West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District is a comprehensive high achieving regional public school district in New Jersey, United States, serving students from West Windsor Township (in Mercer County) and Plainsboro Township (in Middlesex County). There are four elementary schools (grades K - 3), two upper elementary schools (grades 4 and 5), two middle schools (grades 6 - 8) and two high schools (grades 9 - 12). Niche.com ranked the district as third best in the state, according to its 2016 listing of the best public school districts in New Jersey,
As of the 2011-12 school year, the district's 10 schools had an enrollment of 9,804 students and 716.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a studentâ€"teacher ratio of 13.69:1.
The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "J", the-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.
History
The West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District was the result of the 1969 merger of two separate, neighboring school districts - the Plainsboro School District and the West Windsor School District - as both towns were starting to grow rapidly. The districts merged so that they could accommodate the increasing number of students newly enrolling.
Awards and recognition
The West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District is one of the top achieving districts in New Jersey. The high schools have held first to fifth places in many of the state's rankings. In 2004, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North was ranked #1 in the state of New Jersey by New Jersey Monthly magazine and West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South was ranked #5. West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South was the 9th ranked public high school, and North was 18th-ranked, in New Jersey out of 316 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2006 cover story on the state's Top Public High Schools.
West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South was recognized during the 1992-93 school year, and Maurice Hawk Elementary School was recognized during the 1993-94 school year, with the Blue Ribbon Award from the United States Department of Education, the highest honor that an American school can achieve.
West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North was recognized in the 2006-07 school year with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive.
In both the 2004-05 and 2006-07 school years, the Community Middle School Science Olympiad team was first in the country. They are also currently Science Olympiad state and regional champions for the past 15 or so years.
The West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District supports FIRST Robotics Competition Team #1923, The MidKnight Inventors, which welcomes students from both high schools. The team has been competing since 2006, and mentors FIRST programs across all grade levels in the district, as well as internationally. The team has won 4 regional competitions including, 2009 New Jersey Regional, 2011 Connecticut Regional, 2017 Mount Olive District, and 2017 Montgomery District. They have been recognized with various awards for community outreach & spreading the mission of FIRST, and has received individual recognitions for both students and mentors on the team's leadership & effective communication within the scope of the FIRST Robotics Competition. The MidKnight Inventors , Team #1923, has made it to the First Robotics Competition World Championships six years(2009, 2011, 2013, 2015-2017) since 2006 when they first began competing. In 2015, The MidKnight Inventors finished 3rd In worlds of the 3,000 teams that competed in the FRC competition.
Controversy
West Windsor-Plainsboro is experiencing an ongoing divide over how much to stress academics to its students, after Superintendent of Schools David Aderhold eased its curriculum following reports that increasing numbers of students have been referred for psychological evaluation or hospitalized for excessive stress. Although there have been no direct suicides linked to the district, many students have grown to greatly dislike school. The divide has been seen to be somewhat racial, as the area has a high Asian population, such as Indian students. Some parents, many Asian, argue that such change "dumbs down" the students, while other parents, many white, believe the children are stressed out to an unhealthy degree. It has been argued that placing too much stress on academics with the intent of going to a good college is wrong, as colleges are more interested in projects and student-led activities than grades alone. Some have noted that the Asian parents (many first-generation immigrants) are simply trying to boost their children into the middle class. However, there were many that did not fall along the racial divide.
Schools
Schools in the district (with 2011-12 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are:
- Lower elementary schools
- Dutch Neck Elementary School (West Windsor: K-3; 748)
- Maurice Hawk Elementary School (West Windsor: K-3; 877)
- Town Center Elementary School (Plainsboro Township: K-2; 667)
- J.V.B. Wicoff Elementary School (Plainsboro Township: K-3; 471)
- Upper elementary schools
- Millstone River Upper Elementary School (Plainsboro Township: 3-5, 843). Formerly West Windsor-Plainsboro Upper Elementary School (UES), before the Village School was built.
- Village Upper Elementary School (West Windsor Township.: Preschool, 4-5; 851)
- Middle schools
- West Windsor-Plainsboro Community Middle School (Plainsboro Township: 6-8; 1,166). Formerly West Windsor-Plainsboro Middle School pre-1997, before Grover Middle School was created.
- Thomas R. Grover Middle School (West Windsor: 6-8; 1,100)
- High schools
- West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North (Plainsboro Township: 9-12; 1,659)
- West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South (West Windsor Twp.: 9-12; 1,645). Formerly West Windsor-Plainsboro High School, before High School North was established in 1997.
Governing Board
The district is governed by a nine-member Board of Education, consisting of five members from West Windsor and four from Plainsboro. Members are elected to three-year terms by residents of the respective townships. Current board members are:
- West Windsor: Louisa Ho, Michele Kaish (Vice President), Dana Krug, Scott Powell, Yingchao Zhang
- Plainsboro: Isaac Cheng, Anthony Fleres (President), Rachel Juliana, Yu "Taylor" Zhong
Administration
Members of the district administration are:
- Dr. David Aderhold, Superintendent of Schools
- Larry Shanok, Assistant Superintendent for Finance / Board Secretary
References
External links
- West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District
- West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District's 2015â€"16 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
- School Data for the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, National Center for Education Statistics