The Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science (MATES) is a comprehensive, selective magnet public high school with a focus on marine and environmental science that is part of the Ocean County Vocational School District. The school is located in the Manahawkin section of Stafford Township, in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey directly behind the buildings of the Southern Regional School District and a joint parking lot with Ocean County College's Southern Education Center. As a public school, students attend the school at no charge. Prospective students must complete the application process which includes an entrance exam. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 2005 and is accredited until January 2032.Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed December 21, 2024.
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 275 students and 22.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.5:1. There were 25 students (9.1% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 10 (3.6% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Marine Academy Of Technology And Environmental Science, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.
Students may be eligible to take college-level courses throughout their course of study.
Awards, recognition and rankings In 2012, MATES became one of 17 New Jersey schools to be named a 2012 National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the United States Department of Education.M.A.T.E.S Receives Blue Ribbon Status, Barnegat-Manahawkin Patch. Accessed January 27, 2013.
In its listing of "America's Best High Schools 2016", the school was ranked 84th out of 500 best high schools in the country; it was ranked 17th among all high schools in New Jersey.Staff. "America's Best High Schools 2016" , Newsweek. Accessed November 11, 2016. Schooldigger.com ranked the school as one of 16 schools tied for first out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (unchanged from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the language arts literacy (100.0%) and mathematics (100.0%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2010-2011, Schooldigger.com. Accessed February 22, 2012.
References
External links Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science
School Data for the Ocean County Vocational Technical School District, National Center for Education Statistics
See also Marine Academy of Science and Technology in Monmouth County, NJ