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Mercer County Technical School Culinary Arts Academy

Public Grades 9-12

285^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 434 New Jersey High Schools

Better than 34% of New Jersey high schools

Summary

Mercer County Technical School Culinary Arts Academy is a public high school serving grades 9-12 in Pennington, New Jersey, with a relatively small student population of 107 students. The school is part of the Area Vocational Technical School District of Mercer County, which is ranked 315 out of 609 districts in the state and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Academically, the Culinary Arts Academy has consistently ranked in the bottom half of New Jersey high schools, with lower proficiency rates in English Language Arts, mathematics, and science compared to the district and state averages. For example, in 2024-2025, only 50% of 9th graders were proficient or better in English Language Arts, and just 3.6% of 9th graders and Algebra I students were proficient or better in mathematics. The school's science proficiency rates are also low, with only 3.8% of 11th graders proficient or better in 2024-2025. In contrast, the district's Mercer County Technical School STEM Academy consistently outperforms the Culinary Arts Academy on academic measures, and other nearby schools, such as Hopewell Valley Central High School and Lawrence High School, also significantly outperform the Culinary Arts Academy.

The school's high dropout rate, ranging from 0.0% to 5.0% in recent years, and the growing population of students from low-income families, with the free and reduced-price lunch rate increasing from 17.07% in 2021-2022 to 42.06% in 2023-2024, suggest that the school may face challenges in supporting the academic and social-emotional needs of its diverse student population. While the Culinary Arts Academy's focus on vocational training may provide valuable career opportunities, it is essential that the school also strengthens its academic curriculum and support systems to ensure that students are well-prepared for post-secondary education and a wide range of career paths.

111

Students ?

16.0

Student/teacher ratio ?

$6,008

Per pupil spending ?

64.9%

Free/discounted lunch ?

129 Bull Run Road
Pennington, NJ 08534

(609) 737-9784

District: Area Vocational Technical School District of Mercer County

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

65.8%

White:

17.1%

African American:

17.1%

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At a glance

▲ Ranking trend: Improving — 18th percentile in 2019 → 34th in 2025

Strengths

✓Ranking is trending up — up 16 percentile points since 2019

Worth a look

!Test scores below the New Jersey average (37% vs 48% meeting standards)

!Algebra I scores 28 pts below the New Jersey average

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school37%

District avg42%

New Jersey avg48%

285^th of 434

New Jersey public high schools ?

Bottom 34%▲ up 16 pts since 2019

From bottom 18% (2019) to bottom 34% (2025)

See the entire ranking list of New Jersey High Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

3^rd of 3High Schools in the Area Vocational Technical School District of Mercer County

315^th of 609Area Vocational Technical School District of Mercer County among New Jersey districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	New Jersey percentile	Rating
2025	35.9	285 of 434	34.3%	★★☆☆☆
2024	31.8	297 of 429	30.8%	★★☆☆☆
2023	13.9	370 of 422	12.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	17.4	353 of 415	14.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	21.3	321 of 405	20.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	17.8	340 of 416	18.3%	★☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	New Jersey percentile	Rating
2023	22.1	149 of 161	7.5%	☆☆☆☆☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	New Jersey percentile	Rating
2025	32.1	309 of 426	27.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	24.3	339 of 420	19.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	15.2	353 of 416	15.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	10.7	382 of 414	7.7%	☆☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	New Jersey percentile	Rating
2025	39.2	250 of 406	38.4%	★★☆☆☆
2024	27.1	320 of 403	20.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	12.9	365 of 385	5.2%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	23.3	300 of 382	21.5%	★☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	New Jersey percentile	Rating
2025	55.5	125 of 377	66.8%	★★★☆☆
2024	42.4	190 of 358	46.9%	★★☆☆☆
2023	17.6	312 of 344	9.3%	☆☆☆☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	New Jersey percentile	Rating
2025	20.4	337 of 426	20.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	25.3	318 of 419	24.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	8.1	398 of 414	3.9%	☆☆☆☆☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

Low Socio Economic Status (2025)67th percentile+33 vs school

Hispanic (2025)38th percentile+4 vs school

Female (2025)27th percentile-7 vs school

Male (2025)21st percentile-13 vs school

English Language Learner (2023)7th percentile-5 vs school

By subject vs New Jersey (2024-2025) ?

English Language Arts50%~ state avg

Mathematics46%-12 vs state

Science4%-27 vs state

Algebra I4%-28 vs state

★

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Schools Near Mercer County Technical School Culinary Arts Academy

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				NJGPA English Language Arts (2025)	NJGPA Mathematics (2025)	NJSLA-S Science (2025)		NJSLA English Language Arts (2025)				NJSLA Mathematics (2025)			NJSLA Algebra I (2025)			NJSLA Geometry (2025)			NJSLA Algebra II (2025)			Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	NJGPA English Language Arts 11th Grade	NJGPA Mathematics 11th Grade	NJSLA-S Science 8th Grade	NJSLA-S Science 11th Grade	NJSLA English Language Arts 6th Grade	NJSLA English Language Arts 7th Grade	NJSLA English Language Arts 8th Grade	NJSLA English Language Arts 9th Grade	NJSLA Mathematics 6th Grade	NJSLA Mathematics 7th Grade	NJSLA Mathematics 8th Grade	NJSLA Algebra I 9th Grade	NJSLA Algebra I 10th Grade	NJSLA Algebra I End of Course	NJSLA Geometry 9th Grade	NJSLA Geometry 10th Grade	NJSLA Geometry End of Course	NJSLA Algebra II 9th Grade	NJSLA Algebra II 10th Grade	NJSLA Algebra II End of Course	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
MCVS Arthur R. Sypek Center	Public	11-12	129 Bull Run Road	Pennington	08534	Mercer County	Area Vocational Technical School District of Mercer County	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 737-9784	21	18	1.2	52.4%	8 (38.1%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (57.1%)	1 (4.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)																					$11,242	$843	$10,399
Mercer County Technical School Culinary Arts Academy	Public	9-12	129 Bull Run Road	Pennington	08534	Mercer County	Area Vocational Technical School District of Mercer County	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 737-9784	111	7	16.0	64.9%	19 (17.1%)	19 (17.1%)	73 (65.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	35.9	285^th of 434 public high schools	34.3%		31.8	297^th of 429 public high schools	30.8%	12	84.0	46.2		3.8				50.0				3.6		3.6							$6,008		$6,008
Mercer County Technical School STEM Academy	Public	9-12	129 Bull Run Road	Pennington	08534	Mercer County	Area Vocational Technical School District of Mercer County	No	(n/a)	No	No	(609) 737-9784	141	6	21.9	39.7%	32 (22.7%)	19 (13.5%)	66 (46.8%)	22 (15.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	73.5	75^th of 434 public high schools	82.7%		86.3	31^st of 429 public high schools	92.8%	44		82.4		58.8				83.0				43.5		43.5	52.1		52.1				$4,422		$4,422
Lawrence High School	Public	9-12	2525 Princeton Pike	Lawrenceville	08648	Mercer County	Lawrence Township Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(609) 671-5510	1,225	98	12.5	37.3%	455 (37.1%)	190 (15.5%)	293 (23.9%)	212 (17.3%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	72 (5.9%)	53	180^th of 434 public high schools	58.5%		53.3	179^th of 429 public high schools	58.3%	1	86.4	57.0		40.2				50.5				13.1		13.1	62.3		61.6				$14,745	$110	$14,635
Trenton Stem-to-Civics Charter School	Public, Charter	6-12	1555 Pennington Raod	Ewing	08618	Mercer County	Trenton Stem-to-Civics Charter School	Yes	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 619-2000	562	21	26.7	24.6%	3 (0.5%)	369 (65.7%)	170 (30.2%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	16 (2.8%)	12.8	402^nd of 434 public high schools	7.4%		11.8	398^th of 429 public high schools	7.2%	4	59.2	13.5	1.2	3.3	26.7	33.3	26.8	28.2	10.0	5.3	4.9		4.7	4.6							$8,463	$1,091	$7,372
Ewing High School	Public	9-12	900 Parkway Ave	Ewing	08618	Mercer County	Ewing Township School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 538-9800	1,118	90	12.3	56.5%	198 (17.7%)	529 (47.3%)	293 (26.2%)	43 (3.8%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	49 (4.4%)	21.7	351^st of 434 public high schools	19.1%		24.9	332^nd of 429 public high schools	22.6%	19	64.3	41.7		20.8				23.4				7.8		7.7	31.8		31.8				$14,002	$194	$13,808
Ann Klein Forensic Center	Public	12	1610 Stuyvesant Ave	West Trenton	08625	Mercer County	Office Of Education Department Of Children And Families	No	(n/a)	No	No	(609) 633-0883	0				0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()	0 ()								(n/a)
Marie H Katzenbach Middle/High School	Public	6-12	320 Sullivan Way	Trenton	08628	Mercer County	Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf	No	(n/a)	No	No	(609) 530-3130	33			9.1%	9 (27.3%)	7 (21.2%)	15 (45.5%)	2 (6.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)
Hopewell Valley Central High School	Public	9-12	259 Pennington Titusville Rd	Pennington	08534	Mercer County	Hopewell Valley Regional School District	No	(n/a)	No	Yes	(609) 737-4003	1,068	105	10.1	6.1%	741 (69.4%)	41 (3.8%)	73 (6.8%)	165 (15.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	44 (4.1%)	73.5	76^th of 434 public high schools	82.5%		72.7	88^th of 429 public high schools	79.5%	12		85.6		61.0				65.5				42.3		42.1	87.5	30.5	51.7	90.6	75.3	79.1	$11,670		$11,670
Capital City High School	Public	9-12	135 E. Hanover Street	Trenton	08618	Mercer County	Trenton Public School District	No	(n/a)	No	No	(609) 256-8190	756	40	18.9	56.1%	8 (1.1%)	167 (22.1%)	564 (74.6%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (2.0%)								(n/a)																					$13,864	$2,099	$11,765

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