Watchung Hills Regional High School is a regional comprehensive public high school and school district serving students in portions of Somerset and Morris Counties in New Jersey, United States. Students from Warren Township and from the neighboring communities of Watchung, and Green Brook in Somerset County and Long Hill Township in Morris County attend the school. The high school is located in Warren Township, on Stirling Road.
U.S. News & World Report ranked the school 37th in 2016 out of 342 schools in New Jersey with the best teachers, with 46% of students participating in Advanced Placement exams.
Video Watchung Hills Regional High School
Demographics
As of the 2015-16 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,151 students and 169.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 12.7:1. There were 32 students (1.5% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 10 (0.5% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "I", the second-highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.
Maps Watchung Hills Regional High School
Awards, recognition and rankings
Watchung Hills Regional High School received the National Blue Ribbon Award of Excellence from the United States Department of Education in 1994-95, the highest honor that an American school can achieve.
In its listing of "America's Best High Schools 2016", the school was ranked 131st out of 500 best high schools in the country; it was ranked 24th among all high schools in New Jersey and 11th among the state's non-magnet schools.
In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 514th in the nation among participating public high schools and 42nd among schools in New Jersey.
In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 34th in New Jersey and 1,160th nationwide. In 2008, Newsweek ranked the school as 919th in the nation. In Newsweek's May 22, 2007 issue, ranking the country's top high schools, Watchung Hills High School was listed in 999th place, the 31st-highest ranked school in New Jersey. In the magazine's 2006 survey, the school was ranked as 745th nationwide. In their 2004 survey, Newsweek ranked WHRHS as the 583rd best high school in the nation.
The school was the 50th-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 44th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 48th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 49th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 38th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school 96th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 276 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (86.0%) and language arts literacy (97.6%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).
Athletics
The Watchung Hills Regional High School Warriors compete in the Skyland Conference, which operates under the auspices of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). With 1,658 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as North II, Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,114 to 4,800 students in that grade range.
WHRHS's interscholastic sports teams include baseball, men's and women's soccer, women's tennis, ice hockey, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's track and field, men's and women's bowling, men's and women's fencing, swimming, wrestling, women's and men's volleyball, marching band, women's softball, women's gymnastics and women's cheerleading.
The school has a rivalry with Ridge High School in neighboring Basking Ridge. Traditionally, the two football teams had played a game on the day before Thanksgiving, known as the Turkey Bowl, because of their being in different divisions of the Skyland Conference. However, as Ridge entered the same division as WHRHS in 2008, they no longer play Turkey Bowl, but play each other yearly as part of their regular schedule of games.
In basketball, WHRHS has many rivals including Immaculata High School (New Jersey) Somerville High School (New Jersey) and Ridge High School. The most heated rivalry though would be against neighboring Bridgewater-Raritan High School, which has heated up since 2008, when Coach Gene McAteer left WHRHS to coach Bridgewater.
The men's cross country team won the 1974 Group IV state championship. This was the first WHRHS team to have won a state championship.
The girls' tennis team won the Group IV state championship in 1976 and 1978 (vs. Ridgewood High School both years), 1981 (vs. Cherry Hill East High School), and won the Group III state championship in 1982 (vs. Millburn High School), 1983, 1985 (vs. Mainland Regional High School), 2000 (vs. Tenafly High School) and 2001 (vs. Northern Highlands Regional High School). The team won the Tournament of Champions in 1981 (vs. Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School), 1982 and 1983 (vs. Red Bank Catholic High School both years). The eight group titles are tied for seventh-most in the state and the three Tournament of Champions titles are tied for third most.
The baseball team won the 2005 North II, Group IV state sectional championship with an 11-0 win over Hunterdon Central Regional High School.
In wrestling, the school has had four state champions: Michael Gatti (2003), Alex Caruso (2006), Brendan Ard (2008 and 2009) and Michael Magaldo (2012).
The ice hockey team made it to the NJSIAA Public A State Finals vs. local rival Ridge High School in 2008, falling by a score of 5-0; the most successful season for the six-year-old program.
The girls' softball team won the Group IV state championships in 2016, defeating Egg Harbor Township High School by a score of 4-0 in the tournament final.
Co-curricular
Clubs are categorized as Academic, Academic-Honor, Academic-Diversified Interest, Performing Arts, Public Service and Recreation
As of May 1, 2017, the district acknowledges the following co-curricular organizations. Each organization requires an advisor, a constitution and board of education recognition.
- Academic
- Academic Team
- Chemistry Olympiad
- History Bowl Team
- Math Team
- Robotics Team
- Science Bowl Club
- Science League - Bio 1 / 2
- Science League - Chemistry 1 / 2
- Science League - Physics 1 / 2
- Academic - Honor
- National Art Honor Society
- National Honor Society
- Tri-M Music Honor Society
- Waksman Molecular Biology
- Academic - Diversified Interest
- Arrowhead Newspaper
- Astronomy Club
- Creative Writing Club
- Entrepreneurship Club
- Film Club
- Folio
- Forensics and Investigatory Club (F.I.C)
- Fusion
- Future Business Leaders of America
- Future Doctors of America
- The Neuroscience Club
- Video Game Programming
- Yearbook
- Diversified Interest
- American Sign Language Club
- Anime and Fandom Club
- Asian Culture Club
- Cosmetic Club
- Culinary Club
- Cyper Security Club
- K-Pop Club
- Polish Club
- Sign Language Club
- Sports Fans Club
- Government
- All School Council
- Freshman Grade Level Council
- Sophomore Grade Level Council
- Junior Grade Level Council
- Senior Grade Level Council
- Performing Arts
- Band
- Choral Ensembles
- Color Guard
- Dance Ensemble
- Instrument Ensemble
- Jazz Ensemble
- Script & Cue
- Script & Cue Stage Crew
- Thespian Society
- Public Service
- Action Against Hunger
- America/MLB Players Trust Action Team Club
- B.E.L.I.E.V. Club
- CARE Club
- Diversity Club
- Environmental Club
- H2O For Life
- Habitat for Humanity
- INTERACT Community Service Club
- Peer Leadership Program
- Red Cross Club
- Social Justice
- Gender and Sexuality Association (GSA)
- Junior State of America
- Mock Trial
- Model UN
- Recreation
- Ping Pong/ Badminton Club
- Rubik's Cube Club
- Ski and Snowboard Club
- Ultimate Frisbee
Administration
Core member's of the school administration are:
- Elizabeth Jewett, Superintendent
- Timothy Stys, School Business Administrator / Board Secretary
- George Alexis, Principal
- Terrence MacConnell, Vice Principal
- Steven Searfoss, Vice Principal
- Patricia Toubin, Vice Principal
Notable alumni
- Billy Ard (born 1959), former NFL pro player for the New York Giants.
- Mickey Gall (born 1992), UFC fighter who was captain of the football team at Watchung Hills.
- Tom Glassic (born 1954), retired NFL offensive lineman.
- Chris Kratt (born 1969) and Martin Kratt (born 1965), hosts of "Wild Kratts", Kratts' Creatures and Zoboomafoo as well as Be the Creature, which runs on the National Geographic Channel.
- Josh Pauls (born 1992), won a gold medal for sled hockey at the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver.
- David Palmer former lead vocalist with Steely Dan.
- Laura Prepon (born 1980), actress best known for her work on That '70s Show and "Orange Is the New Black"; she transferred out of the school at age 15.
- Allison Reed (born 1994), Olympic ice skater for the Republic of Georgia who competed in the 2010 Vancouver Games.
- Adam Riess (born 1969, class of 1988), winner in 2011 of the Nobel Prize in Physics.
- Alison Wright (born 1961), photojournalist and author.
References
External links
- Watchung Hills Regional High School website
- Watchung Hills Regional High School's 2015-16 School Performance Report from the New Jersey Department of Education
- Data for Watchung Hills Regional High School, National Center for Education Statistics
- Watchung Hills Student Activities
- Watchung Hills Student Handbook 2006-2007
- Watchung Hills Marching Band Website
Source of article : Wikipedia
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