Ranney School is an independent coeducational, college preparatory day school for students from age 3 (referred to as "Beginners") through twelfth grade located in Tinton Falls in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.
History The school was founded in 1960 by educator Russell G. Ranney to help improve students' college board grades.A History of Ranney School, Ranney School. Accessed October 7, 2007.
As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 686 students (plus 37 in PreK) and 76 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9:1. The school's student body was 100% (686) two or more races.School data for Ranney School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed November 1, 2023.
Tuition for the 2025–26 school year ranges from $28,040 for grades K–5 to $41,910 for grades 6–12.Tuition and Affordability, Ranney School. Accessed April 1, 2025. "Tuition for the 2025-26 school year ranges from: $17,980 (part time enrollment in Beginners) to $23,120 (full day Pre-K) for Early Childhood; $28,040 to $33,310 for Kindergarten–Fifth Grade; $37,890 for Middle School and $40,520 to $41,910 for Upper School."
The school's third headmaster retired at the end of the 2012–2013 school year, after 20 years of service to the school. Since July 1, 2013, Dr. John W. Griffith has been the school's fourth headmaster.
Governance The school is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools and the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools.Ranney School , National Association of Independent Schools. Accessed June 15, 2011.List of Member Schools, New Jersey Association of Independent Schools. Accessed August 13, 2017. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1994 and is accredited until January 2027.Ranney School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed December 29, 2022.
Extracurricular activities The school's student life programs include 20+ sports, 40+ clubs, 10+ Honor Societies, visual arts, and performing arts.
Athletics The Ranney PanthersRanney School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete in Division B Central of the Shore Conference, an athletic conference comprised of private and public high schools in Monmouth and Ocean counties along the Jersey Shore.Shore Conference Realignment for 2018-2019 and 2019-2020, Shore Conference. Accessed November 15, 2020.Member Schools, Shore Conference. Accessed November 15, 2020. The conference operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. With 220 students in grades 10-12, NJSIAA classified the school for the 2019–20 school year as Non-Public B for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 37 to 366 students in that grade range (equivalent to Group I for public schools).NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020. The school also competes against other New Jersey and New York City area private schools.
The school participates in a joint cooperative football team with Mater Dei High School as the host school/lead agency. St. John Vianney High School is the host school for a co-op ice hockey team. These co-op programs operate under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year.NJSIAA Fall Cooperative Sports Programs, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 1, 2020.NJSIAA Winter Cooperative Sports Programs, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 1, 2020.
The school has won more than 30 individual and team championships in five years, including swimming, tennis, basketball, fencing, and more. In 2011, the Ranney boys épée team won the state championship, the school's first state title in any sport.NJSIAA History of Boys Fencing Championships, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.Karn, Jeff. "Ranney, Hunterdon Central, Ramapo win squad fencing titles", The Star-Ledger, February 27, 2011. Accessed August 26, 2011. "Ranney won its first state title of any kind when it grabbed the épée crown, Hunterdon Central repeated as foil champion, and Ramapo continued a long tradition by winning the saber title at the NJSIAA/Bollinger Squad Championships on Sunday at North Hunterdon in Annandale." In 2012 and 2013, the Varsity Girls' Tennis team won the NJSIAA Non-Public B South Championship.
In its first year in the Shore Conference as a B-Central Division member, 2012–2013, Ranney received the School of the Year and Coach of the Year Awards. Ranney Athletics are present in all divisions, Lower, Middle, and Upper School, including twice-weekly swim practice, an after-school RanneyPlus program, and a weekend Panther Cubs program for younger students. The school also has a crew team and an equestrian club.
The girls' fencing team has won two individual foil titles in 2014 and 2016.NJSIAA History of Girls Fencing Championships , New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
The boys' basketball team won the Non-Public Group B state championship in 2019, defeating Roselle Catholic High School by a score of 56-50 in the tournament final at the RWJBarnabas Health Arena, having lost to Roselle Catholic in the Non-Public B finals a year before on a last-second basket.Boys Basketball Championship History 1919–2024, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated March 2024. Accessed March 26, 2024.Newman, Josh, via Asbury Park Press. "Ranney downs Roselle Catholic to claim Non-Public B, Tournament of Champions berth", USA Today High School Sports, March 10, 2019. Accessed November 29, 2020. "On Saturday night, 364 days after that soul-crusher ended Ranney's season, the Panthers got over the hump this time, leading wire-to-wire to defeat Roselle Catholic, 56-50, to claim their first Non-Public B crown in front of a standing-room-only crowd at RWJ Barnabas Health Arena on the campus of Toms River High School North." Ranney came into its first Tournament of Champions as the top seed, winning against number-five seed Moorestown High School by 62-40 in the semifinals and won vs. second-seeded Bergen Catholic High School in the championship game by a score of 67-63 to finish the season with a 31-3 record.NJSIAA Boys Basketball Tournament Of Champions History , New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.Newman, Josh. "Ranney wins Tournament of Champions, outlasting Bergen Catholic", Asbury Park Press, March 17, 2019. Accessed November 29, 2020. "All of that equated to this much-hyped Ranney outfit getting to the apex of high school basketball in New Jersey, defeating Bergen Catholic, 67-63, for the program's first TOC crown. Ranney (31-3) is the first Shore Conference team to win New Jersey's final game."
In 2024, Rachel Lasda, girls lacrosse coach and science teacher, joined the Latvian national lacrosse team. Professionally, Lasda has competed in multiple World Championships with the Latvian Women's National Lacrosse Team as a player and assistant coach since 2013 when she first began at Ranney.
Ranney's John Welch won the Shore Conference Boys Golf Tournament in April 2024.
Campus
The campus features assembly spaces and media centers, a music wing, two dining halls, two libraries, robotics labs, Innovation Labs (makerspaces), a finance lab featuring 12 Bloomberg terminals, and athletic facilities including tennis courts, a track, two gymnasiums, an indoor 25-meter swimming pool, a 415-capacity outdoor grandstand and press box, training and conditioning facilities and fields for soccer, lacrosse, baseball, and softball.
Controversies
James Paroline case In 2014, James Paroline was employed by Ranney School as a sports activity specialist for its summer camp program. On August 22, 2014, a minor student who was supposed to be taken home by the camp bus was instead missing for several hours on the school grounds. Legal complaints allege that, during this time, Paroline sexually abused the student. Paroline was later arrested in July 2015 following an unrelated federal investigation, during which he reportedly confessed to sexually abusing children at Ranney and other institutions, and identified multiple alleged victims.
Subsequent civil litigation accused Ranney School of negligence. The plaintiff’s case stated the school failed to properly supervise the child, did not ensure he boarded the correct bus, failed to account for his whereabouts when missing, and allowed him to be alone with Paroline under circumstances that were contrary to school policy and posed a danger to the child. The lawsuit contended that these failures contributed to the circumstances in which the abuse occurred.
The parties ultimately reached a confidential settlement in 2024, with all claims against the school and its employees being dismissed with prejudice.
Basketball program In 2018, questions were raised about potential NCAA violations related to the housing arrangements for Ranney School's star basketball players, Scottie Lewis and Bryan Antoine. The players were living in homes owned by Brian Klatsky, a team parent and founder of Team Rio National, or his parents, which led to concerns about extra benefits and amateurism rules.
Notable alumni
Bryan Antoine (born 2000, class of 2019), professional basketball player for the Den Helder Suns of the BNXT LeagueBryan Antoine, Villanova Wildcats men's basketball. Accessed May 18, 2020. "Hometown: Tinton Falls, N.J.; High School: Ranney School" Preet Bharara (born 1968), federal prosecutor who served as United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2009 to 2017Chang, Ailsa. "Meet Preet Bharara: New York's Highest-Profile Prosecutor" , WNYC, January 27, 2011. Accessed July 5, 2011. "If you want to understand Bharara, people close to him said to go back to 1986, his senior year of high school. Go back to a small, tightly run place in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, called The Ranney School, where all the boys had to wear blue blazers and gray slacks." Abby Boyan (born 1999, class of 2018), professional soccer player for the Utah Royals of the National Women's Soccer LeagueGould, Brandon. "Abby Boyan leads Ranney girls soccer in upset victory, scores 100th career goal", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, November 2, 2017. Accessed September 21, 2025. "Senior Abby Boyan has been one of the best scoring threats in the state over the last four years and the Georgia commit cemented that fact in the first round of the South, Non-Public B playoffs." Catherine Ashmore Bradley (born 2007, class of 2026), actress Kirsten Dunst (born 1982), actress (attended through the 5th grade)O'Sullivan, Eleanor. ["Dunst was born in Point Pleasant and attended the Ranney School "There She Is...Kirsten Dunst; Jersey-bred actress is drop-dead talented"], Asbury Park Press, July 20, 1999. Accessed June 7, 2026, via Newspapers.com. "Dunst was born in Point Pleasant and attended the Ranney School in Tinton Falls until the fifth grade."O'Sullivan, Eleanor. "The Jersey Shore's Starlet", Asbury Park Press, May 4, 2007. Accessed June 7, 2026, via Newspapers.com. "Dunst, who was born in Point Pleasant, raised in Brick, and schooled for a while at the Ranney School in Tinton Falls, has achieved an acting career unlike any of her peers."