Ridgefield Memorial High School

Ridgefield Memorial High School is a comprehensive community four-year public high school located in Ridgefield, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone secondary school of the Ridgefield School District.

Ridgefield Memorial High School
Address
555 Walnut Avenue

Ridgefield
,
Bergen County
,
New Jersey
07657

United States
Coordinates40.831176°N 74.000388°W / 40.831176; -74.000388
Information
TypePublic high school
Established1957
School districtRidgefield School District
NCES School ID3413770[1]
PrincipalJanet Seabold
Faculty49.5 FTEs[1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment514 (as of 2018–19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio10.4:1[1]
Color(s)  Royal blue and
  white[2]
Athletics conferenceNorth Jersey Interscholastic Conference
Team nameRoyals[2]
RivalsPalisades Park High School
NewspaperThe Crown
Websitewww.ridgefieldschools.com/Domain/8

As of the 2018–19 school year, the school had an enrollment of 514 students and 49.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.4:1. There were 107 students (20.8% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 31 (6.0% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 176th-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.[3] The school had been ranked 96th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 112th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[4] The magazine ranked the school 135th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[5] The school was ranked 97th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[6] Schooldigger.com ranked the school 127th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (an increase of 130 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (86.3%) and language arts literacy (93.8%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).[7]

Extracurricular activities

The school's publications are The Crown monthly newspaper and Serendipity literary and arts magazine.

The Marching Royals Marching Band, under the direction of K-12 Music Supervisor Matt Tracey and high school band director is the largest Group I marching band in the state of New Jersey. The band participates annually in the NCAA Men's college basketball tournament "Coaches vs. Cancer" at Madison Square Garden and at the NCAA Men's college basketball tournament "Legends Classic" at the IZOD center in the Meadowlands sports complex. The band has performed for Michael Jordan's basketball classic (also held at Madison Square Garden). In 2009, the Marching Royals were the Grand National Marching champion at the Orlando All-star music festival.

The Ridgefield Choirs are led by Tom Voorhis.

The Academic Decathlon team has consistently gone to the state competition for the past 14 years, and has received awards and medals, including in the 2002–03 season, which saw them represent New Jersey in the National Finals in Phoenix, Arizona.[8]

Athletics

The Ridgefield Memorial High School Royals[2] participate in the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference, which is comprised of small-enrollment schools in Bergen, Hudson County, Morris County and Passaic County counties, and was created following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[9][10][11] With 389 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as North II, Group I for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 73 to 487 students in that grade range.[12] Prior to realignment that took effect in the fall of 2010, Ridgefield was a member of the Bergen County Scholastic League (BCSL).[13]

The school has 22 varsity sports programs. Interscholastic sports offered at the school include:[2]

  • Fall: Cross Country (Boys/Girls), Cheerleading, Soccer(Boys/Girls), Tennis(Girls), Volleyball
  • Winter: Basketball (Boys/Girls), Indoor Track (Boys/Girls), Competition Cheer Leading
  • Spring: Baseball, Softball, Outdoor Track (Boys/Girls), Tennis (Boys), Golf (Boys/Girls)

The football, soccer and track events are all held at Willis Field.

The Royals golf team won five consecutive league titles from 2006-2010. The Royals boys' cross country team also won a league title during the 2009 fall season.

The baseball team won the North II Group I state sectional championships in 2012 with a 6-4 win against Dunellen High School.[14] The team won the North I, Group I title in 2014 with a 2-1 win against Cedar Grove High School in the tournament final.[15][16]

For the 2015 season, the school only fielded a JV football team, after only 13 players participated in a fall football camp. The school will forfeit all of its varsity games, repeating what was done in the 2011 season after the team had lost its first three games. The future of the varsity football program is unclear, but the NJSIAA offers schools the option of creating a co-op program with another school.[17][18]

Notable alumni

Administration

The school's principal is Janet Seabold.[22]

References
  1. School data for Ridgefield Memorial High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 1, 2020.
  2. Ridgefield Memorial High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  3. Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
  4. Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed December 2, 2012.
  5. Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed March 31, 2011.
  6. "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
  7. New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2010-2011, Schooldigger.com. Accessed March 4, 2012.
  8. Academic Decathlon, Ridgefield Education Association, March 21, 2011. Accessed July 23, 2011.
  9. Mattura, Greg. "Small-school NJIC may debut its own league championship", The Record, January 9, 2017. Accessed August 30, 2020. "The small-school North Jersey Interscholastic Conference may debut its own boys basketball tournament this season, one season after introducing its girls hoops championship. The NJIC is comprised of schools from Bergen, Passaic and Hudson counties and the event offered to the 36 boys teams would serve as an alternative to likely competing against larger programs in a county tournament."
  10. Member Schools, North Jersey Interscholastic Conference. Accessed August 30, 2020.
  11. League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  12. General Public School Classifications 2015-2016, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, as of December 15, 2015. Accessed December 12, 2016.
  13. 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 13, 2014.
  14. Staff. "State tournaments roundup: Luis Hidalgo stars as Ridgefield baseball rules in North 2, Group 1", The Record, June 2, 2012. Accessed June 2, 2016. "Luis Hidalgo and Rudy Chavez combined on a six-hitter Friday as second-seeded Ridgefield defeated top seed and host Dunellen in the state North 2, Group 1 baseball title game, 6-4."
  15. "Cedar Grove at Ridgefield , NJSIAA Tournament, Final Round, North Jersey, Section 1, Group 1", NJ.com, May 30, 2014. Accessed June 2, 2016.
  16. Czerwinski, Mark J. "H.S. baseball roundup: Ridgefield regains North 1, Group 1 title", The Record, May 31, 2014. Accessed June 2, 2016. "Ridgefield didn't hit a ball out of the infield in the seventh inning Friday night. But that didn't stop the Royals from reclaiming the North 1, Group 1 baseball crown.... It's Ridgefield's second title in three years after waiting 42 seasons for a championship. The Royals (19-10) face Dayton on Tuesday at Ramapo College."
  17. Cooper, Darren. "Cooper on H.S. football: Ridgefield will play only a JV schedule", The Record, August 27, 2015. Accessed October 1, 2015. "Ridgefield Royals football will be back. But the news that the program is dropping down to the junior varsity level for 2015 comes at a time when people question whether football is worth it anymore.... This is not the first time Ridgefield has been down this road. In 2011, the Royals lost their first three games, then forfeited the rest of them.... The Royals reportedly had only 13 players come out for fall football camp."
  18. Dahler, Don. "High schools drop football over deaths, injuries and lack of interest", CBS News, September 30, 2015. Accessed October 1, 2015. "Like schools in Camden, Maine, and Ridgefield, New Jersey, Maplewood had a hard time finding enough players, due to injuries and lack of interest."
  19. Christopher Lema, Georgetown Hoyas men's soccer. Accessed March 17, 2018. "Hometown: Ridgefield, N.J.; High School: Ridgefield Memorial"
  20. Anthony Suarez, Borough of Ridgefield. Accessed October 13, 2014. "Anthony is a product of the town's school system, graduating from Ridgefield Memorial High School, and Saint Peter's College in Jersey City."
  21. Alfred Bernard Vandeweghe obituary. dignitymemorial.com. Accessed March 24, 2014.
  22. Principal / Meet the Principal, Ridgefield Memorial High School. Accessed January 8, 2019.
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