Montgomery High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in the Skillman section of Montgomery Township, in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone secondary school of the Montgomery Township School District.
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,611 students and 122.3 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.2:1. There were 107 students (6.6% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 19 (1.2% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Montgomery High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.
The district's District Factor Group ranking of "J" indicated that the school serves students of relatively high socioeconomic status.District Factor Groups for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education, updated May 29, 2025. Accessed August 31, 2026.
History After the Princeton Public Schools announced that it could not accommodate students, the Montgomery district had sought the possibility of a regional high school with the Hillsborough Township School District and also sought other sending-receiving relationships.Clampitt, Maggie. "Hillsborough to Try Again For High School Approval; End of Pact with Somerville Leaves Students 'Homeless'",Courier News, January 27, 1966. Accessed July 14, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "The possibility of a regional high school and a sending-receiving arrangement was investigated jointly with Montgomery Township, whose students now attend Princeton High School, but who, like Hillsborough, are forced with the necessity of finding other accommodations. Montgomery is continuing a study on the sending-receiving relationship with either Hillsborough or Princeton and is awaiting the results of a survey being conducted by Dr. Donald Walling, Rutgers University consultant, on the advisability of its own high school."
Ground was broken in April 1968 for a building that would accommodate an enrollment of 1,100 students and be constructed at a cost of $3.3 million (equivalent to $ million in )."Groundbreaking Set", The Daily Home News, April 19, 1968. Accessed July 14, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Groundbreaking ceremonies for the $3.325 million Montgomery Township High School will be held tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. on Burnt Hill Road where the school is to be located. Shown above is an artist's sketch of the school which will hold 1,100 students and is scheduled to open in September of 1969." The original high school opened in January 1969 for students in grades 7–10, before which students from the township attended Princeton High School under the terms of a sending/receiving relationship. A new high school building opened for the 2005–06 school year.Fitzpatrick, Kara. "Old school to take on new role", Centraljersey.com, June 21, 2005. Accessed July 14, 2022. "Today, members of the 34th class will receive their diplomas from Montgomery High School. But there will be no 35th class to graduate from the brick building situated on Burnt Hill Road. Instead, the class of 2006 will be the first to depart as seniors from the district’s state-of-the-art high school on Route 601.... Making its debut in January 1969, the school was then the educational hub for students in grades 7 to 10. That year, juniors and seniors continued through Princeton High School, where all Montgomery pupils went prior to 1969. And in 1971, the first class graduated from Montgomery High School."
The school had been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools from 1976Montgomery High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed January 17, 2012. until 2013, when the school's accreditation status was removed.Spring 2013 Accreditation Actions, The Standard; A Newsletter from the Middle States Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools, Spring 2013. Accessed November 11, 2020. "Removal of Accreditation... Montgomery High School, Skillman, NJ "
Awards, recognition and rankings For the 1992–93 school year, Montgomery High School was awarded the National Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education,National Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982 Through 2019 (PDF), United States Department of Education. Accessed September 1, 2024. the highest award an American school can receive."CIBA cited as one of the best by Education Department", Journal Inquirer, November 16, 2006. "The Blue Ribbon award is given only to schools that reach the top 90 percent of their state's testing scores over several years or show significant gains in student achievement. It is considered the highest honor a school can achieve.""Viers Mill School Wins Blue Ribbon; School Scored High on Statewide Test" The Washington Post. September 29, 2005 "For their accomplishments, all three schools this month earned the status of Blue Ribbon School, the highest honor the U.S. Education Department can bestow upon a school."
In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 13th in New Jersey and 636th nationwide.Mathews, Jay. "The High School Challenge 2011: Montgomery High School", The Washington Post. Accessed July 24, 2011. The school was ranked 643rd nationwide, the 18th-highest in New Jersey, in Newsweek magazine's 2010 rankings of America's Best High Schools.Staff. "America's Best High Schools: The List", Newsweek, June 13, 2010. Accessed March 27, 2011. In Newsweek's May 22, 2007, issue, ranking the country's top high schools, Montgomery High School was listed in 656th place, the 13th-highest ranked school in New Jersey."The Top of the Class: The complete list of the 1,200 top U.S. schools", Newsweek, May 22, 2007. Accessed May 24, 2007.
Montgomery High School was ranked 21st by U.S. News & World Report in its 2026–27 edition of Best New Jersey High Schools and ranked 356th in the publication's national rankings.Montgomery High School 2026-2027 Rankings, U.S. News & World Report. Accessed August 31, 2026.
The school was the 33rd-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.Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014. The school had been ranked 61st in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 10th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 19, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 16th in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed March 26, 2011. The school was ranked 4th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state."Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
Schooldigger.com ranked the school 39th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 7 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (93.3%) and language arts literacy (98.1%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2010-2011, Schooldigger.com. Accessed February 26, 2012.
Testing Montgomery was recognized in 2006 as excellent in Advanced Placement Art History; all 203 students who took the AP exam that year scored 3 (out of 5) or above.
SAT Scores In 2005–06, Montgomery averaged a 1760 combined SAT score, 15th-highest statewide, and ranked 7th among all non-magnet, general admission public high schools.2005-06 School Test Score Rankings , The Star-Ledger. Accessed June 19, 2007. In 2006–07, Montgomery averaged a 1755 SAT score, 14th-highest in the state and the 7th-highest for any non-magnet, general admission public high school.2006-07 School Test Score Rankings, The Star-Ledger. Accessed February 21, 2008.
Student activities Student Aaron Chai of the class of 2025 was a gold medalist at the International Linguistics Olympiad
Science Olympiad Science Olympiad in Montgomery is run by the teachers in the Science department. From 1997 to 2005, the school won the New Jersey state championships nine consecutive times, qualifying for the national tournament each time. The ten state titles are tied with West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South for the most titles of any high school in the state.New Jersey Science Olympiad Tournament Champions, New Jersey Science Olympiad. Accessed April 28, 2022.
Athletics The Montgomery High School CougarsMontgomery High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete a member of the Skyland Conference, which includes public and private high schools covering Hunterdon County, Somerset County and Warren County in west Central Jersey, and operates under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed January 10, 2017. With 1,232 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,060 to 5,049 students in that grade range.NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020. The football team competes in Division 4 of the Big Central Football Conference, which includes 60 public and private high schools in Hunterdon, Middlesex, Somerset, Union and Warren counties, which are broken down into 10 divisions by size and location.Kinney, Mike. "Big Central revises 2020 football schedule for its shortened inaugural season", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, August 12, 2020. Accessed April 18, 2021. "The newly formed Big Central Football Conference has released a revised 2020 schedule for its inaugural season.... the BCFC is comprised of schools from Middlesex, Union, Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren counties." The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group IV North for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 893 to 1,315 students.NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024. Sports offered at Montgomery High School include golf, wrestling, soccer, cross country running, baseball, football, ice hockey, field hockey, basketball, lacrosse, softball, swimming, gymnastics, fencing, cheerleading, girls' volleyball, and track.
The school participates in a joint ice hockey team with Hopewell Valley Central High School as the host school / lead agency. The co-op program operates under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year.NJSIAA Winter Cooperative Sports Programs, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 1, 2020.