Best Indicators on NJ School Report Cards? (Princeton: high school, colleges)

[movingsoon123]

OK, I have found the link to the NJ school report cards that are online, but I'm having trouble narrowing down specifically what I should be focusing on.

My child is not even 2, but we are really *hoping* that with this move we find a home/town we can stay in for all her stages in school (elementary, middle, high school, etc)....so I have been looking at the high school report cards (mainly for Morris County).

Should I be focusing on graduation rate? The % of kids that go to four year colleges?

I just looked up Piscataway High School as I happen to know they really offered a lot academically to kids who tried hard (some went on to Princeton, Harvard, etc) but their ratings in the above mentioned areas don't look too hot.

Any advice on how to read these report cards? I am very open on where to move to, and a big factor is schools - so I'd like to scan through these report cards if I can without scrutinizing too much.

TIA for any advice.

[Obrero]

As well as the high school graduation rates / number of kids going to college I also look at:

- Proficiency rates by grade and subject. Compare to the state average.
- Number of kids getting free lunch
- Number of teachers per student / Number of teachers with advance degrees
- Ethnic breakdown of students.

Greatschools.net makes it pretty easy to see some of this info. Then I look at NJ report cards for more detail.