Montgomery High School

1016 Route 601

School District

Montgomery Township
Grade

9-12
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:13
Type

public

School Map for Montgomery Township School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on October 30, 2024

I believe this school has not yet grasped what it means to be neuro-inclusive and is stuck in the past. There is a heavy emphasis on academics and competition but not on supporting the needs of all students and creating a healthy environment. For example, there is significant pressure to take advanced math classes (whether or not that class is appropriate for a child of that age) but not to create a supportive environment for all children to learn and achieve their potential. If your child is severely impacted by learning disabilities, the district is generally good at accommodating them. But if your child is less obviously affected, the school will make you jump through hoops to prove "educational impact" in order to get the most basic accommodation. What if it is not about their grades (educational impact) but about their mental health? Kids can get decent grades while also struggling with the undue pressure the environment creates.
Submitted by parent on October 25, 2024

It has good/bad. If a child has significant needs, they will get support, but for everyone else... It has a high rating bc of high test scores. Kids get high test scores due to an ultra competitive environment with significant parental pressure. Kids routinely skip years ahead in math, making kids who are a year ahead (geometry freshman year) feel behind. The science department is awful. If you are a smart kid and take CP classes, you'll do fine, bored, but fine. But if you want to take any Honors classes, good luck to you and your mental health. Lots of kids want to be Ivy bound so it is very hard to stand out, even if you are awesome. I generally regret moving into the district. It is too competitive, in an unhealthy way, in my opinion.
Submitted by student on July 12, 2024

I'm a freshman and definitely think this school is great for college readiness. Everyone is really supportive and almost everyone from this school is looking forward to a great 4-year institution after high school.
Submitted by parent on October 09, 2023

My children both went to Montgomery schools from pre-school throughout high school and were well prepare for college. *This message is for those parents that think going to a top rated school district means my child will be a genius, well that's the not case.Teachers are there to provide the tools for your child to success. But at the end of the day its a community of support which includes parents as well that will make your child grow and success at their own pace. Take the time to communicate with the teachers on how you as parents can also provide the guidance your child needs and not complaining.
Submitted by parent on April 05, 2023

School has a warm, welcoming environment and is very supportive of those students that have specific needs. They are open to students from abroad, and offer extra language courses as well as counselling to make the transition as easy as possible. Communication with parents is frequent and to the point.
Submitted by parent on February 19, 2020

Over all school district is one of the best in the state.
Submitted by other on January 22, 2020

while montgomery consistently outperforms the standard of public schools both in and out of new jersey, the cost of such achievement far outweighs the benefits in the form of poor mental health (anxiety, depression, etc.) as well as an excessively cutthroat student body. much of the staff is ill fit for their position, and some may even be a danger to students. montgomery needs to seriously re-evaluate their priorities.
Submitted by parent on December 08, 2016

I attended the well-regarded Fairfax Co schools in Virginia. Our 3rd child is soon to finish at MHS. Nj's "home rule" legacy from colonial days makes the cost structure of the schools in this state very costly. However, our kids are very well prepared upon graduation. Although they took the freshman "conceptual" physics, my two eldest where better performers than most of their peers in out-of-state top engineering schools. College prep/guidance could be better - but the money avoided by not sending to a private academy easily justifies a college coach.
Submitted by parent on February 27, 2016

Montgomery has in place a weak and lax administration that is uninterested in building a genuinely great school and is ineffective in dealing with pushy and aggressive parents, or problems amongst it's students. They don't care about the kids experience, nor do they care about creating a school culture that is open, inclusive and positive. Mean girls, cliques and under the radar bullying reign here. School officials have a-see-no-evil, mentality. Their attempt at window dressing falsely suggests they are building character at this school. But insiders know - the exact opposite is true. Administrators here are far more interested in advancing their own career. Montgomery is known as an excellent school, so staff who get jobs here go to better jobs after a stint at Montgomery. That means very high turnover at this school. The word amongst educators is no one is passionate about teaching there. And the school culture is terrible despite the high academic ranking (which btw - are very misleading at this school - kids here should be going in record numbers to top colleges, they do not). Montgomery on a guidance counselor's or administrator's resume helps staff go to higher salaried administrative position in other districts.
Submitted by parent on December 07, 2015

This is would be a fine high school, however, it is missing one of fundamental components, a strong professional counselor organization. Look at nearby schools such as West Windsor North and South and the ultimate college factory, Princeton High School as alternatives.
Submitted by other on August 26, 2015

I dont understand how people that live in skillman and cherry valley that pay 20K a year in property taxes can rate this school as "good". this is a money pit of a school i was a student at the old MHS and it was better, all they have done is got a new HS with subpar facilites and a 33rd ranking in the state academically? When i went to MHS it was ranked 11th-14th (max) under the SAT leadership of Larry. Now you have sports coaches that are principals and teachers that are not able to teach their own children let alone a group of 20 students. The best teachers they had left to other honorable districts like Edison and WWPN and South Brunswick.... What a shame.
Submitted by parent on July 06, 2015

This school only gets its high test scores due to cheating at its finest. The students are all cheaters that avoid work and the teachers and staff meanwhile do nothing to inspire learning. My child came home crying everyday due to bullying and to stress. She cried her eyes out every night. She never cheats and works hard, however, she is unable to due well since the teachers do not teach. She is frequently bullied and ridiculed by her classmates and feels very lost. We had to get a therapist.
Submitted by student on May 23, 2014

Montgomery High School is an excellent school system however there are some MAJOR flaws that need fixing. First off, the math, language and English departments are great. The music department is very involved but the science department is an absolute disaster. First off, all other schools end with physics their senior year, chemistry junior year and the other two sciences freshman and sophomore year. MOST FRESHMAN HAVE NOT YET LEARNED PRE-CALC which is essential for take physics. The worst part is that teachers don't seem to know what they're teaching or how to teach it. The teachers at the upper middle school are more qualified to teach the sciences and should be brought up since they actually care about the students. I understand that high school teachers are expected to be less reliant but these teachers in the science department are not doing their job. Many times afterschool or even in class, students are confused and ask questions but to their horror, receive responses, "I don't know, what do you think?", "Good question, I'm not sure" or even worse "I don't know/I can't answer that". MHS really needs to reconsider its science teachers and listen to student feedback for once.
Submitted by teacher on September 04, 2013

Twp cares more about its image than the actuality. I have three degrees in Ed and many years teaching experience. I consider many of the teachers here to be average at best. They care only about the stars, the students who will reflect favorably upon the schools and help the twp justify its high real estate taxes. Even most of the the college-bound seniors cannot write well or use punctuation correctly. There are much better schools around, in areas with lower real estate taxes. The myth of Montgomery's superiority is fading. The schools here today are not at all what they are reputed to be.
Submitted by student on July 09, 2013

The other reviews are accurate, I don't know what else to say. I wouldn't go so far as to say that MHS has a "stellar" reputation... Outside of - well, Montgomery, nobody really knows about the MHS prestige that everyone seems to boast about. This makes it harder to get a high GPA and creates a hypercompetitive atmosphere that can leave many non-high achieving students behind in the dust
Submitted by parent on November 06, 2012

I would like to know more about this school district - thinking of moving to the new school district...
Submitted by student on August 14, 2012

In my opinion, this school is amazing. People might not agree with me, but the thing is, it is a very competitive school district overall, which means you have to work harder. Some people might say, "Well, the teachers didn't really do much" but really, YOU are the one who should be going above and beyond, trying to achieve YOUR goals. You can't let a teacher do everything for you. For people who aren't as smart as other students and you say you don't really like this school, I'm just trying to say that you KNOW it's a competitive district, so why don't you try harder? People who say not as smart people get "waysided" why don't you try harder to get better grades? Therefore, I think that this is an outstanding school.
Submitted by student on July 23, 2012

As a recent graduate of MHS, I can safely say that I could not be happier to leave. In terms of academics, many teachers are not competent, regardless of how much they love their job. However, that's not to say that they aren't excellent teachers either. The administrative staff is highly competent, but guidance could use some serious overhaul, especially with college admissions. The student body is very fractious and is divided into specific groups of people. In some cases, certain groups of people would play a large role in extracurricular leadership, which would lead to friends electing friends into positions or roles they cannot handle. As a result of such social inflexibility, school spirit and participation in school activities is basically non-existent. Additionally, I feel that there is such a huge influx of parents who are very cut-throat with their children, which leads to grade-grubbing and cheating amongst the smarter students. From this, students who don't fit into this "smart" category (or the special needs category) are usually left to the wayside. Overall, if I had to re-do my high school experience again, I would not choose MHS, stellar reputation and all.
Submitted by student on July 22, 2012

Academically focused. If you sign up for all AP classes, you'll actually learn something interesting and useful. Other than that, the teachers vary ranging from horrible to bad. Inconsistency across even the same classes. One honors bio class could be entirely different from another teachers. Also, there is a common complaint among the students that "theres nothing to do in Montgomery". This is 100% true. Also there is no school spirit. Last year a teacher had to yell in the lunch room just to get everyones attention to tell everyone to go to a state playoff basketball game coming up. and no one showed up Not reccomended if you want to have a good time in high school
Submitted by student on October 30, 2011

The high quality education Montgomery is known for can be mostly attributed to the highly competitive students and parents, it has little to do with the school itself. There are numerous flaws that are constantly overlooked. There is a lack of consistency between courses when they are taught by different teachers, something the school is trying to fix right now by limiting the creative power of teachers within the school - basically, a course's restrictions are now based on whichever teacher wants to do the least. Furthermore, the guidance department is in need of serious improvement. Each counselor has extensive duties in addition to 300 students each to help. I barely spoke with my guidance counselor until my senior year, when I still had trouble seeing her, because she was constantly so busy. Many of my peers dealt with the same issue. That's just touching on a couple of the academic and administrative problems in the school. The quality of the building is deteriorating, there are severe limitations imposed on extracurricular groups, and there are simply not as many resources and opportunities as there should be at a school that is known for having such strong merit.