New Providence, Gov. Livingston Among Top Performing High Schools

Just as students prepare to head back to high school, a new report has been released that rates how area high schools are performing – and New Providence and Governor Livingston high schools received "A" grades, the highest mark possible.

For the first time, Inside Jersey based its scores on four years worth of High School Proficiency Assessment data released by the New Jersey Department of Education, which was then weighted with SAT scores as well, according to a report on nj.com.

The "A" grades mean that students at both schools scored highly on testing but it also marks "below average growth" within a four-year period. New Providence and Governor Livingston showed results virtually unchanged in the past four years, with New Providence scoring 368.7 in 2008, 368.4 in 2012; and Governor Livingston scoring 351.3 in 2008 and 360 in 2008.

New Providence students scored slightly higher on their SATs as compared to Governor Livingston students, with the average 1742 in New Providence and 1667 at Governor Livingston.

Union County overall had many schools earning an "A" or "B" (above average test scores, above average growth over four years) but there also was a cluster earning a "C" (below average scores, above average growth) and "D" (below average scores, below average growth). Inside Jersey does not assign failing grades:

• Union County Magnet High: B
• Academy for Information Technology: B
• Westfield High: B
• Summit High: B
• Scotch Plains-Fanwood High: B
• Cranford Senior High: A
• Union County Vo-Tech: B
• Jonathan Dayton: A
• Arthur L. Johnson: A
• Roselle Park: B
• David Brearley: D
• Rahway: C
• Union: D
• Linden: C
• Hillside: C
• Abraham Clark: C
• Plainfield: D