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Ocean Township High School

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Coordinates: 40°16′06″N 74°01′49″W / 40.268294°N 74.030285°W / 40.268294; -74.030285
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Ocean Township High School
Address
Map
550 West Park Avenue

Ocean Township
,
Monmouth County
,
New Jersey
07755

United States
Coordinates40°16′06″N 74°01′49″W / 40.268294°N 74.030285°W / 40.268294; -74.030285
Information
TypePublic high school
Established1965
School districtOcean Township School District
NCES School ID341206004058[1]
PrincipalDawn Kaszuba
Faculty98.4 FTEs[1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment996 (as of 2023–24)[1]
Student to teacher ratio10.1:1[1]
Color(s)  Red
  white and
  royal blue[2]
Athletics conferenceShore Conference[3]
Team nameSpartans[2]
NewspaperSpartan Spirit[4]
YearbookSandpiper[4]
Websitewww.oceanschools.org/high_school

Ocean Township High School (OTHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in the Oakhurst section of Ocean Township, in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school in the Ocean Township School District. OTHS serves residents of all neighborhoods within Ocean Township, including Oakhurst, Wanamassa, Wayside and West Allenhurst.[5]

As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 996 students and 98.4 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.1:1. There were 212 students (21.3% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 61 (6.1% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]

As of the 2013–14 school year there were 18 Advanced Placement (AP) courses offered.[6] In conjunction with Monmouth University, Ocean Township High School offers a dual credit program called MODEL to AP students. The school's average graduation rate for the past two years is 99% and 97% of students go on to post secondary education.

The school's Family and Consumer Science kitchens, for culinary instruction, were remodeled in 2005. Over 93% of Ocean's teachers are at or above intermediate skill levels in the use of technology.

History

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Ocean Township's students leaving eighth grade had the option to attend either Asbury Park High School or Long Branch High School as part of sending/receiving relationships, with most Ocean Township students choosing to head to Asbury Park. By 1962, Ocean Township students accounted for a majority of the student body at an overcrowded Asbury Park High School. Ocean Township was unwilling to commit to the long-term sending relationship that would allow Asbury Park to justify an expansion project. Voters in Ocean Township approved a 1962 referendum allocating $3 million (equivalent to $30.2 million in 2023) towards the construction of a high school facility.[7] The school opened in September 1965, serving more than 1,300 students in grades 7–11, which included students in grades 10 and 11 who had previously been sent out of the district for high school.[8] Ocean Township shifted 600 students from Asbury Park to the new high school, with about 300 Ocean Township seniors completing their final year at Asbury Park High School.[9]

The school graduated its first class in 1967. Over time, the 7th and 8th grade students were moved to other schools. Beginning in the 1975–76 school year, with the opening of the then 7-9 Ocean Township Intermediate School, the school only served 10–12, with the freshman class returning to OTHS for the 1978–79 school year.

At the end of the 2016–17 school year, Loch Arbour left the Ocean Township district after getting approval from the New Jersey Department of Education and following the overwhelming passage of a referendum. With 14 public school students and school property taxes of $2 million, Loch Arbour had been paying an average of $143,000 per pupil,[10] while Ocean Township taxpayers only paid approximately $16,000 per pupil.[10] The Loch Arbour cost per student was significantly reduced under new sending/receiving relationships established with the West Long Branch Public Schools for PreK-8 and Shore Regional High School for 9–12, under which Loch Arbour pays tuition to each district based on the number of students.[11] Ocean Township opposed the changes as the subsidy funded approximately 20 staff positions.[10]

Awards, recognition and rankings

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In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 55th in New Jersey and 1,637th nationwide.[12] In Newsweek's May 22, 2007 issue, ranking the country's top high schools, Ocean Township High School was listed in 838th place, the 21st-highest ranked school in New Jersey.[13]

In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 856th in the nation among participating public high schools and 64th among schools in New Jersey.[14]

The school was the 84th-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.[15] The school had been ranked 95th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 64th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[16] The magazine ranked the school 97th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[17] The school was ranked 69th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[18] Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 148th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 31 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (83.8%) and language arts literacy (93.7%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).[19]

Extracurricular activities

[edit]

Athletics

[edit]

The Ocean Township High School Spartans[2] compete in Division B North of the Shore Conference, an athletic conference comprised of public and private high schools in Monmouth and Ocean counties along the Jersey Shore.[3][20] The conference operates under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[21] With 820 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group III for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 761 to 1,058 students in that grade range.[22] The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group III South for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 695 to 882 students.[23]

The school participates as the host school / lead agency in a joint ice hockey team with Monmouth Regional High School and Shore Regional High School. The co-op program operates under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year.[24]

The field hockey team won the Central Jersey Group III state sectional championship in 1980, 1985, 1997 and 2001. The field hockey team was the runner-up in the 2020 COVID-19 Regional Championship, behind Rumson-Fair Haven High School.[25]

The 1980 boys' tennis team won the Group III state championship, defeating Moorestown High School 31⁄2-11⁄2 and Millburn High School 4–1.[26][27]

The 1985 baseball team finished the season with a 24–6 record after defeating Montville Township High School in the championship game by a score of 3–0 to win the Group III state title in a game played at Princeton University.[28][29][30]

The girls cross country running team won the Group III state championship in 1992 and 1993.[31]

The football team won the Central Jersey Group III state sectional championships in 1993, 2000 and 2005.[32] After losing all four of its previous state finals, the 1993 team finished the season with an 11–0 record after winning the Central Jersey Group III state sectional title in front of more than 6,000 spectators with a 20–12 victory against a Long Branch High School team that came undefeated into the championship game.[33] As the tournament's seventh seed, Ocean Township High School defeated Nottingham High School (Hamilton High School North) by a score of 41–20 in the 2005 Central Jersey Group III sectional final.[34]

The softball team won the Group III state title in 1993, defeating Ramsey High School by a score of 5–3 in the championship game to finish the season with a record of 25–4.[35][36]

The boys' soccer team won the Group III state championship in 1996 (defeating Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School in the tournament final) and 2018 (vs. Millburn High School).[37] The 1996 team finished the season with a 16–6 record after defeating Scotch Plains-Fanwood by a score of 2–0 in the Group III championship game.[38] In 2018, the team won the Shore Conference Tournament with a 1–0 overtime win against Christian Brothers Academy and won the program's second Group III title by a score of 1–0 against Millburn in the championship game to finish the season 21-3-1.[38][39]

The wrestling team won the Central Jersey Group III state sectional championship 2004–2008, 2012, 2019 and 2020[40]

The boys' bowling team won the Group II state championship in 2011.[41]

Administration

[edit]

The school's principal is Dawn Kaszuba. Her core administration team includes two assistant principals.[42]

Notable alumni

[edit]
See also: Category:Ocean Township High School alumni

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e School data for Ocean Township High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Ocean Township High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Shore Conference Realignment for 2018-2019 and 2019-2020, Shore Conference. Accessed November 15, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Directory of Student Activities 2021-2022, Ocean Township High School. Accessed March 7, 2022.
  5. ^ Spoto, MaryAnn. "N.J. appeals court sides with Ocean Twp. against Loch Arbour in school funding dispute", The Star-Ledger, July 14, 2011. Accessed October 17, 2011.
  6. ^ Ocean Township High School 2013-14 School Performance Report, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed March 28, 2014."
  7. ^ New Exhibit - Ocean Township High School at 50, Ocean Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey. Accessed December 13, 2021. "Early September 1965, the doors of Ocean Township High School (OTHS) opened for the first time. It was a momentous day—the culmination of an impassioned campaign and a turning point for both Ocean Township and Asbury Park, the district that up to then had educated most of the township’s teens.... Graduating eighth graders had a choice: Asbury Park or Long Branch. Most chose Asbury. By 1962 Ocean students at Asbury High outnumbered city students 713 to 558. Ocean was booming and more than 1,000 high school-age students were projected by 1966. Asbury High, on split session since 1959, was already overcrowded. Something had to be done.... Ocean High opened in 1965 without a senior class. Ocean seniors had returned to Asbury to graduate with their class."
  8. ^ "Ocean's Junior-Senior High Opens", Asbury Park Press, September 14, 1965. Accessed March 29, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "In buses, cars and on foot, wearing raincoats and occasionally carrying umbrellas, 1,333 township students descended on the newly constructed Ocean Township Junior-Senior High School yesterday morning. When the first bell rang at 7:45 a.m., more than two years of planning reached its climax as the students entered the doors of the $2.5 million school. For many yesterday was the first taste of high school life those 7th, 8th and 9th grade students who had previously attended the township's three elementary schools. For many others, the 10th and 11th graders, yesterday marked the return to the township school system after visits of one or two years at the high schools of Asbury Park and Long Branch."
  9. ^ Ciavaglia, James. "Spring Has Sprung but Crop of City Candidates Still Dormant", Asbury Park Press, March 21, 1965. Accessed March 29, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "The taxpayers association wanted the Board of Education and the Council to wait until Ocean Township High School students withdrew from the city's schools before making any construction plans. Ocean Township has about 900 students in the city high school, and is expected to pull out 600 all but the seniors when it opens its own high school next fall."
  10. ^ a b c Radel, Dan. "State OKs Loch Arbour's request to leave Ocean's schools", Asbury Park Press, January 9, 2017. Accessed September 15, 2020. "The state's acting Commissioner of Education Kimberly Harrington agreed to allow the village to leave Ocean schools. Fernicola said they want to leave because of the significant difference in school taxes for his town's students. He said Loch Arbour paid over $2 million last year to send 16 students to Ocean schools. That comes out to about $125,000 per pupil. He said Ocean taxpayers only pay $16,000 per pupil."
  11. ^ Radel, Dan. "Loch Arbour votes to leave Ocean Twp. schools", Asbury Park Press, April 4, 2017. Accessed August 1, 2018. "Village voters have decided by an overwhelming margin to leave the Ocean Township School District and forge a (cheaper) different path. The tally Tuesday was 93 in favor to 4 opposed, according to the unofficial results from the Office of the Monmouth County Clerk.... The village's per-pupil education cost for Ocean Township now totals about $143,000, according to Mayor Paul Fernicola. He said the village will instead send students to West Long Branch and Shore Regional High School on a per-pupil tuition rate, not yet determined, that is substantially less than the current tab."
  12. ^ Mathews, Jay. "The High School Challenge 2011: Ocean Township High School", The Washington Post. Accessed September 10, 2011.
  13. ^ "The Top of the Class: The complete list of the 1,200 top U.S. schools" Archived May 23, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Newsweek, May 22, 2007. Accessed May 24, 2007.
  14. ^ Streib, Lauren. "America's Best High Schools" Archived July 2, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, The Daily Beast, May 6, 2013. Accessed May 9, 2013.
  15. ^ Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
  16. ^ Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed December 2, 2012.
  17. ^ Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed April 6, 2011.
  18. ^ "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
  19. ^ New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2010-2011, Schooldigger.com. Accessed March 5, 2012.
  20. ^ Member Schools, Shore Conference. Accessed November 15, 2020.
  21. ^ League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  22. ^ NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
  23. ^ NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
  24. ^ NJSIAA Winter Cooperative Sports Programs, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 1, 2020.
  25. ^ History of NJSIAA Field Hockey Championships, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  26. ^ History of Boys' Team Tennis Championship Tournament, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
  27. ^ "Ocean net team takes Group III championship", Asbury Park Press, May 25, 1980. Accessed January 3, 2020, via Newspapers.com. "The Ocean Township High School tennis team whipped Moorestown, 3 1/2-1 1/2, and Millburn, 4-1 yesterday to capture its first NJSIAA Group III championship at Princeton University. 'This was a tremendous team victory,' said Ocean coach Stan Friedman, whose unbeaten team raised its record to 23-0."
  28. ^ Baseball Championship History: 1959–2024, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
  29. ^ "Flannelly a 'natural' at Ocean", Asbury Park Press, June 18, 1985. Accessed December 8, 2020, via Newspapers.com. "He's Tim Flannelly, freshman third baseman for the Group III state championship Ocean Township High School baseball team.... 'I had known about him since he played in Little League,' said Ocean coach Dave Enderly Saturday afternoon at Princeton University as behind him Flannelly and other members of the Ocean baseball team celebrated their title-clinching 3-0 victory over Montville."
  30. ^ Edelson, Stephen. "Ocean captures Group III title", Asbury Park Press, June 16, 1985. Accessed December 24, 2020, via Newspapers.com. "They were treading where no Spartan had ever gone before, this 1985 edition of the Ocean Township baseball squad, when they stepped onto Princeton University's Strubing Field for yesterday's NJSIAA Group III final.... It was a familiar position for the Spartans (24-6), riding the right arm of senior pitcher Ted Feindt to roll past the Mustangs, 3-0, in Feindt's third NJSIAA tournament victory and his second shutout."
  31. ^ NJSIAA Girls Cross Country State Group Champions, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  32. ^ NJSIAA Football History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  33. ^ Graham, Tony. "Ocean's title wave; Big Red Spartans wear a state crown; Record crowd of 6,200 sees Ocean outlast Long Branch In battle of unbeaten teams.", Asbury Park Press', December 5, 1993. Accessed January 28, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Ending the season the way it began, with Conti the nucleus of Ocean's multi-dimensional attack, the Big Red Spartans stopped Long Branch 20-12 in yesterday's New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Central Jersey Group III championship battle of the unbeatens. 'It's the best feeling in the world,' Eddie Conti said after Ocean (11-0) won its first sectional football crown before an estimated record crowd of 6,200 at Carelli field.... Under his father, coach George Conti, Ocean was participating in the state playoffs for the eighth time in 11 years but had been 0-4 in championship games."
  34. ^ 2005 Football - Central, Group III, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 18, 2011.
  35. ^ Softball Championship History 1972–2023, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated July 2023. Accessed April 1, 2024.
  36. ^ LoGiudice, Daniel. "NJ softball: Greatest Jersey Shore high school teams ever", Asbury Park Press, May 28, 2020. Accessed December 9, 2020. "1993 Ocean Township (25-4) Behind a strong year by ace pitcher Nicole Siniscalco, Ocean Township won its first and only group championship with a 5-3 victory over Ramsey in the Group III championship game."
  37. ^ NJSIAA History of Boys Soccer, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  38. ^ a b LoGiudice, Daniel. "NJ boys soccer: 30 greatest Jersey Shore teams ever", Asbury Park Press, June 16, 2020. Accessed December 8, 2020. "1996 Ocean Township (16-6) - Ocean Township won its first ever group title when it upset defending-champion Scotch Plains-Fanwood, winners of five group finals, 2-0 in the Group III final."
  39. ^ LoGiudice, Daniel. "NJ boys soccer: Ocean Township wins wild state final for second ever title", Asbury Park Press, November 18, 2018. Accessed December 9, 2020. "Their hearts might have skipped a beat, or maybe several, but the Spartans held on for a 1-0 victory over the Millers in the Group III final on Saturday at Kean University.... The Spartans (21-3-1) beat CBA in a thrilling overtime battle in this year’s SCT final, they edged Colts Neck in the Central Group III final this fall, and now they have a state title."
  40. ^ NJSIAA Wrestling Team Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2021.
  41. ^ History of NJSIAA Boys Bowling Championships, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed August 1, 2022.
  42. ^ Contact Us, Ocean Township High School. Accessed March 7, 2022.
  43. ^ "Ocean Township H.S. alum Lane Bess heading to space on Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin", Asbury Park Press, December 6, 2021. Accessed December 13, 2021. "Venture capitalist Lane Bess, a 1979 graduate of Ocean Township High School, will fly."
  44. ^ "Keep An Eye On: Michelle Davidson", Asbury Park Press, April 12, 1989. Accessed January 19, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Grade: Senior, Ocean Township High School."
  45. ^ Larsen, Erik. "Search for truth yields Pulitzer; Book documents atrocities in Kenya", Asbury Park Press, April 30, 2006. Accessed March 7, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "When Caroline Fox graduated from Ocean Township High School in 1987, her teachers had no doubt she was going to go places. She didn't disappoint Princeton was next, then Harvard and after that, halfway around the world to Kenya Today a Harvard University professor and married with two young sons, Caroline Elkins is one of the nation's foremost scholars on African history and a renowned expert on a little-known brutal chapter in the post-World War II history of British colonialism in Africa."
  46. ^ USF2000 – Summer Vacation Over for Hindman, Trent Hindman, August 12, 2012. Accessed October 25, 2015. "While Trent Hindman's senior year at Ocean Township High School doesn't begin until September 5th, his open-wheel education picks up after a six-week break this weekend at Mid-Ohio Sport Car Course, for Round 6 and 7 of the 2012 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda."
  47. ^ Staff. "Shore's Robert Legato is special-effects wizard behind 'Hugo'", Asbury Park Press, February 26, 2012. Accessed March 5, 2012. "Many decades later, after growing up in Asbury Park, graduating from Ocean Township High School and studying film in Santa Barbara, Calif., Legato has become the magician."
  48. ^ Liebermann, Oren. The Insulin Express: One Backpack, Five Continents, and the Diabetes Diagnosis That Changed Everything, p. 26. Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., 2017. ISBN 9781510718494. Accessed October 29, 2018. "I never went to a single Ocean Township High School Spartans game and I never paid any attention to the NHL, MLB, NASCAR, MLS, NFL, or any other league, with the recent exception of the NBA."
  49. ^ Staff. "Susan Littenberg Nominated for Prestigious ACE Film Award", Atlantic Highlands Herald, January 30, 2011. Accessed October 17, 2011. "Highly acclaimed Hollywood film editor Susan Littenberg, who graduated from Ocean Township High School in 1985, has been nominated for an American Cinema Editors (ACE) Eddie Award, given to recognize excellence in film editing."
  50. ^ "Ocean Township Students Gain Diplomas, Honors", Asbury Park Press, June 18, 1976, page B2. Accessed January 28, 2018.
  51. ^ "Real World (cont.)", Asbury Park Press, June 14, 1992. Accessed October 30, 2018. "Nies talked about experimenting with drugs and dropping out of high school.... He was on the front page of the Asbury Park Press in 1990 after he was arrested and charged with participating in a football betting operation at Ocean Township High School. A few months later he was arrested again and charged with selling anabolic steroids at the school."
  52. ^ Anderson, Teja. "People On The Move - John Nies" Archived October 12, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, LivingMedia, June 27, 2010. Accessed August 14, 2012. "John Nies grew up in Ocean Township with his two sisters Kim and Tara and younger brother Eric (yes, the guy from MTV's The Real World), his parents, mother Anna May, a pre-school teacher and father Jack who was one of the longest running referees in NBA history. John Attended Ocean Township High School after his experiences in private school were not so pleasant. 'I went to RBC for two semesters and I got abused and hazed on the bus.'"
  53. ^ "College's Chamber Chorus Presents Oratorio Tuesday", Red Bank Register, December 12, 1968. Accessed September 20, 2021. "He will be accompanied by Radia Perlman, also an Ocean Township High School senior."
  54. ^ "3-star Ocean Township QB Kenny Pickett talks re-opening his recruitment", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, May 23, 2016, updated August 23, 2019. Accessed September 24, 2020. "Last Monday, Ocean Township (Oakhurst, N.J.) junior quarterback Kenny Pickett decommitted from the Temple Owls, re-opening his recruitment, as he garnered new opportunities following a string of dominant camp performances this spring."
  55. ^ Radel, Dan. "Waters origins discovered by Ocean Twp. track star", Asbury Park Press, December 24, 2014. Accessed November 16, 2020. "As a pole vault star at Ocean Township High School, Adam Sarafian was used to setting records."
  56. ^ Longsdorf, Amy. "'Dark Knight' producer was 'just a kid from Jersey'", Courier-Post, January 26, 2009. Accessed June 1, 2011. "By the time Uslan graduated from Ocean Township High School in 1969, he had amassed more than 30,000 books..."
  57. ^ Staff. Fitzgerald's Legislative Manual, 1988, p. 245. Accessed September 3, 2016.
  58. ^ Phil Villapiano Archived October 7, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, database Football. Accessed December 15, 2007.
  59. ^ Neglia, Ashley V. "Mixing Media", New Jersey Monthly, June 9, 2008. Accessed July 22, 2008.
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