in January 2022. Awards, recognition and rankings During the 1986-87 school year, Ridge High School was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive.<ref>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."</ref> During the 2009-10 school year, Ridge High School was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence for a second time. In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 3rd in New Jersey and 220th nationwide. Ridge High School was ranked 194th, the second-highest in New Jersey, in Newsweek magazine's 2010 rankings of America's Best High Schools. The school was ranked 175th in Newsweek's 2009 ranking of the top 1,500 high schools in the United States and was the third-ranked school in New Jersey, with 3.132 AP tests taken in 2008 per graduating senior and 50% of all graduating seniors passing at least one AP exam; The school was ranked 136th nationwide in 2008. The school was listed in 98th place, the second-highest ranked school in New Jersey in Newsweek's 2007 list of the Top 1,200 Public High Schools in the United States. The school was listed in 116th place, the second-highest ranked school in New Jersey, in the 2006 issue. Ridge High School was ranked as Number 91 in Newsweek's 2005 survey, third-highest in the state for that year. Ridge High School was the 9th-best public high school in 2012 as rated by the New Jersey Monthly magazine and was the 140th best high school in the United States as rated by Newsweek, being the top-rated comprehensive high school in New Jersey. In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 215th in the nation among participating public high schools and 16th overall (ninth among non-magnet schools) in New Jersey. The school was ranked 140th in the nation and eighth in New Jersey on the list of "America's Best High Schools 2012" prepared by The Daily Beast / Newsweek, with rankings based primarily on graduation rate, matriculation rate for college and number of Advanced Placement / International Baccalaureate courses taken per student,