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I lived in Maplewood for 10 years. Our neighbors down the street sent their daughter to CHS, who graduated with honors, went to Brown and is not planning on Medical School.
CHS when I moved ( about a year ago ) was rated one of the top schools in the country. There is a large AA population, but that shouldn't deter you from a great place to live.
I would be interested to see where CHS was rated one of the top schools in the country. Can you provide a link?
Columbia High is pretty diverse last time I remembered. I don't know if it changed but last time I remembered, there were lots of white kids that still went there. There used to be racial tension going on despite the diversity because most of the white kids were in the advance classes and most of the black kids were in the low level classes.
you know if its a good school and ranks high on the list of schools in NJ, I would be happy to send my kid there. I would hope my kid would pick up the good habits with the other kids reguardless of what race they are. I would send my kid to the asian/chinese schools mostly Im sure my kid would be good at school then. I would go by the rank of the school and not so much the colors of diverse communities. Plus you get the added benefit of a street smart education too!!!
In 2008 Columbia HS was ranked 79th in the state by NJ Monthly Magazine. (This would mean the HS was in about the top 25% in NJ) . It is also true that a few years back there was a great deal of racial tension. I remember there being some issues with the Principal but don't remember what they were.
My personal opinion is that although I really like South Orange and Maplewood for their diversity and location, the taxes are CRAZY for the level of services provided by the towns and the fact that I went to Columbia many years ago and it just isn't a place I would want to send my kids.
I would be interested to see where CHS was rated one of the top schools in the country. Can you provide a link?
veuvegirl misunderstood the article, it states "In Newsweek's May 22, 2007 issue, ranking the country's top high schools, Columbia High School was listed in 1192nd place, the 39th-highest ranked school in New Jersey."
all that states is that 39 other high schools in NJ topped it lol. Bottom line Columbia is a declining school
From a friend who grew up in Mapelwood and still owns property there, she also worked for the NJEA.
Mapelwood school programmes are excellent, but you have a very wealthy population who chose to send their kids to private schools. Therefore kids were bused in from less wealthy areas, and yes a lot of them are AA. Apparently, a lot of the parents there have got fed up with the situation and recently got together and signed some kind of a contract (not binding but a goodwill kind of thing) to say they will be sending their kids to the local high school. Obviously if the local kids take up the places, there will be fewer left over for the ones who are being bused in, so it looks like things may be about to change. That's all I know and I'm not offering an opinion.
If you are considering Mapelwood, also check out the property taxes, they are pretty high.
veuvegirl misunderstood the article, it states "In Newsweek's May 22, 2007 issue, ranking the country's top high schools, Columbia High School was listed in 1192nd place, the 39th-highest ranked school in New Jersey."
all that states is that 39 other high schools in NJ topped it lol. Bottom line Columbia is a declining school
I didn't misread it. There are hundreds of thousands of highs schools in the states. Columbia is on the list fairly high. Where we moved to in PA, the HS is not listed as a top High School.
i go to columbia, and due to leveling (tracking) if your child is white and not having problems in school they will most likely get a great teacher. Columbia High School was ranked 89th by New Jersey Monthly in 2008. Not a bad school for high-income students or white students. Columbia also has 20 AP courses, which is more than some nearby suburban schools
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This is what I've heard
