Jamesburg High School

Jamesburg High School was a public secondary education in the United States that operated in Jamesburg, Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, as the lone secondary school of the Jamesburg Public Schools until its closure at the end of the 1978–79 school year.

Prior to opening its own high school, students from Jamesburg would attend either Freehold High School or New Brunswick High School.[1]

The borough's first high school opened in 1906, with seven students in the district's elementary school sharing a common teacher with the eighth grade.[1] In its early years, the school served students from the surrounding Middlesex and Monmouth county communities of Cranbury, East Brunswick, Englishtown, Helmetta, Manalapan Township, Monroe Township, Old Bridge Township and Spotswood. The high school relocated in 1912.[2]

After multiple votes to create a new high school facility had failed, construction of a building to meet the expanding demand began in 1931 and the school opened in September 1932.[3] Constructed at a cost of $165,000, the facility included 17 classrooms, an auditorium and a gymnasium.[2]

The New Jersey Board of Education voted in May 1979 to shut down the high school, which with an enrollment of 182 students was the smallest in the state. Starting with the 1979–80 school year, Jamesburg began sending students to Monroe Township High School as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Monroe Township School District.[4] Students from Helmetta had been attending Jamesburg High School under a sending/receiving agreement, and switched its students to Spotswood High School.[5] By the time the school closed, there were 4,100 graduates.[2]

The first building to house the high school was eventually demolished and replaced by the current Grace M. Breckwedel Middle School building. The second building that housed the high school was turned into an office complex, which is still there today and known as Forsgate Commons.[6] It is located on the intersection of Forsgate Drive and Davison Ave, right behind the district's John F. Kennedy Elementary School.

Athletics

The boys' soccer team was declared Group I state champion in 1963 and won the Group I championship playoffs in 1962 (defeating Blairstown High School in the tournament final), 1966 (as co-champion with Harrison High School), 1971 (vs. Harrison), 1972 (as co-champion with Harrison) and 1973 (vs. Chatham Borough High School).[7] The 1972 team finished the season with 15-0-1 record after being declared as the Group I title co-champion with Harrison following a 1-1 tie after double overtime in the tournament final played at Fairleigh Dickinson University.[8][9]

Notable alumni

Reed Gusciora (born 1960, class of 1978), politician who previously served in the General Assembly from 1996 to 2018 representing the 15th Legislative District and is currently the mayor of Trenton.[10]

References

The Proud History of Jamesburg High School, Jamesburg.net. Accessed November 26, 2017. "In 1905, a group of interested Jamesburg citizens assembled to discuss their children’s continuing education. Although the Borough of Jamesburg had a fine elementary school, students wishing to pursue a secondary education had to board a train and travel to either Freehold or New Brunswick to attend high school. After much discussion and thoughtful reflection, it was decided that Jamesburg would open its own high school."
Petersen, Tara. "Jamesburg to mark old high school site 25 years after it was closed, alumni are still singing its praises", Sentinel-EBS News, June 10, 2004. Accessed November 26, 2017. "The school first opened in 1906 as the first high school in southern Middlesex County, and drew students from surrounding communities including Monroe, Spotswood, Cranbury, Old Bridge, East Brunswick, Helmetta, Englishtown, Madison and Manalapan. It was a single classroom at that time. The school moved across the street in 1912, then to its final location on Forsgate Drive in 1932."
Katerba, John D. Monroe Township and Jamesburg, p. 96. Accessed November 26, 2017. "The Jamesburg High School.... Construction began on the school in 1931, but the class of 1932 did not attend the high school. However, it was able to have its graduation exercise there."
Waldron, Martin. "New Jersey Journal", The New York Times, May 13, 1979. Accessed November 26, 2017. "The state's smallest high school, at Jamesburg in Middlesex County, is being closed. The 40-year-old school has 182 students this year. The State Board of Education voted to send the school's students to nearby Monroe after July 1."
Reports of cases argued and determined in the Superior Court, Appellate Division, Chancery Division, Law Division, and in the County Courts of the State of New Jersey, Volume 169, p. 332. New Jersey Superior Court. Accessed November 26, 2017. "In a prior related appeal, Docket No. A-3257-78, we upheld a determination of the state board ordering the closing of Jamesburg High School, effective June 30, 1979, and designating pupils of Jamesburg in the 9th through the 12th grades as tuition pupils at Monroe Township High School, effective July 1, 1979. The closing of Jamesburg High School displaced students from Helmetta Borough who had been attending that high school. However, Helmetta and Spotswood have entered into a sending-receiving relationship which will permit those pupils to attend high school in Spotswood."
Jamesburg High School History Jamesburg.net. Accessed August 7, 2019.
NJSIAA History of Boys Soccer, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 1, 2020.
NJSIAA History of Boys Soccer, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
"Jamesburg Shares Title; Brick Loses", Asbury Park Press, November 26, 1972. Accessed November 15, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Area high schools made It three of four championships yesterday as Jamesburg tied Harrison, 1-1, after two overtimes in Group I and Brick Township dropped a 2-1 decision to Livingston in Group IV in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association soccer finals at Fairleigh Dickinson University.... The co-championship for Jamesburg was veteran coach Dick Matteo's sixth state title since 1961. Yesterday's title game was a repeat of last year when Jamesburg edged Harrison 1-0.... The tie dimmed the Jamesburg record but they still finished undefeated with a 15-0-1 record."
Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey: 2004 Edition, p. 265. Lawyers Diary and Manual, LLC. ISBN 9781577411871. Accessed November 26, 2017. "Assemblyman Gusciora was born March 27, 1960, in Passaic. He attended public schools in Jamesburg and graduated from Jamesburg High School in 1978."

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[JHSAA-1] The Proud History of Jamesburg High School, Jamesburg.net. Accessed November 26, 2017. "In 1905, a group of interested Jamesburg citizens assembled to discuss their children’s continuing education. Although the Borough of Jamesburg had a fine elementary school, students wishing to pursue a secondary education had to board a train and travel to either Freehold or New Brunswick to attend high school. After much discussion and thoughtful reflection, it was decided that Jamesburg would open its own high school."

[GMNews2004-2] Petersen, Tara. "Jamesburg to mark old high school site 25 years after it was closed, alumni are still singing its praises", Sentinel-EBS News, June 10, 2004. Accessed November 26, 2017. "The school first opened in 1906 as the first high school in southern Middlesex County, and drew students from surrounding communities including Monroe, Spotswood, Cranbury, Old Bridge, East Brunswick, Helmetta, Englishtown, Madison and Manalapan. It was a single classroom at that time. The school moved across the street in 1912, then to its final location on Forsgate Drive in 1932."

[3] Katerba, John D. Monroe Township and Jamesburg, p. 96. Accessed November 26, 2017. "The Jamesburg High School.... Construction began on the school in 1931, but the class of 1932 did not attend the high school. However, it was able to have its graduation exercise there."

[4] Waldron, Martin. "New Jersey Journal", The New York Times, May 13, 1979. Accessed November 26, 2017. "The state's smallest high school, at Jamesburg in Middlesex County, is being closed. The 40-year-old school has 182 students this year. The State Board of Education voted to send the school's students to nearby Monroe after July 1."

[5] Reports of cases argued and determined in the Superior Court, Appellate Division, Chancery Division, Law Division, and in the County Courts of the State of New Jersey, Volume 169, p. 332. New Jersey Superior Court. Accessed November 26, 2017. "In a prior related appeal, Docket No. A-3257-78, we upheld a determination of the state board ordering the closing of Jamesburg High School, effective June 30, 1979, and designating pupils of Jamesburg in the 9th through the 12th grades as tuition pupils at Monroe Township High School, effective July 1, 1979. The closing of Jamesburg High School displaced students from Helmetta Borough who had been attending that high school. However, Helmetta and Spotswood have entered into a sending-receiving relationship which will permit those pupils to attend high school in Spotswood."

[6] Jamesburg High School History Jamesburg.net. Accessed August 7, 2019.

[7] NJSIAA History of Boys Soccer, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 1, 2020.

[8] NJSIAA History of Boys Soccer, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.

[9] "Jamesburg Shares Title; Brick Loses", Asbury Park Press, November 26, 1972. Accessed November 15, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Area high schools made It three of four championships yesterday as Jamesburg tied Harrison, 1-1, after two overtimes in Group I and Brick Township dropped a 2-1 decision to Livingston in Group IV in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association soccer finals at Fairleigh Dickinson University.... The co-championship for Jamesburg was veteran coach Dick Matteo's sixth state title since 1961. Yesterday's title game was a repeat of last year when Jamesburg edged Harrison 1-0.... The tie dimmed the Jamesburg record but they still finished undefeated with a 15-0-1 record."

[10] Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey: 2004 Edition, p. 265. Lawyers Diary and Manual, LLC. ISBN 9781577411871. Accessed November 26, 2017. "Assemblyman Gusciora was born March 27, 1960, in Passaic. He attended public schools in Jamesburg and graduated from Jamesburg High School in 1978."