In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 47th in New Jersey and 1,493rd nationwide. The school was ranked 1609th, the 62nd-highest in New Jersey, in Newsweek magazine's 2010 rankings of America's Best High Schools. In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 898th in the nation among participating public high schools and 67th among schools in New Jersey. The school was the 86th-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. The school had been ranked 40th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 101st in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 95th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 91st in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 115th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics and language arts literacy components of the High School Proficiency Assessment. In 2019, the school was ranked 241st out of 438 high schools in New Jersey in rankings by U.S. News & World Report.
Athletics
The Arthur L. Johnson High School Crusaders compete in the Union County Interscholastic Athletic Conference, which consists of public and parochial high schools covering Union County, operating under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. With 570 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015–16 school year as Central Jersey, Group II for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 498 to 750 students in that grade range. Before the 2010 realignment, the school had participated in the Mountain Valley Conference, which consisted of public and parochial high schools in Essex County and Union County. The boys' bowling team won the overall state championship in 1985 and the Group I state championship in 2013. The football team won the North II Group II state sectional titles in 1995 and 2002. The field hockey team won the North II Group II state sectional titles in 2008, 2010 and 2011. The cheerleading team won the NJCDCA Group II state championship title in 2017. The ice hockey team won the McMullen Cup in 2020, defeating Frisch School by a score of 7-3 in the tournament final.
Jeffrey Lichtman, defense attorney in New York City who represented John Gotti Jr. and managed to secure a dismissal of three charges of murder conspiracy, an acquittal of a $25 million securities fraud charge, and a hung jury on every remaining count brought against him.
Matt Poskay, professional lacrosse player who has played for the Boston Cannons and set a national high school record of 362 career goals.