- Chatham High School is an American four-year comprehensive public high school located at 255 Lafayette Avenue in Chatham Township, in Morris County, New Jersey. It is part of the School District of the Chathams. The school serves students in grades 9-12. The new regional high school, serving two municipalities, was dedicated at Lafayette Avenue after the creation of the School District of the Chathams on July 1, 1988, and joined the Lafayette Elementary School on its original site. The two schools share performing arts facilities.
- The name of the new high school continues the tradition of its predecessor, which was located previously on Fairmount Avenue adjacent to the train station in Chatham Borough in a historic early twentieth century Gothic Revival building that still bears the name on its façade. Secondary level students from Chatham Township were bussed to it and, later to a senior high school on Main Street, for many years under the auspices of the former, Chatham Board of Education.
- From 1966 through 1988, Chatham Township students attended the newly constructed Chatham Township High School on Lafayette Avenue where Chatham High School is today. CTHS had as its mascot the Gladiator and CBHS the Eskie. The two schools were strong rivals at Homecoming games for the twenty-two years they were separate high schools.
- Today the school mascot for the combined Chatham High School is the Cougar.
- As of the 2006-07 school year, the school had an enrollment of 925 students and 65.5 classroom teachers (on a FTE basis, for a student-teacher ratio of 14.1.
- The school has two principals, Michael Lasusa and Darren Groh, since the beginning the 2006-07 school year, a change approved by the Board of Education of the School District of the Chathams on June 5, 2006.
- Awards and recognition
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For the 2004-05 school year, the high school was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive for excellence in the No Child Left Behind Act.
- The school was the 10th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 316 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2008 cover story on the state's Top Public High Schools. The school was ranked 12th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state.
- During the 2007-2008 school year, Chatham High School stopped giving midterm exams. Instead of midterm exams, students must complete alternate assessment projects; a move strongly supported by co-principal Michael Lasusa and backed by the School District of the Chathams. However, according to student poll data, a majority of students do not support the changes and would like to revert to midterms again. This policy continued into the 2008-2009 school year.
- Organizations and extra-curricular activities
- CHS Political Club
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The CHS Political Club is the High School's primary club devoted to student political action. The club meets to debate political issues and encourage grassroots action in the political process.
- PAWS
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Peers Adjusting With Support is an organization of upperclassmen who help freshmen adjust to some of their new high school activities. Its members organize an annual field day, in which all freshman must participate. PAWS is a mandatory program for freshman but juniors and seniors are selected to be PAWS leaders.
- TATU
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Teens Aagainst Tobacco Use is an organization whose members are against any and all tobacco use in Chatham High School and the surrounding areas. They visit elementary and middle schools in the school district to discuss the dangers of tobacco use with younger students.
- Academic Team
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The Academic Team represents Chatham in “Jeopardy”-style tournaments on the regional and national level. Students match wits based on knowledge of traditional academic subjects and current events mixed with some popular culture and useless trivia. Events include after-school intramural and scrimmage matches, the international computer-based Knowledge Master Open, and travel tournaments including the New Jersey NAQT State Championship and possible national events. There are no tryouts for the team; all students are welcome to attend as many events as they can, but membership on the most competitive “A team” is selective.
- SADD
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Students Against Destructive Decisions is an organization whose members help students cope with everyday problems and decisions.
- Marching Band
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Chatham High School has an award-winning marching band.Last year the band was comprised of 58 members and fell under Group 2 Open classification. Their 2008 repertoire included "The Music of Jekyll and Hyde" with music based on the Broadway play. Selections included "Facade/Prologue," "In His Eyes," and "Murder, Murder." They were led by drum majors Dan DiSalvio and Andrew Hopen, and concluded their season at New Jersey State Championships on October 26 at Union High School in Union, New Jersey. The band had one of their most successful years to date. The addition of former The Cadets member, Grant Chin, gave the band a renewed sense of technical precision, which was displayed throughout their 2008 season. They continuously ranked in the top 5 bands in Group 2 Open, and held the overall #1 ranking for several weeks.[1]
- In 2007, the band performed several songs composed by Danny Elfman, including themes from Batman, Beetlejuice, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Edward Scissorhands, and the theme from a popular videogame titled Fable. The 2007 marching band was led by drum majors Beth Maliszewski and Vaughn Sulit.
- In 2006, the marching band performed Invitation to a Wedding, a story-telling performance about the day of a wedding, from the ceremony through the reception. Songs played included Here Comes the Bride, YMCA, and Everlasting Love, among several others, led by Peter Evans, Haley White, and Greg Bukata.In 2005, the marching band performed Arabian Nights, including the songs Arabian Nights, 1,001 Stories, and Bacchanalle led by Frank Gulino and Ed Bradley.
- Other songs performed by the Chatham High School Marching Band in previous years include Birdland, Touched by Fire, Rootbeer Rag (Composed by Billy Joel), Estancia, Joy,and America (from West Side Story).
- Theatre
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Chatham High School has an active theatre program. This year they will perform Scapino in the fall and Grease in the spring. Directed by Lynn Polan. During the 2008-09 season the performed Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in the fall and How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying in the spring. During the 2007-08 season, they performed the 1930s comedy You Can't Take It With You in the fall and Disney's High School Musical in the spring. Directed by Michael Beckwith. During the 2006-07 season, they performed The Adding Machine in the fall and The Pajama Game in the spring. Directed by Kathleen Aiellos. In the 2005-06 season, they performed Twelfth Night in the fall, which was directed by Laura Russo and The Wizard of Oz in the spring. Directed by Jeff DePicciotto.
- Music Department
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The Chatham High School music department has had many achievements. Recent ones include a music trip to Virgina Beach to participate in a music festival winning high honors from all adjudicators for each of its five ensembles. Chatham's two a cappella groups Select Choir, an SATB choir, and Chatham Voices, an SSAA choir, have performed in such prestigious venues as Avery Fisher Hall, Carnegie Hall, Saint Patrick's Cathedral, the Norfolk Opera House, and the Epcot rotunda at Disney World. Both groups combined performed in a recent special for NJN public television with composer Tim Janis.
- Athletics
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The boys basketball team won the 2007 Group II NJSIAA State Championship, defeating Pascack Hills High School 67-53 in the semifinals and topping Haddonfield Memorial High School 48-42 in the finals.
- The boys tennis team won the North II, Group II state sectional championship with a 3-2 win over West Essex High School.
- The boys cross country team won the 2006 North II, Group II state sectional championship for the second time in three years. Additionally, the team went on to win the 2006 Morris County Championship, topping both perennial powerhouses Morris Hills and Delbarton. [2]
- The girls soccer team won the 2004 Group II NJSIAA State Championship, defeating Cinnaminson High School in the finals.
- The 2007 Girls Volleyball team won the triple crown, winning the conference, county and state championships. The team won the Group II state championship with a come-from-behind win in three games against Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest (11-25, 25-19, 25-22). They lost in the semifinals of the Tournament of Champions to Hunterdon Central Regional High School by 26-24 and 29-27.
- The 2008 Boys Tennis Team won the North II, Group II state sectional championship with a 4-1 win in the tournament final over Mountain Lakes High School.
- The 2008 girls Lacrosse team won the triple crown by capturing the conference, county, and state championships while being ranked the no. 3 team in all of New Jersey. They lost 16-9 to powerhouse Moorestown High School in Chatham High School's first ever appearance in the Tournament of Champions final game.
- The 2008 Chatham Golf Team completed a highly successful campaign by going undefeated at 21-0 for the year. The Cougars won the conference championship as well as the NJ Group II State Championship. Chatham was named Golf Team of the Year by the Morris County Daily Record Newspaper and was ranked fifth in the state of by the NJ Star Ledger newspaper by virtue of their overall finish at the Tournament of Champions event held at Beacon Hill Country Club in Atlantic Highlands, NJ.
- Administration
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Core members of the school's administration are:
- Darren Groh and Dr. Michael LaSusa, Co-principals
- Lori Gironda, Assistant Principal
- Notable alumni
- Craig Benson (born 1954), Governor of New Hampshire from 2003-2005.
- Ben Bailey (born 1970), host of Cash Cab, Class of 1988.
- Peter Fleming (born 1955), former professional tennis player who won the New Jersey high school individual championship in 1972, during his junior year.
- Ben Massam - Distance runner, Nike Outdoor Nationals Champion in the 5,000m Run for the 2006 school year, Class of 2006.
- James G. Madison - "Mad Hatter " bank robber, class of 1975.
- Billy Walsh (born 1975) former U.S. Olympic team and professional soccer player. In 1999, he was named by The Star-Ledger as one of the top ten New Jersey high school soccer players of the 1980s.
- David Williams (born 1967, attended 1981-1983, ultimately graduated from Choate-Rosemary Hall), former U.S. National Team and professional ice hockey player. Played 173 games in the National Hockey League for the San Jose Sharks and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Also played for a number of teams in the IHL and the ECHL. Represented the United States at the 1991 IIHF World Championships. Captained Dartmouth College's men's varsity ice hockey team. Was named a member of the ECAC Division I Men's Ice Hockey First Team in 1989.
- External links
- Chatham High School website
- Data for the School District of the Chathams, National Center for Education Statistics
- Chatham High School Reunions Website
- Source: Wikipedia; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.
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