Ramsey High School, established in 1909, is a four-year comprehensive community public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Ramsey, in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the Ramsey Public School District. Students from Saddle River attend the district's middle school and then have the option of attending either Ramsey High School or Northern Highlands Regional High School as part of sending/receiving relationships with each of the respective districts.Staff. "Tuition to rise $219 under new contract", Town Journal, November 19, 2009. Accessed August 22, 2011. "With no high school in the borough, Saddle River students have the option of enrolling in either Ramsey High School or Northern Highlands. The new deal replaces the previous agreement that covered 1998 to 2008."Ramsey Public Schools 2015 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 1, 2016. "In addition to serving the residents of Ramsey, the District educates the students of Saddle River in grades 6-12 through a send-receive relationship."Ramsey Schools Overview, Saddle River School District. Accessed April 12, 2011. "Following graduation from Fifth grade, students enter Eric Smith Middle School in Ramsey, New Jersey. Upon graduation from Eighth grade students may attend Ramsey High School."Northern Highlands High School Overview, Saddle River School District. Accessed April 12, 2011. "Northern Highlands High School is located in Allendale New Jersey and is one of the two high schools Saddle River students may elect to attend."
As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 773 students and 77.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.9:1. There were 31 students (4.0% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 7 (0.9% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Ramsey High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024.
Ramsey High School is accredited by the New Jersey Department of Education.School Profile 2023–24, Ramsey High School. Accessed May 12, 2024.
History The first class to graduate from Ramsey was the class of 1908, who attended high school in the current Borough Hall. After that, students went to John Y. Dater School, which was a regional K-12 school at the time. The first Ramsey High School was constructed in 1912, with the first commencement held in June 1913. An addition was constructed in 1923. By 1935, additional space was needed, and a new building was proposed to take advantage of funding available through the New Deal-era Public Works Administration. Groundbreaking ceremonies for the new building were held on January 16, 1936, and the "New Ramsey High School", completed at a cost of $600,000 (equivalent to $ million in ), was dedicated in June 1937."500 Attend Ceremonies At School Dedication; New Ramsey $600,000 Building, Erected as PWA Project, Formally Opened with State, County and Local Dignitaries Participating in Program", The News, June 21, 1937. Accessed March 31, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Before a crowd of close to 500 people the new Ramsey High school building, erected as a PWA project at a cost of $600,000, was dedicated at formal ceremonies Saturday night, with state, county and local officials sharing the spotlight on the program, The main address of the evening was made by Roy Zimmerman, Bergen County superintendent of schools."
With baby boomers filling the school beyond capacity, the school informed its sending districts of Franklin Lakes and Wyckoff that it would no longer accept students from those two communities at the high school beyond the 1956–57 school year; the two communities joined Oakland to form the Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District, which opened its doors in 1957 at Ramapo High School.Staff. "Enrollments Tax Schools in Bergen; Auxiliary Rooms Are Being Converted for Classes and Construction Is Pushed", The New York Times, September 4, 1954. Accessed December 24, 2013. "How soon this plant will be ready is problematical, but there is pressure in the fact that Wyckoff and Franklin Lakes students will not be accepted at Ramsey High School after the fall of 1956."
At the start of the 1957–58 school year, Ramsey was accepting students from Allendale, Mahwah, Saddle River and Upper Saddle River."Boards Send Trustees to Study Session; Unit To Consider Plans For Regional Needs In High Schools; Meet in Ramsey", The Record, September 11, 1957. Accessed May 26, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "At present Waldwick students attend Midland Park School; and Allendale, Saddle River, Upper Saddle River, and Mahwah pupils attend Ramsey High School. When the new Mahwah High School is completed in 1958 or 1959 it will absorb Allendale pupils." Allendale, Mahwah and Upper Saddle River left the school in September 1958 once Mahwah High School was completed.School History, Mahwah High School. Accessed May 26, 2021. "It was constructed in 1958-59 for $4 million. Before the new school opened, Mahwah's high school students attended Ramsey High School. Prior to the construction of Northern Highlands Regional High School in the mid-1960s, students from Allendale and Upper Saddle River attended what was then known as Mahwah Junior-Senior High School."
Awards, recognition and rankings The school was the 22nd-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 30th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 33rd in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed October 9, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 13th in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed August 22, 2011. The school was ranked 27th 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 29th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 14 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (93.2%) and language arts literacy (99.1%) 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 25, 2012.
In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 805th in the nation among participating public high schools and 58th among schools in New Jersey.Streib, Lauren. "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast, May 6, 2013. Accessed May 9, 2013.
In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 61st in New Jersey and 1,743rd nationwide.Mathews, Jay. , The Washington Post. Accessed September 10, 2011. Ramsey High School was recognized by Newsweek magazine as one of the top 500 high schools in the nation.
In 2010, on New Jersey's High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA), 97.2% of 2010 graduates scored at the proficient or advanced proficient level on the math section, while 98.6% of Ramsey High School students scored at the proficient or advanced proficient levels on the language arts sections of the test. 93% of Ramsey High School's 2010 graduating class took the SAT. Student scores exceeded state averages, with those taking the exam averaging 563 on the math section (vs. 520 for all test takers in New Jersey), 576 on the verbal section (vs. 515) and scored 515 on the essay portion of the exam (vs. 515 statewide).Ramsey High School 2010 School Report Card, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed September 11, 2011.
Diploma requirements In order to graduate with a diploma, students must complete 120 credits consisting of 4 years of English / Language Arts; 1 year of Physical Education, Health, and Safety for each year of enrollment; 2 years of United States History; 1 year of World History / Cultures; 3 years of Mathematics; 3 years of Science; 2 years of World Language; 5 credits of Fine Arts and 5 credits of Practical Arts. Cross-content workplace readiness skills, which are integrated into content areas in grades 9–12. All students, unless specifically exempted, must pass the Eleventh Grade HSPA as required by the State of New Jersey. All students must also take a state mandated Biology test when they take biology (freshman year for honors students and sophomore year for CP and MCP students).
Extracurricular activities
Marching Band Ramsey High School's Big Blue marching band was the 2005 Musical Arts Conference NJ State Champion and the 2005 Tournament of Bands Chapter 10 Group 4 Champion. The band also won 7th place in Group 4 at the Atlantic Coast Championship held in Hersheypark Stadium in November 2011.Atlantic Coast Group 4 Championship @ Hershey Park Stadium - Sunday November 06, 2011, Tournament of Bands and again, in 7th place, in 2012. Accessed April 25, 2012. The band is under the direction of Joshua Jenkins, who took over in 2020 from the previous band director, Clifford Bialkin. In 2015, Big Blue won 5th place at the Atlantic Coast Championships. The band was invited to play in the 2015–2016 New Year's Day Parade and again in the 2019–2020 New Year's Day Parade in Rome, Italy. The band represented the state of New Jersey in the 2017, 2019 and 2023 National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, D.C. The color guard has a separate season and they compete during the winter. The winter guard, nicknamed “Velocity”, competes in the MAIN circuit, and they won first place in 2018.
Athletics