Enrollment
170
New Jersey · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Highlands, NJ
Highlands Elementary School
Federal NCES profile for Highlands Elementary School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 70/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 340720003846
👥 S:T ratio 69
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 83
📋 Attendance 59
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Highlands Elementary School earns 70/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 94% of New Jersey schools.
- 70
- Resource Index · Higher
- 7.7:1
- small classes for New Jersey
- 27.6%
- free-lunch eligible
- 170
- students enrolled
Highlands Elementary School has class sizes smaller than 94% of New Jersey schools. Computed live against every New Jersey school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Highlands Borough School District · New Jersey
NCES ID 340720003846 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
22.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
7.7:1
vs 11.8:1 New Jersey avg
-35% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
27.6%
vs 29.6% New Jersey avg
-7% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Highlands Elementary School compares with New Jersey and U.S. medians
What stands out at Highlands Elementary School
Highlands Elementary School is a small combined-grade school in Highlands, New Jersey, enrolling 170 students.
Classes run notably small here: at 7.7:1, Highlands Elementary School is leaner than roughly 94% of New Jersey schools and 35% under the state's 11.8:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.
Its free-meal eligibility rate of 27.6% lands close to the New Jersey typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.
This is a small campus: fewer students than 91% of New Jersey schools, with 170 enrolled.
Its Resource Investment Index outscores 96% of the 2,501 New Jersey schools with a score on record, a top-tier result on this measure.
Among 115 similarly sized, similarly resourced-need New Jersey schools statewide, it ranks #6, a top-tier result once campus size and economic need are matched.
Counselor coverage is strong, about 85 students per counselor, inside the American School Counselor Association's recommended 250:1.
16.5% of students were chronically absent in the 2021-22 collection, in line with the post-pandemic national range.
The surrounding Highlands Borough School District spends $32,034 per pupil, 28% above the New Jersey average, a better-resourced district than most.
Highlands Borough School District operates only this one school, so Highlands Elementary School has no district-mates to compare against locally. At 170 students, it is also a small operation, on the smaller end of New Jersey's single-school districts.
Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Highlands Elementary School compares
Highlands Elementary School on the metrics families compare, against New Jersey and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs New Jersey | New Jersey avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 7.7:1 | ▼ 35% | 11.8:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 27.6% | ▼ 7% | 29.6% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 170 | top 91% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
7.7:1
Leaner classes than 96% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
170
Bigger than 17% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
27.6%
free-lunch eligible
- 7% below the New Jersey average of 29.6%
Below the 40% Title I threshold; federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
7.7:1
students per teacher
- 35% below state mean
Top 6% in New Jersey - lower ratio than 94% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
16.5%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
In the 15-20% range, nearing the "high" absenteeism threshold.
Funding equity
$32,034
per pupil, district-wide
- above New Jersey avg of $24,984
Well above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting substantially higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors2.0 FTE
Per 85 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
6
in-school suspensions + 2 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 3.5 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 4.7 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
- Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
- Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
- F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.
Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.
Programs
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Highlands Borough School District, which includes Highlands Elementary School.
$32,034
Per student
+28%
vs New Jersey
Avg $24,984
+93%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 65.9%
State 28.5%
Federal 5.7%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
Similar other schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of New Jersey, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~170 students)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Highlands Elementary School's federal record.
- Compare Highlands Elementary School against another school. Compare schools
- Highlands Borough School District's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.
Frequently asked questions about Highlands Elementary School
How many students attend Highlands Elementary School?
Highlands Elementary School has 170 students enrolled. It is a public school in Highlands, NJ.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Highlands Elementary School?
The student-teacher ratio at Highlands Elementary School is 7.7:1, which is 35% lower than the New Jersey average of 11.8:1 and 51% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Highlands Elementary School?
27.6% of students at Highlands Elementary School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the New Jersey average of 29.6%.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Highlands Elementary School?
Highlands Elementary School has a Resource Investment Index of 70/100 (higher reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
Is Highlands Elementary School a good school?
Highlands Elementary School earns 70/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 94% of New Jersey schools. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.
What other schools are in Highlands Borough School District?
None reported; Highlands Borough School District operates only Highlands Elementary School as a public school district in NCES's records.
Related tools
Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.