Fort Lee High School
Fort Lee High School | |
---|---|
Location | |
Information | |
Type | Public high school |
Established | 1916 |
Principal | Lauren Glynn |
Asst. principals | William Diaz Joseph Finizio |
Faculty | 67.0 (on FTE basis)[1] |
Grades | 9-12 |
Enrollment | 978[1] (as of 2013-14) |
Student to teacher ratio | 14.6:1[1] |
Color(s) | Orange and Black[2] |
Athletics conference | Big North Conference |
Team name | Bridgemen[2] |
Newspaper | Fort Lee-Der |
Website | School Website Student Government Website |
Fort Lee High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grade, located in Fort Lee, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Fort Lee School District. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools since 1931.[3]
As of the 2013-14 school year, the school had an enrollment of 978 students and 67.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.6:1. There were 151 students (15.4% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 72 (7.4% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]
History
Fort Lee High School was established in 1916. It was relocated to its current location in 1928. A new wing was added in 1964. New classrooms were constructed in 1968. The school was completely renovated in the 1980s.[4]
2009 transcript scandal
On March 3, 2009, a scandal concerning the transcript records of the students was discovered. The transcripts of students from 2003 to the current senior class were reported by Raymond Bandlow, the superintendent of schools, to have been tampered with. The Fort Lee Board of Education began its investigation of the scandal on March 4, 2009, and attempted to ascertain as to who exactly was involved after it was reported that in some instances, grades were changed, and in others low grades were deleted. Students of the class of 2009 expressed their discontent and anger regarding the scandal, as changes in their transcripts could jeopardize their chances of being admitted to colleges.[5]
Awards, recognition and rankings
In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 52nd in New Jersey and 1,611th nationwide.[6] In 2006, the school was ranked 217th out of the top 1000 High Schools in the United States by Newsweek magazine.[7]
The school was the 81st-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.[8] The school had been ranked 97th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 72nd in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[9] The magazine ranked the school 75th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[10] The school was ranked 99th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state.[11]
Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 137th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (an increase of 1 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (85.6%) and language arts literacy (93.2%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).[12]
Athletics
The Fort Lee High School Bridgemen[2] compete in the Big North Conference which includes schools in Northern New Jersey and operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[13] With 730 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2014-15 school year as North II, Group II for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 493 to 732 students in that grade range.[14] Prior to the 2010 realignment, the team participated in the Bergen County Scholastic League (BCSL) American Conference, made up of private and public high schools located in Bergen County and Hudson County.[15]
In 2011, Nancie Sophias set the school record for the 800m that had been set in 1977 and became the high school's first woman to qualify for the NJSIAA State Track Meet of Champions in the event.[16]
The varsity boys tennis team was top-seeded in the North II, Group II state sectional tournament, but lost in the semifinals 3-2 to James Caldwell High School.[17]
Administration
Core members of the school's administration are:[18]
- Lauren Glynn - Principal
- William Diaz - Assistant Principal
- Joseph Finizio - Assistant Principal
Notable faculty
- Joan Voss (born 1940), was on the school's faculty from 1963 until she retired in 2001. From 2004 to 2012, she represented Fort Lee and the rest of the 38th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly before her election to the Bergen County Board of Chosen Freeholders.[19]
Notable alumni
- Ammad Uddin Quraishi (born 1995), member of Fort Lee Board of education [20][21]
- Mark Sokolich (born 1963), mayor of Fort Lee[22]
References
- ^ a b c d School Data for Fort Lee High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed May 26, 2016.
- ^ a b c Fort Lee High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 26, 2016.
- ^ Fort Lee High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools. Accessed June 13, 2011.
- ^ School History, Fort Lee High School. Accessed June 13, 2011.
- ^ Pegues, Jeff. "Grade scandal at Fort Lee High", WABC-TV, March 5, 2009. Accessed June 13, 2011.
- ^ Mathews, Jay. "The High School Challenge 2011: Fort Lee High School", The Washington Post. Accessed August 21, 2011.
- ^ The Complete List of the 1,000 Top U.S. Schools, Newsweek. Accessed December 13, 2006.
- ^ Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
- ^ Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed December 1, 2012.
- ^ Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed February 13, 2011.
- ^ "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
- ^ New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2010-2011, Schooldigger.com. Accessed March 5, 2012.
- ^ League Memberships – 2015-2016, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 26, 2016.
- ^ 2014-2015 Public Schools Group Classification: ShopRite Cup–Basketball–Baseball–Softball for North II, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, as of July 8, 2014. Accessed October 8, 2014.
- ^ New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association League Memberships – 2009-2010, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, backed up by the Internet Archive as of July 24, 2011. Accessed October 7, 2014.
- ^ Murray, Chris. "Fort Lee Senior Track Star Makes History: Nancie Sophias Keeps on breaking her own records and will be doing something that no other female from Fort Lee High School has ever done.", FortLeePatch, June 6, 2011. Accessed July 16, 2011. "Sophias, a senior, qualified to run in the NJSIAA State Track Meet of Champions in the 800 meter race on Thursday in Old Bridge at Carl Sandburg Middle School. With Sophias' qualification she became the first female runner in the history of Fort Lee High School to run in this major and prestigious event."
- ^ Boys Tennis - 2011 NJSIAA Tournament - North 2, Group 2, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed July 16, 2011.
- ^ Administration, Fort Lee Public Schools. Accessed July 23, 2015.
- ^ Fasbach, Laura. "Voss ends juggling, resigns council seat", The Record (Bergen County), April 18, 2004. Accessed October 24, 2008.
- ^ Tat, Linh. "Teenager eyes spot on Fort Lee school board". North Jersey Media Group. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
- ^ "Fort Lee Board of Education". Retrieved January 1, 2015.
- ^ Sarnoff, David. "A Conversation with Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich". Fort Lee Patch. Retrieved January 9, 2014.