20 Best Public High Schools in NJ – 2025
May 19, 2025
There’s no shortage of excellent high schools in New Jersey. In fact, the Garden State is known for having some of the top high schools, both public and private (here鈥檚 a list of top private schools in NJ). Below, we will discuss 20 of the best public high schools in New Jersey. While many factors contribute to the excellence of a high school, this article will focus on college admissions rate and college readiness. In other words, how do the best public high schools in NJ rank when it comes to sending graduates to top colleges? Although attending a great high school doesn鈥檛 guarantee admission into a top college, it can certainly serve the admissions process and provide unique learning experiences along the way.
Best Public High Schools in NJ
In coming up with this list of the best public high schools in NJ, we referred to the 2024-25 state and national rankings from various sources. The 鈥淐ollege Readiness Index鈥� calculates values for schools based on student performance on both state-required tests and AP/IB exams. This list also considers student-to-teacher ratios and diversity of the student body. Additionally, with each school, we鈥檝e included some brief highlights, including information on test scores, curricula, and colleges of interest for graduates.
Please note that inclusion on our 20 Best Public Schools in NJ list is a selective and criteria-based process. However, the order in which the schools appear does not represent any further ranking. The numbering is solely intended to help this resource be more user-friendly.
Also please note that these are only 20 schools among 476 public high schools in New Jersey, so there are many great options to consider if you are deciding where to enroll your student. While a number of the schools are zoned (meaning, admission depends on where the student lives), others are magnet schools (meaning, the student must apply and admission could be competitive). With that, continue reading for some of the best public high schools in New Jersey.
1)
- Location: Scotch Plains
- Enrollment: 302
- Student-to-teacher ratio: 15:1
- Average Teacher Experience: 11.3听测别补谤蝉
Also ranked #25 in the list of STEM high schools, AAHS exposes students to various health career skills while providing interdisciplinary and well-rounded educational experiences. Curriculum includes certification opportunities in BLS, First Aid, and the National Registry of EMTs exam. What’s more, a majority of the vocational curriculum is offered as credit by examination with Rutgers University. Unsurprisingly, AAHS aims to “develop each student’s knowledge and skills, which empowers them to be successful in both college, career, and life as global citizens.”
2)
- Location: Scotch Plains
- Enrollment: 300
- Student-to-teacher ratio: 17:1
- Average Teacher Experience: 9.8听测别补谤蝉
The Academy for Information Technology takes pride in its small size, culturally diverse population, and the critical thinking and intellectual curiosity of its students. AIT challenges its students to evaluate real-world issues and create solutions through the application of proficiencies acquired in their business and technology courses. What’s more, AIT encourages students to be socially- and self-aware, developing their communication skills in addition to promoting technical achievements.
3)
- Location: Hackensack
- Enrollment: 1,115
- Student-to-teacher ratio: 12:1
- Average Teacher Experience:聽17.2 years
Bergen County Academies (BCA) offers seven specialized programs: mathematics and science, engineering and design, medical science, business and finance, culinary arts and hospitality administration, visual and performing arts, and technology and computer science. The program of study is college preparatory with a career focus that includes a strong core curriculum as well as academy-specific courses and electives. All academic courses are taught at the honors, IB, or AP level with some taught above the AP level. BCA has been named one of the top public high schools in the country (not just in NJ).
4)
- Location: Hackensack
- 贰苍谤辞濒濒尘别苍迟:听673
- Student-to-teacher ratio: 10:1
- Average Teacher Experience:聽15 years
This high school has an honors program with nine technical concentrations: Aerospace Engineering, Automotive Engineering and Design, Commercial Art and Graphic Design, Computer Science, Culinology, Digital Media Arts, Fashion Design and Merchandising, Law and Justice, and Strategic Asset Management. Billing itself as “a model of excellence and reform in the 21st century,” BCTHS-Teterboro is located just 10 miles from NYC. The school evaluates applicants’ grades, standardized test scores, recommendations, and math/writing assessments.
5)
- Location: Freehold
- Enrollment: 319
- Student-to-teacher ratio: 12:1
- Average Teacher Experience:聽11.3 years
This International Baccalaureate (IB) program integrates life science, technology, and engineering into its rigorous curriculum. BHS aims to inspire students toward open-minded participation in the global community and prepare them for higher education and leadership. In addition to the core curriculum, students are offered electives ranging from Advanced Experimental Design to AP Physics C to Creative Writing to Public Speaking.
6)
- 尝辞肠补迟颈辞苍:听Chatham
- 贰苍谤辞濒濒尘别苍迟:听1,205
- Student-to-teacher ratio: 11:1
- Average Teacher Experience: 12.9 years
Chatham HS’s mission and vision statements hit all the classic notes — meeting the “social, emotional, and special interest needs of each student” as well as providing a “supportive and safe school atmosphere” of “mutual respect, understanding, and compassion.” Unsurprisingly for a district in which only 2.1% of students are economically disadvantaged, CHS offers 29 AP courses.
7)
- Location: Jersey City
- 贰苍谤辞濒濒尘别苍迟:听698
- Student-to-teacher ratio: 15:1
- Average Teacher Experience:聽14.4 years
McNair Academic High School is a public college preparatory school that aims to foster intellectual excellence, personal development, and civic responsibility. Interestingly, all courses offered at McNair Academic High School are either honors level or Advanced Placement. What’s more, McNair’s JROTC Cougar Battalion has earned “Honor Unit with Distinction” status, which allows cadets to be directly nominated to the nation’s military academies. McNair also fields 24 varsity teams — including e-Sports.
8)
- Location: Edison
- Enrollment: 171
- Student-to-teacher ratio: 16:1
- Average Teacher Experience:聽16.2 years
Edison Academy Magnet School (EAMS) is one of five campuses that make up Middlesex County Magnet Schools. To get into Edison, applicants go through a selective admissions process that includes tests in mathematics, reading, and writing. Phase two of the application process requires a teacher letter of recommendation and an interview. If your student is excited about engineering, this small learning community will prepare them to be college-ready, career-ready, and life-ready. It’s sure to be challenging, but what would you expect from one of the best public high schools in NJ?
9)
- Location: Elizabeth
- 贰苍谤辞濒濒尘别苍迟:听1,278
- Student-to-teacher ratio: 19:1
- Average Teacher Experience: 12.7 years
The mission and vision of EHS swing from the grandiose to the banal. Their mission is no less than to be “the best in the world at preparing students for success at the nation’s most competitive colleges and universities.” On the other hand, their vision is decidedly amorphous — to “provide rich and highly relevant learning experiences inspiring every student to think, learn, achieve, and to care.” In any case, EHS’s curriculum includes AP classes and vocational programs as well as extracurricular activities in athletics, performing arts, and leadership organizations.
10)
- 尝辞肠补迟颈辞苍:听Glen Ridge
- 贰苍谤辞濒濒尘别苍迟:听807
- Student-to-teacher ratio: 12:1
- Average Teacher Experience: 15 years
GRHS values its tight-knit community, which helps it “maximize the potential of each individual student” They also highlight their “atmosphere respectful of individual and cultural differences” and hope that “students can advance their post-secondary education, contribute socially, and compete productively in an ever-changing, increasingly technological global society.” Glen Ridge also offers dual enrollment opportunities through Seton Hall University, Bergen Community College, and the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
11)
- Location: Lincroft
- Enrollment: 282
- Student-to-teacher ratio: 12:1
- Average Teacher Experience:聽13.9 years
High Technology High School (HTHS) is a specialized career academy located on the campus of Brookdale Community College. Partnerships with the college HTHS students unique educational opportunities. Collaborative learning is practiced in all classrooms, and students are required to demonstrate their knowledge in a variety of ways for all types of audiences.
12)
- 尝辞肠补迟颈辞苍:听Livingston
- 贰苍谤辞濒濒尘别苍迟:听2,079
- Student-to-teacher ratio: 11:1
- Average Teacher Experience: 10.4 years
This large, 4-year comprehensive school has the motto: 鈥淓mpowering All to Learn, Create, Contribute and Grow.鈥� In addition to its stellar academics, Livingston looks out for the mental health of its students. Their curriculum ensures the safety and well-being of all students by building their skills in managing decision-making, thinking and acting responsibly, and considering choices for their lives.
13)
- 尝辞肠补迟颈辞苍:听Highlands
- 贰苍谤辞濒濒尘别苍迟:听272
- Student-to-teacher ratio: 10:1
- Average Teacher Experience: 18 years
This high school includes a core specialization in marine science, including marine biology and biological oceanography as well as marine technology. The campus, which is adjacent to the Sandy Hook lighthouse, includes a 65-foot research vessel — the “Blue Sea” — which serves as a floating laboratory for all grade levels.
14)
- 尝辞肠补迟颈辞苍:听Millburn
- 贰苍谤辞濒濒尘别苍迟:听1,380
- Student-to-teacher ratio: 10:1
- Average Teacher Experience: 13.7 years
Millburn High School emphasizes what it calls the “the 5 C’s”: Critical thinking, Creativity, Collaboration, Connections, and Communication. Like most of the schools on this list, it is committed to the pursuit of excellence and strives to educate students to be successful and engaged citizens of an ever-changing world. Interestingly, Millburn offers students a choice of nearly one hundred clubs.
15)
- Location: Neptune
- 贰苍谤辞濒濒尘别苍迟:听299
- Student-to-teacher ratio: 11:7
- Average Teacher Experience: 11.7 years
According to their website, this school “prepares and motivates students to pursue further education towards a career in the medical sciences through a rigorous specialized curriculum and community-based partnerships.” Interestingly, AAHS has articulation agreements with Rutgers University School of Health Professions as well as dual enrollment agreements with Rowan University and Georgian Court University. In their senior year, students get the chance to participate in an eight-week mentorship program working alongside professional healthcare providers.
16)
- 尝辞肠补迟颈辞苍:听South Orange
- 贰苍谤辞濒濒尘别苍迟:听166
- Student-to-teacher ratio: 11:1
- Average Teacher Experience: 2.2 years
Founded in 2018, the STEM Innovation Academy of the Oranges is a 4-year, joint collaborative between The City of Orange, the Orange Public Schools, the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), The College of New Jersey, and Montclair State University. This school aims to provide students with “a high school to college to career continuum that helps them understand the direct links between what they are learning today and the worlds of college and work.” Though it’s a new school, this high school already has what it takes to be one of the best public high schools in NJ.
17)
- 尝辞肠补迟颈辞苍:听Scotch Plains
- Enrollment: 307
- Student-to-teacher ratio: 16:1
- Average Teacher Experience:聽11.9 years
The Union County Magnet High School (UCMHS) is a twice-awarded National Blue Ribbon School that provides intensive study in science, mathematics, and engineering technology. What’s more, students become AutoDesk Certified Users in both AutoCAD and Fusion 360. If that weren’t enough, UCMHS has a makerspace in which students are able to work on open-ended projects through their classes or clubs. It includes equipment such as 3D printers, laser cutters, and a CNC mill and router.
18)
- 尝辞肠补迟颈辞苍:听Plainsboro
- 贰苍谤辞濒濒尘别苍迟:听1,488
- Student-to-teacher ratio: 11:1
- Average Teacher Experience: 14.3听测别补谤蝉
This high school has an impressive student-to-teacher ratio, considering its large size. With a district mission of 鈥渆mpowering all learners to thoughtfully contribute to a diverse and changing world.鈥� They go on to say that they “believe that every individual has intrinsic worth and that embracing diversity enriches & empowers our community.” When students aren’t basking in the glow of a diverse community, they can also participate in everything from the chess club to the philosophy club.
19)
- 尝辞肠补迟颈辞苍:听West Windsor
- 贰苍谤辞濒濒尘别苍迟:听1,627
- Student-to-teacher ratio: 12:2
- Average Teacher Experience: 14.9 years
Not to be confused with West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North, West Windsor Painsboro High School South shares the former’s focus on diversity and a love of learning. Similarly, High School South offers countless clubs and opportunities for students. I can only imagine that there is a bitter rivalry between the schools.
20)
- Location: Woodbridge
- Enrollment: 285
- Student-to-teacher ratio: 14:1
- Average Teacher Experience:聽11.9 years
Formerly called Woodbridge Academy for Allied Health, this school鈥檚 curriculum is centered around the biological sciences. WAMS allows its students to pursue dual-enrollment credit through Rutgers Allied Health and gain professional biomedical experience through . Every year, Woodbridge Academy students excel in Science League and HOSA future health professionals at regional, state and national levels. When they’re not studying, students have the opportunity to join a host of clubs, including Model UN, JSA, and Amnesty International. Admission to WAMS is granted based on grades, test scores, references, and an on-campus interview.
Final Thoughts
There you have it — the best public high schools in NJ. While it can be a tough call whether to attend a public or private school, there are many great options for both in the state of New Jersey. If you are looking for inspiration for moving through high school and preparing for college, here鈥檚 a great list of summer programs for high school students to consider. Here are a few more blogs to check out, while you鈥檙e at it:
