The Mountainside School District is a community

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public Primary school, primary or Secondary school, secondary schools or both in various countries. It is not to be confused with an attendance zone, which is within a school dis ...

, that serves students in

pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

through eighth grade in the borough of Mountainside, in Union County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. As of the 2022–23 school year, the district, comprised of two schools, had an enrollment of 747 students and 71.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

student–teacher ratio The student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio refers to the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers or staff in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that ...

of 10.4:1.District information for Mountainside School District

National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the principal federal agency responsible for collecting, analyzing, and reporting data on education in the United States. Established under , it operates within the Institute of Education S ...

. Accessed February 1, 2024. The district is classified by the

New Jersey Department of Education The New Jersey Department of Education (NJ DOE) administers state and federal aid programs affecting more than 1.4 million public and non-public elementary and secondary school children in the state of New Jersey. The department is headquartered ...

as being in

District Factor Group {{refimprove, date=February 2013 Membership in a District Factor Group (DFG) is an indicator of the socioeconomic status of citizens in school districts of New Jersey. DFGs were first developed by the New Jersey Department of Education in 1975 for ...

"I", the second-highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common

socioeconomic Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J. Public school students in

ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...

through

twelfth grade Twelfth Grade (also known as Grade 12, Senior Year, Standard 12, 12th Standard, 12th Class, or Class 12th or Class 12) is the twelfth and final Educational stage, year of Formal education, formal or compulsory education. It is typically the final ...

s attend

Governor Livingston High School Governor Livingston High School is a comprehensive four-year co-educational public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, located in Berkeley Heights, in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and operating as t ...

Berkeley Heights Berkeley Heights is a township in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Located on a ridge in northern- central New Jersey, Berkeley Heights is a commuter town of New York City in the New York metropolitan area, nestled within the Rar ...

, as part of a

sending/receiving relationship A sending/receiving relationship is one in which a public school district sends some or all of its students to attend the schools of another district. This is often done to achieve costs savings in smaller districts or continues after districts hav ...

with the Berkeley Heights Public Schools that is covered by an agreement that runs through the end of 2021–22 school year. As of the 2022–23 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 936 students and 88.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

of 10.6:1. Students also have the choice to attend the programs of the

Union County Vocational Technical Schools The Union County Vocational-Technical Schools (UCVTS) are a grouping of schools on the Union County Vocational Technical Schools Campus in Scotch Plains, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, which offers educational programs for students across U ...

, which serve students from across Union County.

Awards and recognition

In 2024, Deerfield school was one of 11 statewide that was recognized as a

Blue Ribbon School of Excellence The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

by the

United States Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a cabinet-level department of the United States government, originating in 1980. The department began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and ...

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2022–23 enrollment data from the

) are: *Beechwood School with 269 students in grades PreK-2 **Jessica Vierschilling, principal *Deerfield School with 467 students in grades 3-8 **Suzanne Jenks, principal

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:Administration
Mountainside School District. Accessed September 24, 2024. *Janet Walling, superintendent *Dana Sullivan, interim business administrator and board secretary

Board of education

The district's

board of education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

is comprised of seven members who set policy and oversee the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration. As a Type II school district, the board's trustees are elected directly by voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either two or three seats up for election each year held (since 2012) as part of the November general election. The board appoints a superintendent to oversee the district's day-to-day operations and a business administrator to supervise the business functions of the district.Board of Education Members
Mountainside School District. Accessed September 24, 2024.

References

External links

Mountainside School District Website
*
Data for the Mountainside School District

{{Union County, New Jersey School Districts Mountainside, New Jersey New Jersey District Factor Group I School districts in Union County, New Jersey