As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprising eight schools, had an enrollment of 6,829 students and 533.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.8:1.[1]
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.[4]
During the 1991–92 academic school year, Mill Lake Elementary School received the National Blue Ribbon Award of Excellence from the United States Department of Education, the highest honor that an American school can achieve. This honor was followed during the 1998–99 academic school year at Barclay Brook Elementary School. Monroe Township could now boast that both their pre-K through third grade schools received the honor.[7]
Curriculum
In 1996 the New Jersey Department of Education revised the elementary school core curriculum to require foreign language classes. In mid-October 1999 the district sent a questionnaire to 13,000 houses regarding what language should be taught to elementary students. The district received 458 back. 271 of those questionnaires chose Spanish, 96 of the returned questionnaires indicated a preference for Mandarin Chinese and the remaining 91 requested other languages that included Latin, Russian, and English itself. Stephen E. Derkoski, the assistant superintendent, stated that "We can't ignore" that the area houses had a preference of Spanish over Chinese on a 3 to 1 basis.[8] In November 1999, the school board voted 7–1 to designate Spanish as the foreign language used in elementary schools.[8]
Laura Allen, acting business administrator and board secretary[25]
Board of education
The district's board of education, comprised of nine elected members, sets policy and oversees 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 member is appointed by the Jamesburg district to represent its interests on the Monroe Township school board. 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.[26][27][28]
^Monroe Township Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Monroe Township School District. Accessed October 7, 2020. "Purpose The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades kindergarten through twelfth in the Monroe Township School District. Composition: The Monroe Township School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Monroe Township."
^Monroe Township High School 2016 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 12, 2017. "Monroe Township High School is centrally located within a forty-three square mile suburban community in Southern Middlesex County. Originally opened on Perrineville Road in 1973, the high school became a receiving school for approximately 300 high school age students from neighboring Jamesburg in 1980."
^Cheslow, Jerry. "A Townful of Empty Nesters", The New York Times, October 14, 2007. Accessed September 7, 2014. "In addition to the four elementary schools, the Applegarth Middle School teaches Grades 7 and 8, and the 1,400-student Monroe Township High School covers Grades 9 through 12. It is shared with the borough of Jamesburg, the 'hole in the doughnut' municipality in the center of the township."
^Schools, Monroe Township School District. Accessed October 7, 2020.
^Monroe Township School District 2013 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed September 7, 2014. "The district is rapidly growing and now serves over 6000 students in eight schools: Barclay Brook (pre-k-2), Mill Lake (pre-k-2), Oak Tree (pre-k-3), Brookside (3-5), Woodland (3-5), Applegarth (4-5), Monroe Township Middle School (6-8), and Monroe Township High School (9-12)."
^Annual Comprehensive Financial Report of the Monroe Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2023. Accessed April 20, 2024. "The School District is a Type II district located in the County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey. As a Type II district, the School District functions independently through a Board of Education. The School District is an instrumentality of the State of New Jersey, established to function as an educational institution. The District provides a full range of educational services appropriate to grade levels K through 12th grade and includes both regular and special education programs. The Board consists of elected officials and is responsible for the fiscal control of the District. A Superintendent is appointed by the Board and is responsible for the administrative control of the District." See "Roster of Officials" on page 15.
^Board of Education, Monroe Township School District. Accessed October 7, 2020.