In an article released on NJ.com a few hours ago, Cinnaminson High School (CHS) was ranked number 46 in the entire state of New Jersey as a best public school for athletes based “on data from the U.S. Department of Education along with millions of reviews from students and parents” compiled by niche.com.  The honor means that Cinnaminson is the ninth-highest school in South Jersey and fourth in Burlington County .

The ranking is a tremendous honor for a small high school like Cinnaminson and puts them behind Shawnee (12), Cherokee (8) and Moorestown (4) all schools that are group three or higher in comparison with Cinnaminson, which is among the smallest group two teams in the state and sometimes competes in group one in some sports such as field hockey, bowling, among others.

CHS Principal Mrs. Llewellyn thinks this ranking is reflective of the students and entire community of Cinnaminson.

“It speaks to our overall programs in athletics and academics and the students’ spirit and passion for their school and community,” she said.

New CHS Athletic Director Jay Meile echoed the sentiments of Mrs. Llewellyn.

“(The ranking) speaks to the type of kids that we have and the emphasis of being involved in sports and extra-curricular activities,” he said.

Among other schools in South Jersey, Haddonfield was ranked 42, which is surprising considering that Haddonfield has won the Shoprite Cup for 14 years in a row, marking each group’s team with the most sectional and state championships for that season.  Normally, Haddonfield scores the most points in the Shoprite Cup for public high schools in New Jersey, much like they did last  year, so seeing them ranked only 42 as a best public school for athletes is a bit of a surprise.

Also, Eastern High School in Voorhees was ranked 31, Timber Creek in Sicklerville, NJ was ranked 27 and Washington Township High School in Sewell, NJ was ranked 11.

According to Niche, their data comes from the following factors – their own compiled results on parent and student surveys; total high school enrollment; number of sports offered at each school; athletic participation by boys; athletic participation by girls.

The data is taken from information based on nearly 100,000 schools that Niche collects from throughout the United States in giving out 2018 Report Cards this year.  Niche describes itself as a website that “… helps you discover the schools and neighborhoods that are right for you. We rigorously analyze dozens of public data sets and millions of reviews to produce comprehensive rankings, report cards, and profiles for K-12 Schools, Colleges, and Places to Live.”

Surprisingly absent from the rankings are some of the best sports schools in South Jersey such as Rancocas Valley, Lenape, Delsea, Camden, Willingboro and West Deptford.

The full article and rankings can be found at http://www.nj.com/hssn-mms/2018/01/these_50_public_high_schools_a.html.