Schools

Freehold High Schools Draw Mixed Marks From State DOE

Borough fares better than Township in state reports

Freehold Borough High School was given high marks in the first round of a new statewide school evaluation system, while Freehold Township High School fared less well in the results released last week.

The state Department of Education NJ Schools Performance Report was released for each of the schools across the state last week. The evaluation scores schools in three major categories: Academic achievement, College & Career Readiness and Graduation & Post-secondary preparedness.

Academic Achievement scores are tabulated from the results of students’ performance in language and mathematics standardized tests. College & Career Readiness scores are calculated by participation in SAT or PSAT tests and in Advanced Placement courses. And the Graduation & Post-Secondary preparedness  scores measure the drop out and graduation rates, the report says.

Find out what's happening in Freeholdwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We hope that these new reports will inform conversations at the local level about where schools are doing well and where they can continue to improve,” said Bari Erlichson, chief performance officer at the state DOE.

Freehold Borough High School received mainly high scores throughout the report in all categories, but it fell squarely into an “average” score for the Graduation & Post-Secondary preparedness category, the report says.

Find out what's happening in Freeholdwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Freehold Township High School received lower scores overall, and rated as “high performance” in only one category, according to the report.

Charles Sampson, superintendent of the Freehold Regional High School District, did not return a phone call requesting comment.

Freehold Borough High School outperformed 62 percent of schools in the state in Academic Achievement and 70 percent of its peer schools – those 30 or so schools in the state with a similar demographic. In Monmouth County, those schools include Raritan High School and Monmouth Regional High School, according to the report.

Borough High school also rated high in the College & Career readiness category, outperforming 64 percent of schools statewide and 74 percent of similar schools, the report said.

Borough High School outperformed only 45 percent of schools statewide in the Graduation & Post-Secondary preparedness category. With similar schools, it fared a better 60 percent, according to the report.

Borough High School has a graduation rate of 93.6 percent and a dropout rate of 1.3 percent, the report says.

Freehold Township High School outperformed 71 percent of schools statewide in Academic Achievement, but just 57 percent of its peer schools, the report says.

Freehold Township outperformed 54 percent of schools statewide in College & Career readiness and just 19 percent of its peer schools, the report says.

Freehold Township fared better than 54 percent of schools statewide in Graduation & Post Secondary preparedness and 34 percent in its peer group, according to the report.

Freehold Township does not have a peer school in Monmouth County, according to the report. The closest  school is Point Pleasant Borough High School in Ocean County, the report says.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here