High honorsFreeholders honor High Tech and County Prep schools for ranking in national evaluation

The Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders has honored High Tech and County Prep High School for achieving outstanding evaluations in the annual U.S. News and World Report ranking.
High Tech High School received a Silver Medal for the second year in a row, placing it in or near the top five percent in the nation from among 21,069 schools evaluated across the nation. In order to earn its ranking, High Tech received a college-readiness index of at least 20, translating near or in the top five per cent of all schools nationally. Only 41 out of 300 high schools in New Jersey qualified for a Silver or Bronze Medal.
County Prep High School was ranked among the top 1,500 schools in the country from among 18,790 schools evaluated to determine which of the schools might be considered “most likely to succeed” in terms of their ability to prepare students to achieve the post graduation goals. The school received a Bronze Medal.
Important to the evaluations were the schools’ ability to serve their students well, not just those bound for college. A school must be able to produce measurable academic outcomes that show the school is successful in educating it student body across a range of performance indicators, including (1) how well each school performed on state tests, adjusting for student circumstance, (2) how each school’s disadvantaged students fared, and (3) how successful the school is at providing college-level coursework.
Superintendent of Schools Frank Gargiulo, along with High Tech High School Principal Karol Brancato and County Prep High School Principal Barbara Mendolla, said the rankings were disclosed to the schools in letters of congratulations from U.S. New and World Report, which conducts the rankings in association with School Evaluation Services.
Freeholder Chairwoman Doreen DiDomenico of Bayonne lauded the county-funded schools for their accomplishments, stating that “it is a measure of pride to all residents of Hudson County and a source of accomplishment that taxpayer dollars are effectively educating our children.”