Ramapo High School is a comprehensive four-year public high school located in the New York City suburb of Franklin Lakes, in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school is a part of the Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Franklin Lakes, Oakland, and Wyckoff (FLOW).Ramapo High School District 2016-17 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 20, 2018. "RHS is part of the RIH Regional High School District and serves approximately 1,180 students from Franklin Lakes, Oakland, and Wyckoff." The other high school in the district is Indian Hills High School, located in Oakland. Students in eighth grade in the three sending districts have the opportunity to choose between Ramapo and Indian Hills by February in their graduating year.Eighth Grade School Choice , Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District. Accessed November 25, 2019. "All eighth grade students from Franklin Lakes, Oakland, and Wyckoff may choose to attend the high school of their choice within the following regulations, which are subject to review and revision: 1: The choice is open to all students entering the district as freshmen only. 2: The choice must be exercised by February 14 of the eighth grade year."
As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,188 students and 117.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.1:1. There were 21 students (1.8% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 2 (0.2% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Ramapo High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024.
History With baby boomers filling the school beyond capacity, the Ramsey Public School District informed its sending districts of Franklin Lakes and Wyckoff in 1954 that it would no longer accept students from those two communities at Ramsey High School beyond the 1956–57 school year.Staff. "Enrollments Tax Schools In Bergen; Auxiliary Rooms Are Being Converted for Classes and Construction Is Pushed", The New York Times, September 4, 1954. Accessed April 6, 2022. "Crowding is a critical problem in the high schools of the triangular area embracing Wyckoff, Franklin Lakes and Oakland. They have united in a plan for a regional high school. How soon this plant will be ready is problematical, but there is pressure in the fact that Wyckoff and Franklin Lakes students will not be accepted at Ramsey High School after the fall of 1956." Oakland, which sent its students to Pompton Lakes High School, joined the other two districts in pursuing a joint regional high school."Regional High At Polls Jan. 26", The Morning Call, January 14, 1954. Accessed April 6, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Wyckoff, Franklin Lakes and Oakland voters will go to the polls at a special election Tuesday, Jan. 26 to vote on whether or not they, approve Board of Education plans for a regional high school for the three towns. Wyckoff and Franklin Lakes now send pupils to Ramsey High school and Oakland sends to Pompton Lakes High School."
By a nearly 3–1 margin, voters in the three constituent communities approved a February 1955 referendum that would cover the bulk of the $2.2 million (equivalent to $ million in ) required for the site and the construction of the school building."High School Is Approved, 3-1", The Wyckoff News, March 3, 1955. Accessed April 6, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "It was full speed ahead this week on plans for the Ramapo Regional High School on the heels of Thursday night's electorate approval of the $1,947,000 bond issue for construction of the building that will open in September, 1956, to serve Franklin Lakes, Wyckoff and Oakland.... The total cost of the school project, which has been in various stages of planning for about four years, is estimated at $2,200,000 for land, building and equipment. The expansive, one-story structure will be located on a 50-acre site at the Franklin Lakes-Wyckoff boundary." A steel strike, bad weather and other construction obstacles delayed the opening of the new school building, forcing Ramapo High School to start the 1956–57 school year with evening sessions held at Eastern Christian High School in North Haledon, with the school day running from 2:45 to 7:00 PM."Quick Change Turns Eastern Christian High School Into Ramapo Regional High", Paterson Evening News, September 11, 1956. Accessed April 6, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "But in the Eastern Christian High School in North Haledon, the desk seats are still warm when the school is taken over by students and faculty of the uncompleted Ramapo Regional High School. The normal day students depart by 2:30 p.m. and by 2:45 the 14 buses transporting 660 regional students arrive." Constructed with a capacity for 1,080 students, the new almost-finished Ramapo High School building in Franklin Lakes opened in January 1957 with an enrollment of 655."School Bell Heralds Opening Of Ramapo Regional High; Students Make Smooth Transfer To Long-Awaited Daytime Classes", Ridgewood Herald-News, January 3, 1957. Accessed April 6, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "The ringing of a school bell at 8:30 a.m. yesterday heralded the long-awaited opening of the new Ramapo Regional High School for a current student body of 655 sent from the towns of Franklin Lakes, Wyckoff and Oakland.... Through a series of delays and setbacks, not the least of which was a steel strike, the school has experienced three different opening dates: the start of last falls term, then Dec. 1, and finally Jan. 2. The new building has been functionally constructed for 1,080 students.... The students enjoyed a long Christmas vacation that began on Dec. 14, after months of night classes in the Eastern Christian School, North Haledon.""Students Study As Workmen Work", The Wyckoff News, January 3, 1957. Accessed April 6, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Ramapo Regional High School students attended their first classes in the new school on Wednesday morning after attending school at Eastern Christian High School all Fall."
Awards, recognition and rankings The school was the 5th-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 17th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 19th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed December 2, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 23rd in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed February 4, 2011. The school was ranked 28th 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 53rd out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 11 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (93.1%) and language arts literacy (96.5%) 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.
In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 46th in New Jersey and 1,479 nationwide.Mathews, Jay. "The High School Challenge 2011: Ramapo High School", The Washington Post. Accessed August 24, 2011.
University programs The school, in tandem with Indian Hills High School, offers several special programs similar to college majors, wherein students are accepted into one of the programs and take a series of honors-level courses, in lieu of electives. Ramapo offers a University Program in engineering, which introduces students to the world of Engineering with courses designed to give students a taste of various engineering fields, as well as helping them become familiar with the tools of an engineer, such as AutoCAD. This program is also tied to an extracurricular club, Robotics club, in which members of the engineering program build a robot to compete in a competition with other schools.
Communications and Theatre Arts students take classes together. District superintendent C. Lauren Schoen announced that the Communications and Theater Arts programs are being discontinued from Ramapo.
Athletics The Ramapo High School RaidersRamapo High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete in the Big North Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Bergen and Passaic counties, and was established following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. Prior to the realignment in 2010, Ramapo competed in the North Bergen Interscholastic Athletic League, which included schools in Bergen County.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 12, 2014. With 885 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group III for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 761 to 1,058 students in that grade range.NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020. The football team competes in the Patriot Red division of the North Jersey Super Football Conference, which includes 112 schools competing in 20 divisions, making it the nation's biggest football-only high school sports league.Cooper, Darren. "Here's what we know about the new Super Football Conference 2020 schedule", The Record, July 23, 2020. Accessed March 22, 2021. "The Super Football Conference (SFC) is a 112-team group, the largest high school football-only conference in America, and is comprised of teams from five different counties."Cooper, Darren. "NJ football: Super Football Conference revised schedules for 2020 regular season", The Record, July 23, 2020. Accessed March 22, 2021. "The Super Football Conference has 112 teams that will play across 20 divisions." The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group IV North for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 893 to 1,315 students.NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.