James J. Ferris High School
James J. Ferris High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades located in Jersey City in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, operated as part of the Jersey City Public Schools. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools since 1940.[3]
James J. Ferris High School | |
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Location | |
James J. Ferris High School James J. Ferris High School James J. Ferris High School | |
United States | |
Coordinates | 40.720845°N 74.053948°W |
Information | |
Type | Public high school |
School district | Jersey City Public Schools |
NCES School ID | 3407830[1] |
Principal | Deneen Alford |
Faculty | 105.5 FTEs[1] |
Enrollment | 1,327 (as of 2017-18)[1] |
Student to teacher ratio | 12.6:1[1] |
Color(s) | Green gold and white[2] |
Athletics conference | Hudson County Interscholastic League |
Mascot | Bulldog |
Team name | Bulldogs[2] |
Accreditation | Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools[3] |
Website | School website |
The school is named for James J. Ferris, a civil engineer and politician in Jersey City best known for supervising the construction of the Pennsylvania Railroad Harsimus Stem Embankment and the concrete foundation of the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse.
As of the 2017-18 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,327 students and 105.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.6:1. There were 889 students (67.0% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 45 (3.4% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]
Ferris offers specialized learning centers focusing on Finance, Hospitality & Tourism, Management / Office Procedures, Marketing and International Studies. Students in the Finance Magnet are high achievers from all over the city. The magnet offers courses in Accounting, Economics, Banking, Financial Planning, Intro to Finance, Computers Business Applications 1&2. Juniors in this magnet attend Shadowing programs once a month at the Hyatt or Pershing LLC. During the student's senior year, they have an opportunity to take a paid internship co-op program[4] at Merrill Lynch, Hyatt, Pershing, Bank of Tokyo, or the Board of Education.
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 299th-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.[5] The school had been ranked 270th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 320th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[6] The magazine ranked the school 280th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[7] The school was ranked 284th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[8] Schooldigger.com ranked the school 341st out of 367 public high schools statewide in its 2009-10 rankings which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the language arts literacy and mathematics components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).[9]
Athletics
The James J. Ferris High School Bulldogs[2] compete in the Hudson County Interscholastic League, which includes private and parochial high schools in Hudson County and operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[10] With 905 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as North II, Group III for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 778 to 1,062 students in that grade range.[11]
The boys' track team won the Group III state indoor relay championships in 1973.[12]
Notable alumni
- Warren Loving (born 1960) running back who played in the NFL in 1987 for the Buffalo Bills.[13]
- Tony Nicodemo (born 1935), college basketball player who set several records while playing for Saint Michael's College of Vermont in the late 1950s.[14]
- Ralph Peduto (1942–2014), film, theater and television actor.[15]
- Ray Radziszewski (born 1935), former professional basketball player who played in one game in 1958 for the Philadelphia Warriors.[16]
- Michael Angelo Saltarelli (1932-2009), prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Bishop of Wilmington from 1995 to 2008.[17]
Administration
Core members of the school's administration are:[18]
- Deneen Alford, Principal
- Gary Gentile, Vice Principal
- Emilio Pane, Vice Principal
References
- School data for James J Ferris High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed November 1, 2019.
- James J. Ferris High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 27, 2016.
- James J. Ferris High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed January 30, 2020.
- James J. Ferris High School 2013 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 7, 2016. "Additionally, Ferris High School has developed partnerships with corporations on the Jersey City Waterfront where students are afforded the opportunity to serve internships in preparing them for life beyond high school."
- Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
- Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 20, 2012.
- Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed March 24, 2011.
- "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
- New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2009-2010, Schooldigger.com. Accessed December 29, 2011.
- League Memberships – 2016-2017 Archived 2012-11-09 at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed January 10, 2017.
- General Public School Classifications 2015-2016, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, as of December 15, 2015. Accessed December 12, 2016.
- History of the NJSIAA Indoor Relay Championships, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 22, 2016.
- Warren Loving Stats, Pro-Football-Reference.com. Accessed January 3, 2018. "Born: November 12, 1960 (Age: 57-052d) in Jersey City, NJ... High School: James J. Ferris (NJ)"
- Hague, Jim. "Scoreboard: Remembering the man they called 'Tiger'", The Hudson Reporter, January 18, 2005. Accessed January 3, 2018. "He was one of the greatest high school basketball players to ever come out of Ferris High School, becoming the school's all-time leading scorer in an era when scoring in basketball was as rare as the Hope Diamond. In the 1950s, during Nicodemo's heyday, he was the first Hudson County hoopster to employ the use of a jump shot."
- Staff. "Ralph Peduto", Santa Cruz Sentinel via Legacy.com, May 31, 2014. Accessed January 3, 2018. "As a child Ralph was part of a rich and textured life in Jersey City. He attended both Ferris High School and Dickinson High School where in 2000 he was inducted into Dickinson's Hall of Fame for achievement in performing arts."
- Clayton, Skip. Philadelphia's Big Five: Celebrating the City of Brotherly Love s Basketball Tradition, p. 105. Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., 2016. ISBN 9781613218532, Accessed January 3, 2018. "Radziszewski went to Ferris High School in Jersey City, New Jersey."
- Staff. "Bishop Saltarelli, retired head of Wilmington Diocese, dead at 77", Catholic Standard, October 9, 2009. Accessed January 3, 2018. "The future bishop attended Holy Rosary Elementary School and Ferris High School, both in Jersey City."
- Our School, James J. Ferris High School. Accessed January 30, 2020.