Mountain Lakes Schools

The Mountain Lakes Schools is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Mountain Lakes, in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.^[3]

Mountain Lakes Schools
Address
96 Powerville Road Mountain Lakes , Morris County, New Jersey, 07046 United States
Coordinates	40.886022°N 74.453905°W / 40.886022; -74.453905
District information
Grades	PreK-12
Superintendent	Brad Siegel
Business administrator	Alex Ferreira
Schools	4
Students and staff
Enrollment	1,348 (as of 2020–21)[1]
Faculty	146.7 FTEs[1]
Student–teacher ratio	9.2:1[1]
Other information
District Factor Group	J
Website	www.mlschools.org
Ind. Per pupil District spending Rank (*) K-12 average  %± vs. average 1A Total Spending $23,989 48 $18,891 27.0% 1 Budgetary Cost 20,102 49 14,783 36.0% 2 Classroom Instruction 11,953 49 8,763 36.4% 6 Support Services 3,400 45 2,392 42.1% 8 Administrative Cost 1,845 38 1,485 24.2% 10 Operations & Maintenance 2,268 48 1,783 27.2% 13 Extracurricular Activities 621 40 268 131.7% 16 Median Teacher Salary 79,732 48 64,043 Data from NJDoE 2014 Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending.[2] *Of K-12 districts with up to 1,800 students. Lowest spending=1; Highest=49

As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprising four schools, had an enrollment of 1,348 students and 146.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.2:1.^[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.^[4]

Students from Boonton Township attend the district's high school as part of a sending/receiving relationship.^[5]

Awards and recognition

Briarcliff Middle School was one of nine public schools recognized in 2017 as Blue Ribbon Schools by the United States Department of Education.^[6]

The district's high school was the 7th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 328 schools statewide in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2012 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", after being ranked 9th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.^[7]

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2020–21 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics^[8]) are:^{[9][10][11][12]}

Elementary schools

• Wildwood Elementary School^[13] with 428 students in grades K-5
  • Patrick Higgins, principal^[14]

Middle school

• Briarcliff Middle School^[15] with 281 students in grades 6-8
  • Erik Carlson, principal

High school

• Mountain Lakes High School^[16] with 641 students in grades 9-12
  • Rick Mangili, principal

Ungraded

• Lake Drive School serves as a regional school for deaf and hard of hearing students from birth through high school, with students from nearly 100 communities in 12 New Jersey counties.^[17] with 57 students in grades PreK-8
  • Julie Lazeration, principal

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:^[10][18]

• Brad Siegel, superintendent^[19]
• Alex Ferreira, business administrator and board secretary^[20]

Board of education

The district's board of education is comprised of nine 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 three seats up for election each year held (since 2012) as part of the November general election. A tenth represented is appointed by Boonton Township to represent that district's interests. 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.^[21][22][23]

References

1. District information for Mountain Lakes Public School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 15, 2022.
2. Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending April 2013, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 15, 2013.
3. Lakes Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Mountain Lakes Schools. Accessed July 19, 2022. "Purpose: The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of public education in grades Pre-Kindergarten through twelve in the Mountain Lakes School District. Composition: The Mountain Lakes School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Mountain Lakes."
4. NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed March 3, 2015.
5. Boonton Township School District 2015 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 6, 2016. "The Boonton Township School District has one school, Rockaway Valley School, which houses a PreK through Grade 8 program for approximately 450 children. The district maintains a send-receive relationship with the neighboring Mountain Lakes School District, whereby our students attend Mountain Lakes High School."
6. "Nine New Jersey Public Schools Earn National Blue Ribbon Award from the U.S. Department of Education", New Jersey Department of Education, September 28, 2017. Accessed October 18, 2017.
7. Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed March 3, 2015.
8. School Data for the Mountain Lakes Schools, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 15, 2022.
9. Schools, Mountain Lakes Schools. Accessed July 19, 2022.
10. Contact Information, Mountain Lakes Schools. Accessed July 19, 2022.
11. School Performance Reports for the Mountain Lakes Public School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 3, 2024.
12. New Jersey School Directory for the Mountain Lakes Schools, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
13. Wildwood Elementary School, Mountain Lakes Schools. Accessed July 19, 2022.
14. Administration, Wildwood Elementary School. Accessed April 17, 2024.
15. Briarcliff Middle School, Mountain Lakes Schools. Accessed July 19, 2022.
16. Mountain Lakes High School, Mountain Lakes Schools. Accessed July 19, 2022.
17. Lake Drive School, Mountain Lakes Schools. Accessed July 19, 2022.
18. New Jersey School Directory for Morris County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
19. Office of the Superintendent, Mountain Lakes Schools. Accessed July 24, 2024.
20. Business Office, Mountain Lakes Schools. Accessed April 17, 2024.
21. New Jersey Boards of Education by District Election Types - 2018 School Election, New Jersey Department of Education, updated February 16, 2018. Accessed January 26, 2020.
22. Annual Comprehensive Financial Report of the Mountain Lakes School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2023. Accessed April 21, 2024. "The Mountain Lakes School District (the 'District') is a Type II District located in the County of Morris, State of New Jersey. As a Type II District, the District functions independently through a Board of Education (the 'Board'). The Board is comprised of nine members elected to three-year terms. The purpose of the District is to educate students in grades K - 12." See "Roster of Officials" on page 12.
23. Board of Education, Mountain Lakes Schools. Accessed July 19, 2022.

External links

• Mountain Lakes Schools
• School Performance Reports for the Mountain Lakes Schools, New Jersey Department of Education
• School Data for the Mountain Lakes Schools, National Center for Education Statistics