Harrison Public Schools

Harrison Public Schools
Superintendent:		Dr. James Doran
Business Administrator:		Christine Griffin
Address:		430 William Street Harrison, NJ 07029
Grade Range:		K-12
School facilities:		4
Enrollment:		1,818 (as of 2008-09)
Faculty (in FTEs):		151.2
Student–teacher ratio:		12.0
District Factor Group:		B
Web site:		http://www.harrison.k12.nj.us
Ind.	Per Pupil	District Spending	Rank (*)	K-12 Average	%± vs. Average
1	Comparative Cost	$17,517	68	$13,632	28.5%
2	Classroom Instruction	10,847	67	8,035	35.0%
6	Support Services	2,720	64	2,166	25.6%
8	Administrative Cost	1,703	67	1,379	23.5%
10	Operations & Maintenance	1,771	56	1,674	5.8%
13	Extracurricular Activities	253	8	258	-1.9%
16	Median Teacher Salary	61,358	56	57,597
Data from NJDoE 2009 Comparative Spending Guide. *Of K-12 districts with 1,801-3,500 students. Lowest spending=1; Highest=70

The Harrison Public School District is a comprehensive public school district serving students in Kindergarten through twelfth grade, located in the municipality of Harrison, in Hudson County, New Jersey. Harrison is located 12 miles to the west of New York City, and is sandwiched between Newark (the state's largest city) to the west and Jersey City to the east.

The district is one of 31 Abbott Districts statewide.

As of the 2008-09 school year, the district's four schools had an enrollment of 1,818 students and 151.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.0.

The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "B", the second lowest 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.

Schools

Washington School

Schools in the district (with 2008-09 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are:

• Lincoln Elementary School (grades Pre-K to 3; 585 students). Lincoln Elementary School is located at 221 Cross Street.
  • JoAnn Dignazio-Botch, Principal
• Hamilton Intermediate School serves grades 4 and 5 who had previously attended the Lincoln Elementary School Annex is located on Hamilton Street (245 students).
  • Donna T. McBride, Director of Intermediate & Middle School Education
  • Kevin Barber, Assistant Principal
• Washington Middle School (grades 6 to 8; 376 students). Washington Middle School is located at 1 North Fifth Street.
  • Alan Doffont, Principal
  • Francisco Nascimento, Assistant Principal (and 3rd Ward Councilman)
• Harrison High School (grades 9 to 12; 612 students). Harrison High School is located on Hamilton Street and Kingsland Avenue. Students in those grades that reside in the neighboring borough of East Newark attend HHS under a sending/receiving relationship with the East Newark School District. Ronald Shields is the current Principal, and Alan Doffont is the current Assistant Principal and Athletic Director. Harrison High School has numerous team sports, and is a member of the NJIC Meadowlands A athletic conference and the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.

New schools

The construction of a new structure to house Harrison High School began in January, 2005, and was completed in the summer of 2007 in time for the 2007-2008 school year. The new Harrison High School is located at the intersection of Kingsland Avenue and Hamilton Street in the northeastern corner of the town on the former site of Clayton Container. A new stadium was constructed along with the school building. The campus includes a football/soccer field, baseball diamond, softball diamond, running track around the fields, and 3 tennis courts. The building includes thirty general education classrooms, four special education classrooms, two classrooms for small group instruction, two gymnasiums, a dance/aerobics studio, instrumental/vocal music room, cafeteria, auditorium, media center, science labs, computer room, and faculty spaces.

Although Washington Middle School has been relocated to the former site of the high school, the planned remodeling of the old high school has been put on hold indefinitely due to funding issues involving the New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation and mismanagement of funds.

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:

• Dr. James Doran, Superintendent
• Christine Griffin, Business Administrator / Board Secretary

External links

• The Harrison Public School District's Website
• Harrison Public Schools's 2009–10 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
• Data for the Harrison Public School District, National Center for Education Statistics