Williamstown High School (New Jersey)

Williamstown High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school located in the Williamstown section of Monroe Township in Gloucester County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone secondary school of the Monroe Township Public Schools. The school was established in 1958.[4]

Williamstown High School
Address
700 North Tuckahoe Road

Monroe Township
,
Gloucester County
,
New Jersey
08094

United States
Coordinates39.682829°N 75.017925°W / 39.682829; -75.017925
Information
TypePublic high school
Established1958
School districtMonroe Township Public Schools
NCES School ID3410470[1]
PrincipalAngelo DeStefano
Faculty126.8 FTEs[1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment1,798 (as of 2018–19)[1]
Student to teacher ratio14.2:1[1]
Color(s)  Royal Blue and
  white[2]
Athletics conferenceTri-County Conference[3]
Team nameBraves[2]
Websitewhs.monroetwp.k12.nj.us

As of the 2018–19 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,798 students and 126.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.2:1. There were 462 students (25.7% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 103 (5.7% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]

Construction

Construction on the current school building began in 1994 and was completed in 1997. Prior to 1997, Williamstown High School was located in what is currently Williamstown Middle School. The school mascot is a Brave and the school colors are Royal Blue and White.[2]

Construction began again during the 2007-2008 school year on the high school to build an additional two wings because of overcrowding and to build a new auxiliary gym/dance studio. A few renovations in the existing building were also done to replace some old piping, wiring, and the gym and stage floor. The construction was completed between December 2008 and January 2009.

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 257th-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.[5] The school had been ranked 295th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 270th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[6] The magazine ranked the school 259th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[7] The school was ranked 248th out of 316 public high schools in New Jersey in the magazine's 2006 rankings.[8] Schooldigger.com ranked the school 194th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 29 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 (79.6%) and language arts literacy (91.4%).[9]

Athletics

The Williamstown High School Braves[2] compete as one of the member schools in the Tri-County Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools located in Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties.[3] The conference is overseen by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[10] With 1,426 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,060 to 5,049 students in that grade range.[11] The football team competes in the American Division of the 95-team West Jersey Football League superconference[12][13] and was classified by the NJSIAA as Group V South for football for 2018–2020.[14]

Sports offered at the school include:[2]

  • Fall Sports: Cheerleading, Cross Country, Football, Field Hockey, Boys' Soccer, Girls' Soccer, Girls' Tennis, Girls' Volleyball
  • Winter Sports: Wrestling, Track, Swimming and Diving, Ice Hockey, Basketball, Cheerleading (Note: Ice Hockey is a separate club sport. Williamstown is a member of the South Jersey High School Ice Hockey League, and competes in Varsity Tier I)
  • Spring Sports: Girls' and Boys' Spring Track, Boys' Baseball, Girls' Softball, Golf, Boys' Tennis and Boys' Volleyball, Girls' and Boys' Lacrosse

The girls team won the NJSIAA spring track Group II title in 1981 and 1982, and won the Group III title in 1995 and 1996.[15]

The boys track team won the Group III spring track state championship in 1984 (as co-champion).[16]

The girls volleyball team won the Group III state championship in 2006 (defeating West Morris Central High School in the final match) and won the Group IV title in 2010 (vs. Livingston High School), 2012 (vs. Hunterdon Central Regional High School) and 2019 (vs. North Hunterdon High School)[17] The team won the 2006 Group III state championship, two games to none (25-20 and 26-24) over West Morris Central High School.[18][19] Their victory was the team's first State title and made them only the third South Jersey team to win a girl's state title in the sport, joining Eastern High School and Cherry Hill High School East. The girls team finished the 2010 season with a record of 30-2, capped off by winning the Group IV title in two games, defeating Livingston High School to earn the program's second state title.[20]

The softball team won the Group IV state championship in 2008 (defeating Ridgewood High School in the final round of the tournament) and 2009 (vs. Union High School).[21] The 2008 team defeated Toms River High School East to win the South Jersey, Group IV state sectional championship, with a 2-0 win in the tournament final.[22] The team won the Group IV title with a 1-0 win over Old Bridge High School in the semifinals and finished the season with a 26-1 record after a 2-0 win against Ridgewood in the finals.[23][24] Williamstown was ranked as the number one softball team in New Jersey and number 25th ranked team in the nation in the USA Today final 2008 rankings.[25] NJ.com / The Star-Ledger ranked Williamstown as their number-one softball team in the state in 2008.[26] In spring 2009 the Williamstown softball team again defeated Toms River High School East to win the South Jersey, Group IV state sectional championship, with a three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the eleventh inning.[27] The team repeated as Group IV State Champions when they defeated Union High School by a final score of 3-0, allowing only one hit.[28]

The girls' spring track team won Tri-County Championships in 2009.

The football team won the South Jersey Group V state sectional championship in 2012, 2018 and 2019.[29] The team won the 2018 South Jersey Group V state sectional title with a 56-20 win against Rancocas Valley Regional High School.[30] The team won the 2019 South Jersey Group V title with a 14-10 win against Lenape High School with a 14-10 win in the championship game[31] and went on to win the South /Central Group V championship against Lenape High School by a score of 30-14 in the bowl game.[32]

In 2015, the Williamstown baseball team defeated Cherokee High School by a score of 4-1 in the tournament final to win the South Jersey Group IV state sectional championship[33]

Marching band

The school's marching band was Tournament of Bands Chapter One Champions in 2003 and 2007 (Group 1) and 2005-06 (Group 2). The band was the 2003 Atlantic Coast Champion in Group 1 and the 2000 Atlantic Coast Invitational Champion in Group 2.[34] The Band was 2010 USSBA "National" Champions, winning best percussion, effect, visual, and music. Since the change of director in 2012, the Williamstown Marching Braves has been on a steady increase. The Marching Braves' Percussion Section won the USBands "National" Championship in 2014 and the band placed 2nd overall, missing first place by only .063 points. The Williamstown Indoor Percussion Ensemble which competes in the TIA (Tournament of Bands) indoor percussion circuit was promoted to the National A Class during their 2015 season after their performance at Avon Grove High School March 14, 2015 and their performance at the WGI (Winter Guard International) regional at Unionville High School (Unionville, PA).[35]

Administration

The school's principal is Angelo DeStefano. His administration team includes four assistant principals.[36]

References
  1. School data for Willliamstown High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 1, 2020.
  2. Williamstown High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  3. Member Schools, Tri-County Conference. Accessed November 18, 2020.
  4. 2017-2018 Profile, Williamstown High School. Accessed March 7, 2018. "Established in 1958, Williamstown High School is a four-year comprehensive high school with a focus on academic excellence."
  5. Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
  6. Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 24, 2012.
  7. Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed August 19, 2011.
  8. "Top New Jersey High Schools 2006: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly.
  9. School Overview; Click on "Rankings" for 2003-11 HSPA results, Schooldigger.com. Accessed March 11, 2012.
  10. League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  11. NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  12. Divisions, West Jersey Football League. Accessed September 5, 2020.
  13. Minnick, Kevin. "Football: Entering 10th season, a new leader for state’s second-largest conference", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, August 8, 2019. Accessed September 5, 2020. "The WJFL was created in 2010 as a way to help teams play a full schedule and face opponents of similar size, ability and geographical location.... The league is comprised of 16 divisions and includes better than 90 high schools."
  14. NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2018–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, finalized August 2019. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  15. NJSIAA Spring Track Summary of Group Titles Girls, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 1, 2020.
  16. NJSIAA Spring Track Summary of Group Titles Boys, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 1, 2020.
  17. NJSIAA Girls Volleyball Group Champions, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  18. Zagone, John. "Williamstown Girls Volleyball State Champs", copy of article from The Star-Ledger, November 12, 2006, accessed April 19, 2007. "Reigning New Jersey Player of the Year Nina Camaioni's strong jump serve tipped off the net and landed in front of the West Morris Central defense for an ace to clinch a 26-24 victory for the Braves, finishing off a two-game sweep in the NJSIAA Group III state championship match at William Paterson University."
  19. 2006 Olympic Conference Girls' Volleyball, accessed April 19, 2007. "Congratulations to South Jersey's own, Group III State Champion Williamstown Lady Braves!"
  20. Schnatz, Pete. "S. Jersey Girls: Williamstown sweeps Livingston for crown", The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 14, 2010. Accessed August 19, 2011. "Williamstown captured its second girls' volleyball state championship in the program's 14-year history when the Braves swept Livingston, 2-0, Saturday at William Paterson University.... Williamstown (31-2), which opened strong with a 25-13 victory, held off Livingston, 25-21, in the second game to win the Group 4 title."
  21. History of the NJSIAA Softball Championships, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 1, 2020.
  22. 2008 Softball Tournament - South, Group IV, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed June 28, 2008.
  23. 2008 Softball Tournament - Public Semis/Finals, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed June 28, 2008.
  24. Anastasia, Phil. "Williamstown wins Group 4 crown", The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 8, 2008. Accessed January 7, 2021. "Matreale completed one of the best postseasons in South Jersey softball history yesterday as Williamstown defeated Ridgewood, 2-0, in the Group 4 state championship game.... Junior second baseman Katie Trotter, who played with a protective mask after suffering a broken jaw in a batting-cage accident Friday night, had two hits and drove in a run for Williamstown (26-1)."
  25. "Broad Run tops final prep softball poll", USA Today, July 28, 2008. Accessed June 22, 2009.
  26. "Softball: Every No. 1 team in the state from 1979 to 2015", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, June 21, 2015, updated August 24, 2019. Accessed January 4, 2021. "Following are the teams that finished as the NJ.com No. 1 softball team in the state with year and record.... 2008: Williamstown (26-1)"
  27. Chando, Matt. "Trotter's walk-off HR in 11th gives Williamstown softball Group IV title", NJ.com, May 29, 2009. Accessed August 19, 2011. "With two outs and the count 1-1, Trotter sent a fastball over the left-field wall for a three-run, walk-off homer to lift the top-seeded Williamstown High School softball team (21-2) to a thrilling 6-5 win against No. 2 Toms River East in an epic, three-hour South Jersey Group IV final."
  28. Chappelear, Scott. "Williamstown softball repeats as state champs in Group IV", NJ.com, June 7, 2009. Accessed August 19, 2011. "Trotter closed out the seventh with ease, retiring the final 14 batters she faced for a one-hitter and the Braves' second straight state title with a 3-0 victory at Toms River East."
  29. NJSIAA Football History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  30. McGurk, Tom. "H.S. football: No smoke screen here, Williamstown is clear-cut champ",Courier-Post, November 18, 2018. Accessed November 2, 2020. "They can add another line to it after Saturday’s 56-20 rout of Rancocas Valley: One champion."
  31. Melchiorre, Chris. "Williamstown rallies in second half to beat Lenape, claim South Jersey Group 5 title", The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 22, 2019. Accessed November 2, 2020. "Brown — a first-year junior starting quarterback — was just one of many heroes for the Williamstown football team Friday night in a dramatic 14-10 nail-biter of a win over Lenape at home in the South Jersey Group 5 championship, marking the Braves’ second straight sectional title and third overall."
  32. Evans, Bill. "Williamstown makes it right, downs Cherokee for regional football title", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, December 7, 2019. Accessed November 2, 2020. "A year after losing to Sayreville in the final minute of the NJSIAA/Rothman Orthopaedics South/Central Group 5 bowl game, No. 8 Williamstown dominated unranked Cherokee, 30-14, in what is now called the regional championship game."
  33. Phillippi, Kyle. "Williamstown baseball stops upstart Cherokee in SJ Group 4 final". NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, May 29, 2015. Accessed March 11, 2018. "The crowd surrounded the third-seeded Williamstown baseball team and coaching staff as, all at once, the group hoisted the NJSIAA/Star-Ledger/Parisi South Jersey, Group 4 trophy following their 4-1 defeat of Cherokee, the 13th-seed.... Those four runs secured the win and the school’s first Group 4 championship."
  34. Tournament of Bands - Chapter One History, Tournament of Bands. Accessed July 5, 2007.
  35. Goebel, Caryn. "Congratulations to the Group I & II National Champions", USSBA, November 5, 2010. Accessed August 19, 2011.
  36. Administration, Williamstown High School. Accessed June 2, 2020.
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