Paramus High School

Paramus High School is an American four-year comprehensive public high school, located in Paramus, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone secondary school of the Paramus Public Schools. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 2006.[2]

Paramus High School
Address
99 East Century Road

Paramus
,
(Bergen County)
,
New Jersey
07652

United States
Coordinates40.927748°N 74.062185°W / 40.927748; -74.062185
Information
TypePublic high school
Established1957 (1957)
School districtParamus Public Schools
NCES School ID3412420[1]
PrincipalRaymond Kiem
Faculty106.3 FTEs[1]
Grades9–12
Enrollment1,265 (as of 2018–19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio11.9:1[1]
CampusSuburban[1]
Athletics conferenceBig North Conference
Team nameSpartans
Websitephs.paramus.k12.nj.us
Last updated: May 3, 2019 (2019-05-03)

As of the 2018–19 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,265 students and 106.3 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.9:1. There were 57 students (4.5% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 24 (1.9% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]

Paramus High School offers a wide range of course offerings to its students, including Advanced Placement courses available in 26 subjects.[3]

History

Historically, Paramus shared many municipal services with the township of Rochelle Park, including schooling. In 1922, the school situation was the hot topic of discussion. Residents felt that the schools were too far away and wanted to make sure that their children were safe when they went to school. It was because of this that Paramus decided to become a borough of its own, and it built the high school on Spring Valley Road in 1957.[4] The school's 50th anniversary was celebrated in 2007.[5]

Awards, recognition and rankings

For the 1988–89 school year, Paramus High School was awarded the National Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education,[6] the highest award an American school can receive.[7][8]

The school was the 57th-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.[9] The school had been ranked 111th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 98th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[10] The magazine ranked the school 77th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[11] The school was ranked 45th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state.[12]

Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 124th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 44 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (83.3%) and language arts literacy (97.0%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).[13]

In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 50th in New Jersey and 1,527th nationwide.[14]

In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 705th in the nation among participating public high schools and 54th among schools in New Jersey.[15]

Athletics

The Paramus High School Spartans[16] compete in the Big North Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Bergen and Passaic counties, and was established following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.[17] The school had participated in the North Jersey Tri-County Conference in 2009–10.[18] Until the NJSIAA's 2009 realignment, the school had participated in Division A of the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League, which included high schools located in Bergen County, Essex County and Passaic County, and was separated into three divisions based on NJSIAA size classification.[19] With 894 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.[20] The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group III North for football for 2018–2020.[21]

The school participates as the host school / lead agency in a joint ice hockey team with Hackensack High School and Lyndhurst High School. The co-op program operates under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year.[22]

The Paramus High School sports program has had much success over the years, most notably in baseball, volleyball, and wrestling. The ice hockey team ended a 12-year drought with a league title, league championship, and also a holiday tournament championship in the 2011–12 season.

The baseball program has won more than 800 games since its inception in 1960, which includes four state championships, a county championship, and 13 league championships. Many players have gone on to graduate and continue to play baseball at the collegiate level, several of which played at the NCAA Division 1 level or professionally.[23] Former head coach Joe Cervino, who managed the team for 30 seasons from 1982 to 2011, was one of the most successful coaches in Bergen County history, one of only four coaches to win more than 500 games.[24]

The boys track team won the Group IV spring track state championship in 1966.[25]

The girls' volleyball team has won seven state championships, winning the Division A title in 1981 against Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan, taking the Group IV title in 1982 against Hackensack High School, and earning Group III titles in 1988 (vs. Ramsey High School), 1999 (vs. Old Tappan), 1994 (vs. River Dell Regional High School), 1995 (vs. Lakeland Regional High School) and 2005 (vs. Ramapo High School). The program's seven state titles are tied for eighth in the state.[26] The 1982 team won the Group IV state title against Hackensack in two games (15-6 and 15–12).[27] The 1994 girls' volleyball team finished the season with a record of 22–2, winning the league and Group III state title, but lost to Paramus Catholic High School in the Bergen County tournament.[28] The 1995 team won the Group III title for a second consecutive year, and took the Bergen County title with a win over Paramus Catholic.[29] The team won the Tournament of Champions in 2005, defeating Secaucus High School in the tournament finals with a two-game sweep by scores of 25-22 and 25–23.[30]

The wrestling team won the North I Group IV state sectional championship in 1982, 1985, 1998 and 1999, and won the North I Group III title in 1993, 2012, 2015 and 2016.[31]

The ice hockey team won the Handchen Cup in 2000 with a 6–4 win against Brick Memorial High School in the championship game at the South Mountain Arena.[32][33]

Administration

The school's principal is Raymond Kiem. His core administration team includes two assistant principals.[34]

Notable alumni

Notable Paramus High school alumni include:

Notable faculty
  • Bill Pascrell (born 1937), Congressman who taught at the school for 12 years.[48]
  • Frank L. Ryerson (1905–1995), music director and trumpeter who wrote the alma mater lyrics, sung to the tune "Aura Lee".[49]

References
  1. School data for Paramus High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 1, 2020.
  2. Paramus High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools, backed up by the Internet Archive as of March 30, 2012. Accessed March 28, 2015.
  3. Program of Studies 2019-2020, Paramus High School. Accessed July 19, 2019.
  4. PHS Renovation Update Archived September 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Paramus High School. Accessed June 30, 2011. "The new main office and fitness center are a welcome addition to the high school which was originally built in 1957."
  5. Fabrikant, Mel. "Mayor & Council Meeting 3-27-07", The Paramus Post, March 28, 2007. Accessed April 11, 2012. "Further into the future will be the 50th anniversary of Paramus High School kicking off with a Football Game under the lights at 7 PM versus Barringer High School."
  6. Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982-1983 through 1999-2002 (PDF), United States Department of Education. Accessed May 11, 2006.
  7. "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."
  8. "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."
  9. Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
  10. Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed December 2, 2012.
  11. Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed February 8, 2011.
  12. "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
  13. New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2010-2011, Schooldigger.com. Accessed March 4, 2012.
  14. Mathews, Jay. "The High School Challenge 2011: Paramus High School", The Washington Post. Accessed September 9, 2011.
  15. 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.
  16. Paramus High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  17. League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  18. League Memberships - 2009-1010, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, backed up by the Internet Archive as of July 24, 2011. Accessed September 30, 2014.
  19. Home Page, Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League, backed up by the Internet Archive as of May 9, 2009. Accessed December 15, 2014.
  20. NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
  21. NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2018–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, finalized August 2019. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  22. NJSIAA Winter Cooperative Sports Programs, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 1, 2020.
  23. Paramus High School, The Baseball Cube. Accessed February 5, 2013.
  24. Farrell, Brian. "Coach Cervino reflects on 500 wins", NorthJersey.com/sports, April 28, 2010. Accessed August 23, 2011. "'It's not about me; it's about the team and the program and all the quality athletes that I've been fortunate to coach at Paramus High School,' says Joe Cervino, now among only five head baseball coaches in Bergen County history to have achieved 500 wins in a career."
  25. NJSIAA Spring Track Summary of Group Titles Boys, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  26. Girls Volleyball Group Champions, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed January 11, 2017.
  27. "Paramus Catholic breezes to crown", The Record, November 21, 1982. Accessed January 2, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Also winning titles were Paramus, Old Tappan, Cresskill and Tenafly. Paramus retained its Group 4 title, defeating Hackensack easily in their first game 15-6, and coming back from a 14-11 deficit to beat the Comets 16-12 in the second game."
  28. Glickson, Grant. "High School Report", The New York Times, October 7, 1995. Accessed August 23, 2011. "The Spartans captured the league and Group 3 state championship, but lost the Bergen County title to Paramus Catholic."
  29. Mills, Ed. "Where are they now? Lauren Cacciamani of Paramus", The Record, April 12, 2011. Accessed August 23, 2011. "Her dynamic vertical leap (she also was a high jumper on the track team) served her well in her senior year, when she was named a high school All-American as the Spartans beat Paramus Catholic to claim the Bergen County title and Lakeland to earn a second straight Group 3 championship."
  30. Barton, Rich. "Paramus completes an amazing state tournament run", NorthJerseySports.com, November 21, 2005. Accessed August 23, 2011. "Paramus held off a furious rally in game one, then used a rally of its own to bring home the crown.... An ace by Mary King capped the comeback and the Spartans' incredible run throughout the state tournament to win the Tournament of Champions title with a 25-22, 25-23 victory over Secaucus."
  31. NJSIAA Wrestling Team Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed January 12, 2017.
  32. NJSIAA Ice Hockey State Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  33. Pelzman, J. P. "Cup victories sweet for Bergen teams", The Record, February 28, 2000. Accessed January 30, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Paramus did it easily. Hackensack had a bit tougher time. But both teams got what they came for Saturday at South Mountain Arena in West Orange. The Spartans redeemed themselves for a loss in their cup final last year, by defeating Brick Memorial, 6-0, in the final of the Handchen Cup."
  34. Staff, Paramus High School. Accessed April 5, 2020.
  35. Sullivan, Tara. "Celebrating the 1969 Miracle Mets", The Record, August 23, 2009. Accessed May 29, 2011. "'A sports guy like me, we were aware there was so much going on, but we were so into what the Mets were doing,' said Joe Benigno, who had just entered his junior year at Paramus High School when the Mets won. Benigno, now a midday sports talk radio host on WFAN, was an avid Jets and Mets fan, making 1969 his perfect year.
  36. Kuperinsky, Amy. "Trending: Both cheers and ire for N.J. joke map", The Star-Ledger, December 9, 2011. Accessed April 11, 2012. "Actress Stacey Dash, the graduate of Paramus High School known for her starring role alongside Alicia Silverstone in Clueless, trended worldwide Tuesday night."
  37. Raissman, Bob. "Spero Dedes, a Paramus (N.J.) High and Fordham graduate, lands gig as new Knicks radio voice", New York Daily News, June 22, 2011. Accessed February 5, 2013.
  38. Levine, Cecilia. "Paramus Pro Wrestler Who Lost Daughter Has New Purpose: 'End Drunk Driving'", Paramus Daily Voice, October 21, 2017. Accessed November 18, 2017. "Oct. 10, 2015 was the day life both stopped and started for Paramus native Bill DeMott.... DeMott graduated from Paramus High School in 1983, and went on to become a pro wrestler, earning himself the title of world heavyweight champion, and more."
  39. Webster, Sarah A. "Saving Ford His Job 1 - Way Forward: More Problems Than Expected Setbacks: Pickups And Other U.S. Sales Off Working To Be Profitable By 2009", Detroit Free Press, February 25, 2007. Accessed January 30, 2011. "That mix of Paramus High, Rutgers University, Zeta Psi and IBM worked like magic for the Fields boys."
  40. Smith, Don E. Jr. "'Ariel' Singer Dean Friedman Remembers Paramus 30 Years Later" Archived August 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Paramus Patch, January 4, 2011. Accessed May 29, 2011. "The Paramus High School graduate sang, Way on the other side of the Hudson/ deep in the bosom of suburbia/I met a young girl, she sang mighty fine/Tears on My Pillow and Ave Maria. Standing by the waterfall in Paramus Park.... "Ariel" reached #26 and stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five months."
  41. Robbins, Liz. "Olympics; Wrestler Two Victories From Dream", The New York Times, June 24, 2000. Accessed February 5, 2013. "To advance, Ghaffari had to pull out a trick he first used two decades ago at Paramus High School in New Jersey."
  42. Former Hollywood Talent Agent From Malibu Takes Texas Hold 'Em Archived November 8, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, PCH Press, August 16, 2006.
  43. Delphian 76. Paramus High School. 1976.
  44. Wassel, Bryan. "Berklee professor, former Paramus resident credits Beatles as musical inspiration", Town News, May 4, 2011. Accessed September 13, 2011. "Passarelli's musical talent goes beyond just the guitar, and while attending Paramus High School she played flute in the school's marching and concert bands, as well as guitar for the stage band."
  45. Mills, Ed. "College football: Honors aplenty for Paramus native John Robertson ", The Record, December 18, 2014. Accessed December 21, 2014. "The honors just keep pouring in for John Robertson. And the former Paramus High School standout certainly has earned them with exceptional double-duty displays of skill and hard work."
  46. West, Melanie Grayce. "Gift Helps to Fund Rutgers Faculty", The Wall Street Journal, March 1, 2012. Accessed March 28, 2014. "Mr. Temares, 53 years old, was born in the Bronx, raised in Paramus, N.J., and now lives in Warren. He graduated from Rutgers in 1980 with a degree in economics and presently serves on the Rutgers University Foundation Board of Overseers."
  47. Amdur, Neil. "Miss Zayak Happy to Be Back in School; Miss Zayak Has Fun In School Impressed by Her Conduct", The New York Times, March 11, 1981. Accessed February 5, 2013. "Elaine Zayak wanted to watch The White Shadow. ... Dan Corey, the teacher, applauded as the two playfully ducked behind a curtain on the stage in Room 616 at Paramus High School."
  48. "Rep. Pascrell Thanks All Dedicated Educators On National Teachers Day" Archived March 8, 2013, at Archive.today, Bill Pascrell press release dated May 8, 2012. Accessed February 5, 2013. "'As a former public school teacher who worked 12 years at Paramus High School, I know how hard it can be to meet the demands of a classroom and a school district,' said Pascrell."
  49. "Ryerson Guest Conductor at Final Village Band Concert", Paterson News, August 12, 1966. Accessed August 19, 2020, via Newspapers.com. "Ryerson, a native of Paterson, has written a number of song hits and has appeared In Hollywood films. He is now band director of Paramus High School."
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