Our first-ever ranking of vocational schools is dominated by the Monmouth County Vocational District, which has the top three schools and five of the top 10. The number 1 finisher is High Technology High School, a pre-engineering career academy in Lincroft.
The test results for High Technology High’s students are mind-blowing. The average combined SAT score of 2,116 is the best of any public high school in the state, and its HSPA results are equally monumental.
High Technology High draws students from throughout Monmouth County. “We have some very affluent districts, and some not so affluent,” says Kevin Bals, the school’s incoming principal (he previously served as assistant principal at Holmdel High School). Bals attributes High Technology High’s success to the quality of education thoughout the county. “The sending schools are doing a great job,” says Bals.
To attend High Technology High, each student must pass a rigorous admission test. It’s worth the effort; 10 members of the latest graduating class of about 70 students are bound for Princeton University this fall.
While High Technology High reigns as number 1, the other Monmouth academies in the top 10, as well as top-10 schools in Middlesex, Ocean, Bergen and Hudson counties, had similarly striking results.
| 2012 | High Schools | County | Student faculty ratio | % of faculty with masters or doctorate | Average combined
SAT score | % advanced
proficient: HSPA- language | % advanced
proficient: HSPA- math | HSPA COMBINED AVERAGE | Adjusted cohort grad rate |
| 1 | High Technology High (Lincroft) | Monmouth | 9.9 | 60.8 | 2116 | 92.9 | 98.6 | 95.75 | 100 |
| 2 | Communications High (Wall) | Monmouth | 9.2 | 59.4 | 1944 | 76.1 | 92.5 | 84.3 | 100 |
| 3 | Academy of Allied Health & Science (Nepxune) | Monmouth | 10.1 | 85.7 | 1959 | 79.4 | 85.7 | 82.55 | 100 |
| 4 | Academy for Science, Mathematics & Engineering (Edison) | Middlesex | 9.6 | 88.3 | 2002 | 91.7 | 94.4 | 93.05 | 97.44 |
| 5 | Marine Academy of Technology & Environmental Science (Manahawkin) | Ocean | 9.6 | 44 | 1888 | 82 | 96 | 89 | 100 |
| 6 | Bergen County Technical (Teterboro) | Bergen | 8.7 | 46.2 | 1722 | 46.6 | 46.6 | 46.6 | 99.35 |
| 7 | High Tech High (North Bergen) | Hudson | 8.9 | 66.6 | 1672 | 43 | 45.8 | 44.4 | 98.65 |
| 8 | Bergen Academies (Hackensack) | Bergen | 10.5 | 60.8 | 2087 | 80.6 | 92.4 | 86.5 | 98.89 |
| 9 | Marine Academy
of Science & Technology (Highlands) | Monmouth | 10.4 | 69 | 1895 | 65.3 | 81.9 | 73.6 | 98.59 |
| 10 | Biotechnology High (Freehold) | Monmouth | 11.4 | 78.6 | 1961 | 89.2 | 95.9 | 92.55 | 97.3 |
| 11 | County Prep (Jersey City) | Hudson | 6.8 | 64.5 | 1372 | 20.9 | 27.6 | 24.25 | 98.34 |
| 12 | Morris County School Of Technology (Denville) | Morris | 9.7 | 44.9 | 1580 | 28.8 | 36.9 | 32.85 | 97.46 |
| 13 | Performing Arts Academy (Lakehurst) | Ocean | 8 | 42.3 | 1498 | 2.4 | 9.5 | 5.95 | 97.22 |
| 14 | Sussex County
Technical (Sparta) | Sussex | 8.9 | 41.7 | 1472 | 3.7 | 16.4 | 10.05 | 96.97 |
| 15 | Academy For Information Technology (Scotch Plains) | Union | 10.1 | 46.2 | 1773 | 54.1 | 80.3 | 67.2 | 93.92 |
| 16 | Academy For Allied Health Sciences (Scotch Plains) | Union | 15 | 72.3 | 1784 | 65.5 | 67.2 | 66.35 | 93.92 |
| 17 | Academy for Allied Health and Biomedical Sciences (Woodbridge) | Middlesex | 9 | 53.8 | 1380 | 70.6 | 82.4 | 76.5 | 86.84 |
| 18 | Warren County Technical (Washington) | Warren | 6.9 | 29.2 | 1423 | 15.7 | 14.7 | 15.2 | 95.05 |
| 19 | Salem County Career & Technical (Woodstown) | Salem | 18.4 | 36.2 | 1500 | 7.1 | 21.4 | 14.25 | 97.3 |
| 20 | Somerset County Vocational & Technical (Bridgewater) | Somerset | 8.1 | 39.4 | 1538 | 24.4 | 32.9 | 28.65 | 91.55 |
| 21 | Passaic County Technical Institute (Wayne) | Passaic | 10 | 47 | 1290 | 7.2 | 12 | 9.6 | 96.5 |
| 22 | Gloucester County Institute of Technology (Sewell) | Gloucester | 12.6 | 38.3 | 1433 | 15.4 | 22.8 | 19.1 | 95.34 |
| 23 | Burlington County Instititute of Technology (Medford) | Burlington | 9.3 | 43.5 | 1318 | 4.5 | 10.1 | 7.3 | 94.3 |
| 24 | Cape May County Technical (Cape May Court House) | Cape May | 9 | 28.6 | 1460 | 14 | 17.6 | 15.8 | 93.92 |
| 25 | Union County Vocational-Technical (Scotch Plains) | Union | 14.5 | 27.5 | 1491 | 27.6 | 32.8 | 30.2 | 93.92 |
| 26 | Bloomfield Tech | Essex | 10.6 | 32 | 1271 | 8 | 9.8 | 8.9 | 96.23 |
| 27 | Middlesex County Vocational & Technical (East Brunswick) | Middlesex | 7.7 | 40.5 | 1415 | 2.3 | 3.8 | 3.05 | 77.7 |
| 28 | Camden County Tech (Gloucester) | Camden | 9.7 | 24.2 | 1179 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 94.63 |
| 29 | Middlesex County Vocational & Technical (Piscataway) | Middlesex | 8.4 | 44.9 | 1176 | 0.8 | 0 | 0.4 | 70.75 |
| 30 | Camden County Tech (Pennsauken) | Camden | 11.8 | 16.7 | 1205 | 2.7 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 94.15 |
| 31 | Burlington County Institituteof Technology (Westhampton) | Burlington | 11.2 | 40 | 1299 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 93.6 |
| 32 | West Caldwell Tech | Essex | 7.1 | 32.5 | 1094 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75.47 |
| 33 | North 13th Street
Tech (Newark) | Essex | 9.6 | 30.9 | 1157 | 1.3 | 7.8 | 4.55 | 89.31 |
| 34 | Newark Tech/West Market Street Center (Newark) | Essex | 11.9 | 49.2 | 1161 | 0.6 | 4.1 | 2.35 | 93.57 |
| 35 | Middlesex County Vocational & Technical (Perth Amboy) | Middlesex | 11.1 | 28.6 | 1225 | 1.4 | 2.9 | 2.15 | 89.04 |