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==Awards and recognition==
==Awards and recognition==
{{POV|date=March 2011}}
{{Disputed|date=March 2011}}
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During the 1992-93 school year, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School was awarded the [[Blue Ribbon Schools Program|Blue Ribbon School]] Award of Excellence by the [[United States Department of Education]]<ref>[http://www.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/list-1982.pdf Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982-1983 through 1999-2002 (PDF)], accessed May 11, 2006.</ref>, the highest award an American school can receive.<ref>[http://www.journalinquirer.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17475750&BRD=985&PAG=461&dept_id=161556&rfi=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."</ref><ref>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."</ref>
During the 1992-93 school year, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School was awarded the [[Blue Ribbon Schools Program|Blue Ribbon School]] Award of Excellence by the [[United States Department of Education]]<ref>[http://www.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/list-1982.pdf Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982-1983 through 1999-2002 (PDF)], accessed May 11, 2006.</ref>, the highest award an American school can receive.<ref>[http://www.journalinquirer.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17475750&BRD=985&PAG=461&dept_id=161556&rfi=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."</ref><ref>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."</ref>


Revision as of 12:56, 27 March 2011

West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
Location
Map
346 Clarksville Road
Princeton Junction, NJ 08550
Information
TypePublic high school
Established1973
School districtWest Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District
PrincipalRoseann Bonino
Faculty97.2 (on FTE basis)[1]
Grades9 - 12
Enrollment1,621 (as of 2008-09)[1]
Student to teacher ratio16.7[1]
Color(s)Green and gold
  
Athletics conferenceColonial Valley Conference
Team namePirates
RivalKnights
NewspaperThe Pirate's Eye
WebsiteSchool website

West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Princeton Junction in Mercer County, New Jersey serving students in grades 9 through 12. The school is part of the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, a regional school district serving students from West Windsor Township (in Mercer County) and Plainsboro Township (in Middlesex County).

The high school was opened in 1973 as West Windsor-Plainsboro High School. In 1997, the school was renamed by appending "South" to the school's name, because of the opening of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North.[2]

As of the 2008-09 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,621 students and 97.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 16.7.[1]

Awards and recognition

During the 1992-93 school year, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education[3], the highest award an American school can receive.[4][5]

The school was the 16th-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 21st in 2008 out of 316 schools.[6] The school was ranked 9th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state.[7] The school was ranked 5th in the 2004 issue. West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North was ranked 1st during the same year.

In 2005, the school had the second highest average SAT score in New Jersey. About 97% of the students pass the New Jersey High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA). The school offers several honors and Advanced Placement Program (AP) courses in various subject areas. The school does not rank students, but it uses a weighted GPA. Many students from the school are accepted to highly selective schools around the country, including the Ivy League.

In 2004-05, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South, came in second with a 1240 SAT average score (V:604, M:636) trailing Montgomery High School which scored a 1244 (V:617, M:627) earning it the highest average SAT score in the state for non-magnet schools.[8]

Athletics

The West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South Pirates participate in the Colonial Valley Conference, which includes high schools from Mercer, Middlesex and Monmouth Counties. The school mascot is the Pirate and the school colors are green and gold. Secondary school colors used as accents include black and white. From 1973 to 2003, the Pirate football team bore a "Golden Dome," or a yellow helmet, which for much of that time was blank without a decal. Now, the football team bears a "Snowcap," or a white helmet bearing a yellow pirate flag on it.

The school newspaper is called The Pirate's Eye, which won the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Medal award in 2007 and again in 2008. The school's radio station is WWPH 107.9 FM, shared with West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North.

The North-South high school rivalry is a heated affair, with the annual football game in 2007 drawing nearly 8,000 spectators from two towns with a combined population slightly larger than 40,000.[citation needed] North won 2007 edition, 21-9, to even the all time series at 3-3. The loss was the Pirates only defeat until they lost the Sectional Championship Game to Howell HS. South retaliated in 2008 with a 49-13 win over North, adding another win to their undefeated streak, beating other undefeated schools like Notre Dame.

There is also an older rivalry with Hightstown High School called "The War of the Windsors." The winner of the annual football game takes home "The Mayor's Trophy."

The South Varsity Boys' tennis squad is one of the best in New Jersey. They can be seen featured in local newspapers almost every year after dominating performances in county, sectional and state tournaments. They are consistently ranked in the top 10 of all New Jersey high school tennis teams. The 2007 season was one of the more successful seasons in recent school history. Although the team did not capture the state title, it secured a #2 ranking in the state and was very close to defeating the #1 ranked team. This season also featured a South singles player to advance to the quarterfinals of the State Singles Tournament and the first doubles team to win the State Doubles Tournament. The 2007 boys tennis team won the Central, Group IV state sectional championship with a 4-1 win against East Brunswick High School.[9] The most dominant period displayed by the team was from 1996 to 2000, when they reached the Tournament of Champions finals for five consecutive years, and also featured singles players in the finals and semifinals of the State Singles Tournament in each of those years. The South Varsity Boy's tennis squad was ranked #2 in the state for 5 consecutive years during this span. In 1996 and 1997, four out of the seven players on the squad were nationally ranked tennis players. During this era, the team captured five consecutive Central New Jersey Group IV state titles, five consecutive Group IV state titles, and an unprecedented sweep, in which they did not lose one single match, of the Mercer County Tournament four years in a row.

The South Varsity Boys' golf team is one of the top programs in the state and is widely recognized for its accomplishments.[citation needed] Ranking consistently within the Star Ledger's Top 10 high school golf teams, they have exhibited tremendous success at the county, sectional, and state level. Notable seasons include the 2006 and 2007 seasons in which they captured the 2006 Cherry Valley Invitational, 2006 Mercer County Championship, placed 2nd at the 2006 South/Central Group III State Sectional Championship, placed 2nd in Group III at the 2006 State Championship, placed 2nd at the 2007 Mercer County Championship and won the 2007 South/Central Group III State Sectional Championship. Over the last two years, the team has established an impeccable record: losing just 3 times and winning well over 30 matches. One of their greatest victories took place in the 2007 season against Princeton High School. These two historically bitter rivals battled for the title of dominating team in Mercer County and placed their respective state rankings of #2 and #4 on the line.[citation needed] At the end of the day, the South team prevailed with a stunning victory of 186-187 that came down to the last putt of the last player of the last group. The Pirates put an end to the Tigers previous three-year unbeaten record in Mercer County matches. They exited the 2007 season as the #12 ranked team in the state.[citation needed]

The girls swim team won the Central - A state sectional championship with a 97-73 win over Montgomery High School.[10] The girls' swimming team also came in first place at the 2008 Mercer County Tournament, with Notre Dame in second. In the 2008-2009 season saw an undefeated CVC season, and MCT first place, a sectional championship, and finally the state title. The team won the Public A state championship against the top seeded Westfield Blue Devils with a score of 90-80, power pointing 4812. The boys' team came in third place at the 2008 Mercer County Tournament, with Notre Dame in first and Pennington in second.[citation needed] Both the girls' and boys' swim teams are the Colonial Valley Conference Champions for the 2007-2008 season.

The girls varsity cheerleading squad placed 1st in 2008 in the small division at the annual CVC cheerleading competition held at High School North. This is the first time South's cheerleaders have placed 1st in the CVC competition.

Some of South's historically dominant athletic teams include both Boys' and Girls' swimming and diving, tennis, and golf. The boy and girls cross country teams have also had great success in recent years. South's own Brian Leung is the 2007 New Jersey Cross-Country Champion and the team finished 7th in the state, the program's best season to date. The boys cross country team also won a state sectional title in 2008.

2010 marked the Pirate Boys' best cross-country season to date. They won the Mercer County Championship - snapping rival Ww-P North's 4 year winning streak -, the CJGroupIV title, finished second in Group IV, and a strong 3rd place at the state meet. They then finished 5th at the Nike Northeast Regional. They are now considered one of the better programs in the state and region.

Model United Nations

The West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South Model United Nations Team is regarded as one of the best public-high school Model United Nation teams. The program dates back to the late 1970s and consists of approximately 40 students between grades 9-12. The South MUN team picks conference rosters based on open-session mocks held in the school prior to every conference. The club annually consists of two advisers and five elected officers. Typically, the held mocks involves more than 100 students vying for an extremely limited number of conference spots, with the decisions on who qualify resting solely on elected officers. As opposed to other successful high school MUN teams, South delegates, once selected, conduct individual research outside of school. As a result, club meetings are almost nonexistent. South MUN consistently wins delegation awards at conferences hosted by universities such as Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania (ILMUNC), Georgetown University, George Washington University, Johns Hopkins University, and Cornell University. In 2011, SouthMUN saw an amazing amount of success, as the team went 5 for 5, winning Best Small Delegation at RUMUN, Outstanding Large Delegation at PMUNC, Best Large Delegation at ILMUNC, Best Small Delegation at NAIMUN, and Outstanding Large Delegation at CMUNC. High School South's MUN club is usually considered the best public school team in the nation.

Science Olympiad

The West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South Science Olympiad Team has been one of the best teams in the Nation. In 2007, they won 1st place in the regional and state competition, thereby earning a spot in the national tournament in Wichita, Kansas. They were the 6th place team, out of more than 50 of the nation's most talented teams.[11] In 2008, the team earned 3rd place in regionals, and 2nd at states, losing to rival team West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North. In 2009, the team placed 2nd at regionals losing to North but came back at states to win 1st. They attended the Nationals competition in Augusta, Georgia from May 15–16. At the tournament, the team placed in 13th place in the nation, and 1st place in Protein Modeling. Other events in which the team placed in the top 8 were Cell Biology, Chemistry Lab, Dynamic Planet, Environmental Chemistry, It's About Time, Junkyard Challenge, Picture This and Remote Sensing. In 2010, the school placed 1st in the state, but only placed 18th in the nation after major accidents. In 2011, the School once again placed 1st in the entire state beating out it's sister school West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North

Music and arts

The award-winning music program at South has earned state acclaim. There are currently three orchestras, two of which are philharmonic, two choirs, and two bands. In the Spring of 2007, the Philharmonic Orchestra and the Concert Choir toured in Russia. Over the years this program has traveled to other venues such as the Azalea Festival in Norfolk, Virginia, Scotland, Austria, and Boston, Massachusetts. Other music programs including three a cappella groups, two jazz bands, and the award-winning Pirate Marching Band and Colorguard. The marching band/guard have won numerous awards in regional, state, and national competitions. They placed first in 2005 in the USSBA Group II Open category. The band finished third at the 2007 United States Scholastic Band Association National Championships, competing as a Group II band at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland on November 16, 2007.[12] In 2011, the South Choir performed at Carnegie Hall.

Science Bowl

In 2010, the team secured a first place finish at the regionals in Princeton Plasma Physics laboratory. The team placed 9th in the nation. In the 2011 school year, the team place a disappointing 2nd place in regionals.

Academic Decathlon

On March 11, 2011, South's Academic Decathlon team ranked 1st in their region and in state. They are going to represent New Jersey at the 2011 National Academic Decathlon competition in North Carolina. At regionals, 7 out of 9 of their decathletes were named best overall decathletes. At states, 5 out of 9 were named best overall decathletes. Jeffrey Kuan set a new record and initiated the "1000-point Club." Ming-Ming Tran was honored with the Reinauer Scholarship, awarded to the top scoring decathlete in New Jersey. So far, Ming-Ming Tran and Lily Yu have been the only two South recipients of this award thus far.

History

Before the opening of the school in 1973, students were sent to Princeton High School in the Borough of Princeton. In the 1990s, population growth in the district necessitated an additional high school, and in 1997 West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North was built and "South" was added on to the end in order to help differentiate between the two.

Schedule

The high school operates on a rotating class schedule from 7:40 a.m. to 2:50 p.m. daily. Classes are an hour long with a 5 minute passing period between classes. Lunch is at the same time for all students from 10:54 to 11:35 (because of this, seniors are allowed to leave school for lunch to reduce crowds). There are three classes before lunch and three after lunch. The schedule cycle is 4 days. On an A-Day, classes 1, 4, 3, 5, 8, and 7 meet, with 2nd and 6th period missed. On a B-Day, classes 2, 1, 4, 6, 5, and 8 meet, with 3rd and 7th period missed. C and D Days follow the same pattern. If a science class requires lab time, 20 minutes of the lunch period are used once every four days, following the 4-day cycle, thus allowing for a six-credit course instead of the traditional five-credit course. AP Chemistry/Biology and AP Physics are seven-credit courses since the lab time extends into the full hour of study hall instead of lunch.

Referendum

A district-wide referendum was passed in January 2006, which resulted in many improvements for High School South.[13] Among those were a new gym, more parking spaces, a new cover for the pool, more classrooms, improvements on the HVAC system, and artificial turf for the football field. The improvements were done in stages starting with the 2006-2007 school year, with completion expected by the end of 2008.[14] The estimated cost of the projects included in the referendum was $23 million. As of now, January 2010, all projects have been completed including the new pool "bubble" enclosure.

Administration

Core members of the school's administration are:[15]

  • Roseann Bonino - Principal
  • Robert Banks, Assistant Principal
  • Donna Gibbs-Nini, Assistant Principal

Notable alumni

The following attended what is now West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South:

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 27, 2011.
  2. ^ District Landmarks, accessed May 15, 2006.
  3. ^ Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982-1983 through 1999-2002 (PDF), accessed May 11, 2006.
  4. ^ 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."
  5. ^ 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."
  6. ^ Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed March 19, 2011.
  7. ^ "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
  8. ^ New Jersey's Highest Average SAT Scores, Mission, Officers, Staff, New Jersey Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools, data gathered from 2005 New Jersey School Report Cards, February 1, 2006.
  9. ^ 2007 Boys Tennis - Central, Group IV, NJSIAA. Accessed June 7, 2007.
  10. ^ 2007 Girls Team Swimming - Central - A, NJSIAA. Accessed June 5, 2007.
  11. ^ Division C Scores and Ranking - 2007, Science Olympiad. Accessed January 14, 2008.
  12. ^ Group I, M&T Bank Stadium, November 16, 2007, United States Scholastic Band Association. Accessed November 18, 2007.
  13. ^ http://wwpsd.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_3592819/File/District%20Landmarks%
  14. ^ Forester, Greg. "WW-P projects near completion as classes resume on Thursday", Princeton Packet, September 2, 2008. Accessed September 5, 2008.
  15. ^ School Listing, West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District. Accessed March 19, 2011.
  16. ^ Kevin Barry player profile, Atlanta Braves. Accessed May 20, 2007. "Graduated from Windsor-Plainsboro High School South in Princeton Junction, NJ."
  17. ^ Tracy, Ryan. "Obama taps WW-PS alum for technology post", The Times (Trenton), April 21, 2009. Accessed January 27, 2011.
  18. ^ Steven Spielberg, Richard Dreyfuss, Joe Alves, Melinda Dillon, Douglas Trumbull, The Making of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1997, Columbia Pictures
  19. ^ "Cinema: Head to head; Welshman Matthew Rhys grappled with Kathleen Turner onstage and, in his new film, The Abduction Club, he gets to wrestle with Alice Evans. Meanwhile, Ethan Hawke manhandles his missus, Uma Thurman, in the drama Tape. So who of the two is the real hands-on Hollywood hotshot?", The Daily Mirror, July 19, 2002. "Ethan grew up in a single-parent family in New Jersey. Joining The drama club at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School changed his life. A casting director spotted him in a School production of Saint Joan and she landed him a part alongside River Phoenix in The endearing 1985 children's film, Explorers."
  20. ^ a b Miller, Lynn. "More West Windsor Filmmaking Stars on the Horizon", West Windsor & Plainsboro News, December 15, 2007. Accessed December 15, 2007. "Two West Windsor-Plainsboro High School graduates are following in the footsteps of two other filmmakers from West Windsor, Bryan Singer and Christopher McQuarrie. Singer, Class of 1984, and McQuarrie, Class of 1986, have recently joined together for the filming of “Valkyrie,” a controversial film about Colonel Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg, the German Army officer who tried to do away with Hitler during World War II."
  21. ^ Broadcasters profiles, Milwaukee Brewers. Accessed October 14, 2007.

40°18′39″N 74°36′47″W / 40.310794°N 74.61299°W / 40.310794; -74.61299

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