Bridgewater-Raritan High School (BRHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school. It is the lone secondary school of the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Bridgewater Township and Raritan in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school has been recognized by the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program, 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 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."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."
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,673 students and 205.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.0:1. There were 329 students (12.3% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 75 (2.8% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Bridgewater-Raritan High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026. Based on 2021-22 data from the New Jersey Department of Education, it was the sixth-largest high school in the state and one of 29 schools with more than 2,000 students.Kausch, Katie. "N.J.’s biggest high school has 3,350 students. See how your school compares.", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, August 31, 2023. Accessed August 31, 2023. "Another 28 New Jersey schools have at least 2,000 students, according to 2021-2022 enrollment data released by the state Department of Education.... 6. Bridgewater-Raritan High School Number of students: 2,674"
For the 2024–25 school year, the school had an average SAT score of 1214, which was above the national and state average.2025–2026 School Profile, Bridgewater-Raritan High School. Accessed December 22, 2025.
History and symbols Until the 1950s, high school students from the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District attended Somerville High SchoolRussick, Joan. "Somerville To Graduate 332 Seniors", Courier News, June 11, 1959. Accessed February 16, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "This will be one of the last graduating classes to number students from Bridgewater and Raritan. After the Class of 1961 graduates, all Bridgewater and Raritan students will attend the new high school in Bridgewater which will be opened for fresh men and sophomores this Fall." and Bound Brook High School. With the opening of the high school, the Somerville district saw the loss of 370 Bridgewater students that had attended the district's high school.Rummo, Anthony. "Somerville School Board Budget Shows $140,292 Hike", 'The Home News', January 8, 1959. Accessed February 16, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "About 370 Bridgewater Township pupils next year will attend the new Bridgewater Raritan High School. Smaller Number Somerville High School will have 1,550 pupils next year because of the loss of Bridgewater pupils."
Bridgewater-Raritan High School was opened in September 1959, with students in ninth and tenth grades; those students moving into eleventh and twelfth grades remained at Somerville High School, with the final set of Bridgewater and Raritan students graduating with the Class of 1961. Norman A. Gathany serving as the school's first principal. Increasing enrollments in the early 1960s led to the construction of a second high school in 1966, which was named Bridgewater-Raritan High School East (the Minutemen), while the original high school was renamed Bridgewater-Raritan High School West (the Golden Falcons).Strauss, Robert A. Referendum, p. 21 ff. Accessed September 4, 2019. "Finally, finally, that day came in the beginning of September 1959. The doors of our not-yet-completed high had opened for business.... By 1966, the Bridgewater-Raritan High School was now overflowing, and the school district had to add another high school to its roster.... The original high school now was called High School West, and the new school was High School East." Declining enrollments led to their consolidation into a single high school during the 1990s. The former High School West was expanded and updated over a period of several years, during which all of the district's high school students attended what had been High School East. The former High School West reopened in 1992 as the new consolidated Bridgewater-Raritan High School, while the High School East became the district's middle school.Knego, Lauren. "Bridgewater-Raritan High School announces inaugural Athletic Hall of Fame class", Courier News, February 7, 2020. "Opened in 1959, Bridgewater-Raritan High School experienced an enrollment increase in the early 1960s, which led to the 1966 construction of Bridgewater-Raritan High School East, and the resultant redesignation of the original high school as Bridgewater-Raritan High School West. In 1994, all the district's high school students began attending what had been High School West, when the former High School East became the middle school."
The mascot of BRHS is the panther. BRHS's school colors were previously black and silver, with red serving as an accent color, but now are primarily only black and white.
The high school's football field is "Basilone Field", named for John Basilone, a World War II recipient of the Medal of Honor who grew up in Raritan. On the wall of the field house next to the field is a mural honoring Basilone.Marines join together to honor one of their own, The Reporter, September 6, 2004.
In December 2009, two minors, a 16-year-old Bridgewater-Raritan student and a 17-year-old student from nearby Immaculata High School, were arrested in connection with an alleged Columbine-like plan to attack the school.Stirling, Stephen. "Bridgewater-Raritan High School student accused of threatening 'Columbine'-like attack", The Star-Ledger, December 11, 2009. Accessed June 16, 2011.
Awards, recognition and rankings During the 1999–2000 school year, Bridgewater-Raritan High School was recognized with 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.
For the 1997–98 school year, Bridgewater-Raritan High School was named a "Star School" by the New Jersey Department of Education, the highest honor that a New Jersey school can achieve.BRHS' entry in the Star School winners' database , New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed May 23, 2006.
BRHS is one of only three high schools in the state to have received both awards.2015-2016 School Profile, Bridgewater-Raritan High School. Accessed November 8, 2016.
In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 36th in New Jersey and 1,190th nationwide.Mathews, Jay. "The High School Challenge 2011: Bridgewater-Raritan Regional" , The Washington Post. Accessed July 15, 2011. In Newsweek's May 22, 2007 issue, ranking the country's top high schools, Bridgewater-Raritan High School was listed in 983rd place, the 29th-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.
The school was the 76th-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 113th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 67th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed August 26, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 91st in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed March 31, 2011. The school was also ranked 83rd in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 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. In previous years, the school had been ranked in the 20s in the same ranking. Following publication of the 2006 New Jersey Monthly article, the school's principal issued a public statement explaining changes in the magazine's ranking methods that altered the school's standing, and generally criticizing the ranking methodology.Memo from James C. Riccobono, Principal, Bridgewater-Raritan High School, Backed up by the Internet Archive as of March 9, 2008. Accessed January 1, 2012. Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 83d out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 20 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (89.0%) and language arts literacy (96.1%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA)., Schooldigger.com. Accessed March 1, 2012.
In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 442nd in the nation among participating public high schools and 37th among schools in New Jersey.Streib, Lauren. "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast, May 6, 2013. Accessed May 9, 2013.
In Newsweeks listing of "America's Best High Schools 2016", the school was ranked 108th out of 500 best high schools in the country; it was ranked 20th among all high schools in New Jersey and seventh among the state's non-magnet schools.Staff. "America's Best High Schools 2016", Newsweek. Accessed November 11, 2016.
In 2023, the school ranked in the top 42 schools in New Jersey, as well as in the top 1000 ranked schools nationally, according to a report by U.S. News & World Report.
Music
Choir There are three curricular choirs: the Mixed Choir and two choirs that require an audition Select Treble Ensemble and Symphonic Choir. There are three extra-curricular ensembles, Lorelei, Ensembros (all male a cappella), and the Glee Club. Choirs at BRHS often collaborate with other ensembles.
Orchestra There are two curricular orchestral ensembles, the Concert Orchestra and the auditioned Symphonic Orchestra. The orchestras travel the region attending various festivals and events, presenting serious orchestral literature, including performing movements from Sibelius' Fifth Symphony. The orchestra has performed at Carnegie Hall with the school's wind ensemble as part of the 2012 Eastern Wind Symphony Symphonic Gala."Bridgewater Raritan High wind ensemble chosen to play at national festival", The Messenger-Gazette / NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, January 18, 2017. Accessed November 28, 2024.
Band