Rancocas Valley Regional High School is a regional high school and public school district serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from five communities in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The district encompasses approximately and is comprised of the communities of Eastampton Township, Hainesport Township, Lumberton, Mount Holly and Westampton Township. The school is located in Mount Holly. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1938.
As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,048 students and 140.3 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.6:1. There were 357 students (17.4% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 80 (3.9% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "DE", the fifth 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 school was built on the ruins of the West Jersey Collegiate Institute, a private school for boys that was abandoned at the time of the Civil War. Mount Holly High School was founded in 1895, and after a vote to establish a regional high school, the name "Rancocas Valley Regional High School was chosen in April 1935. Constructed at a cost of $300,000, a crowd of 500 attended the school's formal dedication ceremonies in October 1937.
Before Lenape High School opened in September 1958, students from Medford, Medford Lakes and Tabernacle Township had attended Rancocas Valley Regional High School. With students in these three communities in ninth and tenth grades attending Lenape, the Rancocas Valley district anticipated a drop in enrollment of 90 students for the 1958-59 school year.
Academic programs
Rancocas Valley Regional High School offers a range of college prep, honors, accelerated, Advanced Placement (AP) courses, business and technology education classes. Students can receive college credits by successfully completing specific high school courses through the Burlington County College Accelerated Program (CAP) and Seton Hall University Dual Enrollment Program. Rancocas Valley High School offers over 85 clubs and activities.
RVTV is operated out of the school and showcases sporting events, concerts, graduations and student-created programming.
Annex
The Rancocas Valley Regional High School Annex on Smithville Road in Eastampton Township is home to the district's business offices and the Functional Life Skills Integrated Program (FLIP), a special education program run by the district. Renovations to the Annex facilities were completed in the summer of 2018 to house the new RV PREP education program opening in September 2018. The building formerly housed the Eastampton Elementary School.
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 174th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology. The school had been ranked 255th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 223rd in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 242nd in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 243rd in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. In recognition of the school’s efforts and the positive outcomes resulting from newly formed programs and initiatives, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) designated RVRHS a No Place for Hate school in May 2018.