Original Research by School Decision on Highland Park High School
Highland Park High School serves the full ninth-through-twelfth-grade range for the borough of Highland Park, a compact residential community on the northern bank of the Raritan River directly across from New Brunswick. The high school is one of four schools in the district, embedded within the borough’s dense, walkable street grid rather than set apart on a campus. The school’s enrollment places it on the smaller side for a public high school, and its student body reflects the diversity of the surrounding community. The student population is a mix of white, Hispanic, Asian, Black, and multiracial students, with no single group forming an overwhelming majority. The data shows a substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a measure of economic need that parents may want to understand in context when considering the school’s support resources.
Academic performance data for the school was not available. State testing results, which form the most common basis for assessing proficiency in reading and math, were absent from what we received. This is not unusual for an individual high school in New Jersey, but it means a parent looking at this school will have to rely on other sources of information—the district’s own reporting, conversations with the school, or alternative measures like SAT scores and course completion patterns—to gauge academic outcomes. No graduation rate was available in the data either, so that key measure of student persistence is also an open question.
What is clear from the district’s recent public actions are the priorities its leadership has set. Voters approved a facilities referendum that will fund roof replacements, HVAC upgrades, and security improvements across the school buildings. The district has also adopted a new literacy curriculum aligned with the science of reading as part of a broader strategic plan, and it approved a budget that explicitly funds expanded STEM programs and mental health support services. These moves point to a district that is investing in its physical plant, its instructional approach, and its student support infrastructure. A parent may want to ask how these initiatives are playing out at the high school level specifically, since the literacy shift is most directly tied to elementary grades, while the STEM and mental health investments could have a direct impact on the high school experience.
The housing market in the area is expensive, with home values meaningfully above the national median. Rents are also high, and monthly mortgage costs outpace rents. This is a costly place to live, and the housing data reflects a borough that is densely built out with limited room for new construction. The community’s growth has come from demographic change and infill rather than large-scale development. The town’s character is rooted in its history as a bedroom community for Rutgers University and Johnson & Johnson, and its commercial corridors are known for independent shops rather than chain retail. The presence of an eruv, the first established in New Jersey, points to an active Orthodox Jewish community that shapes the town’s walkable, close-knit character. The connection to New Brunswick via the Albany Street Bridge means that major university and corporate resources are a short distance away.
Because the school’s academic performance data is missing, this profile is necessarily incomplete. A parent evaluating Highland Park High School will need to seek out the current state test results, the graduation rate, and information about course offerings and advanced placement participation from the school or district directly. The school’s small size could be a draw for families who want a closer setting, and the district’s recent investments suggest a forward-looking approach, but the absence of core outcome data means that the strongest claims about academic quality cannot yet be made from what is available here.
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