Welcome To Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan!
Dear Parents/Guardians,
On behalf of the students, faculty, and staff, I welcome you to Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan where a most dedicated and caring group of professional educators positively impact the lives of our students.
Northern Valley-Old Tappan continues to be a center of effective teaching and productive learning. Our philosophy is to provide an environment in which each student seeks answers to questions, challenges assumptions, and develops self-worth. We encourage individual academic excellence, aesthetic appreciation, and moral integrity. Recognition of academic and cultural diversity is encouraged to promote mutual respect and acceptance.
We consistently emphasize and reinforce the lifetime skills of effort, work ethic, perseverance, and integrity, skills that students are able to control. It is our belief that when students concentrate on the process and control what they can control, desired results invariably will follow.
The tradition of excellence at Northern Valley-Old Tappan is exemplified in the Class of 2017 that included a National Merit Scholar and had nearly 700 Advanced Placement Tests administered, 75% of which were scored at “3” or higher. 82% of scored tests in AP courses for which a recommendation is required received a “3” or higher. There were 88 AP Scholars and 3 National AP Scholars.
Students excelled on formal assessments including fifty-seven who placed on the National Spanish Exam and nine students who were recognized for their performance on the National Latin Exam. Fourteen students were recognized at various levels of excellence at the Orlando Saa Foreign Language Poetry Recitation Contest at William Paterson University in Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Japanese, and German. Six students were recognized with Distinguished Honors status in the Letters About Literature competition. NVOT was proud to have a student win the regional competition of the Poetry Out Loud competition for the second consecutive year. Science and Math League Teams excelled at the county and state levels, and the STEM League Team continued its successful participation at competitions in North Jersey.
In the arts, the All School Musical, Tarzan, was recognized with three Helen Hayes Metro Awards. Choir and Band students were honored with All State recognition, and the Music Department was recognized as an Outstanding Music Community by the National Association of Music Merchants. Additionally, a student was recognized as an All State Opera recipient by the NJMEA. Another student finished in 2nd place in the NJ Shout Down Drugs Concert competition at Rutgers University. The Art Educators of New Jersey recognized a student with a scholarship and Student Achievement Award.
In addition to activities already mentioned, students are offered opportunities in a wide range of additional co-curricular activities including Debate, Technology Student Association, FBLA, Peer Mentors, Kinesis Modern Dance, Heroes and Cool Kids, Winter Color Guard, and DECA Club that had three students qualify and compete at the national conference
NVOT athletes enjoyed an outstanding season highlighted by the following achievements: Girls Volleyball – State Champions and NJSIAA Tournament of Champions; Boys Golf – State Champions - Girls Basketball and Softball- State Sectional Champions.
Substance awareness education and lifetime skills programs included presentations by local/county law enforcement and county agencies, mandatory Pre-Prom presentation for students and parents, as well as presentations on bullying, diversity, and mental health and well being.
NVOT has been recognized in state and national publications. Scores on standardized tests such as AP, ACT, and SAT are among the highest in the county and among the highest in the District Factor Group. Approximately 93% of the graduates of the Class of 2017 are continuing their education at four and two-year colleges, and about 55% of the Class of 2017 qualified and participated in Senior Options opportunities that included medical, business, and educational Structured Learning Experiences.
We at Northern Valley-Old Tappan are proud of the caliber of instruction that is offered. The high school will continue to investigate and implement teaching strategies that foster the development of critical thinking, problem-solving skills. We also will continue to promote positive learning environment in which all students have equal access to learning as well as a respect and appreciation of diversity.
Northern Valley-Old Tappan's educators are professionals who inspire students to be the best that they can be by translating their potential into successful lifetime skills. We realize that we are entrusted with the ultimate responsibility, the education of a child and are justifiably proud of our faculty and staff who motivate students to develop a consistent work ethic and achieve their goals.
Sincerely,
Bruce R. Sabatini, Ed.D., Principal