School me up on Toms River schools? (house, school district)

[MrSportsNut]

Currently my kids are in the Manchester School district & we are happy though trying to find a house in the district has been a pain. Realtor thought we might look into Toms River area, the issue I have no clue about the quality of education. I've gotten some really mixed opinions but with very little to back them up. Kids would be in high school & middle school.

Thanks to everyone.

[KoalaNJ]

Originally Posted by MrSportsNut

Currently my kids are in the Manchester School district & we are happy though trying to find a house in the district has been a pain. Realtor thought we might look into Toms River area, the issue I have no clue about the quality of education. I've gotten some really mixed opinions but with very little to back them up. Kids would be in high school & middle school.

Thanks to everyone.

Toms River has three high schools, East, North and South. The school district is considerable larger than Manchester. North has 2,242 students, East has 1,609, and South 1,445, while Manchester has 1,168. Right now in Manchester you kids are a decent sized fish in a mid sized pond, in TM they will just be another small fish in a rather large pond. (especially if they attend North) That being said, the student/teacher ratio is pretty much the same between the two districts.


In the latest NJ monthly HS rankings all of Toms River's schools do not fair very well. East ranks the highest at 225, North at 228, and South comes in at 229 out of 328 in the state. Manchester also does not fair well, coming in at 272.

Here is some good info on the district from USNews

North HS Toms River North H.S in TOMS RIVER, NJ | Best High Schools | US News

South HS Toms River High - South H in TOMS RIVER, NJ | Best High Schools | US News

East HS Toms River High - East H. in TOMS RIVER, NJ | Best High Schools | US News

One thing that stands out for me in looking at how the students fair on state wide testing is that while in the low 90's % the graduates of the TR school district score proficient in language, they score in the low 70's % for proficiency in math, meaning that almost a third of their graduates cannot do basic hs math. Manchester fairs slightly better in this regard with their language proficiency at 91% and their math at 76%.

HTH

KoalaNJ