Ridge High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Bernards Township in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the Bernards Township School District.
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,577 students and 130.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.1:1. There were 37 students (2.3% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and none eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Ridge High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026. As of 2021, the racial breakdown was White (60.9%), Asian (28.3%), Hispanic (6.6%), two or more races (3.4%) and African American (0.8%).
History
Early history Students in Bernards Township had attended Bernardsville High School dating back to 1927. When Bernardsville became an independent municipality in 1924, the new board of education was given ownership of the high school and Bernards Township students continued attendance at the school as part of a sending/receiving relationship. There were failed efforts in early 1959 to pass a referendum that would create a regional district for Bernardsville and Bernards Township, along with Bedminster Township, Far Hills and Peapack and Gladstone.History, Ridge High School. Accessed November 12, 2023. By a more than 3-1 margin, voters approved an October 1959 referendum that would cover construction of a standalone high school in Bernards Township that would accommodate up to 670 students and be constructed at a cost of $1.5 million (equivalent to $ million in )."Bernards Voters OK High School Bernards Township", Plainfield Courier News, October 7, 1959. Accessed March 1, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Two-fifths of the township's 3,000 registered voters went to the polls yester day to approve by nearly a four to one margin a Board of Education proposal to float a $1,532,000 bond issue to build a high school. The vote was 918 in favor of the plan and 247 against. Pupils here attend Bernards High School in nearby Bernardsville on a tuition basis. The new one-story school, to be built in the Cedar Hill tract off S. Finley Ave., will have a maximum pupil capacity of 670."
The of land on which the high school sits was donated by George Ludlow Lee Sr., who was the owner and chairman of the board of Red Devil, Inc. The school's team nickname, the Red Devils, derived from the company's logo, though the color was changed to green to avoid the red that was used by rival Bernardsville High School.
The school opened with 21 classrooms for 500 students in grades 9-12 in September 1961, though some of the school facilities were not yet completed."New Ridge High School Opens for 500 Students", Courier News, September 6, 1961. Accessed March 1, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "The doors of the new Ridge High School in S. Finley Ave. swung open to the 500-member student body for the first time today at 7:45 a.m. The $1,500,000 structure is; completed with the exception of a few finishing touches in the gymnasium, auditorium, cafeteria kitchen and hallways. All 21 class rooms are finished and uncompleted items will not hinder the academic schedule, according to Principal William J. Keeler."
Facility history Since the school opened in 1961, the building has undergone multiple expansions as student enrollment and the surrounding town grew. Notable classroom and facilities additions were completed in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. In December 2019, plans to construct a new two-story wing consisting of classrooms and a kitchen facility prior to adopting a "rotating-drop" schedule were abandoned due to declining enrollment trends.
Enrollment history Through the latter half of the 20th century, Ridge High School enrollment increased gradually to 910 students for the 1999-2000 school year. Five years later, enrollment had reached 1,424 students, and in 2015, the school had grown to 1,900 students. Since 2015, grade 9-12 enrollment has declined, with 1,595 students for the 2024-25 school year.
Notable incidents Stephen Kovacs was appointed the Ridge High School head boys' fencing coach in November 2019. He was head coach through February 2021. A number of fencers on the school team attended the nearby Kaprica Fencing Academy, which Kovacs owned and where he was head coach. Kovacs was arrested in 2021 by detectives for allegedly sexually assaulting two teenage fencing students multiple times in 2020 and 2021; he died in Somerset County Jail in January 2022.
Awards, recognition and rankings During the 1986-87 school year, Ridge High School was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education,National Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982 Through 2019 (PDF), United States Department of Education. Accessed September 1, 2024. the highest award an American school can receive."CIBA cited as one of the best by Education Department", Journal Inquirer, November 16, 2006. "The Blue Ribbon award is given only to schools that reach the top 10 percent of their state's testing scores over several years or show significant gains in student achievement. It is considered the highest honor a school can achieve."Viers Mill School Wins Blue Ribbon; School Scored High on Statewide Test; The Washington Post, September 29, 2005 "For their accomplishments, all three schools this month earned the status of Blue Ribbon School, the highest honor the U.S. Education Department can bestow upon a school." During the 2009-10 school year, Ridge High School was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence for a second time.2009 Blue Ribbon Schools: All Public and Private Schools, United States Department of Education. Accessed October 29, 2009.
In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 3rd in New Jersey and 220th nationwide.Mathews, Jay. "The High School Challenge 2011: Ridge High School", The Washington Post. Accessed July 22, 2011. Ridge High School was ranked 194th, the second-highest in New Jersey, in Newsweek magazine's 2010 rankings of America's Best High Schools.Staff. "America's Best High Schools: The List", Newsweek, June 13, 2010. Accessed March 23, 2011. The school was ranked 175th in Newsweek's 2009 ranking of the top 1,500 high schools in the United States and was the third-ranked school in New Jersey, with 3.132 AP tests taken in 2008 per graduating senior and 50% of all graduating seniors passing at least one AP exam; The school was ranked 136th nationwide in 2008.Staff. "The Top of the Class: The complete list of the 1,500 top U.S. high schools" , Newsweek, June 8, 2009. Accessed June 10, 2009. The school was listed in 98th place, the second-highest ranked school in New Jersey in Newsweek's 2007 list of the Top 1,200 Public High Schools in the United States.The Complete List: 1,200 Top U.S. Schools, Newsweek May 22, 2007 The school was listed in 116th place, the second-highest ranked school in New Jersey, in the 2006 issue.The Complete List: 1,200 Top U.S. Schools, Newsweek, May 8, 2006. Ridge High School was ranked as Number 91 in Newsweek's 2005 survey, third-highest in the state for that year."America's Best High Schools", Newsweek, August 5, 2005.
Ridge High School was the 9th-best public high school in 2012 as rated by the New Jersey Monthly magazine"The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical; Here are the 2012 Top High Schools ranking listed alphabetically.", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed January 23, 2012. and was the 140th best high school in the United States as rated by Newsweek, being the top-rated comprehensive high school in New Jersey.Sadlouskos, Linda. "Ridge HS, Bernards, High in Newsweek's 'Best' List UPDATED: Ridge placed at no. 140 in Newsweek's just released list of best public high schools in U.S.", Basking Ridge, NJ Patch, May 21, 2012. Accessed January 23, 2012.
In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 215th in the nation among participating public high schools and 16th overall (ninth among non-magnet schools) in New Jersey.Streib, Lauren. "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast, May 6, 2013. Accessed May 8, 2013. The school was ranked 140th in the nation and eighth in New Jersey on the list of "America's Best High Schools 2012" prepared by The Daily Beast / Newsweek, with rankings based primarily on graduation rate, matriculation rate for college and number of Advanced Placement / International Baccalaureate courses taken per student, with lesser factors based on average scores on the SAT / ACT, average AP/IB scores and the number of AP/IB courses available to students.Staff. "America's Best High Schools 2012", The Daily Beast / Newsweek, May 20, 2012. Accessed May 21, 2012.
The school was the 13th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology.Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014. The school had been ranked 9th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 12th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed August 26, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 24th in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed February 11, 2011. Before that, the school was ranked 11th 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 27th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (an increase of 1 position from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (95.2%) and language arts literacy (98.0%) 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 24, 2012.
Ridge High School was ranked the 37th best high school in the United States and the 12th best in New Jersey by Newsweek in 2015.Davis, Tom . "500 Best Schools In America: Ridge High School Is 37th Newsweek released its 2015 ranking of the nation's best high schools. Fifty-six N.J. schools are on the list.", Basking Ridge, NJ Patch, August 19, 2015. Accessed January 23, 2022."Newsweek's list included Ridge High School in Basking Ridge as its 37th best high school in America (12th in the state)."
In its listing of "America's Best High Schools 2016", the school was ranked 71st out of 500 best high schools in the country. It was ranked 15th among all high schools in New Jersey and third among the state's non-magnet schools.Staff. "America's Best High Schools 2016" , Newsweek. Accessed November 11, 2016.
Athletics