Ho-Ho-Kus School District is a community public school district located in Ho-Ho-Kus, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, that serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.Ho-Ho-Kus Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Ho-Ho-Kus School District, revised November 5, 2019. Accessed May 16, 2026. "Purpose: The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades Pre-Kindergarten through 12 in the Ho-Ho-Kus School district. Composition The Ho-Ho-Kus School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of the Borough of Ho-Ho-Kus."School Performance Reports for the Ho-Ho-Kus School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed September 1, 2025.New Jersey School Directory for the Ho-Ho-Kus School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
As of the 2024–25 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 584 students and 47.9 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.2:1.District information for Ho-Ho-Kus School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.
Public school students in Ho-Ho-Kus for ninth through twelfth grades attend Northern Highlands Regional High School, which also serves students from Allendale, Upper Saddle River and some of Saddle River's students (who have the option of attending either Northern Highlands or Ramsey High School, as part of sending/receiving relationships with the two districts).Staff. "Tuition to rise $219 under new contract", Town Journal, November 19, 2009. Accessed November 30, 2014. "With no high school in the borough, Saddle River students have the option of enrolling in either Ramsey High School or Northern Highlands."Northern Highlands Regional High School 2015 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed May 31, 2016. "A four-year public high school, Northern Highlands strives to address the needs of all of its students who come from four towns in northern Bergen County: Allendale, Upper Saddle River, Ho-Ho-Kus, and Saddle River." In 2016, the Ho-Ho-Kus and Northern Highlands districts reached an agreement to extend the send / receive agreement through 2026 under a fixed-price contract by which Ho-Ho-Kus would pay $3.6 million for the 2016-17 school year, escalating by 2% a year to $4.3 million in 2025-26, regardless of the number of students from the borough sent to the high school.Lepore, Stephen. "10-year school sending agreement is approved", The Town Journal, October 20, 2016. May 16, 2026, via Newspapers.com. "Northern Highlands Regional High School and the Borough of Ho-Ho-Kus announced a new 10-year send/receive agreement through 2026 last week.... The total tuition to be paid by Ho-Ho-Kus for the 2016 to 2017 school year is $3,580,675. The fee increases by approximately 2 percent per year to $4,279,238 in the 2025 to 2026 school year."
As of the 2024–25 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 1,257 students and 109.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.5:1.School data for Northern Highlands Regional High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.
History The district's original school building was constructed in 1936.District Information , Ho-Ho-Kus School District. Accessed August 22, 2011. Over the years, several additions have been made to the school. The most recent construction added of space, primarily in the middle school wing, but the addition included the new cafeteria, two science rooms, and administrative offices. There was also a renovation of the existing school building.
A 1973 plan to have students from Ho-Ho-Kus attend Midland Park High School in Midland Park, New Jersey as part of a combined regional district never came to fruition, despite official approval and encouragement by the New Jersey Board of Education. Ridgewood had been hosting students in grades 9 to 12 from Ho-Ho-Kus at Ridgewood High School for 75 years as part of a sending/receiving relationship, until the Ridgewood board of education ended the arrangement in 1973 due to overcrowding and a proposed regionalization agreement between Ho-Ho-Kus and Ridgewood was rejected by voters from both communities in 1969. The state had proposed the formation of a regional agreement between Ho-Ho-Kus and Midland Park, though the choices of funding based on either property values or on the number of students would mean that one borough would shoulder higher costs than the other, regardless of which method was selected, given the sharp differences in demographics between the two communities.Staff. "High-School Merger in Doubt", The New York Times, April 29, 1973. Accessed August 22, 2011.
The small size of Midland Park High School and the lack of electives led to efforts in the mid-1990s to find another high school to serve students from the borough.Cheslow, Jerry. "If You're Thinking of Living In/Ho-Ho-Kus; A Borough That Guards Its Traditions", The New York Times, February 5, 1995. Accessed August 22, 2011. "The district serves Kindergarten through eighth grades. High school students are sent to nearby Midland Park, an arrangement Mayor Sayers terms 'unsatisfactory' because, he says, Midland Park High School is small and offers few electives. The Ho-Ho-Kus Board of Education is discussing possible alternatives." Since then, high school students from Ho-Ho-Kus have been attending Northern Highlands Regional High School.Peterson, Iver. "Taxes May Fuse School Districts; Rising Expenses Test New Jerseyans' Love of Local Control", The New York Times, April 29, 1994. Accessed August 22, 2011. "The proposed district would send Ho-Ho-Kus ninth graders to Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale. Northern Highlands High is nationally known for quality, but it is operating at just over half capacity and desperately seeking ties to other districts. Now, Ho-Ho-Kus children go to Midland Park High School after eighth grade." The current agreement between Ho-Ho-Kus and Northern Highlands runs through 2018.Crusco, Jennifer. "Trustees approve new 10-year contract with Highlands", The Villadom Times, March 4, 2009. Accessed September 7, 2011. "The Ho-Ho-Kus Board of Education last week signed a new send/receive contract with Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale, which covers 2008 (retroactively) through 2018.... Ho-Ho-Kus has been sending its high school age students to Northern Highlands since the 1990s, when the district severed its send/receive relationship with Midland Park High School."
In 2012, school elections were shifted from April to the November general election as part of an effort to reduce the costs of a standalone April vote.Kleimann, Karen; Clyde, John. "Districts moving school elections", Town Journal, February 15, 2012. Accessed November 30, 2014. "The Allendale, Ho-Ho-Kus, Northern Highlands, Saddle River and Upper Saddle River boards of education voted to move their respective school elections to November for at least the next four annual elections. The five districts, along with a majority of school boards across the state, are moving their elections from April to November in hopes of sparing taxpayers the expense of a separate election, according to the New Jersey School Boards Association."
The district had been classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "J", the highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 1, 2024.
In September 2024, the district dedicated Duffield Hall, a new gymnasium and wellness center funded by David Duffield, a technology entrepreneur who was a 1954 district graduate whose mother taught at the school.Duffield Hall, Ho-Ho-Kus School District. Accessed May 16, 2026. "On Monday, December 19, 2022, Ho-Ho-Kus Board of Education announced the receipt of a $10 million gift from Dave and Cheryl Duffield for the construction of Duffield Hall, a new gymnasium and wellness center, at the Ho-Ho-Kus Public School.... The project will involve the demolition of the current gymnasium area and construction of a new, state-of-the-art gymnasium and wellness center that will include flexible classroom space.... Dave Duffield is a 1954 graduate of the Ho-Ho-Kus Public School, where his mother, Mary Duffield, was a beloved fourth-grade teacher for decades..Stoltz, Marsha A. "Ho-Ho-Kus school dedicates new gymnasium", The Record, September 13, 2024. Accessed May 16, 2026.
Awards and recognition During the 1989-90 school year, Ho-Ho-Kus Public School was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education,Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982-1983 through 1999-2002 (PDF), United States Department of Education. Accessed May 11, 2006 the highest award an American school can receive."CIBA cited as one of the best by Education Department", Journal Inquirer, November 16, 2006. "The Blue Ribbon award is given only to schools that reach the top 10 percent of their state's testing scores over several years or show significant gains in student achievement. It is considered the highest honor a school can achieve.""Viers Mill School Wins Blue Ribbon; School Scored High on Statewide Test", The Washington Post. September 29, 2005 "For their accomplishments, all three schools this month earned the status of Blue Ribbon School, the highest honor the U.S. Education Department can bestow upon a school."
In 2002, John Smith of the Ho-Ho-Kus Public School was recognized with the History of Distinguished Leadership Award by the New Jersey Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.Awards History , New Jersey Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. Accessed January 4, 2007.
School Ho-Ho-Kus Public School had an enrollment of 573 students in grades PreK–8 as of the 2024–25 school year.School Data for the Ho-Ho-Kus School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026. Martha Walsh, principal
Administration Core members of the district's administration are:Staff Directory, Ho-Ho-Kus School District. Accessed May 16, 2026.New Jersey School Directory for Bergen County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024. Linda Bovino, superintendent Kathleen Marano, interim business administrator / board secretaryBusiness Office, Ho-Ho-Kus School District. Accessed May 16, 2026.
Board of education