As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprising two schools, had an enrollment of 859 students and 69.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.4:1.[1]
The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "I", the second-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.[4]
There are two schools, one primary school for grades PreK-3 and one upper elementary school for grades 4-8, with the middle school program located within the Brookside building.[5] The administration of the schools includes district-wide services through the superintendent of schools and the board secretary and business administrator. Additionally, in each school the administration includes a principal.
For high school, public school students in Allendale for grades nine through twelve attend Northern Highlands Regional High School, which also serves students from Ho-Ho-Kus, Upper Saddle River and some students from Saddle River (who have the option of attending either Northern Highlands or Ramsey High School, as part of sending/receiving relationships with the two districts).[6][7] As of the 2020–21 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 1,364 students and 106.3 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.8:1.[8]New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked the high school as the 22nd-best of 328 ranked schools in New Jersey in its 2012 rankings of the "Top Public High Schools" after being ranked 6th of 322 schools in 2010.[9]
History
Through the start of the 1957-58 school year, students from Allendale, Mahwah, Saddle River and Upper Saddle River all attended Ramsey High School as part of sending/receiving relationships with the respective districts and the Ramsey Public School District.[10] Allendale, Mahwah and Upper Saddle River left the Ramsey district in September 1958 once Mahwah High School was completed; Allendale and Upper Saddle River joined the Northern Highlands District once the school was opened in 1965.[11]
Awards and recognition
The NAMM Foundation named the district in its 2008 survey of the "Best Communities for Music Education", which included 110 school districts nationwide.[12]
Maria L. Engeleit, business administrator and board secretary[22]
Board of education
The district's board of education is comprised of five 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 either one or two 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.[23][24][25]
In 2012, school elections were shifted from April to the November general election as part of an effort to reduce the costs of a standalone April vote.[26]
^Allendale Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Allendale SchoolDistrict. Accessed August 1, 2022. "Purpose: The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades kindergarten through eight in the Allendale School District. Composition: The Allendale School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Allendale."
^ abOffice of the Superintendent of Schools, Allendale School District. Accessed August 1, 2022. "Hillside Elementary School (Pre-K to Grade 3) and Brookside Middle School (Grades 4-8) provide exciting learning opportunities for discovery and academic challenges for our nearly 1,000 students."
^Staff. "Tuition to rise $219 under new contract", Town Journal, November 19, 2009. Accessed November 30, 2014. "With no high school in the borough, Saddle River students have the option of enrolling in either Ramsey High School or Northern Highlands."
^School History, Mahwah High School. Accessed May 26, 2021. "It was constructed in 1958-59 for $4 million. Before the new school opened, Mahwah's high school students attended Ramsey High School. Prior to the construction of Northern Highlands Regional High School in the mid-1960s, students from Allendale and Upper Saddle River attended what was then known as Mahwah Junior-Senior High School."
^Annual Comprehensive Financial Report of the Allendale School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2023. Accessed March 27, 2024. "The Allendale Board of Education is an instrumentality of the State of New Jersey, established to function as an educational institution. The Board consists of elected officials and is responsible for the fiscal control of the District. A Superintendent is appointed by the Board and is responsible for the administrative control of the District. A business administrator/Board Secretary is also appointed by the Board and oversees the business functions of the District."
^Kleimann, Karen; Clyde, John. "Districts moving school elections", Town Journal, February 15, 2012. Accessed November 30, 2014. "The Allendale, Ho-Ho-Kus, Northern Highlands, Saddle River and Upper Saddle River boards of education voted to move their respective school elections to November for at least the next four annual elections. The five districts, along with a majority of school boards across the state, are moving their elections from April to November in hopes of sparing taxpayers the expense of a separate election, according to the New Jersey School Boards Association."
