The Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District is a regional public school district serving students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade from the suburban communities of Englishtown and Manalapan Township in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Manalapan-Englishtown Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District, adopted May 15, 2001. Accessed September 27, 2025. "Purpose: The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades Kindergarten through 8 in the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District. Composition: The Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Manalapan Township and Englishtown Borough."
As of the 2023–24 school year, the district, comprised of eight schools, had an enrollment of 4,653 students and 374.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.4:1.District information for Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024.
Students from the two communities in public school for ninth through twelfth grades attend either Manalapan High School (all students from Englishtown and some from Manalapan) or Freehold Township High School (which serves other Manalapan students), as part of the Freehold Regional High School District.FRHSD Attendance Boundaries: Which High School Will My Child Attend?, Freehold Regional High School District. Accessed September 27, 2025.Manalapan High School 2015 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed March 23, 2020. "Manalapan High School is a fully accredited comprehensive high school serving a community of nearly 39,000 residents living primarily in the Township of Manalapan and the Borough of Englishtown. One of six high schools in the Freehold Regional High School District, which opened in 1971, Manalapan High School has enjoyed an outstanding reputation throughout the state for its academic and extracurricular programs." The Freehold Regional High School District also serves students from Colts Neck Township, Farmingdale, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Howell Township and Marlboro Township.Annual Comprehensive Financial Report of the Freehold Regional High School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2024. Accessed September 27, 2025. "Geographically, the District is comprised of the Townships of Colts Neck, Freehold, Howell, Manalapan and Marlboro and the Boroughs of Englishtown, Farmingdale and Freehold." As of the 2023–24 school year, Manalapan High School had an enrollment of 1,740 students and 115.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 15.1:1School data for Manalapan High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024. and Freehold Township High School had an enrollment of 1,902 students and 125.8 classroom teachers, for a ratio of 15.1:1.School data for Freehold Township High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024.
History In June 1963, voters approved a referendum by a more than 10-1 margin changing from a consolidated to a regional district. The approval of the regionalization proposal meant that the district was eligible for increased state aid and would have property taxes allocated to the two municipalities based on the number of students enrolled from each community."Voters Shift School Type To Regional", Asbury Park Press, June 12, 1963. Accessed September 1, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Voters yesterday approved, 219-20, changing the Manalapan-Englishtown Elementary School District from a consolidated to regional district.... Earl B. Garrison, county superintendent of. schools, estimates the change will bring an increase of $33,236 in state aid the first year, with additional increases in later years. The present formula provides for equal tax contributions by Manalapan and Englishtown. Future taxes will be apportioned according to the number of pupils attending school from each municipality."
Covering an area of , the district had 1,140 students in 1963. Population growth in the two constituent municipalities has led to enrollment growing to 3,200 by the early 1980s to more than 5,000 in 2017. The student body is primarily from Manalapan Township, which accounts for about 95% of enrollment, with Englishtown students accounting for the remaining 5%.A History Lesson with a Future, Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District. Accessed September 1, 2021. "Manalapan and Englishtown formally joined as a regional elementary district in 1963. That year, the population of the district was 1140. According to a September 13, 2002 article in The Star-Ledger, for the past twenty years the Manalapan population soared within the thirty-one square miles. During that twenty years, Manalapan increased by more than seventy-five percent to approximately 34,000 residents. Growth is also a factor in the school district. In 1982, there were 3209 students. Today, thirty-five years later, almost 2000 additional students have been added to the roster. As of January 2017, the district had 5085 students: 4811 from Manalapan and 274 from Englishtown."
After the 1960 United States census, Manalapan Township accounted for 78% of the district's overall population, with 22% from Englishtown. The population in Englishtown increased from 1,143 in 1960 to 1,847 in 2010, an increase of more than 60%, while Manalapan Township grew almost tenfold, from 3,990 to 38,872, over that same period, so that the population ratio between Manalapan Township and Englishtown is nearly 20:1.New Jersey Population Trend: 1790 - 2010, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Accessed September 1, 2021.
The district had been classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "GH", the third-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.
Awards and recognition Clarks Mills School was one of nine schools in New Jersey honored in 2020 by the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program, which recognizes high student achievement.2020 National Blue Ribbon Schools All Public and Non-Public Schools, National Blue Ribbon Schools Program. Accessed September 27, 2020.Clark, Adam. "9 N.J. schools just won a huge national honor", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, September 24, 2020. Accessed September 27, 2020. "Nine New Jersey public schools have been awarded the national Blue Ribbon designation, one of the highest honors in education. The schools were recognized Thursday by the U.S. Department of Education for high student achievement."
Schools Schools in the district (with 2023–24 enrollment from the National Center for Education StatisticsSchool Data for the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024.) are:Our History, Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District. Accessed September 27, 2025.County School List L-M, Monmouth County, New Jersey. Accessed September 1, 2025.School Performance Reports for the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed September 1, 2025.New Jersey School Directory for the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed September 1, 2025. Preschool John I. Dawes Early Learning CenterJohn I. Dawes Early Learning Center, Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District. Accessed September 1, 2021. with 349 students in grades PreK–K Melissa Foy, principalAdministration, John I Dawes Early Learning Center. Accessed September 27, 2025. Elementary schools Clark Mills SchoolClark Mills School, Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District. Accessed September 1, 2021. with 478 students in grades 1–5 Jayme Orlando, principalAdministration, Clark Mills School. Accessed September 27, 2025. Lafayette Mills SchoolLafayette Mills School, Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District. Accessed September 1, 2021. with 427 students in grades 1–5 Gregory T. Duffy, principalAbout Us, Lafayette Mills School. Accessed September 27, 2025. Milford Brook SchoolMilford Brook School, Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District. Accessed September 1, 2021. with 537 students in grades K–5 Melissa Tice, principalAbout Us, Milford Brook School. Accessed September 27, 2025. Taylor Mills SchoolTaylor Mills School, Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District. Accessed September 1, 2021. with 532 students in grades K–5 Lia Camuto, principalAdministration, Taylor Mills School. Accessed September 27, 2025. Wemrock Brook SchoolWemrock Brook School, Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District. Accessed September 1, 2021. with 559 students in grades 1–5 Rebecca Seery, principalAdministration, Wemrock Brook School. Accessed September 27, 2025. Middle schools Pine Brook SchoolPine Brook School, Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District. Accessed September 1, 2021. with 596 students in grade 6 Julie Szustowicz, principalAdministration, Pine Brook School. Accessed September 27, 2025. Manalapan-Englishtown Middle SchoolManalapan-Englishtown Middle School, Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District. Accessed September 1, 2021. with 1,158 students in grades 7–8 Michael Fiorillo, principalPrincipal, Manalapan-Englishtown Middle School. Accessed September 27, 2025.
In the news Starting September 12, 2006, the approximately 1,400 students of Manalapan-Englishtown Middle School had to learn in the elementary and intermediate schools as the district's middle school building was not yet ready for use. Inspections had identified between 100 and 300 code violations, and the school could not be granted a certificate of occupancy. While the building was being completed, students attended school on the school's four-hour day schedule in cafeterias, gymnasiums, auditoriums, and empty classrooms in the elementary and intermediate schools."School's first day gets failing grade: Busing Problems Confuse Kids, Anger Parents", Asbury Park Press, September 13, 2006. As of September 25, 2006, students resumed a full day schedule at the Manalapan-Englishtown Middle School.District Homepage.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the district superintendent John Marciante abided by the New Jersey state government's policies in regards to the wearing of face masks in order to protect the wider community against the spread of the virus. On June 8, 2021, amidst rising summer temperatures, some parents became concerned that wearing masks would become a greater health concern than COVID. A group of such parents gathered during the board of education meeting in the evening of June 8, 2021, to protest, and persuaded the board of education to place Marciante on administrative leave through the end of the academic year, June 22. Immediately after, the board passed a motion to allow each individual parent to decide whether his or her child would attend school without a mask against government policies.N.J. superintendent put on leave for refusing to make masks optional for students.
Administration Core members of the district's administration are:District Administration, Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District. Accessed September 26, 2025.New Jersey School Directory for Monmouth County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 24, 2016. Nicole Santora, superintendent Veronica Wolf, business administrator and board secretary
Board of education