Lakeland Regional High School


Lakeland Regional High School is a comprehensive regional four-year public high school and school district serving students from the Boroughs of Ringwood and Wanaque, communities in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States, which have a combined population of about 25,000.
Students come to the high school from the Ringwood Public School District and the Wanaque Borough Schools. Lakeland Regional High School is accredited by the State of New Jersey and by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.
As of the 2017-18 school year, the school had an enrollment of 911 students and 87.3 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 10.4:1. There were 93 students eligible for free lunch and 23 eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "FG", the fourth-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.
The high school has 115 professional staff members, with 60% having advanced degrees. There are 95 teachers, five area supervisors, and four guidance counselors. Lakeland also has a substance awareness coordinator, a complete child study team, a school nurse, a library-media specialist, an athletic trainer and several teacher aides.

History

Before the district was established, students from the two communities had attended Butler High School.

Awards, recognition and rankings

In the 2000-01 school year, Lakeland Regional High School was recognized as a New Jersey Best Practice School for its S.C.O.P.E., Search, S.T.E.P., and SOAR School-to-Career / Workplace Environment programs.
For the 1994-95 school year, Lakeland Regional High School was named a "Star School" by the New Jersey Department of Education, the highest honor that a New Jersey school can achieve.
The school was the 112th-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 87th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 145th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 131st in the magazine's September 2008 issue,and 140th in the September 2006 which surveyed 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school 140th 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.

Curriculum

As a requirement for graduation, Lakeland students must complete 135 credits, demonstrate mastery of basic skills on the High School Proficiency Assessment, and meet a variety of local and state distribution requirements.
Advanced Placement Program Courses include AP English Language and Composition, AP United States History, AP United States Government and Politics, AP Calculus AB, AP Computer Science, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, AP Music Theory, AP European History and AP Spanish Language.
Honors Courses are offered in English, Algebra 2, Geometry, Pre-calculus, Calculus, Spanish 4 & 5, French 4, Latin 4, World History, US History, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth Science, and Gifted and Talented Senior Seminar.
Specialized Learning Programs, including interdisciplinary projects, are conducted using the high technology multimedia laboratory. Gifted and talented students are offered enrichment opportunities through the various departments and the G & T Coordinator. Other programs include School, Career Orientation and Personal Education, the Career Research Project, Students to Experience Professions and, the portfolio completion course. A third New Jersey Best Practice was awarded for this School to Career Program.
Electives are offered in most of the core subjects. The school provides practical experiences and a range of studies in the area of communication, transportation, energy and manufacturing. Course offerings are provided in business education and family and consumer sciences. Fine arts electives include music and art offerings.

Athletics

The Lakeland Regional High School Lancers compete in the Big North Conference, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. With 704 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as North I, Group II for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 495 to 762 students in that grade range. For the 2009-10 school year, Ridgewood was part of the North Jersey Tri-County Conference, a conference established on an interim basis to facilitate the realignment. Prior to the NJSIAA's realignment of New Jersey high school sports leagues which took effect beginning in 2009, Lakeland was a part of the Suburban Division of the Northern Hills Conference.
The boys baseball team won the North I Group II state sectional title in 1962 and 1968, won the Group III state championship in 1976 vs. Ridge High School, and the Group II title in 1974 vs. Lawrence High School.
The field hockey team won the North I Group III state sectional championship in 1981.
The football team won the NJSIAA North I Group II state sectional championship in 2004 and 2010. In 2004, the Lancers won the NJSIAA North I, Group II state championship, defeating Lenape Valley Regional High School in double overtime by a score of 17-14 at Giants Stadium, making it the first football state champions in Lakeland's history. The Lakeland Lancers football team made it to the North I Group II state championship final again in 2008, but lost by a score of 35-6 to first seed Wayne Hills High School who was riding a 51-game winning streak and was the 4-time defending champion, with Lakeland ending the season with a record of 11-1 after losing in the first match between the two teams. In 2010, the Lancers faced Ramsey High School in the North 1, Group II championship game at Kean University. They were victorious, winning the game 20-0 for the second football state title in school history.

Notable alumni

Core members of the district / school administration include:
In the wake of a $340,000 cut in state aid, the district eliminated the position of principal for the 2019-20 school year in a cost-saving measure.