ABOUT EAST RAMAPO
If you're looking for a public school district with substance, you've come to the right place! East Ramapo is a school community that is looked upon as an educational leader and the model for other districts to emulate. East Ramapo utilizes its financial resources in cost-effective and tax-friendly ways.
    East Ramapo is the largest school district in Rockland County, with a student population of 9,350 for the 2003-04 school year. Located approximately 25 miles northwest of New York City, in the center of Rockland, East Ramapo is a middle-class suburban, predominantly residential community within commuting distance of New York, Westchester, and northern New Jersey. Its total area is 33 square miles; an estimated 80,000 residents live within its borders.
    The elementary schools within East Ramapo are configured within five pair of sister schools. One school in each pair houses grades K-3 while the other school houses grades 4-6. Our school district is well known throughout the area, as our students continue to perform excellently at all levels.
    The East Ramapo Board of Education and administration strongly believe that small class size enrollments help ensure more individualized instruction and greater student achievement. Therefore, actual class size averages are generally well below those set by contractual agreement and even the Board of Education's own reduced guidelines. Additionally, a smaller total enrollment ensures a sufficient number of classrooms for all standard educational programs, including art, music, gifted and talented education and special education.

Click here for a chart of ours schools organization

AT THE ELEMENTARY LEVEL (grades K-6)
East Ramapo has 10 elementary schools. These are divided into five primary (K-3) and five intermediate (4-6) schools, with each primary school paired with an intermediate one. This arrangement helps provide a more balanced distribution of students among the schools, increase the number of classes at each grade level throughout the schools, thus allowing for greater flexibility in meeting students' needs; and concentrate resources and services, enabling teachers to share ideas, materials, and teaching techniques more effectively.
    The primary/intermediate school concept also enables the district, despite its large size, to maintain the concept of neighborhood schools and keep students together as they move through the grades. Additionally, East Ramapo provides busing to all students in all grades.
    In kindergarten through second grade, the specific goal is to have children learn and master the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Lessons in a variety of social studies and science areas are introduced in first grade, as are music, art, and physical education. These are all expanded upon throughout the transitional (3-4) and intermediate (5-6) grades, with additional subject areas introduced.

MIDDLE SCHOOL (grades 7-8)
In September 1999, East Ramapo implemented a secondary-level reorganization. This reorganization created two middle schools of grades 7 and 8 (Chestnut Ridge and Pomona) and two high schools of grades 9-12 (Ramapo and Spring Valley). Ninth grade students whose home school is Ramapo are housed at the Ramapo Freshman Center, diagonally across the street.
    At the middle school level, a rich selection of offerings are available. Foreign languages are offered in the 7th grade, as are band, chorus, and orchestra (all of which begin in 4th grade). Students may also select from a broad range of classes in technology, business education, the arts, and all major subject areas. Because of the breadth of courses available and district requirements, few students have study periods.
    To complement the teaching staff, full-time guidance counselors are employed at each school, as are a librarian, nurse, psychologist, and student assistance counselor. An abundance of interscholastic sports is also available at this level, as are a broad range of co-curricular activities, including participation in academic clubs, math leagues, school newspapers, chess, poetry, and yearbooks.

HIGH SCHOOL (grades 9-12)
Once at the secondary level, students in East Ramapo may choose from a selection of courses that is second to none. For those wishing to progress beyond the basics, or to specialize in a particular field, East Ramapo offers 38 courses in English, 36 in social studies, 32 in math, 28 in business education, 26 in technology, nearly two dozen in art, science, home economics, and music, and as many as seven different foreign languages, including Hebrew, Japanese, and Latin, depending upon interest.
    Students in East Ramapo have available to them more than 100 college credits. In fact, Ramapo and Spring Valley both rank within the top 2% in the nation in the number of AP tests written.