The Northern Valley Regional High School District is a comprehensive regional public high school district composed of two public high schools serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Closter, Demarest, Harrington Park, Haworth, Northvale, Norwood and Old Tappan, suburban communities in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Northern Valley Regional High School District 2016 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed October 30, 2017. "Our long standing successful and cost efficient Pre-K-12 consortium remains an exemplar model of shared services including seven local Pre-K-8 districts that send their students to the regional high schools: Closter, Demarest, Harrington Park, Haworth, Northvale, Norwood and Old Tappan."Our Communities, Northern Valley Regional High School District. Accessed February 20, 2025. "The seven towns that make up the Northern Valley Regional High School District-Closter, Demarest, Harrington Park, Haworth, Northvale, Norwood, and Old Tappan- are situated in the northeast corner of Bergen County, New Jersey.... Each town has its own K-8 school system which feeds into the Regional High School District." Students from Rockleigh attend the district as part of a sending/receiving relationship.Board of Education, Borough of Rockleigh. Accessed February 20, 2025.Rizzo, Olivia. "These are N.J.'s 30 tiniest towns. (Fewer than 1,000 people!)", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, December 1, 2018. Accessed February 20, 2025. "Does it have a local school district: No, students from Rockleigh attend Northvale Public School District and Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan."

As of the 2023–24 school year, the district, comprised of three schools, had an enrollment of 2,159 students and 236.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.1:1.District information for Northern Valley Regional High School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024.

The communities in the district, made up of upper-middle income families, consistently support the school budget, which provides for varied, in-depth college preparatory and career-oriented curricula. Courses range from the remedial to Advanced Placement.

The district participates in special education programs offered by Region III, one of seven such regional programs in Bergen County. Region III coordinates and develops special education programs for the 1,000 students with learning disabilities in the region, which includes the Northern Valley District, as well as those for the Alpine, Closter, Demarest, Harrington Park, Haworth, Northvale, Norwood and Old Tappan districts.Region III Overview, Northern Valley Regional High School District. Accessed December 6, 2019. "Responding to this the Bergen County Superintendents Council almost 25 years ago, divided and reorganized the county into seven regions for special education. Bergen County Region III is comprised of nine participating districts: Alpine, Closter, Demarest, Harrington Park, Haworth, Northern Valley Regional High School District, Northvale, Norwood, and Old Tappan."

History The district's first high school facility opened in Demarest in September 1955, before which students from the constituent municipalities attended Closter High School, Dumont High School or Tenafly High School.Beuscher, Kristin. "Back in Time: School Days at Demarest", Northern Valley Press, June 17, 2019. Accessed March 29, 2022. "Northern Valley Demarest (NVD) was still new at the time, having opened in September of 1955 in response to the post-war Baby Boom that had seen the region’s population rise drastically. Before this, students from the seven Northern Valley towns attended high school in Closter (that building became Village Middle School after 1955), Dumont, or Tenafly."

After voters rejected a June 1959 referendum that would have raised $3.25 million for construction of the district's second high school in Old Tappan, voters narrowly approved a trimmed-down version of the plan in January 1960 that reduced the cost to $2.9 million (equivalent to $ million in ). "Which Realities Do Voters Respond To?", The Record, January 21, 1960. Accessed March 29, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Last June 30 the Northern Valley Regional High School Board of Education submitted a proposal to build a second school in Old Tappan to relieve the split-session overcrowding at the existent one in Demarest The cost was to be $3.25 million. The proposal was solidly defeated. This past Tuesday a proposal essentially the same, except that the price has been shaved to $2,869,000, carried by the slender margin of 61 votes."

The Old Tappan school was opened with 740 students between the 9th and 11th grades in March 1962 to address overcrowding in the district's original school at Demarest that had been holding split sessions before the new school opened."Regional High School Opens Without A Hitch; Duff Says Students Have No Trouble Adjusting To Old Tappan Facilities", The Record, March 21, 1962. Accessed March 29, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "'It was not quite like a September opening because then at least three classes are familiar with the building.' Principal Donald T. Duff said yesterday after the second Northern Valley Regional High School opened.... With the opening of the new school on Central Avenue, the Demarest building resumed full-day sessions for the first time since 1958. There are 742 students at the new school." At its establishment, Northern Valley Old Tappan served students from Harrington Park, Northvale, Norwood and Old Tappan, as well as those from the northern portion of Closter.Slocum, John W. "New Jersey; Bergen, The New York Times, September 3, 1962. Accessed March 29, 2022. "In the Northern Valley district, there will be a referendum on Oct. 18 on a $1,875,000 bond issue for extensive alterations and additions to the school in Demarest. This was opened in September, 1955 to serve seven municipalities. The rapid growth of the area forced the district to open another school, opened last March. This building, in Old Tappan, serves that borough, Northvale, Norwood, Harrington Park and the northern half of Closter."

The district had been classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "I", the second-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, recognition and rankings The district's high schools at Demarest and Old Tappan were respectively the 42nd and 55th-ranked public high schools 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.Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed February 20, 2025.

In its "2025 Best School Districts in New Jersey", Niche ranked the Northern Valley Regional High School District as the best school district in the state."2025 Best School Districts in New Jersey", Niche. Accessed February 20, 2025.

Extracurricular activities The school faculty support and encourage student participation in the variety of sports, social and academic club activities. In each school, there are over 23 sports, which include participation at the freshman, junior varsity, and varsity level (46 teams) in the Big North Conference and Super Football Conference, as well as 60 co-curricular activities.

Radio station The Northern Valley Regional High School district has its own internet radio station, WNVW. The radio station can be accessed through the school's main website, and plays a variety of music in addition to sports, news, and occasional school announcements.WNVW, Northern Valley Regional High School District. Accessed September 14, 2014.

Schools Schools in the district (with 2023–24 enrollment data from the National Center for Education StatisticsSchool Data for the Northern Valley Regional High School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024.) are:School Performance Reports for the Northern Valley Regional High School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed September 1, 2025.New Jersey School Directory for the Northern Valley Regional High School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024. Northern Valley Regional High School at DemarestNorthern Valley Regional High School at Demarest, Northern Valley Regional High School District. Accessed February 20, 2025. served 1,022 students from Closter, Demarest and Haworth.Register Today, Northern Valley Regional High School District. Accessed February 20, 2025. "Northern Valley Regional High School District serves residents of the following New Jersey towns for students in grades 9 - 12: Northern Valley Demarest High School: Demarest, Closter and Haworth; Northern Valley Old Tappan High School: Old Tappan, Harrington Park, Norwood and Northvale."Cheslow, Jerry. "If You're Thinking of Living In / Demarest, N.J.; Small Town, Large Sense of History", The New York Times, April 4, 1999. Accessed July 29, 2011. "Following eighth grade, students go on to Northern Valley Regional High School in Demarest, which the borough shares with Haworth and neighboring Closter." Bruce Sabatini, principalContact Us, Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest. Accessed February 20, 2025. Northern Valley Regional High School at Old TappanNorthern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan, Northern Valley Regional High School District. Accessed February 20, 2025. served 1,068 students from Harrington Park, Northvale, Norwood, Old Tappan and Rockleigh. Frank Scarafile, interim principalContact Us, Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan. Accessed February 20, 2025. Northern Valley CentralNorthern Valley Central Regional Programs, Northern Valley Regional High School District. Accessed February 20, 2025. served 204 students in PreK to 18 years of age. The school, located in Norwood, provides a permanent home for special needs programs offered through the district.Staff. "$5.9M School Purchase Gives District’s Valley Program A Home", Northern Valley Press, October 18, 2019. Accessed December 6, 2019. "About 150 students, teachers, parents and public officials gathered Oct. 17 in Norwood to celebrate the acquisition of a school building for the Valley Program—the first home for a program begun in 1994 to address the needs of children on the Autism Spectrum from pre-K through age 18.... 'It is a dream come true,' he said to growing applause from students and supporters filling seats outside the newly acquired school—now named Northern Valley Central."

Both of the high schools in the district are accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and by the New Jersey Department of Education.

Administration Core members of the district's administration are:Board of Education Office Directory, Northern Valley Regional High School District. Accessed February 20, 2025.New Jersey School Directory for Bergen County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024. James Santana, superintendentSuperintendent's Message, Northern Valley Regional High School District. Accessed October 22, 2025. "Located in the upper North Eastern corner of the state, NVRHSD is comprised of two high schools, Northern Valley at Demarest and Northern Valley at Old Tappan and a PreK-21 Special Education Program that serves over 45 northern New Jersey school districts." Marc Capizzi, business administrator and board secretary

Board of education