Morristown High Recognized Nationally

While it may be the tail-end of the summer, the Morris Board of Education had grades on their minds as Superintendent Dr. Thomas J. Ficarra told the assembled board on Monday that the school was given an ‘A’ grade by several media outlets.

“We received an ‘A’ grade from the Star Ledger in their ‘Inside Jersey’ magazine,” Ficarra said.

Ficarra said that the Star Ledger’s Inside Jersey ranking was particularly interesting because it was done by looking at data over more than one year.

“They pulled data from the Department of Education and looked at trends over four years,” Ficarra said. “They used the New Jersey Department of Education numbers from the High School Proficiency Assessment for each school.

According to Ficarra, the High School Proficiency Assessment, which tallies results for language arts and math tests among the general student population, was combined with SAT scores and weighted. The result was a letter grade and Morristown scored an "A".

Schools that had higher than average test scores earned As and Bs, schools with Bs were the ones that showed the most improvement in the last four years.

In short:

A - Above average scores, below average growth
B - Above average scores, above average growth
C - Below average scores, above average growth
D - Below average scores, below average growth

Beyond the Inside Jersey score, Ficarra also said Morristown High received recognition from Newsweek and New Jersey Monthly magazine. Ficarra said New Jersey Monthly had listed Morristown as one of the top public high schools in New Jersey while 93 percent graduation and college bound rate helped elevate them nationally.

“According to New Jersey Monthly Magazine and Newsweek we rank as one of the best high schools in the nation,” Ficarra said.