Caldwell, West Essex Graduation Rates Remain High In 2013, State Report Says

While Caldwell-West Caldwell School District dipped slightly in 2013 and West Essex Regional School District’s average edged up moderately, they both are far above the state average. 

The state Department of Education released graduation rates for 2013 in December. The graduation rate in Caldwell-West Caldwell districtwide was 95.90 percent. The rate fell a mere .25 percent from 2012, according to state data, and was slightly better than the district’s 2011 graduation rate of 95.43 percent.

West Essex’s graduation rate — the fourth highest in the county districtwide — was 97.68 percent in 2013, up from 97.13 percent in 2012. The rate was a touch lower than its 2011 rate of 98.13 percent.

The highest districtwide graduation in Essex County was next door in Verona, which had a graduation rate of 98.62. Verona edged out Millburn, which had a 98.60 percent rate, and Cedar Grove, which had a 97.92 percent rate.

New Jersey's high school graduation rate was 87.5 percent in 2013, which increased from 86.5 percent the previous year. 

This is also the third year the state used a federally mandated methodology for calculating the graduation rate, which according to the state's website, is "designed to provide a more complete accounting of graduation rates by tracking cohorts of students over four years, starting from the time they enter the ninth grade."