Old Bridge Township Public Schools is a 42-square-mile suburban school district located at the southern end of Middlesex County, in central New Jersey. The district has a total daytime student enrollment of just over 9,000 pupils, and students are housed in a pre-kindergarten annex, 12 elementary schools grades K-5, two middle schools grades 6-8 and a single campus high school with a separate facility for ninth graders. The population, exceeding 3,000 students, makes it the third largest high school in the state.
The positive climate change in Old Bridge directly influenced student success through individual, intrinsic motivation, as well as the growth and professional development of the Old Bridge staff. There has been an increase in collaboration amongst staff, across grade levels, departments, buildings and district wide. This team approach has increased their expertise and spread this knowledge exponentially, reaching more students, therefore providing greater opportunity for success on all levels.
Powerful professional development has allowed the school district to adopt a culture of positivity in Old Bridge Schools, and transfer those feelings into trust with our community. Old Bridge Public Schools has forged a strong relationship with Character.org, which focuses on defining and encouraging effective practices and approaches for quality character education, and provides a forum for the exchange of ideas. In recent years, Character.org has bestowed the following recognition upon district schools:
- 15 State Schools of Character
- 14 National Schools of Character
- One National Model School of Character
- Old Bridge Township Public Schools was selected as a National District of Character
- Furthermore, the Old Bridge School District has been bestowed with these fine testaments to a district climate and culture shift:
- The Marching Knights of Old Bridge High School were selected to represent the United States in Normandy, France, for the D-Day anniversary.
- The District Orchestra received the Spirit of Boston award given to the competing school that demonstrates teamwork, character and benevolence.
- Local media selected Old Bridge High School as having the greatest school spirit.
As a result of the positive paradigm shift in the culture and climate of the schools, there has been a direct correlation between improved school climate and advancements in student performance.
Old Bridge School District has received the honor of being placed on College Board AP Honor Roll. Only a total of 547 school districts across the U.S. and Canada are being honored by the College Board for simultaneously increasing access to Advanced Placement coursework, while maintaining, or increasing, the percentage of students earning scores of 3 or higher on AP exams. A mere 34 districts, out of 296 in New Jersey, have met the criteria to be placed on the AP Honor Roll this academic year. Old Bridge is one of the few districts to not only meet the rigor for recognition, but to also meet the criteria multiple years.
Old Bridge High School has witnessed measurable results on the SAT. Recently, New Jersey high schools taking the SAT gained on average 1 point, and national high schools decreased by 3 points. However, scores in Old Bridge increased by an average of 85 points. The high school currently ranks 88 points above the national average, and 45 points above the state average on the SAT.
Continuing with academic recognition, select Old Bridge elementary schools have recently been nominated to apply for the National Blue Ribbon Excellence Award and in 2017 Cheesequake Elementary School was the first school in Old Bridge to earn this status. Several others have also performed in the top 20 of all New Jersey Elementary Schools on the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. Additionally, the township public schools have made an impression with the National Title I Association, which has been selecting examples of superior Title I school programs for national recognition, through the National Title I Distinguished Schools program, since 1996. Last year, Cheesequake Elementary School was nominated as a National Title I Distinguished School for exceptional student performance for two or more consecutive years.
Old Bridge Township was founded upon rich family traditions and a commitment to community mindfulness. Our schools are a reflection of those founding pillars. Through a quality of character driven focus on academics, athletics and the arts; Old Bridge Township Schools will always be a tremendous source of local pride and global impact.