Highland Park High School (New Jersey)

Highland Park High School (HPHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from the borough of Highland Park, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, as the lone secondary school of the Highland Park Public Schools system. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1940.[3]

Highland Park High School
Address
102 North Fifth Avenue

Highland Park
,
Middlesex County
,
New Jersey
08904

United States
Coordinates40.501676°N 74.424563°W / 40.501676; -74.424563
Information
TypePublic
EstablishedSeptember 1926
School districtHighland Park Public Schools
NCES School ID3407170[1]
PrincipalMichael Lassiter
Faculty41.2 FTEs[1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment472 (as of 2018–19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio11.5:1[1]
Color(s)  Cardinal and
  white[2]
Athletics conferenceGreater Middlesex Conference
Team nameOwls[2]
AccreditationMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools[3]
NewspaperThe Highland Fling
YearbookThe Albadome
Websitehs.hpschools.net

As of the 2018–19 school year, the school had an enrollment of 472 students and 41.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.5:1. There were 117 students (24.8% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 34 (7.2% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]

History

The school was established in 1926 as a junior high school, serving up to grade 10. Until HPHS became a senior high school in 1937, students from Highland Park finished their education at either New Brunswick High School or Metuchen High School.

The original school building was designed by architect Alexander Merchant and built in the 1920s. Later additions include the Science and Math wing in 1958; the English wing in 1968; the library and arts wing in the 1980s; and the cafeteria and a connected middle school (grades 6, 7, and 8) in 1996. Student population peaked in the 1960s, with a population in the 900s.

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 74th-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.[4] The school had been ranked 67th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 37th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[5] The magazine ranked the school 50th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[6] The school was ranked 31st in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state.[7] Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 184th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (an increase of 54 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the two components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA), mathematics (79.0%) and language arts literacy (93.3%).[8]

In 2018, Highland Park High School received the Gold Ranking by U.S. News and World Report as the #17 Best High School in New Jersey and #397 in the United States.[9][10]

Also in 2018, the school won the ShopRite Cup for the best Group I sports program in New Jersey.[9][11]

In 2008, two students were National Merit Finalists, twelve were National Merit Commended Scholars, and eleven were Bloustein Distinguished Scholars.[12]

In 2007, six students were National Merit Finalists, eleven students were National Merit Commended Scholars, eleven students were Bloustein Distinguished Scholars. Almost ten percent of the graduating class went on to Ivy League schools.

In 2006, HPHS students were recognized for Advanced Placement Awards. One student qualified for the National AP Scholar Award. 16 students qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award. 13 students qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award. 15 students qualified for the AP Scholar Award.

In 2005, a team of three HPHS students were recognized as First Place National Finalists in the 13th Annual Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Awards science competition for their innovative design of a satellite-based earthquake and tsunami detection/prediction system.[13][14]

Extracurricular activities

Extracurricular programs at HPHS include multiple instrumental music programs, drama club and tech crew, SAGA (the Sexuality and Gender Alliance), The Highland Fling (school newspaper), a Model United Nations and Model Congress Program, which participates at the Rutgers University Model UN and Congress conferences, as well as Philadelphia Model Congress, Dead Center (literary magazine), and the Albadome (yearbook). The school also has a DECA chapter, which competes in New Jersey's Blue Division. The HPHS academic teams compete in many all-state competitions such as Science League, Math League, and the News 12-sponsored NJ Challenge. These teams excel, having won top-10 plaques in past years.

The Community Teen Center also contributes to the school's extracurricular list, recently initiating many successful and interesting clubs and groups. Sports clubs such as volleyball and ping-pong, as well as the academic clubs, such as the Philosophy Club and Japanese Anime and Culture Club. The Philosophy Club is in close contact with Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, which offers one of the highest ranked philosophy majors in the country. The Philosophy Club is visited by guest speakers and aims at providing a thought provoking, challenging, and analytical environment for students at Highland Park High School to advance their perspectives on a myriad of philosophical topics and controversies essential to their day-to-day lives. The Japanese Anime and Culture Club exposes its members to elements of Japanese popular culture through watching anime and reading manga in addition to Japanese language lessons from an instructor.

WVHP-FM

Beginning in 1971, the high school had a ten-watt FM radio station, WVHP, the voice of Highland Park, that broadcast from 6AM to 8AM and 5PM to 10:30PM Monday through Friday. Several radio personalities got their start there, among them Ken Friedman (WFMU-FM General Manager), Soterios Johnson was the local host for NPR's Morning Edition on WNYC -New York and Bob Sommer (KALW-FM in San Francisco & BMIR-FM - Burning Man Information Radio). Jim Axelrod (CBS News) was also on the air at WVHP at one point. Willie Paszamant (actor Willie Garson of Sex and The City) had a morning show at WVHP.

Athletics

Highland Park High School Owls[2] compete in the Greater Middlesex Conference, which operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[15] With 348 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group I for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 75 to 476 students in that grade range.[16] The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group I South for football for 2018–2020.[17] The school's mascot is the Owl. The colors of HPHS and their various sports teams are maroon and white.[2]

HPHS is known for its long-time success in track and field and baseball, with more recent successes in boys' and girls' soccer and boys' and girls' tennis. There is also the girls' and boys' basketball teams and the cheer leading and dance teams that performs at football and basketball games. The school also has cross country, girls volleyball, wrestling and softball teams. HPHS is also home to an Ultimate team, the Enforcers, although the team is not affiliated with the school's varsity sports program.

The boys basketball team won the Group I state championship in 1948, defeating Weehawken High School by a score of 57-53 in the tournament's championship game.[18][19]

The boys track team won the spring track title in Group II in 1958, 1959 and 1960.[20]

The baseball team won the Central Jersey Group II state sectional championship in 1959, 1962, 1966, 1969 and 1970.[21]

The boys indoor track team won the Group II championship in 1962, 1963, 1971 (co-champion with Lincoln High School), 1980 (co-champion with Roselle Park High School) and 1984; the girls team won the Group II title in 1981 and 2018.[22]

The boys track team won the Group I/II state indoor relay championship in 1966 (co-champion with Clearview Regional High School), and won the Group I title in 1980, 1981 and 1984.[23]

The HPHS football team has been under the leadership of only seven coaches during the program's entire history. Starting with Bus Lepine, then Jay Dakelman, the football team was led by its former all-state quarterback Joe Policastro (class of 1959), then Richard McGlynn, then Derek Nobles and the team is now led by Shawn Harrison. L.J. Smith, of the Baltimore Ravens, was a star of both the HPHS football and basketball teams in the 1990s. The football team won the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group I state sectional championship in 1974, 1977, 1978, 1986, 1989 and 1990.[24] The Highland Park football team was four-time Gold Division champions (2006–2009).

The field hockey team won the Central Jersey Group I state sectional title in 1977.[25]

The girls track team won the winter track Group I state title in 1978, 1980 and 2017.[26]

The girls' basketball team won the 2007 Central, Group I championship, topping Dunellen High School, 50–35 in the final.[27][28]

The girls' tennis team went undefeated in the 2010 spring season.

In 2011, the boys' tennis team won the New Jersey Group I championship for the first time, defeating Leonia High School in the final round of the tournament.[29] The 2019 team won the Group I state title at Mercer County Park, defeating Middle Township High School 4-1 in the semifinals and moving on to beat New Providence High School 3-2 in the finals.[30]

Administration

The school's principal is Michael Lassiter. His core administration team includes the assistant principal.[31]

William H. Donahue, who became principal of the school in 1980 and had worked at the school for three decades, was murdered in 1987.[32]

Notable alumni

References
  1. School data for Highland Park High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 1, 2020.
  2. Highland Park High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  3. Highland Park High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed February 7, 2020.
  4. Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
  5. Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 7, 2012.
  6. Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed January 14, 2012.
  7. "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
  8. School Overview; Click on "Rankings" for 2003-11 HSPA results, Schooldigger.com. Accessed March 8, 2012.
  9. Highland Park High School Home Page
  10. 2018 Rankings
  11. Fifteenth Annual Standings - 2018
  12. Highland Park High School Home Page
  13. ExploraVision 2005 National Winners
  14. "Earthquake Detection : 7400 Leagues Above the Sea". Archived from the original on December 7, 2006. Retrieved December 10, 2006.
  15. League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  16. NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
  17. NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2018–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, finalized August 2019. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  18. NJSIAA Boys Basketball Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
  19. "Orange Snags Group 4 Title; Defeats Atlantic City; Weehawken Beaten", The Record, March 22, 1948. Accessed January 28, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Mel Ballou paced Highland Park to a 57-53 win over Weehawken in the Group Two final."
  20. NJSIAA Summary of Group Titles Boys Spring Track, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 1, 2020.
  21. NJSIAA Baseball Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
  22. NJSIAA Indoor Group Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  23. History of the NJSIAA Indoor Relay Championships, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  24. NJSIAA Football History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  25. NJSIAA History of Field Hockey Championships, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  26. NJSIAA Spring Track Summary of Group Titles Girls, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 1, 2020.
  27. 2007 Girls' Basketball - Central, Group I, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 10, 2007.
  28. Lerner, Gregg. "Highland Pk. prevails, 50-35", The Star-Ledger, March 6, 2007. Accessed August 2, 2007. "Last night, Wallace was indeed a factor, collecting 13 points and nine rebounds while Boyd and Zakiya Sailor netted 14 apiece to send Highland Park to a 50-35 victory over Dunellen in the NJSIAA/ShopRite Central Jersey, Group 1 final at West Windsor-Plainsboro North in Plainsboro."
  29. History of Boys' Team Tennis Championship Tournament, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  30. "Boys Tennis: Highland Park seniors fuel first Group 1 championship in eight years", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, May 22, 2019, updated August 22, 2019. Accessed January 23, 2021. "Over the years, Highland Park has been one of the top teams in Group 1, but its had nothing to show for it so to speak. The Owls have won countless Central Jersey sectional titles but have come up short in the Group semifinals and finals. But on Wednesday, Highland Park won the first Group 1 championship since 2011 by topping New Providence, the North Jersey, Section 2 winner, 3-2, at Mercer County Park in West Windsor.... In the semifinals, the Owls defeated Middle Township, 4-1, and the Pioneers won 3-2 against Mountain Lakes."
  31. 2020-2021 Student Handbook, Highland Park High School. Accessed January 13, 2021.
  32. Sullivan, Joseph F. "Popular Jersey Principal Is Stabbed to Death", The New York Times, May 10, 1987. Accessed June 27, 2019. "The killing of the principal, William H. Donahue, shocked the suburban Middlesex County community and brought hundreds of students and parents to Highland Park High School on North Fifth Street, where they met in small groups with teachers and staff to try to understand what had happened."
  33. Makin, Bob. "Levinson Axelrod celebrates 70 years of service", Home News Tribune, November 12, 2009. Accessed August 17, 2012. "His son is with CBS News as their Washington reporter. He's writing a book that is out soon about his relationship with his father. His name is Jim Axelrod. He's well known. They're Highland Park people. Jim went to Highland Park High School."
  34. "Interview with Former Poet Laureate of Missouri, David Clewell", Geosi Reads, October 16, 2016. Accessed February 7, 2020. "Shortly after the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, Bob Stephens read every word of Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience out loud to his 8 a.m. Freshman English class at Highland Park High because he honestly believed that words, used well, had the power to change lives. Small wonder, then, that he was the person to show me the first poems I actually cared about in mine."
  35. Foster, Gwendolyn Audrey "Community, Loss, and Regeneration: An Interview with Wheeler Winston Dixon", Senses of Cinema. Accessed February 7, 2020.
  36. "Commencement Speakers Stress Views of 'Quest'", The Central New Jersey Home News, June 19, 1968. Accessed February 7, 2020.
  37. Freedman, Samuel G. "How I Learned Shive", The Forward, November 29, 2015. Accessed June 27, 2019. "He exuded a kind of sullen charisma that I envied, and that marked us, at least superficially, as very different members of New Jersey’s Highland Park High School, class of 1973."
  38. "B", Home News Tribune, May 13, 2005. Accessed August 8, 2007. "Highland Park high school graduates who have gone on to careers in the media and the performing arts will be the featured speakers at the Highland Park Educational Foundation's spring fundraiser tomorrow. The speakers are WNYC news anchor Soterios Johnson, CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod and Willie (Paszamant) Garson, the actor from Sex and the City, NYPD Blue, Groundhog Day, and Something About Mary."
  39. Biography, Biography Channel, backed up by the Internet Archive as of March 24, 2012. Accessed February 7, 2020. "Garson attended Highland Park High School, and after graduating in 1982 he continued on to Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut—the alma mater of such fellow actors as Dana Delany, Frank Wood and Jordan Belfi."
  40. Lemley, Brad. "Guth's Grand Guess: Most people really want to know where we came from. We have evidence. We no longer have to rely on stories we were told when we were young'", Discover (magazine), April 2002. Accessed January 14, 2012. "And here comes Guth, apologizing for his lateness, hand extended. He is shortish at 5 feet 7 inches and energetic, sort of bouncy. It's easy to believe he was once the champion long jumper at his high school in Highland Park, New Jersey."
  41. Current Biography Yearbook, Volume 48, p. 219. H. W. Wilson Company, 1988. Accessed January 23, 2018. "At the end of his junior year he left Highland Park (New Jersey) High School to enter the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where his extracurricular activities included, as they had in high school, debating, track, and the mathematics club."
  42. Makin, Bob. "Makin Waves with Highland Park filmmaker John Hulme", Courier News, January 12, 2017. Accessed June 7, 2017. "Longtime borough resident, filmmaker and former basketball star John Hulme chronicles the intense feelings that accompanied the Owls' Rocky-like game against New Brunswick's Zebras in the 1987 Central Jersey Group I championship basketball game in his new documentary Blood, Sweat & Tears: A Basketball Exorcism.... At first, the local filmmaker focuses on the lifelong pain he has felt about New Brunswick freshman Cassius 'Money' Hargrove swishing the game-winning jump shot and snuffing victory from the underdogs as the ball cascaded just out of the reach of Hulme's long arms into the basket."
  43. "Soterios Johnson", The Highland Park eNews, November 7, 2016. Accessed February 7, 2020. "For nearly two decades, listeners of WYNC would wake up to Soterios Johnson’s voice every day at 6am. Johnson was a radio journalist and local host of NPR’s Morning Edison on WNYC until August 2016. He got his start in radio at Highland Park High School, where he participated in the high school’s radio station after school."
  44. Ted Kubiak, Society for American Baseball Research. Accessed June 26, 2019. "As a shortstop at Highland Park High, I didn’t think I was anything special, just one of the guys, trying to do the best I could."
  45. L.J. Smith profile Archived January 3, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Philadelphia Eagles. Accessed June 9, 2007. "Growing up in the small town of Highland Park, NJ (2 square miles, population 14,500), Smith graduated from the local high school as part of a 115-person class.... Attended Highland Park (NJ) HS where he caught 10 TDs and had 143 tackles, 11 sacks and 5 INTs at LB as a senior.
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