Wall, Manasquan High Schools Above State Average Grad Rate

Two area high schools last year graduated students at a rate higher than the state average, according to state Department of Education figures released Wednesday.

The state Department of Education released high school graduation rates for all New Jersey high schools, showing a combined increase in the graduation rate for all high schools in the garden state.

It was the third consecutive year the graduation rate has increased, according to a state Department of Education release.

The average high school graduation rate in New Jersey in 2013 was 87.5 percent, up from 86.5 percent in 2012. In 2011, when the federally mandated methodology for calculating graduation rates was adopted, the rate was 83.3 percent, the release said.

Locally, Manasquan High School and Wall High School each scored above the state average but only Wall rose above the average rate in Monmouth County, according to the department’s figures.

At Wall, the graduation rate last year was 95.56 percent, edging up a fraction from 2012 when the graduation rate was 95.07. Wall’s graduation rate is down from 2011, however, when it was 96.39 percent.

At Manasquan, the graduation rate for 2013 was above the state average, but significantly down from 2012. Last year, the rate was 89.80 percent, down from 91.79 percent in 2012. In 2011, the rate was 91.89 percent.

Neither Stephanie Belinker, interim Wall schools superintendent, nor Renae LaPrete, interim Manasquan schools superintendent, returned a call requesting comment Wednesday.

Monmouth County high schools overall fared well in the graduation rate data released Wednesday, with an average graduation rate of 89.97 percent, according to the data. 

Only four high schools in the county – Neptune (76.80 percent), Keansburg (76.11 percent), Keyport (84.55 percent) and Asbury Park (50.69 percent) – fell below the state graduation average for 2013, according to state data.

Marlboro High School had the highest graduation rate of non-vocational schools in the county, graduating an average of 99.18 percent of its students in 2013, according to the data.

Rumson-Fair Haven (98.28 percent), Red Bank Regional (96.69 percent), Freehold Township (96.24 percent) and Shore Regional (96.02 percent) fill out the top five graduation rates in the county, respectively.

“High school graduation is a journey that takes more than a decade for an individual student, and at each point in that journey our teachers and principals are working hard to launch those students forward,” said state Department of Education Commissioner Chris Cerf.  “Today, we celebrate those accomplishments and congratulate our students and educators.”

The Monmouth County Vocational School District’s five career academies --  Biotechnology, Communications, Allied Health and High Tech high schools – each had a perfect high school graduation rate of 100 percent last year, according to the data.

Those schools, which rely on a competitive admission process, were not used in calculating the average Monmouth County high school graduation rate.