As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 471 students and 40.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.5:1. There were 189 students (40.1% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 74 (15.7% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]
The school was the 295th-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.[6] The school had been ranked 301st in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 281st in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[7] The magazine ranked the school 298th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[8] The school was the 266th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 316 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2006 cover story on the state's Top Public High Schools.[9]
Athletics
The Riverside High School Rams[2] compete in the Burlington County Scholastic League (BCSL), which consists of nineteen public and non-public high schools covering Burlington County, Mercer County and Ocean County in Central Jersey, operating under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[10][11] With 349 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2022–24 school years as Group I South for most athletic competition purposes.[12] The football team competes in the Horizon Division of the 94-team West Jersey Football League superconference[13][14] and was classified by the NJSIAA as Group I South for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 185 to 482 students.[15] The school mascot is Rocky the Ram and the colors are maroon and white.[2]
Students from Delran Township, which partly encircles Riverside, had attended the school until 1976. Because of its large high school student population at that time, the school competed in Group III sports programs and was competitive with other large schools. Outside of its annual Thanksgiving Day game against Florence Township Memorial High School, the Rams also had ongoing rivalries with nearby Holy Cross High School, Cinnaminson High School and Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly. Since Delran Township established its own high school and the high school grade population dropped at Riverside, the school mostly competes in Group I and some of those rivalries have ended.
The Palmyra High School / Riverside football rivalry for the Fred Wilbert Memorial Trophy dates from 1928, and Palmyra leads that series 62-23-3, after a 39-22 victory in 2019; Palmyra has won 19 consecutive games in the series.[16]
The boys' basketball team won the Group I title in 1954 (against runner-up Park Ridge High School in the finals of the tournament) and won the Group II state championship in 1959 (vs. North Arlington High School).[17] The 1954 team won the Group I title with a 57-54 win against Park Ridge in the championship game played at the Elizabeth Armory, finishing the season at 25-0 and becoming the first team in seven years to win a playoff title and complete the season undefeated.[18] The team won the 1959 Group title with a 65-48 victory in the playoff finals against a North Arlington team that had come into the game undefeated.[19]
The boys' baseball team won the Group I state championships in 1996 (defeating Whippany Park High School in the playoff finals) and 1997 (vs. Glen Rock High School).[21] The 1996 team ended the season with an 18-5 record after defeating Whippany Park by a score of 4-2 in the finals to win the Group I state title.[22]
The girls' soccer team defeated Butler High School in the championship game to win the 2005 Group I state title.[23]
^Riverside Township School District 2016 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed May 30, 2017. "The School District educates approximately 1,400 students. The district has a very positive and cooperative send/receive relationship with the Delanco Public Schools. Students from Delanco are educated in their local K-8 District, and then subsequently attend grades 9-12 at Riverside High School."
^Home Page, West Jersey Football League. Accessed May 1, 2023. "The WJFL is a 94-school super conference that stretches from Princeton to Wildwood encompassing schools from the Colonial Valley Conference, the Burlington County Scholastic League, the Olympic Conference, the Tri-County Conference, the Colonial Conference, and the Cape Atlantic League. The WJFL is made up of sixteen divisions with divisional alignments based on school size, geography and a strength-of-program component."
^Lewis, John A. "High school football scouting report", Burlington County Times, November 12, 2020. Accessed November 21, 2020. "Palmyra at Riverside, 6 p.m.... This will be the 89th meeting of these teams, who battle annually for the Fred Wilbert Memorial Trophy. Palmyra has won the last 19 games and holds a 62-23-3 lead in the series."
^Fein, Jack. "Park Ridge Fails In Bid To Gain Group I State Basketball Crown; Unbeaten Riverside Makes Bergen Team 25th Victim; Poor Shooting Costs Owls Victory Against South Bergen Club", The Record, March 22, 1954. Accessed February 1, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "A poor shooting performance and the inability of its big men to grab rebounds cost Park Ridge High School the Group I championship in the 36th annual New Jersey State Interscholastic A. A. basketball tournament at the Armory here Saturday afternoon. The Owls became the 25th victim of Riverside High, the South Jersey titleholder, by a 57-54 score in the second game of the afternoon program. Riverside is the first team to go through its entire schedule plus the State tournament with an unblemished mark since Englewood High did it in Group III 7 years ago,"
^Stanmyre, Matthew. "Jersey native David Laury's long basketball journey ends in happiness at Iona", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, January 20, 2013. Accessed December 29, 2023. "As a freshman, Laury attended Collingswood High, but he and his father clashed. He transferred to Riverside High in Burlington County as a sophomore and started living with the family of teammate Corey Williams."
^Nowlin, Bill. Hal Wagner, Society for American Baseball Research. Accessed September 19, 2018. "Hal Wagner seems to have attended both Riverton High School and Palmyra High, graduating from Palmyra High in 1934, with letters in baseball and basketball."
