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EDISON, NJ — Edison Township Public Schools and Metuchen School District maintained their high grades in the latest school rankings released this week, according to Niche’s 2024 Best Schools and Districts.

According to the latest ranking, Edison Schools ranked 2nd in Middlesex County at rank 1 and was placed 31st in the state, while Metuchen was ranked 4th in the county and 44th in NJ.

These rankings and grades, published annually for the past nine years, compare schools and districts across the United States by combining feedback from parents and students with hard data on schools, teachers, and student performance.

EDISON

Edison School District, which serves about 16,268 students, has an overall "A" grade from Niche.

Here's how they were graded on various metrics:

The lowest grades the district received were in food, resources and facilities. Edison has launched a $100 million project to address the overcrowding in the school district. The project includes adding a classroom to J.P Stevens High School, a gym addition to Herbert Hoover Gym, Woodrow Wilson, Thomas Jefferson, a new auditorium to Edison High School and more.

The district also ranked 23rd in NJ for having the best teachers.

The average graduation rate in the school district is 94 percent, with 64 percent of students proficient in reading and 44 percent in math, according to Niche.

The average teacher's salary in the district is $84,238 and the student-teacher ratio is 15:1.

METUCHEN

Metuchen School District has an overall "A" grade from Niche. The district serves about 2,276 students.

Here's how they were graded:

The average graduation rate in the school district is 95 percent, with 65 percent of students proficient in reading and 44 percent in math, according to Niche.

The average teacher's salary in the district is $71,347 and the student-teacher ratio is 15:1.

The rankings differ from others that rely almost exclusively on test scores and academic performance in that it also includes input from students, alumni and parents, as well as quantitative data from sources such as the U.S. Department of Education to evaluate teachers, resources and facilities.

Have a correction or news tip? Email sarah.salvadore@patch.com

EDISON, NJ — School administrators in New Jersey are among the highest-paid in the country and it comes as no surprise they make upwards of $150,000.

The state Department of Education recently released data that showed over 3,200 administrators made $150,000 or more during the 2022-23 school year — an increase after 2,556 did so the year prior.

This also includes members from the Edison and Metuchen school districts.

Patch pulled salary data that includes superintendents, principals and assistant principals, curriculum directors and other employees in administrative positions within New Jersey schools.

Since the data is from the 2022-2023 school year, the list also includes former Edison Superintendent Bernard F Bragen, who was among the top 20 highest-paid school administrators in NJ.

The highest-paid Superintendent in New Jersey is Leigh Byron, of Trenton Stem-To-Civics charter school who makes $384,000 a year.

Here are the top earners in Edison and Metuchen, along with their current or most recent position and most recent salary. All data comes from the New Jersey Department of Education:

EDISON:

METUCHEN:

Why Are School Administrator Salaries Rising?

Back in 2011, then-Gov. Chris Christie implemented a $175,000 cap for superintendents. The Christie administration raised the maximum base pay for superintendents to $191,584 in 2017.

Then in 2019, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law that eliminated the cap for superintendent salaries but set guidelines for school-executive contracts to limit or standardize bonuses and other perks.

School executive pay has long been a controversial subject in both local school district budgeting and state policy. While administrative salaries are often a flashpoint for criticism in school policy, many districts struggled to maintain experienced superintendents when the position's pay was capped, according to a 2019 analysis from NJ Spotlight.

Superintendents, principals and other school leaders throughout the nation have faced intense scrutiny for COVID-19 management and from politically charged movements to overhaul or eliminate certain subjects and topics from the curriculum. But those obstacles have also fallen to teachers and other rank-and-file school employees. And New Jersey has faced a shortage of teaching candidates that preceded the pandemic.

(With reporting from Michelle Rotuno-Johnson, Patch Staff)

Have a correction or a news tip? Email sarah.salvadore@patch.com

Metuchen’s Mayor Jonathan Busch sounded like a proud dad at a meeting last week when he was gushing about some new businesses coming soon to the Middlesex County town.

"Soon, the former pastry chef at Heirloom Kitchen will be opening Ram & Rooster, a Chinese-inspired new American eatery, and the retro video game arcade, Yestercades, will open here later this month,” the mayor told mycentraljersey.com.

On their Instagram the owner of Ram & Rooster says the concept is “an homage to my parents and a tribute to their heritage. We will be serving unique Chinese-inspired dishes in a multi/course tasting menu format.”

No word yet on a hard opening date, but soon. You’ll find them at 83 Central Avenue in Metuchen.

Then there’s Yestercades, which should be like a beacon to all 70s and 80s kids everywhere. If you hung around the arcades waiting with your quarters for Space Invaders to be free, this is your place.

It’s all the retro style cabinet video games, ones like Donkey Kong, Mortal Kombat, Pacman, Asteroids, Frogger, etc.. But it’s more than that. You may come across air hockey tables, pool tables, pinball machines, and the last time I was in the Somerville location they had leather sofas where you could sit and play the more modern home console games. They also have locations in Red Bank and Westfield.

You’ll find the new Yestercades at 442 Main Street in Metuchen. They told me they’re hoping to be open late this month or early February and that it will be announced on their Instagram.

That’s not all for the so-called Brainy Boro. Metuchen is also getting a Starbucks. Construction has already begun on a Middlesex Avenue location right across from Trailhead Park.

Mayor Busch reports their downtown is thriving.

A number of our retail establishments have become recognized as some of New Jersey’s best. Our downtown is the place to be…our downtown vacancy rate remains at a record low.

Sometimes it’s good to be the mayor.

Pac-Man Facts: 40 Easily Digestible Bits of Arcade-Game History

From his arcade-game fame to his own TV show and appearances on all kinds of collectibles, a look back at Pac-Man.

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Senator Patrick Diegnan and Assemblymembers Robert Karabinchak and Sterley Stanely are honored to secure state funding as part of New Jersey’s annual budget process for the construction of Metuchen’s newest park space.

Metuchen is using the funds to convert the former Manasquan Bank drive through on Main Street into a pocket park on property the bank generously donated to the borough.

A temporary space has already been created on the repurposed grounds, which have been landscaped, painted, sealcoated and augmented with tables, chairs, and string lights.

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Borough officials and committee members will collaborate in the coming months on a design plan for a permanent space, which will be known as Thomas Mundy Peterson Park.

“With the help of a portion of a $250,000 grant from this year’s state budget made possible by our state legislative delegation, we will be engaging our planner to put together a comprehensive and collaborative plan to build the permanent iteration of this park, which will include input from the public,” Metuchen Mayor Jonathan Busch said Thursday during a ceremony formally opening the borough’s newest park space.

Busch expressed his deep gratitude to Manasquan Bank Chair, President, and Chief Executive Officer Jim Vaccarro for donating the property. Manasquan Bank has relocated its Metuchen branch from 442 Main Street to 429 Main Street.

Borough Administrator Melissa Perilstein and Borough Director of Special Projects Jay Muldoon were among many members of the mayor’s staff who Busch thanked for turning the pocket park vision into a reality.

Busch said Perilstein “navigated so many complications with grace and determination” and that Muldoon’s “perseverance with the variety of legal issues kept us all on track.”

The mayor also thanked Metuchen Downtown Alliance Director Dawn Mackey and the eight-member Pocket Park Advisory Committee for their vision, as well as the borough’s Department of Public Works for its enthusiastic efforts on the project.

“Downtown spaces like this help define communities,” Busch said. “People come to intimate spaces like these to get some shade, have meals or coffee with friends and, of course, they are places to have events. Whether you’re here during the day or you decide to enjoy your evening under these lights, this place is now a downtown focal point, a meeting area, a place to relax.”

Busch said Thomas Mundy Peterson Park will be named after Metuchen’s “most famous resident.”

Peterson was the first African American to cast a ballot in a U.S. election, exercising his right to vote on March 31, 1870, one day after the 15th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was ratified. Peterson was born in Metuchen in 1824, two decades after New Jersey became the first state in the union to end slavery.

“He eventually moved to Perth Amboy where his historic vote was cast,” Busch said. “It is incredible to think that Peterson lived through the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, he witnessed reconstruction and its ultimate demise, he watched Jim Crow laws ravage our nation and the Supreme Court’s shameful ‘separate but equal’ decision in Plessy v. Ferguson.”

With the naming of the park after Peterson, Busch said Metuchen honors his courage, patriotism, and everything for which his first vote stands.

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A Main Street makeover for a New Jersey town has caught the eye of the rest of the country.

It's a big honor for the small town of Metuchen, which was just named among the winners of the Great American Main Street Award. The prize caps off a big turnaround for the town, which just seven years ago saw one in every five storefront vacant, victims of the Great Recession that left the downtown area on the ropes.

Downtown Metuchen’s Main Street is just two blocks long, but it's now vibrant and booming. Pastry Lu’s is one of the new businesses that have filled nearly every empty space, and the co-owner said they are "absolutely" there to stay, and are planning on doing more locations with different businesses.

Ever since the town created a special improvement district nearly seven years ago — with an extra tax on downtown property, typically of maybe $1,000 a year or so — the downtown has seen a revitalization.

"When we say proud, we’re proud of who we are and we’re proud of our community for helping us get to where we’ve gotten," said Metuchen Mayor Jonathan Busch, addressing how the town has gotten the 22 percent vacancy down to just 4 percent in 2023.

Even he was caught by surprise by just how much the town was able to turn around in a relatively short time.

"I bet we could improve things, but the idea of going from 22 [percent] to 4, think about that. It’s just incredible," Busch said.

The town was one of three winners of the award, along with Danville, Virginia, and Florence, South Carolina.

Leaders especially praise the volunteers who help stage a dozen events a year at a plaza a block off Main Street, which is flanked by brand new apartments that bring more life downtown.

Borough workers put up the award signage on the marquee of the truly dusty and long-abandoned Forum Theater, which was once a vaudeville showcase. Now there are hopes to make it the center of a new arts district two blocks from the business district, thinking the water-stained walls can give way to a playhouse.

And across the street from the theater sits another small business that the town bet big on seven years ago, Angie Restaurant. That risk clearly has paid off, as new restaurants have popped up on side streets.

"You look around you — the bones are excellent. You’ve got a 100-year-old theater, Victorian homes and we’re at the hub of activity here," said Dawn Mackey, the executive director of the Metuchen Downtown Alliance.

Especially with a major mall just two miles away, the small town of just over 15,000 people is clearly punching above its weight with a great American Main Street. So how do they plan on celebrating? With a street party, of course, set for Juneteenth weekend — a week after downtown pride and a week before the Juneteenth celebration.