Ridgefield Park Public Schools Explained

Ridgefield Park Public Schools
Logo Alt:	This is the logo for Ridgefield Park Public Schools.
Superintendent:	Angela Bender
Businessadmin:	Carrie Grapstein
Address:	712 Lincoln Avenue
Zipcode:	07660
Country:	United States
Coordinates:	40.8617°N -74.0257°W
Schools:	4
Enrollment:	2,178 (as of 2020–21)
Ratio:	12.1:1
Free Text:	DE

The Ridgefield Park Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from the Village of Ridgefield Park, in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of four schools, had an enrollment of 2,178 students and 180.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.1:1.^[1]

The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "DE", the fifth-highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.^[2]

Students from Little Ferry attend the high school as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Little Ferry Public Schools that has been in place since 1953.^{[3] [4]}

Awards and recognition

Grant School was recognized by the United States Department of Education's National Blue Ribbon Schools Program for the 2009-10 school year, "the most prestigious designation in education". While 49% of students had failed the Elementary School Proficiency Assessment in 2001, by 2010 all of the school's students were deemed proficient by the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJASK).^[5] The school was one of 10 in New Jersey to be recognized that year.^[6]

For the 2005-06 school year, Ridgefield Park High School was one of 22 schools statewide selected as Governor's School of Excellence Winners, an award given to schools that have demonstrated significant academic improvement over the previous two academic years.^[7]

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2020–21 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics^[8]) are:^{[9] [10] [11]}

Elementary schools

• Grant Elementary School^[12] with 244 students in grades K-6
  • Natasha Hernandez, Principal^[13]
• Lincoln Elementary School^[14] with 374 students in grades PreK-6
  • Stephen Ferraro, Principal^[15]
• Roosevelt Elementary School^[16] with 339 students in grades PreK-6
  • Jason Cata, Principal^[17]

High school

• Ridgefield Park High School^[18] with 1,189 students in grades 7-12
  • Melissa M. Cavins, Principal (9-12)^[19]
  • Dyan Thiemann, Principal (7-8)

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:^{[20] [21]}

• Angela Bender, superintendent of schools
• Carrie Grapstein, business administrator and board secretary

Board of education

The district's board of education is comprised of nine members who set policy and oversee the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration. As a Type II school district, the board's trustees are elected directly by voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with three seats up for election each year held (since 2012) as part of the November general election. The board appoints a superintendent to oversee the district's day-to-day operations and a business administrator to supervise the business functions of the district.^{[22] [23]} A representative from Little Ferry serves on the board of education.^[24]

External links

• Ridgefield Park Public Schools
  • School Data for the Ridgefield Park Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics

Notes and References

1. https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch/district_detail.asp?Search=2&details=1&ID2=3413800&DistrictID=3413800 District information for Ridgefield Park Public School District
2. http://www.state.nj.us/education/finance/rda/dfg.shtml NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts
3. https://www.littleferry.k12.nj.us/our_district/about_us About Us
4. James, George. "School Districts' Battle On Tuition Goes to Court", The New York Times, December 16, 1989. Accessed August 19, 2013. "School officials in the borough, Little Ferry, which sends 202 students to the 546-student high school, say a partial audit several years ago raised suspicions that Ridgefield Park has overcharged them by hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent years.... Little Ferry, a borough of 1.5 square miles and 9,900 people, has sent its high school students to this neighboring 1.92-square mile village of 12,000 people, since 1953."
5. DeCicco, Robin. "Grant School merits praise", The Record, September 24, 2010. Accessed March 28, 2011. "Grant Elementary School was recently named a Blue Ribbon School, the most prestigious designation in education, by the New Jersey Department of Education, said John Richardson, superintendent of Ridgefield Park School District."
6. http://www2.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/2010/national.pdf#page=13 2010 Blue Ribbon Schools: All Public and Private
7. http://www.state.nj.us/education/news/2005/1122gov.htm 22 Governor's Schools of Excellence Winners Recognized
8. https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_list.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3413800 School Data for the Ridgefield Park Public Schools
9. https://www.rpps.net/board_of_education/our_schools Our Schools
10. https://rc.doe.state.nj.us/selectreport/2022-2023/03/4380 School Performance Reports for the Ridgefield Park Public School District
11. https://homeroom6.doe.state.nj.us/directory/school/districtid/4380 New Jersey School Directory for the Ridgefield Park Public Schools
12. https://grant.rpps.net/ Grant Elementary School
13. https://grant.rpps.net/cms/one.aspx?portalid=93733746&pageid=93789194 Principal
14. https://lincoln.rpps.net/ Lincoln Elementary School
15. https://lincoln.rpps.net/lincoln_school/principal Principal
16. https://roosevelt.rpps.net/ Roosevelt Elementary School
17. https://roosevelt.rpps.net/roosevelt_school/principal Principal
18. https://rpjshs.rpps.net/ Ridgefield Park High School
19. https://rpjshs.rpps.net/rpjshs/administration/principal High School Principal
20. https://www.rpps.net/board_of_education/superintendent_of_schools/central_office_personnel Central Office
21. https://homeroom6.doe.state.nj.us/directory/district/county/bergen New Jersey School Directory for Bergen County
22. https://www.nj.gov/education/finance/fp/dwb/DistrictByTypeList2018.pdf New Jersey Boards of Education by District Election Types - 2018 School Election
23. https://www.nj.gov/education/finance/fp/acfr/search/23/4380.pdf#page=42 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report of the Ridgefield Park School District
24. https://www.rpps.net/board_of_education Board of Education