John P. Stevens High School (abbr. JP or JPS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from the northern end of Edison, in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is one of two high schools in the Edison Township Public Schools District, the other being Edison High School. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1969 and is accredited through July 2029.John P. Stevens High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed December 20, 2024.
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,687 students and 167.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 16.0:1. There were 369 students (13.7% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 62 (2.3% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for John P. Stevens High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026. Based on 2021-22 data from the New Jersey Department of Education, it was the seventh-largest high school in the state and one of 29 schools with more than 2,000 students.Kausch, Katie. "N.J.’s biggest high school has 3,350 students. See how your school compares.", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, August 31, 2023. Accessed August 31, 2023. "Another 28 New Jersey schools have at least 2,000 students, according to 2021-2022 enrollment data released by the state Department of Education.... 7. John P. Stevens High School in Edison Number of students: 2,647"
History John P. Stevens High School was named after New Jersey textile giant John Peters Stevens Jr., who had served nearly two decades on the district's board of education, from 1940 to 1959, and was involved in an extensive range of civic, educational and philanthropic activities. Stevens served as President of J.P. Stevens & Co., a textile firm founded in 1813 that was one of the nation's largest and is now part of WestPoint Home. To avoid being confused with a junior high school, the postnominal "Jr." was omitted from the school's name.Stochel Jr., Walter. "Who Was John P. Stevens Jr,& Why is The High School Named For Him?", Metuchen-Edison Historical Society. Accessed March 8, 2018. "At the Board of Education meeting on January 14, 1964, the Board received a letter from the contractor building the new high school on Grove Ave. asking what the name of the school will be, so a sign could be made for the building. Board member, Mr. Schoder, made a motion to name the high school, 'John P. Stevens High School'.... John P. Stevens Jr. was a member of the Raritan Township/Edison Township Board of Education from 1940 to 1959, and was President of the Board from 1943 to 1958.... It was also during this time period that John P. Stevens Jr. was President of John P. Stevens & Co. the largest textile manufacturer in the US, and one of the oldest companies in America."Staff. "John P. Stevens Jr., 79; Headed Textile Concern And Was Civic Leader", The New York Times, November 16, 1976. Accessed March 8, 2018. "John Stevens's civic and philanthropic activities included the presidency of the Board of Education in Edison from 1942 to 1959, the general chairmanship of the 1944 Greater New York appeal of the Red Cross and the chairmanship of the trustees of the Phillips Academy from 1966 to 1968.""Edison's New High School to Be Named for John P. Stevens", The Daily Home News, January 15, 1964. Accessed January 18, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "The new senior high school on Grove Avenue due to open in September will be called the "John P. Stevens High School" the name of a man who served 19 years as president of the township Board of Education.... Stevens retired in 1962 from the J. P. Stevens Co., Inc., a New York City textile firm, after holding the positions of either company president or chairman of the company's board of directors since 1923.... School Supt. Joseph M. Ruggieri reported that tentative projected enrollment figures for the 1964-65 school year showed the new senior high school with 869 students, mostly from the Oak Tree, Clara Barton and Menlo Park sections and part of the Bonhamtown section." Constructed at a cost of $2.7 million (equivalent to $ million in ), the new high school opened in September 1964 with 33 classrooms designed for an enrollment of 1,000, though delays in construction meant that the auditorium and other special classrooms weren't complete."12,600 to Answer Edison School Bell", Courier News, September 2, 1964. Accessed January 18, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Key staff appointments this year include the assignment of Kenneth W. Diffenderfer to replace Dr. Myra Biggs as principal of the Lincoln Schools and Harold R. Alley as principal of the new $2.7 million John P. Stevens High School on Grove Ave. The Board of Education in the last decade has tried to eliminate double sessions first in the elementary levels and then in the junior and senior high schools. Only Edison High School students faced double sessions last year. The new high school will provide necessary classrooms for single sessions by accommodating more than 1,000 students. All 33 regular classrooms in the school will be ready for occupancy but construction is still not completed. A delay in obtaining steel earlier this year has caused a lag in completion of special rooms, the 800-seat auditorium and some shops."
Located in the Oak Tree neighborhood of the township, it rapidly expanded as the northern part of Edison grew, including residents from the Stephenville and New Dover communities. Originally, JPS was a senior high school, serving grades 10 through 12. In 1984, the Edison School District changed the junior high schools into middle schools, adding 9th grade into JPS.
Students The population of J.P. Stevens High School enters primarily from Woodrow Wilson Middle School and John Adams Middle School.
In the 2009–10 school year, on the Language Arts section of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA), 53.1% of students scored proficient and 39.8% scored advanced. On the Math section of the test, 34.5% scored proficient and 54.1% scored advanced. The average SAT score was 1741 out of 2400. The Advanced Placement (AP) participation rate is 37.3%. The average attendance rate is 96.8%. The school had a suspension rate of 10%. 98.9% of JPS seniors graduated. 80% of the graduating seniors planned to go on to four-year colleges and another 16.9% of the graduating seniors expected to go on to two-year colleges., New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed August 16, 2011.
Faculty The faculty population of J.P. Stevens High School in 2022 is around 185 teachers, 5 administrators, 10 counselors, 2 college counselors, PATH Counselors, and a special services team. The student to faculty ratio is 13 to 1. The average faculty member gets paid $55,035 a year while the state average was $52,563.NJ Public School Teachers for J.P. Stevens High School, Asbury Park Press. Accessed August 18, 2012.
Curriculum For the 2021–22 school year, the school offered 32 AP courses, with 59.8% of students taking at least one AP exam (more than double the statewide average of 28.4%), and 79.4% of participants receiving a passing AP score (of 3 or above). The school also offers 54 student clubs, 25 varsity sports, a choir, band, and orchestra. The school has a 97% graduation rate with 95% of students enrolling in college (80% in 4-year programs and 15% in 2-year programs).School Performance Reports for John P. Stevens High School, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed July 1, 2025.
J.P. Stevens students are required to take four years of English, three (formerly four) years of math, three years of science, three years of history (two of U.S. and one of world) and at least two years of a foreign language (including Latin, French, Spanish, and starting the 2008–09 school year, Hindi). In 2012, Mandarin and Italian were also added. In addition, health and physical education classes are required for every year in which a student attends J.P. Stevens. Starting with the Class of 2008, one year of "21st Century Life and Economics/ Financial Literacy" such as Foods or Technology Fundamentals is required as well as another year of the "Visual Performing Arts" such Chorus, Band or Visual Arts. J.P. Stevens has an Honors as well as a college preparatory track that features several Advanced Placement courses.
Awards, recognition and rankings In Newsweeks listing of "America's Best High Schools 2016", the school was ranked 127th of the 500 best high schools in the country; it was ranked 23rd among all high schools in New Jersey and tenth 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 294th in the nation among participating public high schools and 23rd among schools in New Jersey. in fact, famous singer/songwriter Andrew Fromm graduated from this school in 1993.Streib, Lauren. "America's Best High Schools" , The Daily Beast, May 6, 2013. Accessed May 8, 2013.
In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 33rd in New Jersey and 1,151st nationwide.Mathews, Jay. "The High School Challenge 2011: J.P. Stevens High School" , The Washington Post, Accessed August 15, 2011.
According to U.S. News & World Report, J.P. Stevens High School was ranked 36 in New Jersey in 2012, and has a national rank of 781."Best High Schools 2012: J.P. Stevens High School", U.S. News & World Report. Accessed August 18, 2012. In 2013, JP Steven's state ranking rose to 32 and its national ranking rose to 467. In the 2025–26 ranking by U.S. News & World Report, J.P. Stevens High School was listed among the top 40% of high schools nationally.
The school was the 30th-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 80th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 65th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 7, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 52nd in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed April 8, 2011. The school was ranked 82nd 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 tied for 97th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (an increase of 7 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (88.3%) and language arts literacy (95.1%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA)., Schooldigger.com. Accessed March 3, 2012.
The graduating class of 2013 had 31 National Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalists and 62 Commended Students.