Chatham High School (New Jersey)

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Chatham High School
Location
255 Lafayette Avenue
Chatham Township, NJ 07928
Information
Type Public high school
Established July 1988
Principal Darren Groh
Asst. Principal George Alexis
Lori Gironda
Faculty 66.00 (on FTE basis)[1]
Grades 9–12
Enrollment 1,061 (as of 2009-10)[1]
Student to teacher ratio 16.08[1]
Campus Suburban
Color(s) Navy and White
Athletics conference Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference
Nickname Cougars
Website School website

Chatham High School is an American four-year comprehensive public high school located at 255 Lafayette Avenue in Chatham Township, in Morris County, New Jersey, operating as part of the School District of the Chathams. The school serves students in grades 9-12. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools since 1989.[2]

As of the 2009-10 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,061 students and 66.00 classroom teachers (on a FTE basis, for a student–teacher ratio of 16.08.[1]

The school now has a principal, Darren Groh, and two assistant principals, Lori Gironda and George Alexis beginning with the 2010-11 school year, a change approved by the Board of Education of the School District of the Chathams on May 11, 2010.

Contents

[edit] History

The new regional high school, serving two municipalities, was dedicated at Lafayette Avenue after the creation of the School District of the Chathams on July 1, 1988, and joined the Lafayette Elementary School on its original site. The two schools share performing arts facilities.

The previous Chatham High School on Fairmount Avenue adjacent to the Chatham train station in Chatham Borough is a historic early twentieth century Gothic Revival building that still bears the name on its façade. Secondary level students from Chatham Township were bused to it and, later to a senior high school on Main Street, for many years under the auspices of the former, Chatham Board of Education.

From 1966 through 1988, Chatham Township students attended the newly constructed Chatham Township High School on Lafayette Avenue where Chatham High School is today. CTHS had as its mascot the Gladiator and CBHS the Eskie. The two schools were strong rivals at Homecoming games for the twenty-two years they were separate high schools. Today the school mascot for the combined Chatham High School is the Cougar.

The school and several students were featured in the PBS program Frontline in 2008 for an episode related to a generation growing up with the internet.[3]

During the 2007-08 school year, Chatham High School stopped giving midterm exams. Instead of midterm exams, students must complete alternate assessment projects, a move strongly supported by co-principal Michael Lasusa and backed by the School District of the Chathams. However, according to student poll data, a majority of students do not support the changes and would like to revert to midterms again. This policy continued into the 2008-09 school year.[4]

[edit] Awards and recognition

For the 2004-05 school year, the high school was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education,[5] the highest award an American school can receive for excellence in the No Child Left Behind Act.[6][7]

The school was the 8th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 322 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2010 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", after being ranked 10th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[8] The school was ranked 12th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state.[9]

In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 15th in New Jersey and 647th nationwide.[10]

==Music and theater

[edit] Marching Band

Chatham High has a marching band led by Brian Conti. This past season the 58 member band fell under the Group 2 open classification. The band was ranked continuously in the top 5 bands in Group 2 Open and holding an overall #1 ranking for several weeks in 2008.[11]

[edit] Theater

Chatham High School contains an active theater program that performs two productions a school year, a play in the fall and then a musical in the Spring.

[edit] Athletics

The boys basketball team won the 2007 Group II NJSIAA State Championship, defeating Pascack Hills High School 67-53 in the semifinals and topping Haddonfield Memorial High School 48-42 in the finals.[12]

The boys tennis team won the North II, Group II state sectional championship with a 3-2 win over West Essex High School.[13]

The boys cross country team won the 2006 North II, Group II state sectional championship for the second time in three years and won again in 2008.[14] Additionally, the team went on to win the 2006 Morris County Championship, topping both perennial powerhouses Morris Hills and Delbarton.[15]

The girls soccer team won the 2004 Group II NJSIAA State Championship, defeating Cinnaminson High School in the finals in double overtime by a score of 1-0.[16][17]

The 2007 Girls Volleyball team won the triple crown, winning the conference, county and state championships. The team won the Group II state championship with a come-from-behind win in three games against Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest (11-25, 25-19, 25-22).[18] They lost in the semifinals of the Tournament of Champions to Hunterdon Central Regional High School by 26-24 and 29-27.[19]

The 2008 Boys Tennis Team won the North II, Group II state sectional championship with a 4-1 win in the tournament final over Mountain Lakes High School.[20]

The 2008 girls Lacrosse team won the triple crown by capturing the conference, county, and state championships while being ranked the no. 3 team in all of New Jersey. They lost 16-9 to powerhouse Moorestown High School in Chatham High School's first ever appearance in the Tournament of Champions final game.[21]

The 2008 Chatham golf team completed a highly successful campaign by going undefeated at 21-0 for the year. The Cougars won the conference championship as well as the NJ Group II State Championship.[22] Chatham was named Golf Team of the Year by the Daily Record and was ranked fifth in the state of by The Star-Ledger by virtue of their overall finish at the Tournament of Champions event held at Beacon Hill Country Club in Atlantic Highlands.[23]

The 2010 men's soccer team advanced to the Group 4 State Championship, where they fell to Holmdel 2-1.

The 2010-2011 Chatham hockey team won the Public B state championship, the school's first state championship in the sport.

[edit] Administration

Core members of the school's administration are:[24]

  • Darren Groh, Principal
  • George Alexis and Lori Gironda, Assistant Principals

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Chatham High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved May 23, 2011.
  2. ^ Chatham High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools. Accessed June 22, 2011.
  3. ^ Growing Up Online, PBS. Accessed June 22, 2011.
  4. ^ Interviews: Rose Porpora, Frontline, January 22, 2008. Accessed March 18, 2011. "Q: Does the school or the school district have a philosophy about this that's been articulated to the teachers? Or does each teacher teach the way that comes naturally to them? A: There's a lot of freedom for methods as long as they're working, and I think there's a lot of trust. I think the community has come to trust us very much. We just made changes this year; next year we're eliminating our midterm because we think that there are better, more effective ways to assess the students. They accepted our proposal, and I think that was huge."
  5. ^ Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 2003 Through 2005, United States Department of Education. Accessed May 15, 2006.
  6. ^ CIBA cited as one of the best by Education Department, Journal Inquirer, November 16, 2006. "The Blue Ribbon award is given only to schools that reach the top 10 percent of their state's testing scores over several years or show significant gains in student achievement. It is considered the highest honor a school can achieve."
  7. ^ Viers Mill School Wins Blue Ribbon; School Scored High on Statewide Test; The Washington Post, September 29, 2005. "For their accomplishments, all three schools this month earned the status of Blue Ribbon School, the highest honor the U.S. Education Department can bestow upon a school."
  8. ^ Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed March 18, 2011.
  9. ^ "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Retrieved August 19, 2008.
  10. ^ Mathews, Jay. "The High School Challenge 2011: Chatham High School", The Washington Post. Accessed July 17, 2011.
  11. ^ 2008 National Schedule, USSBA. Accessed July 17, 2011.
  12. ^ 2007 Boys Basketball - Public Group Semis/Finals, NJSIAA. Accessed May 29, 2007.
  13. ^ 2007 Boys Tennis - North II, Group II, NJSIAA. Retrieved June 1, 2007.
  14. ^ Grant, Ed. North Jersey 1 Sectional Cross-Country Championships, NJSIAA. Accessed June 22, 2011.
  15. ^ 2006 Morris County Cross Country Championship, Morris County Track Association, October 30, 2006. Accessed July 17, 2011.
  16. ^ Staff. "Christian's clutch goal lifts Chatham to crown", Daily Record (Morristown), November 20, 2004. Accessed June 22, 2011. "Christian, a sophomore midfielder, connected off a Julia Berger pass with 8:10 remaining in the second overtime to lift Chatham to a 1-0 upset victory over Cinnaminson in the Group II girls soccer championship game at College of New Jersey on Saturday."
  17. ^ History of NJSIAA Girls Soccer, NJSIAA. Accessed June 22, 2011.
  18. ^ 2007 Girls Volleyball - Group II, NJSIAA. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  19. ^ 2007 Girls Volleyball - Tournament of Champions, NJSIAA. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  20. ^ 2008 Boys Team Tennis - North II, Group II, NJSIAA. Retrieved June 2, 2008.
  21. ^ Moretti, Mike. "Moorestown 16, Chatham 9", The Star-Ledger, June 7, 2008. Accessed June 21, 2008. "Moorestown defeated Chatham, 16-9, yesterday in the NJSIAA/New Balance Tournament of Champions final yesterday at Rutgers' Yurcak Field in Piscataway.... Moorestown scored the first two goals of the game, but feisty Chatham, which was appearing in its first T of C ever..."
  22. ^ Staff. "For Chatham, last year's pain, this year's gain", Daily Record (Morristown), May 14, 2008. Accessed July 17, 2011. "The foundation for the NJSIAA North Jersey Group II state sectional championship that Chatham captured Monday at the Overpeck Golf Course in Teaneck..."
  23. ^ Hague, Jim. "Chemistry key for undefeated Chatham", Daily Record (Morristown), June 18, 2008. Accessed July 17, 2011. "'Coming off last year I knew we graduated only one senior from that team and we had some very talented players returning', said Ervin, who coached Chatham to an undefeated 20-0 record this season including the NJSIAA Group II championship and the distinction of being the 2008 All Daily Record Golf Team of the Year."
  24. ^ Our School, Chatham High School. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
  25. ^ Chatham NJ High School Reunions. Retrieved April 19, 2007.
  26. ^ Best Boys Tennis Team of the Century, The Star-Ledger. Retrieved December 10, 2007.
  27. ^ 'Mad Hatter' bank robber gets 10 years, Daily Record (Morristown), January 25, 2008. Retrieved June 21, 2008.
  28. ^ Jandoli, Ron. "The Century's Best -- Boys Soccer: Top 10 Players of each decade", The Star-Ledger, November 7, 1999, backed up by the Internet Archive as of January 10, 2003. Retrieved September 11, 2008.
  29. ^ Legends of Hockey -- NHL Player Search -- David Williams

[edit] External links
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