Watchung Hills Regional High School
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| Watchung Hills Regional High School | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| 108 Stirling Road Warren Township, NJ 07059 |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Public high school |
| Established | 1957 |
| School district | Watchung Hills Regional High School |
| Superintendent | Dr. Frances Stromsland |
| Principal | Dr. Thomas DiGanci |
| Vice principal | Terrence P. MacConnell Steven Searfoss Nicholas Serritella Patricia Toubin |
| Faculty | 159.0 (on FTE basis)[1] |
| Grades | 9 - 12 |
| Enrollment | 2,012 (as of 2006-07)[1] |
| Student:teacher ratio | 12.7[1] |
| Campus | 85 acres |
| Color(s) | Brown and gold |
| Athletics | 29 varsity sports |
| Athletics conference | Skyland Conference |
| Mascot | Warrior |
| Nickname | Warriors |
| Endowment | $71 million |
| Budget | $33,003,652 |
| Tuition | $0 |
| Information | 908-647-4800 |
| Website | School website |
Watchung Hills Regional High School is a regional public high school and regional school district serving students in portions of Somerset and Morris Counties in New Jersey, United States. The high school is located next to Woodland School, in Warren Township, New Jersey, United States.
Students from Warren Township and from the neighboring communities of Watchung, and Green Brook in Somerset County and Long Hill Township in Morris County attend the school.[2] The High School serves students in grades nine through twelve and as of the 2006-07 school year, there were 2,012 students enrolled and 159 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis) for a student–teacher ratio of 12.7.[1] Watchung Hills also offers an adult school that operates at night in the facilities. Its mascot is the warrior and its school colors are brown and gold.
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[edit] Awards and recognition
Watchung Hills Regional High School received the Blue Ribbon Award from the United States Department of Education in 1994-1995, the highest honor that an American school can achieve.[3][4]
In their 2004 survey, Newsweek ranked WHRHS as the 583rd best high school in the nation.[5] In the magazine's 2006 survey, the school was ranked as 745th nationwide.[6] In Newsweek's May 22, 2007 issue, ranking the country's top high schools, Watchung Hills High School was listed in 999th place, the 31st-highest ranked school in New Jersey.[7] As of 2008, the Newsweek ranks the school as 919th in the nation.[8]
The school was the 49th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 316 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2008 cover story on the state's Top Public High Schools. The school was ranked 38th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state.[9]
[edit] Facilities
WHRHS recently underwent a costly renovation. Extensive additions to the school have been constructed and all classrooms have been renovated. The addition included many new classrooms, as well as a four-tier band room. Additionally, a brand new theatre with a rising orchestra pit and catwalk were built. This state-of-the-art theater includes a programmable lighting system, movable sound shell and a balcony. Additionally, all classrooms have been renovated. There is also a new "FieldTurf" football field, along with numerous baseball/softball fields.
[edit] TV Studio
At the beginning of the 2009 school year, classes were moved from the old TV Studio class room into the new one. The new studio has much more room and includes a control room, class room/studio and an office. There is currently new equipment being installed which will allow for 3 camera switching for live broadcasts. The system will utilize 3 Canon XL2's, a Datavideo switcher, Mackie Onyx 1620 with firewire card and 4 Shure SLX wireless microphones There are currently 4 edit bays with Dell Precision desktops and dual monitors. When the installation is complete, there will be a Verizon Fios channel installed for local broadcasts. Although not currently possible due to wiring problems, internal broadcasts will eventually be possible.
[edit] Theatre
The brand new, state-of-the-art theatre includes two catwalks with a spotlight booth. The lighting system, which has 301 dimmers is housed in the dimmer room located on the stage left side of the catwalks. The dimmer room contains three dimmer racks, an emergency power transfer switch and a server that runs ETC's Emphasis server software. The lighting console is an ETC Express 24/48 and is located in the lighting booth located under the balcony. On stage, there is a movable orchestra pit, movable sound shell and 36 linesets including 6 electrics, a scrim and cyc as well as three ceiling panels for the sound shell. The sound shell is moved using a cart with a lift system on it. When not in use, the shell is stored stage right, 2 to 3 deep.
At the end of the 2008/2009 school year, installation began on the sound system and was completed by September 2009. The new sound system includes 2 QSC WideLine-8 Line Arrays(8 Boxes per Array), 2 Flown Subwoofers, 2 Ground Subwoofers a Yamaha M7CL 48 channel digital audio console, 16 wireless microphones and 8 active DB technologies on stage monitors, a full sennhieser/shure mic package. There is also a SymNet system which allows the entire system to be powered on with a single button. It also allows for 4 inputs to be used without turning on the console. With the sound system, a ClearCom wired and HME wireless headset system were installed. There are 4 wired beltpacks as well as the base station and 4 wireless beltpacks.
[edit] Technology
WHRHS has approximately 20 Dell servers that provide students and staff with various services. Among these are two domain controllers, a web server, two file servers, a Websense Web Filter server, SQL database server and a Genesis server which manages student information as well as gradebooks via a web interface. An Apple XServe was also added to allow for management of the new MacBooks which are being rolled out this year. There are approximately 24 laptop carts (each with about 24 laptops) that are designated to different areas of the school. All teachers have either Dell or Apple laptops. In 2009, WHRHS began rolling out new Dell E6500 laptops to replace the obsolete Latitude D500s. There are also plans to deploy laptop carts with Apple MacBooks in the near future. There are eight computer labs with Dell Optiplex desktops. There are also Cisco Aironet wireless access points in almost every classroom.
The school has Citrix MetaFrame Presentation Servers. The system allows students who don't have programs such as Microsoft Office to use Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint and other applications to access them from home. The Citrix system was originally used to allow teachers to access the old gradebook software, IGPro.
[edit] Athletics
The Watchung Hills Regional High School Warriors compete in the Skyland Conference.
Some of WHRHS's most successful sports teams are:
- Baseball
- Ultimate
- Women's Soccer
- Women's Tennis
- Ice hockey
- Men's and Women's Basketball
- Women's Track and Field
- Men's and Women's Bowling
- Men's and Women's Fencing
- Swimming
- Wrestling
- Women's Volleyball
- Marching Band
They have a rivalry with Ridge High School in neighboring Basking Ridge, NJ. Traditionally, their two football teams have played a game on the day before Thanksgiving, known as Turkey Bowl, because of their being in different divisions of the Skyland Conference. However, as Ridge entered the same division as WHRHS in 2008, they no longer play Turkey Bowl, but play each other yearly. Ridge's team, however, dominates the series.
The baseball team won the 2005 North II, Group IV state sectional championship with an 11-0 win over Hunterdon Central Regional High School.[10]
In wrestling, the school has had 3 state champions in the past 3 years. Michael Gatti (2003), Alex Caruso (2006) and Brendan Ard (2007) have won one state title each. This year, Ard comes back as a senior and is in the run to win his second state championship.
The ice hockey team made it to the NJSIAA Public A State Finals vs. local rival Ridge High School in 2008, falling by a score of 5-0; the most successful season for the program for six-year olds.[11]
The football team has not been very successful, but in 2008 they played the first playoff game in most of their history, losing to Hunterdon Central despite the decisive victor over Montgomery got them, instead of Montgomery, into the playoffs.
Recently, WHRHS has been developing a figure skating club that should be initiated in September, 2009.
[edit] Activities
Watchung Hills offers students many extracurricular activities to participate in. These clubs and organizations are directed towards community service, academics, and other special interests. A few of the more popular ones are REBEL (Reaching Out to Everyone By Exposing Lies - a statewide organization in opposition to Big Tobacco) Robotics Team, Asian Culture club, Stop Genocide, Habitat for Humanity, AWARE, JSA Debate Club, Mock Trial, Academic Team, Script and Cue, Students Against Destructive Decisions, NIKE club, Model United Nations, Lenape Yearbook, Gay-Straight Alliance, Geocaching Club, Diversity Club, Video Game Club, The History Club, and Sewing Club.
[edit] Robotics Team
In past years, the robotics team has been highly successful. In 2008, they won the 2008 FIRST New York Regional, one of the toughest competitions in the country. In 2009, they made their way into the quarterfinals.
[edit] Administration
Core members of the district's / school's administration are:[12]
- Dr. Frances Stromsland - Superintendent
- Timothy Stys - School Business Administrator/ Board Secretary
- Dr. Thomas DiGanci - Principal
- Terrence P. MacConnell - Vice Principal
- Steven Searfoss- Vice Principal
- Nicholas Serritella - Vice Principal / Director of Athletics
- Patricia Toubin - Vice Principal
[edit] Senior Pranks
Over the years there have been many senior pranks at Watchung Hills. Some succeeded, others failed.
| School Year | Prank | Result/Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2009/10 | CLASSIFIED | UNKNOWN. |
| 2008/09 | Pour cement in all toilets | Failure. Students were caught before it happened. |
| 2007/08 | Set up a water slide/Slip N' Slide | Success and Failure. Setup and execution was successful but it resulted in destruction of a few cars. |
| 2006/07 | Empty air from bus tires | Success. School was canceled due to lack of transportation. Students were eventually caught. |
| 2005/06 | Fill hallway with red Solo cups which were halfway filled with water. | Success. Students were never caught. |
[edit] Notable alumni
- Stephan Stephanovich (born 1988), pro NHL player for the New York Rangers
- Billy Ard (born 1959), former NFL pro player for the New York Giants.[13]
- Irene Arranga, played Mary Johnson, Horshack's girlfriend/wife, on the television show Welcome Back, Kotter.[14][citation needed]
- Tom Glassic (born 1954), retired NFL offensive lineman.[15]
- Amanda Pabyan (1998), operatic lyric-coloratura soprano.
- Chris Kratt (born 1969), host of Kratts' Creatures and Zoboomafoo as well as Be the Creature, which runs on the National Geographic Channel.[citation needed]
- Martin Kratt (born 1965), brother of Chris, and also an educational nature show host.[citation needed]
- Alan LeBoeuf - Appeared in the Broadway play, Beatlemania as Paul in 1977, as well as on the Arista soundtrack for the play.[citation needed]
- George Musser (1984), author and editor at Scientific American.
- Gregory Taylor (1988), Reknown concert photographer www.grtaylor2photo.com.
- Laura Prepon (born 1980), actress best known for her work on That '70s Show and a role on the TV series October Road.[16]
- Sunny Patel (Born 1991), actor best known for his work in "Barely Legal 4" and his role in writing the book "The Art of Seduction"
- Sarah Wickliffe (2002), Student Academy Award winner in animation (2007) for her film Art's Desire.[17]
- Alison Wright (born 1961), photojournalist and author.[18]
- Robert Tsai (2008), Played Lawrence in the movie School of Rock.[19]
- 2d Lt Michael Giannone (2004), 2009 United States Air Force Academy Graduate, Head Baseball Coach and Military Training Officer at USAF Academy Preparatory School.
[edit] College placement
College placement at Watchung Hills Regional High School is very high. 4.5% of graduates will attend highly competitive four-year colleges (e.g. Duke University, Juilliard School, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, Webb Institute), 72.6% will attend moderately competitive four-year colleges (e.g. Fairleigh Dickinson University, Monmouth University, Rutgers University, Seton Hall University, The College of New Jersey), and 14.3% will attend two-year colleges (e.g. Raritan Valley Community College). This is the college distribution of Watchung Hills graduates for the class of 2009:
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Data for Watchung Hills Regional High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed October 21, 2007.
- ^ Somerset County School Districts-Sending/Receiving/Regional, Somerset County Superintendent of Schools. Accessed April 27, 2008.
- ^ "If You're Thinking. of Living In/ Watchung, N.J.; Stunning Vistas, but Entry Is Not Cheap And there is the matter of dealing with 80 deer per acre.", The New York Times, March 11, 2001. p. RE5
- ^ Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982-1983 through 1999-2002 (PDF), accessed August 22, 2006.
- ^ The Complete List of the 1,000 Top U.S. Schools (2004), Newsweek, May 16, 2004.
- ^ The Complete List: 1,200 Top U.S. Schools, Newsweek, May 23, 2006.
- ^ "The Top of the Class: The complete list of the 1,200 top U.S. schools", Newsweek, May 22, 2007. Accessed May 24, 2007.
- ^ The Complete List of the 1,000 Top U.S. Schools (2008), Newsweek, June 23, 2008.
- ^ "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
- ^ 2005 Baseball - North II, Group IV, NJSIAA. Accessed June 4, 2007.
- ^ 2008 Ice Hockey Tournament - Public A, NJSIAA. Accessed May 26, 2008.
- ^ Board of Education, Watchung Hills Regional High School. Accessed August 25, 2008.
- ^ "FLASHBACK Finishing kick:Ard enjoyed Packer days", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel by Rob Reischel, September 16, 2004. "Ard hasn't totally gotten football out of his system, though. He coaches the freshman team at Watchung Hills Regional High School, his alma mater."
- ^ Irene Arranga
- ^ Tom Glassic player profile, databaseFootball.com. Accessed June 30, 2007.
- ^ " 'That '70s' gal grows up on 'October Road'", New York Daily News by Marisa Guthrie, March 13, 2007. "Prepon, who is the youngest of five children, went to Watchung Hills High in New Jersey. Her mother still lives there (her father died when she was 14)."
- ^ Ball, Ryan. "Student Academy Award Winners", Animation Magazine, June 21, 2007. Accessed February 29, 2008.
- ^ Bella English (September 29, 2003). "Alison Wright: Her `Faces of Hope' shows the spirit of children facing huge obstacles". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2003/09/29/alison_wright_her_faces_of_hope_shows_the_spirit_of_children_facing_huge_obstacles/. Retrieved 2008-07-21.
- ^ Robert Tsai, Internet Movie Database. Accessed August 25, 2008.
[edit] External links
- Watchung Hills Regional High School website
- Watchung Hills Regional High School's 2007-08 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
- Data for Watchung Hills Regional High School, National Center for Education Statistics
- Watchung Hills Student Activities
- Watchung Hills Student Handbook 2006-2007
Coordinates: 40°39′07″N 74°28′40″W / 40.651839°N 74.477891°W
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