West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District

West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional
Superintendent:		Dr. Victoria Kniewel
Business Administrator:		Larry Shanok
Address:		505 Village Road West Princeton Junction, NJ 08550
Grade Range:		K-12
School facilities:		10
Enrollment:		9,759 (as of 2008-09)[1]
Faculty (in FTEs):		735.4
Student–teacher ratio:		13.3
District Factor Group:		J
Web site:		http://www.ww-p.org
Ind.	Per Pupil	District Spending	Rank (*)	K-12 Average	%± vs. Average
1	Comparative Cost	$12,788	47	$13,632	-6.2%
2	Classroom Instruction	7,758	50	8,035	-3.4%
6	Support Services	1,885	49	2,166	-13.0%
8	Administrative Cost	1,341	53	1,379	-2.8%
10	Operations & Maintenance	1,460	42	1,674	-12.8%
13	Extracurricular Activities	307	79	258	19.0%
16	Median Teacher Salary	69,965	94	57,597
Data from NJDoE 2009 Comparative Spending Guide.[2] *Of K-12 districts with 3,501+ students. Lowest spending=1; Highest=105

West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District is a regional school district in New Jersey, serving students from West Windsor Township (in Mercer County) and Plainsboro Township (in Middlesex County).

As of the 2008-09 school year, the district's 10 schools had an enrollment of 9,759 students and 735.4 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.3.^[1]

The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "I", the second 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.^[3]

There are four elementary schools (grades K - 3), two upper elementary schools (grades 4 and 5), two middle schools (grades 6 - 8) and two high schools (grades 9 - 12).

History

The West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District was the result of the 1969 merger of two separate, neighboring school districts: the Plainsboro School District and the West Windsor school district as both towns were starting to grow rapidly so that they could accommodate the increasing number of students newly enrolling.^[4]

Awards and recognition

The West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District is one of the top achieving districts in New Jersey. The high schools hold first to fifth places in many of the state's contests. In 2004, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North was ranked #1 in the state of New Jersey by New Jersey Monthly magazine and West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South was ranked #5. West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South was the 9th ranked public high school, and North was 18th-ranked, in New Jersey out of 316 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2006 cover story on the state's Top Public High Schools.^[5]

West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South was recognized during the 1992-93 school year, and Maurice Hawk Elementary School was recognized during the 1993-94 school year, with the Blue Ribbon Award from the United States Department of Education, the highest honor that an American school can achieve.^[6]

West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North was recognized in the 2006-07 school year with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education,^[7] the highest award an American school can receive.^[8][9]

In both the 2004-05 and 2006-07 school years, the Community Middle School Science Olympiad team was first in the country.^[10]

In 2009, the West-Windsor Plainsboro District FIRST Robotics Competition Team #1923, The MidKnight Inventors, won the NJ Regional in Trenton, NJ. In 2010 they won the Engineering Inspiration Award at the Boston FIRST Robotics Regional and in 2011 the MidKnight Inventors won the Northeast Utilities Connecticut FIRST Robotics Regional where they also brought home the Gracious Professionalism and Coopertition awards. The team has been competing since 2006 and consists of students from WW-P High Schools North and South. Community Middle School also sponsors two FIRST Lego League teams.

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2008-09 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics^[11]) are:

Elementary Schools

• Dutch Neck Elementary School, Princeton Junction: Grades K-3, 754 students
• Maurice Hawk Elementary School, Princeton Junction: Grades K-3, 805 students
• Town Center Elementary School, Plainsboro Township: Grades K-3, 725 students
• J.V.B. Wicoff Elementary School, Plainsboro Township: Grades K-3, 424 students

Upper Elementary Schools

• Millstone River Elementary School, Plainsboro Township: Grades 4&5, 789 students
• Village Elementary School, Princeton Junction: Grades 4&5, 666 students

Middle Schools

• Community Middle School, Plainsboro Township: Grades 6-8, 1,255 students
• Thomas Grover Middle School, Princeton Junction: Grades 6-8, 1,144 students

High Schools

• West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North, Plainsboro Township: Grades 9-12, 1,575 students
• West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South, Princeton Junction: Grades 9-12, 1,621 students

Administration

Members of the district administration are:^[12][13]

• Dr. Victoria Kniewel - Superintendent of Schools
• Larry Shanok - Assistant Superintendent for Finance / Board Secretary

References

1. ^ ^{a b} District information for the West Windsor-Plainsboro R School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 17, 2011.
2. ^ Comparative Spending Guide March 2009, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed October 28, 2009.
3. ^ NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 8, 2009.
4. ^ District Landmarks, West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District. Accessed April 17, 2011.
5. ^ Top Public High Schools in New Jersey, New Jersey Monthly, September 2006
6. ^ Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982-1983 through 1999-2002 (PDF), United States Department of Education. Accessed April 17, 2011.
7. ^ U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized in 2006, United States Department of Education. Accessed April 18, 2011.
8. ^ [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 10 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."
9. ^ 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."
10. ^ Division B Scores and Ranking, 2007 Science Olympiad. Accessed June 14, 2008.
11. ^ Data for the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 17, 2011.
12. ^ Central Office Staff, West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District. Accessed April 17, 2011.
13. ^ Mercer County School Directory, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed November 5, 2009.

External links

• West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District
• West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District's 2009–10 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
• Data for the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, National Center for Education Statistics

Coordinates: 40°16′56″N 74°36′51″W / 40.282351°N 74.614212°W / 40.282351; -74.614212