The school was the 211th-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 216th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 191st in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 236th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 215th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 97th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics and language arts literacy components of the High School Proficiency Assessment.
Athletics
The Hackettstown High School Tigers joined the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference in the 2009-10 school year, as a result of the realignment of conferences in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. With 710 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as North II, Group II for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 508 to 770 students in that grade range. The school competes in interscholastic football, golf, soccer, cheerleading, volleyball, marching band, cross country, basketball, wrestling, fencing, baseball, softball, field hockey, lacrosse and track. Together with Hopatcong High School, the school participates in a joint ice hockey program with Mount Olive High School as the host school / lead agency, under an agreement that expires at the end of the 2017-18 school year. The football team won the North II Group I state sectional championships in 1981. The wrestling team won the North II Group II state sectional championships in 2006 and 2007. The team won the 2007 Skyland Conference Raritan Division championships, the team's first ever conference crown, and went on to win the North II, Group II state sectional championship with a score of 54-6 against West Morris Mendham High School in the tournament final. The baseball team won the 2007 North II, Group II state sectional championship, for the first time in 20 years, with a 5-4 win over Cliffside Park High School. The Tigers won the Skyland Raritan Conference title in 2009; their first Skyland title in 20 years. They won the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference title in 2010. In 2010, the girls' soccer team ended the season with a 19-6 record and winning the North II Group II state sectional championship. The championship game was won with 28.6 seconds remaining by a goal scored by Shanon Browne, a senior on the team and was the school's first NJAC Freedom Division championship. For their accomplishment the New Jersey Herald recognized the team as their 2010 Girls' Soccer Team of the Year. The boys' soccer team won the Group III state championship in 2001 and the Group II title in 2014. In 2014, the boys' varsity soccer team finished the season with a record of 23-1-1. They entered the state tournament with a record of 17-1 and were a three seed. In the North II Group II sectional final, Hackettstown beat Garfield High School by a score of 2-1, capturing the North II Group II title. They then went on to play Ramsey High School where they were tied 1-1 after regulation and two overtimes; In penalty kicks, Hackettstown won by a score of 4-1. In the Group II tournament finals, Hackettstown beat Cinnaminson High School by a score of 3-1 at Kean University, earning the team's first championship since winning the Group III state championship in 2001 and capping a season in which the team broke a total of 8 school records including most goals scored in a season, most shutouts posted and fewest losses.
