Memorial High School (West New York, New Jersey)

Memorial High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in West New York, in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades. The school is the lone secondary school of the West New York School District, an Abbott district[3] that serves all of West New York. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools since 1970; the school's accreditation expires in December 2021.[4]

Memorial High School
Location
Memorial High School
Memorial High School
Memorial High School
5501 Park Avenue
West New York, NJ 07093

United States
Coordinates40.782803°N 74.011953°W / 40.782803; -74.011953
Information
TypePublic high school
School districtWest New York School District
NCES School ID3417580[1]
PrincipalOscar Guerrero
Asst. principalsTara Giacumbo
Charles Krajewski
Robert Raparelli
Amada SanJuan
Harold Schroeder
Faculty150.0 FTEs[1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment2,034 (as of 2018–19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio13.6:1[1]
Color(s)     Black
     Orange and
     white[2]
Athletics conferenceHudson County Interscholastic League
Team nameTigers[2]
WebsiteSchool website

As of the 2018–19 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,034 students and 150.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.6:1. There were 1,478 students (72.7% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 196 (9.6% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]

History

In 2005, the New Jersey Schools Development Authority determined that the Memorial High School building was equipped to hold 918 students, making the school 882 students over capacity. In January 2012, the NJSDA forwarded the West New York Board of Education's application for the purchase of St. Joseph of the Palisades Elementary School to Vatican City, with which West New York hopes to turn into a "freshman/sophomore academy" to house between 700 and 800 of the high school's students. Upon the anticipated papal approval of the purchase of the school, which belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, the SDA will make a final decision on development plans.[5]

In March 2012, the portion of 56th Street in front of the school was dedicated as Rebeka Verea Way, in tribute to Rebeka Verea, who died in a car accident[6] in North Bergen the night of her graduation in 2005. Though she graduated from Cliffside Park High School, her father runs a medical practice based in West New York, and is the chief medical officer at North Hudson Community Action Corporation, which is also based in West New York.[7]

Awards, recognition and rankings

In 2011, the College Board recognized Memorial High School as the 2011 winner of its "AP District of the Year Award" in the small schools category, in recognition of the district's efforts to expand the scope of Advanced Placement courses offered in the school and the improved results of those taking AP exams, with the school offering about 10 different AP courses after it started its first AP class in the 1980s.[8][9]

The school was the 280th-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.[10] The school had been ranked 307th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 273rd in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[11] The magazine ranked the school 282nd in 2008 out of 316 schools.[12] The school was ranked 261st in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[13] Schooldigger.com ranked the school 204th out of 376 public high schools statewide in its 2010 rankings (a decrease of 42 positions from the 2009 rank) 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).[14]

Athletics
Students using the athletic field at Memorial Park.

The Memorial High School Tigers[2] compete in the Hudson County Interscholastic League (HCIAA), which includes private and parochial high schools in Hudson County, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.[15] With 1,478 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as North I, Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,090 to 2,568 students in that grade range.[16]

The boys' basketball team won the Group IV state championship in 1939 (defeating Bloomfield High School in the tournament final) and 1942 (vs. Asbury Park High School), and won the Group III title in 1966 (vs. Sterling High School).[17] In 2002, the team won the North I Group IV state title, defeating Hackensack High School 65-62.[18]

The boys' track team won the Group III indoor relay state championship in 1974.[19]

The boys' baseball team won the Group IV state title in 1988 against Madison Central High School in the title game.[20] In 2001, the team made it to the finals of the North I Group IV state tournament, falling to rival North Bergen High School 4-3 in the final game.[21]

School clubs

Clubs and extracurricular program include:[22]

  • Drama Club
  • National Honors Society
  • M.O.M.S. (My Outreach Mission)
  • School Band
  • School Chorus
  • Student Council
  • Together In Greatness (TIGs)[23]

Administration
  • Oscar Guerrero – Principal[24]

Notable alumni

References
  1. School data for Memorial High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 1, 2020.
  2. Memorial High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 28, 2016.
  3. Abbott School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 15, 2016.
  4. West New York Memorial High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools. Accessed April 25, 2020.
  5. Pope, Gennarose. "WNY can't buy school unless it gets approval from the Vatican". The Union City Reporter. January 24, 2012. Accessed January 28, 2012.
  6. "Community". Year in Photos: The Hudson Reporter. p. 17
  7. Pope, Gennarose (March 25, 2012). "Lessons from a tragedy; Street in front of WNY high school renamed for teen killed in accident", The Hudson Reporter, March 25, 2012. Accessed November 8, 2015. "A procession of Memorial High School students, town officials, marching band members, and friends of the Verea family marched slowly toward 56th Street, in advance of the street being renamed Rebeka Verea Way."
  8. Sanabria, Santo. "'District of the year'; Memorial High School Advanced Placement students rank high nationally", The Hudson Reporter, May 29, 2011. Accessed August 2, 2012. "The College Board 'AP District of the Year Award' in the small schools category was given to Memorial High for expanding their enrollment of students in the program as well as improving advanced placement scores."
  9. AP in a District: West New York School District, NJ, College Board. Accessed August 2, 2012.
  10. Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
  11. Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed December 2, 2012.
  12. "2010 Top High Schools". New Jersey Monthly. August 16, 2010.
  13. "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank". New Jersey Monthly. September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
  14. "New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2009-2010". Schooldigger.com. Accessed December 31, 2011.
  15. League Memberships – 2016-2017 Archived 2012-11-09 at the Wayback Machine , New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed June 8, 2017.
  16. General Public School Classifications 2015-2016, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, as of July 8, 2014. Accessed September 8, 2014.
  17. Public Past State Champions, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 27, 2016.
  18. 2002 Boys Basketball - North I, Group IV, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed April 23, 2007.
  19. History of the NJSIAA Indoor Relay Championships, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 27, 2016.
  20. History of the NJSIAA Baseball Championships, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 27, 2016.
  21. 2001 NJSIAA Baseball - North I, Group IV, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed April 23, 2007.
  22. Home page, Memorial High School. Accessed August 2, 2012.
  23. Rosero, Jessica. "WNY celebrates national Red Ribbon Week", The Hudson Reporter, November 1, 2005. Accessed February 13, 2013. "TIGers are members of the nationwide Together In Greatness (TIGs) Program, which was brought to Memorial High School about seven years ago. The program now boasts about 50 members from the high school working on community service projects throughout the year."
  24. Contact Us, Memorial High School. Accessed August 29, 2019.
  25. McConnell, Elizabeth. "Man of the cloth: West New Yorker digs into role on daytime drama", The Hudson Reporter, May 7, 2000. Accessed August 29, 2019. "Alvarez, who grew up in West New York after his family emigrated here from Cuba in the late 1950s, wasn’t heading toward a life on screen when he graduated from Memorial High School."
  26. Cullen, Deanna. "A lifetime of secure investments". The Union City Reporter. December 12, 2010, page 3. Accessed June 23, 2011. "Boroson grew up on Boulevard East in West New York, back when the town comprised embroidery factories and Irish Catholic, German, and Italian residents. He first attended P.S. No. 6 and then Memorial High School. At that time, he said, there were two graduations, January and June, and he graduated in January of 1952."
  27. Vincent John Dellay, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed August 16, 2007.
  28. via Associated Press, "MEMORIAL QUINTET TRIUMPHS IN FINAL; West New York Team Defeats La Salle M.A., 44-36, for Tournament Honors", The New York Times, March 30, 1941. Accessed June 23, 2011. "Memorial, sparked by its towering 6-foot 6-inch center, John Mahnken, who scored 10 points, headed La Salle throughout."
  29. John Mahnken profile, Basketball Reference. Accessed August 7, 2007.
  30. Monday, Michael. "WrestleMania 29: Homecoming for Jersey's tiny 'Diva' AJ Lee", The Star-Ledger, April 3, 2013. Accessed December 22, 2013. "'It was one of the hardest things I could ever imagine to grow up (like that),' says Lee, a 2005 graduate of Memorial High School in West New York."
  31. Gene Prebola Archived 2015-10-01 at the Wayback Machine, Boston University Terriers football. Accessed September 8, 2014. "An outstanding all-around performer at Memorial High School, the West New York, New Jersey native came to Boston University in the fall of 1956."
  32. Senator Nicholas J. Sacco, New Jersey Senate Democrats. Accessed August 29, 2019. "The senator was born in Jersey City Nov. 17, 1946. He attended public schools in Hudson County and graduated from Memorial High School in West New York."
  33. Albio Sires, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed September 25, 2007.
  34. Akkad, Nour. "Isabel Toledo: Michelle Obama's Inauguration Dress Designer", Huffington Post, February 20, 2009. Accessed August 29, 2019. "Born Isabel Izquierdo in Cuba where she lived until the age of 8, Toledo grew up in West New York and attended Memorial High School, where she met her husband, the artist Rubén Toledo."
  35. Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey, Volume 201, Part 2, p. 274. J.A. Fitzgerald., 1985. Accessed April 26, 2020. "Anthony P. Vainieri, Dem., North Bergen - Mr. Vainieri was born in McKees Rocks, Pa., on Feb. 15, 1928. After graduation from Memorial High School, West New York, he enlisted in the Navy."
  36. Hudson County Freeholder - District 7: Silverio A. Vega Archived 2002-06-22 at Archive.today, Hudson County, New Jersey. Accessed January 12, 2008.
  37. Hirsch, Corin. "Lunch Box Diaries; Vermonters recall their school cafeteria cuisine", Seven Days, August 31, 2011. Accessed August 2, 2012. "Armando Vilaseca - Vermont education commissioner; I came from Cuba in 1964 and moved to West New York, N.J., an immigrant area that from the 1960s until the 1980s had a huge Cuban immigrant population. My high school, Memorial High School, was probably 70 percent Cuban American..."
  38. Fitzgerald's Legislative Manual, 1984, p. 251. Accessed November 18, 2017. "Jacqueline Walker, Dem., Matawan Assemblywoman Walker was born in Jersey City Nov. 7, l941. She attended elementary school and Memorial High School in West New York."
  39. Falk, Steven (November 22, 2019). "Warren Wolf, legendary Brick, Lakewood coach, dead at 92". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
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