, both in Newark. Four other Newark public high school schools were "nationally recognized," according to U.S. News: American History, Arts, Technology and University.

The list, in its fourth year, ranks the best high schools across the nation and by state using a comprehensive methodology with the help of behavioral and social science research organization American Institutes for Research. This year, 21,776 public high schools in 49 states and were examined, with 82 of 389 in New Jersey making the cut.

The list also analyzed best charter, magnet and high schools for math and science in separate lists.

At Science Park, which offers a specialized curriculum across grades 7 through 12, 98 percent of the schools 902 students are proficient in English and 96 percent are proficient in math, according to U.S. News.

Last month, 17-year-old DeQuan Foster raved about attending Science Park, saying the school has changed his life. Foster is the vice president of his senior class and will be attending the New York Film Academy in the fall.

"Not only has it made me a better thinker, the interaction with people of different diversities and different backgrounds has made me more appreciative of the world," he told Patch.

A message seeking comment Wednesday from the principal of Science Park was not returned.

Twenty-four total county vocational-technical schools in New Jersey also landed on the 2012 rankings list.

"These schools attract hard-working students and offer them unique opportunities to excel academically while developing career-focused technical skills," said Dr. Philip Guenther, president of the New Jersey Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools, in a statement. "The inclusion of so many county vocational-technical schools in this ranking recognizes that 21st century career and technical education fosters academic excellence and college readiness."

In Essex County, Millburn High School ranked the highest, earning the 12th best school in the state, while Glen Ridge High School came in at No. 20 and Livingston High School in 32nd place.

Also ranking high in the state were Chatham High School (7th) and Princeton High School (10th) on the state list. Elizabeth High School earned 6th place and Dr. Ronald E. McNair Academic High School in Jersey City came in at 3rd place.

High Technology High School in Lincroft was ranked the state's best high school, while Texas' School for the Talented and Gifted in Dallas is the best in the nation.

To determine the Best High Schools national rankings, schools were first analyzed at the state level in terms of how well students in each school performed on state assessments, taking into account the test scores of disadvantaged students (low-income, Hispanic, and black), who tend to score lower on tests.

High schools that made it through this analysis were then eligible to be ranked nationally, in terms of college readiness. U.S. News determines the degree to which schools prepare students for college-level work by analyzing student success in Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) programs, both of which include college-level courses.

Click here to see the entire national list.