By Cheryl Conway
As schools throughout New Jersey take in the final weeks of summer before opening their doors to the 2016/2017 school year, some may take a bow to a job well done in making the country’s list as a top public high school.

In a recent ranking released by “Newsweek,” six public high schools in the coverage area of New View Media Group newspapers made the list for top 500 schools in the country.

In the top 500, there were 51 N.J. public high schools listed among the nation’s best in Newsweek’s 2016 list.

Out of nearly 16,000 public high schools in the Newsweek rankings,
Chatham High School ranked number 40; Madison High School ranked 115; Hanover Park High School in East Hanover ranked 365;
Livingston High School ranked 383; Whippany Park High School ranked 429; and Mt. Olive High School in Flanders, ranked 482.

The school rankings are the result of research conducted by “Newsweek,” along with Westat, an analytic firm. They used objective measurements to determine the annual ranking such as the ratio of full-time student enrollment/counselor; SAT/ACT scores; graduation rate; and college enrollment rate.

Congratulations to all of the schools who made the 2016 list for top public high schools in the nation.

In 2015, U.S. News and World Report recognized MOHS as a top
high school.

“The high ranking is quite an honor,” said Dr. Larrie Reynolds, superintendent
of schools. “It gives testimony to what I see every day: that the students at
Mt. Olive High School are some of the best prepared and most talented
students anywhere. The dedication and hard work of the principal, faculty, staff,
and, of course, students pay off in big ways. They deserve hearty
congratulations.”

The high ranking by Newsweek comes on the heels of standardized test data
recently released by the New Jersey Department of Education that shows high
levels of student performance, according to a Mt. Olive school district press release.

MOHS test scores were significantly higher on PARCC exams in 2016 compared to last year, and significantly higher than the state averages, according to the release.

For example in 11th grade, the final year in which students are tested, the 2016
MOHS average score was 92 percent higher than the state average in math; the
MOHS average score was 55 percent higher than the state average in language
Arts, according to the release.