Glen Rock High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Glen Rock, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Glen Rock Public Schools. The school shares a campus with Glen Rock Middle School.
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 722 students and 72.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.0:1. There were 4 students (0.6% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and none eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Glen Rock High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.
History Proposals for a junior-senior high school in the borough date back to 1935, with a referendum for a $460,000 project (equivalent to $ in ) that would be covered in part through savings in the tuition being paid for students to attend Ridgewood High School."Vote Dec. 17 On Glen Rock School; Junior-Senior High School Building Is Proposed", The Sunday News, December 1, 1935. Accessed March 25, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "After slashing 60.000 from the estimated cost of construction, the Board of Education in Glen Rock last week unanimously voted to place before the citizens of that community the proposition of building a new junior-senior high school. Previously, it was estimated that school construction work would cost about $550,000 but a four-room addition to the Central School building was eliminated for the time being and the new junior-senior high school project will cost about $460,000."
By 1947, the district was expending a quarter of its budget on payments for high school tuition, but the district was notified by the Ridgewood Public Schools in March 1952 that Glen Rock students, who had attended high school for grades 10–12 in Ridgewood from the time the borough was established, could not be accommodated any longer after the 1954-55 school year. The school opened in September 1956 with only tenth graders, as ninth-grade students were in the junior high school and those in eleventh and twelfth grades completed their education through graduation at Ridgewood High School.Bagby, Scott; and Pangburn, Weaver Wendell. The Glen Rock Plan: A Comprehensive Guide for Continuous Action Designed to Maintain and Increase Basic Social and Economic Values, p. 18. Borough of Glen Rock, 1952. Accessed March 25, 2022. "Although the three upper grades have gone to Ridgewood High School since before the founding of the Borough, Glen Rock has now been notified that by 1955 it will have to provide for its own high school students elsewhere. Studies for a possible Senior High School have been made since 1947 and earlier. In that year it was estimated that 25 percent of the school budget was spent on tuition to Ridgewood.""Glen Rock To Open High School Class; Juniors, Seniors Stay At Ridgewood, Sophomores Attend Classes Here", The Record, August 22, 1956. Accessed March 25, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Opening of the new Glen Rock High School on September 6 will create the unusual situation of three schools, each a separate entity, operating under one roof. The High School will occupy part of the greatly enlarged Junior High School building but they will operate as two separate schools, not a junior-senior high school, according to Superintendent Eugene J. Bradford.... There will be only sophomores in the new school this year, as juniors and seniors will complete their secondary education in Ridgewood High School.... Opening of the High School brings the climax to a 4 1/2-year task for Bradford and the Board of Education. The Board received notice from Ridgewood in March 1952 that no more Glen Rock students could be accommodated at Ridgewood after September 1954."
Starting in 2009 and completed in 2011, Glen Rock High School underwent a $45.3 million renovation project that included a new science wing, a creative arts department, and system updates.De Santa, Richard. "Construction projects at Glen Rock schools near completion", Glen Rock Gazette, August 23, 2011, backed up by the Internet Archive as of August 15, 2013. Accessed August 29, 2017.
Awards, recognition and rankings The school was one of 18 schools statewide (and three public high schools) honored in 2018 by the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program by the United States Department of Education."2018 National Blue Ribbon Schools All Public and Non-Public Schools", United States Department of Education. Accessed October 18, 2018.Clark, Adam. "These 18 N.J. schools were named among the best in U.S. by Trump administration", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, October 2, 2018. Accessed October 18, 2018.
In its listing of "America's Best High Schools 2016," the school was ranked 137th out of 500 best high schools in the country; it was ranked 25th among all high schools in New Jersey and 12th 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 218th in the nation among participating public high schools and 17th overall (tenth of non-magnet schools) in New Jersey.Streib, Lauren. "America's Best High Schools" , The Daily Beast, May 6, 2013. Accessed May 8, 2013. Glen Rock was ranked 30th in New Jersey and 287th nationwide in Newsweek magazine's 2012 issue of "America's Best High Schools.""America's Best High Schools" , Newsweek, Accessed August 7, 2012. In the 2012 "Ranking America's Best High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 40th in New Jersey and 1,028th nationwide."Ranking America's Best High Schools", The Washington Post. Accessed August 27, 2012. In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 31st in New Jersey and 1,070th nationwide.Mathews, Jay. "The High School Challenge 2011: Glen Rock High School", The Washington Post. Accessed August 14, 2011. Glen Rock was ranked 874th, the 24th-highest in New Jersey, in Newsweek magazine's 2010 rankings of America's Best High Schools.Staff. "America's Best High Schools: The List", Newsweek, June 13, 2010. Accessed March 26, 2011. In Newsweek's May 22, 2007, issue, ranking the country's top high schools, Glen Rock High School was listed in 964th place, the 28th-highest ranked school in New Jersey."The Top of the Class: The complete list of the 1,200 top U.S. schools" , Newsweek, May 22, 2007. Accessed May 24, 2007. The school was ranked as number 614 in the April 30, 2006, issue, the 18th highest ranked school in New Jersey.America's Best High Schools, Newsweek, April 30, 2006.
The school was the 2nd-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 305 schools statewide in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2018 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools," using a new ranking methodology.Staff. "The Top New Jersey Public High Schools 2018", New Jersey Monthly, September 4, 2018. Accessed August 20, 2021. The school had been ranked 4th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 28th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed August 27, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 28th in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed March 26, 2011. The school was ranked 6th 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 31st 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 (93.5%) and language arts literacy (98.5%) 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 26, 2012.
Publications Led by faculty adviser Jason Toncic, the school newspaper, The Glen Echo, transitioned from a print newspaper to an online newspaper in 2012.DeSanta, Richard. "Glen Rock High School students take paper digital", Glen Rock Gazette, November 23, 2012. Accessed September 29, 2013. "Emulating a potential trend in professional publishing, Glen Rock High School's student newspaper is moving to a digital-only format to spur immediacy and spike printing costs.... The Glen Echo's first all-electronic issue hit the website on Tuesday, Nov. 13, about a month after the national news magazine Newsweek announced that its Dec. 31, 2012 edition will be the last one it prints."McGinley, Devin. "GRHS Student School Paper Goes OnlineIn a sign of the times, the traditional student newspaper makes way for the student news site.", Ridgewood-GlenRockPatch, November 13, 2012. Accessed September 29, 2013.
Athletics The Glen Rock High School PanthersGlen Rock High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. participate in the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference, which is comprised of small-enrollment schools in Bergen, Hudson, Morris and Passaic counties.Mattura, Greg. "Small-school NJIC may debut its own league championship", The Record, January 9, 2017. Accessed August 30, 2020. "The small-school North Jersey Interscholastic Conference may debut its own boys basketball tournament this season, one season after introducing its girls hoops championship. The NJIC is comprised of schools from Bergen, Passaic and Hudson counties and the event offered to the 36 boys teams would serve as an alternative to likely competing against larger programs in a county tournament."Member Schools, North Jersey Interscholastic Conference. Accessed August 30, 2020.League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. Prior to the sports league realignment that took effect in the fall of 2010, Glen Rock was a member of the smaller Bergen-Passaic Scholastic League (BPSL).New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association League Memberships – 2009-2010, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, backed up by the Internet Archive as of July 24, 2011. Accessed October 18, 2014. With 560 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group II for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 486 to 758 students in that grade range.NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020. The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group II North for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 484 to 683 students.NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.