5 RIVERBEND CT UNIT 5
New Providence, NJ 07974

Ok so I figured I weighed in on this as a current student as of the 2021-22 school year, it’s an above average school in terms of education and student diversity. Some of the reviews here are over a decade old so let me clarify somethings from the eyes of an average student in no advanced placement classes or enriched classes with focus problems from ADHD.Education - Boring, but effective. Teachers are mostly fair and consistent. Homework is given by most teachers but they will mostly be flexible about it.Student Culture - Most students are white, however there are also a lot of Asian/Indian students, some Latino students and very few students of other ethnicities. There are many LGBTQ students (my guess is that over half of the students are LGBTQ in some capacity.) Mostly friendly, however I have heard reports of racism from some of my peers, but incidents are not common as far as I am aware. It should be noted that the high school shares the same building with the middle school, and the two groups have interacted before. Students use typical Generation Z slang and curse words. Religion is rarely brought up, nor is politics, although students tend to be left leaning.Administration and Security - The previous principal was not good at all. However the current principal, Mr. Henry is actually good at his job. Security on IPads and computers are annoyingly effective. There is at least one or two police officers present for security reasons daily.Athletics and Music - NPHS is definitely a football centered school in terms of athletics. The physical education is also pretty good. Music programs are probably the best that I’ve experienced in any format. Basically: we pretty good at the music stuff. We get high ratings and placements in marching band competitions consistently.Character Ed - We don’t talk about the Character Ed program. Mostly because it’s a joke.Special Education - As someone with a learning disability I’ve been treated pretty well in terms of how teachers and staff are more flexible with my work and the work of those like me.Verdict - Pretty good school, if you are education centered, with good athletic programs and stellar music program. Character Ed is a joke, but teachers are flexible and work load isn’t too bad.

During the kindergarten year, we met some great teachers, but things changed drastically when we encountered one teacher who created an extremely stressful class environment.

As an alumni, I felt prepared for high school after graduating from middle school. The integrated nature of the middle and high school allowed me to be familiar with the music program teachers before my first day of high school. I would use this touch point as a source of familiarity and comfort in the transition.