Jefferson Township High School (New Jersey)

Jefferson Township High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Jefferson Township, in Morris County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Jefferson Township Public Schools.

Jefferson Township High School
Location
Jefferson Township High School
Jefferson Township High School
Jefferson Township High School
1010 Weldon Road
Oak Ridge, NJ 07438

United States
Coordinates41.019448°N 74.549868°W / 41.019448; -74.549868
Information
TypePublic high school
School districtJefferson Township Public Schools
NCES School ID3407800[1]
PrincipalDr. Tim Plotts
Asst. PrincipalVickki Nadler
Michelle Papa
Faculty87.0 FTEs[1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment937 (as of 2018–19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio10.8:1[1]
Color(s)     Navy Blue
     gold
     white[2]
Athletics conferenceNorthwest Jersey Athletic Conference
Team nameFalcons[2]
WebsiteSchool website

As of the 2018–19 school year, the school had an enrollment of 937 students and 87.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.8:1. There were 81 students (8.6% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 19 (2.0% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 121st-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.[3] The school had been ranked 211th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 158th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[4] The magazine ranked the school 167th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[5] The school was ranked 152nd in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[6] Schooldigger.com ranked the school 186th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 31 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the two components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA), mathematics (79.2%) and language arts literacy (93.0%).[7]

Athletics

The Jefferson Township High School Falcons[2] compete in the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference, a high school athletic conference comprising schools in Sussex County, Morris County and Warren County, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[8] With 761 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as North I, Group II for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 495 to 762 students in that grade range.[9] Prior to the NJSIAA's 2009 realignment, the school had competed in the Sussex County Interscholastic League, which was primarily based in Sussex County with some schools in Morris County.[10]

The school participates in a joint ice hockey program with Sparta High School as the host school / lead agency, under an agreement that expires at the end of the 2018-19 school year.[11]

The football team won the NJSIAA North II Group II state sectional championships in 1986 and 1987, and the North I Group II title in 2008.[12] The Boys Football team won the 2008 North I, Group II state championship, defeating West Essex High School by a score of 21-6.[13]

The girls track team won the Group I state indoor relay championship in 1990.[14]

The team won the North II Group II state sectional title in 1991-1996 and 2000, together with three consecutive state titles.[15] The wrestling team won back to back-to-back Group II state titles from 1992 to 1994, winning the third title with a resounding 45-14 win against Buena Regional High School.[16] The team held the #1 ranking in the USA Today Super 25 national rankings during the 1993 season.[17]

The girls' basketball team won the Group II state championship in 1992, defeating Middle Township High School in the tournament final.[18]

The girls' softball team won the 2004 Group II state title, defeating Sterling High School 2-0 in the championship game.[19]

The girls cheerleading team won the final Sussex County Interscholastic League champions in 2008 against defending champions the Vernon Vikings. The 2008-09 and the 2011-2012 teams won the National Championship title which was held in Baltimore.

The 2001-2002 boys varsity swim team won their first Morris County Championship four years after establishing a team under head coach Brian Palumbo. The 2009-2010 Boys Varsity Swim Team won the inaugural NJAC Northern Division Championship by going 8-0 in the conference under coach Scott Davis and Karen Gaba.

The girls track and field team won their Divisional Title, County Title, as well as Conference in spring of 2013. Their 100-meter relay team was also two-time county champions, 2013 group champions, as well as the county record holder.

Controversy

A former teacher received $500,000 in an age discrimination suit filed against the school district, after claiming that she had been subjected to a pattern of harassment when she decided not to retire, despite having had received consistent positive evaluations from supervisors in previous years.[20] The board of education had until the end of January 2012 to decide on an appeal of the verdict.[21]

Students and other members of the public came to an October 2010 board meeting to express their support for Kirsten Smith, a teacher who had been suspended with pay after the district claimed that she had violated policies related to testing.[22]

Administration

Core members of the school's administration are:[23]

  • Dr. Tim Plotts, Principal
  • Michelle Papa, Assistant Principal, Student Leadership
  • Vickki Nadler, Assistant Principal, Academic Leadership

Notable alumni
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References
  1. School data for Jefferson Township High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 1, 2020.
  2. Jefferson Township High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 10, 2015.
  3. Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
  4. Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed December 1, 2012.
  5. Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed March 24, 2011.
  6. "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
  7. School Overview; Click on "Rankings" for 2003-11 HSPA results, Schooldigger.com. Accessed March 8, 2012.
  8. League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed July 15, 2020.
  9. General Public School Classifications 2015-2016, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, as of December 15, 2015. Accessed December 12, 2016.
  10. Home Page, Sussex County Interscholastic League, backed up by the Internet Archive as of February 4, 2012. Accessed November 25, 2014.
  11. NJSIAA 2017 - 2019 Co-Operative Sports Programs, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed February 12, 2018.
  12. Goldberg, Jeff. NJSIAA Football Playoff Champions, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 19, 2015.
  13. 2008 Football - North I, Group II, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 21, 2008.
  14. History of the NJSIAA Indoor Relay Championships, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 10, 2015.
  15. History of the NJSIAA Team Championships, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 16, 2016.
  16. Latham, Don. "BUENA FALLS SHORT IN BID FOR STATE TEAM WRESTLING TITLE", The Press of Atlantic City, February 20, 1994. Accessed July 26, 2012. "If there were any doubts as to which is the best group II wrestling team in the state, Jefferson Township High School eliminated them on Saturday. Jefferson (Morris County) put on an outstanding display and beat Buena Regional 44-15 to win its third consecutive Group II State title Saturday at Kittatinny Regional High School."
  17. Brinkley, Robin. "4 OF NATION'S TOP 8 TEAMS TO COMPETE IN VIRGINIA DUALS", Virginian-Pilot, December 10, 1992. Accessed July 26, 2012. "Four of the top eight teams in USA Today's Preseason Super 25, including No. 1 Jefferson Township of Oak Ridge, N.J., and No. 2 Great Bridge, have accepted invitations to the 13th annual Virginia Duals on Jan. 8-9 at Hampton Coliseum."
  18. Public Past State Champions, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 16, 2016.
  19. 2004 Softball - Public Semis/Finals, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed April 25, 2007.
  20. Goldberg, Dan. "Ex-teacher in Morris County nets more than $500K over age discrimination", The Star-Ledger, January 9, 2012. Accessed January 11, 2012. "A former Jefferson Township High School, shown above, chemistry teacher was awarded more than $500,000 after successfully suing the district for age discrimination."
  21. Toth, Sue. "School Board Has 20 Days to Appeal Age Discrimination Outcome: Board is "exploring options," according to president.", JeffersonPatch, January 10, 2012. Accessed January 16, 2012.
  22. Luciano, John R. "Students swarm meeting to support suspended Jefferson teacher", Aim Jefferson, October 28, 2010. Accessed January 12, 2012. "Dozens of Jefferson Township High School students attended the Board of Education meeting on Oct. 25 to voice strong support for Kirsten Smith, an English teacher currently suspended with pay. Smith has been accused of violating ethics policy on district testing, a charge she flatly denies. At the meeting, Smith spoke and defended her integrity and vowed to fight for her job while speaker after speaker praised her abilities."
  23. Student Handbook, Jefferson Township High School. Accessed March 11, 2018.
  24. Jennings, Rob. "Jefferson native, SpongeBob go way back: Cartoonist an executive producer for animated film" Archived 2012-09-08 at Archive.today, Daily Record (Morristown), November 19, 2004. Accessed October 23, 2007. "But in Jefferson, Drymon is perhaps best remembered as an offensive guard and defensive tackle on the high school's state championship football team in 1986.... At Jefferson High School, when not playing football, Drymon was sketching comic books."
  25. 83 Mike Leach, Tight End/Long Snapper Archived 2007-06-08 at the Wayback Machine, Denver Broncos. Accessed April 25, 2007. "Leach was a first-team all-state selection at Jefferson Township High School in Jefferson Township, N.J., and graduated as the school's all-time leading scorer in basketball."
  26. Varsallone, Jim. "Mae Young Classic alternate Purrazzo helps lead ROH Women of Honor", Miami Herald, August 25, 2017. Accessed August 21, 2018. "Born in Livingston and raised in Jefferson, New Jersey, Purrazzo is also attractive and vied for the title of Miss New Jersey USA.... Purrazzo is a graduate of Jefferson Township High School."
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