Cresskill High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Cresskill in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the Cresskill Public Schools. The infrastructure is shared with Cresskill Middle School, which serves Cresskill students in sixth through eighth grade.
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 489 students and 49.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.9:1. There were 18 students (3.7% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 4 (0.8% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Cresskill High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.
History Cresskill's students in grades nine to twelve had attended Tenafly High School until October 1962, with the opening of the initial wing of Cresskill's high school, constructed at a cost of $2.8 million (equivalent to $ million in ). Students already in the Tenafly district for grades 11 and 12 when the Cresskill school opened remained at Tenafly High School until graduation, which meant that the first Cresskill graduating class was the Class of 1965.Slocum, John W. "New Jersey; Bergen", The New York Times, September 3, 1962. Accessed July 22, 2011. "Cresskill will open the first wing of its $2,800,000 high school on Oct 1. Of the 495 pupils in grades seven through twelve, 280 junior and seniors will study in Tenafly High School until graduation."
In September 2021, Hurricane Ida caused millions of dollars in damages to the school facility. Students were put into a local Catholic school St. Therese until repairs at the high school were completed months later."21 N.J. schools closed due to Ida storm damage. 4 still haven’t reopened.", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, November 22, 2021. Accessed November 22, 2021. "Workers from a remediation company at Cresskill Middle/High School in September. Cleanup at the school is still underway nearly three months later."
Awards, recognition and rankings The school was the 18th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools," using a new ranking methodology.Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014. The school had been ranked 29th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 55th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed December 1, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed June 12, 2011. The school was ranked 15th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state."Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008. Schooldigger.com ranked the school 22nd out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (an increase of 90 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (97.1%) and language arts literacy (99.3%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).School Overview; Click on "Rankings" for 2003-11 HSPA results, Schooldigger.com. Accessed March 7, 2012.
In its listing of "America's Best High Schools 2016," the school was ranked 425th out of 500 best high schools in the country; it was ranked 47th among all high schools in New Jersey and 30th among the state's non-magnet schools.Staff. "America's Best High Schools 2016", Newsweek. Accessed November 11, 2016.
In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools," The Daily Beast ranked the school 361st in the nation among participating public high schools and 31st among schools in New Jersey.Streib, Lauren. "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast, May 6, 2013. Accessed May 8, 2013. The school was ranked 166th in the nation and tenth in New Jersey on the list of "America's Best High Schools 2012" prepared by The Daily Beast / Newsweek, with rankings based primarily on graduation rate, matriculation rate for college and number of Advanced Placement / International Baccalaureate courses taken per student, with lesser factors based on average scores on the SAT / ACT, average AP/IB scores and the number of AP/IB courses available to students.Staff. "America's Best High Schools 2012", The Daily Beast / Newsweek, May 20, 2012. Accessed May 22, 2012.
In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 7th in New Jersey and 369th nationwide.Mathews, Jay. "The High School Challenge 2011: Cresskill High School" , The Washington Post. Accessed July 22, 2011.
The school was ranked 209th in the 2010 Newsweek magazine ranking of the top 15,000 high schools in the United States, after being ranked 303rd in 2009. It was the sixth-ranked school in New Jersey, with 2.586 AP tests taken in 2008 per graduating senior and 52% of all graduating seniors passing at least one AP exam; The school was ranked 256th nationwide in 2008.Staff. "The Top of the Class: The complete list of the 1,500 top U.S. high schools", Newsweek, June 8, 2009. Accessed June 10, 2009. In Newsweek's 2007 ranking of the country's top high schools, Cresskill High School was listed in 209th place, the fifth-highest ranked school in New Jersey; the school had been ranked 202nd in the 2006 survey and in 93rd in 2005."The Top of the Class: The complete list of the 1,200 top U.S. schools" , Newsweek, May 22, 2007. Accessed May 24, 2007.
Athletics The Cresskill High School CougarsCresskill High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. participate in the Patriot Division of the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference, which is comprised of small-enrollment schools in Bergen, Hudson County, Morris County and Passaic County counties, and was created following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).Mattura, Greg. "Small-school NJIC may debut its own league championship", The Record, January 9, 2017.Accessed August 30, 2020. "The small-school North Jersey Interscholastic Conference may debut its own boys basketball tournament this season, one season after introducing its girls hoops championship. The NJIC is comprised of schools from Bergen, Passaic and Hudson counties and the event offered to the 36 boys teams would serve as an alternative to likely competing against larger programs in a county tournament."Member Schools, North Jersey Interscholastic Conference. Accessed August 30, 2020.League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. Prior to realignment that took effect in the fall of 2010, Cresskill was a member of the Bergen County Scholastic League (BCSL) in the Olympic Division.New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association League Memberships – 2009-2010, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, backed up by the Internet Archive as of July 24, 2011. Accessed October 8, 2014. With 397 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group I for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 75 to 476 students in that grade range.NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020. The school's co-op with Emerson Junior-Senior High School was classified by the NJSIAA as Group II North for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 484 to 683 students.NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
The school participates in a joint ice hockey team with Tenafly High School as the host school / lead agency. The co-op program operates under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year.NJSIAA Winter Cooperative Sports Programs, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 1, 2020.
The girls volleyball team won the Group I state championship in 1982 (defeating North Arlington High School in the final match of the tournament), 2002 (vs. Secaucus High School) and 2003 (vs. North Arlington).NJSIAA Girls Volleyball Group Champions, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023. The 1982 team defeated North Arlington in two games (15–4, 15–12) in the playoff championship."Paramus Catholic breezes to crown", The Record, November 21, 1982. Accessed January 2, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Also winning titles were Paramus, Old Tappan, Cresskill and Tenafly.... Cresskill downed North Arlington easily in the first game, 15-4, but the lead changed hands four times before the Cougars edged the Vikings, 15-12, in the second game to win the Group 1, Section 1 title." The team won the 2002 Group I championship, sweeping Secaucus High School (15–10, 15–7) in the final match.2002 Girls Volleyball - Group I, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed April 28, 2007. The 2003 team repeated the title, defeating North Arlington High School in the final.2003 Girls Volleyball - Group I, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed April 28, 2007.