- Highland Park High School (HPHS), is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students from Highland Park, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, USA, serving students in grades nine through twelve, as part of the Highland Park Public Schools. The school was established in 1926 as a junior high school, serving up to grade 10. Until 1937, students from Highland Park finished their education at either New Brunswick High School or Metuchen High School, when HPHS became a senior high school.
- As of the 2006-07 school year, the school had an enrollment of 443 students and 37 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 12.0.
- The school is well known for its high academic standards and achievements, with many recent students earning high scores on SAT and SAT 2 tests, several going on to Ivy League schools, and some receiving recognition for their academic achievements.
- The original portion of the building was designed by architect Alexader Merchant and built in the 1920s. Later additions are the Science and Math wing in 1958; the English wing in 1968; the library and arts wing in the 1980s; and the Cafeteria and a connected middle school (grades 6, 7, and 8) in 1996. Student population peaked in the 1960s, with a population in the 900s. The school now has a very diverse student population of about 450.
- Awards and recognition
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The school was the 33rd-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 31st in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state.
- In 2008, two students were National Merit Finalists, twelve were National Merit Commended Scholars, and eleven were Bloustein Distinguished Scholrs.
- In 2007, six students were National Merit Finalists, eleven students were National Merit Commended Scholars, eleven students were Bloustein Distinguished Scholars. Almost ten percent of the graduating class went on to Ivy League schools.
- In 2006, HPHS students were recognized for Advanced Placement Awards. One student qualified for the National AP Scholar Award. 16 students qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award. 13 students qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award. 15 students qualified for the AP Scholar Award.
- In 2005, a team of three HPHS students were recognized as First Place National Finalists in the 13th Annual Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision Awards science competition for their innovative design of a satellite-based earthquake and tsunami detection/prediction system.
- Extracurricular activities
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Extracurricular programs at HPHS include multiple instrumental music programs, drama club and tech crew, SAGA (The Straight and Gay Alliance), the Highland Fling (the HPHS newspaper), a prestigious Model United Nations and Model Congress Program, Dead Center (the HPHS literary magazine), and the Albadome (the HPHS yearbook). The HPHS academic teams compete in many all-state competitions such as Science League, Math League, and the News 12-sponsored NJ Challenge. These teams excel, having won top-10 plaques in past years.
- WVHP-FM
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The school at one time had a ten watt FM radio station, that broadcast from 6AM to 8AM and 5PM to 10:30PM Monday through Friday. Several radio personalities got their start there, among them Ken Friedman (WFMU-FM General Manager), Soterios Johnson (of WNYC in New York City) is the local host for NPR's Morning Edition and Bob Sommer (KALW-FM in San Francisco). Jim Axelrod (CBS News) was also on the air at WVHP at one point. Willie Paszamant (actor Willie Garson of Sex and The City) had a morning show at WVHP.
- Athletics
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The school's mascot is the Owl. The colors of HPHS are cardinal and white, but most school apparel is maroon. Highland Park High School competes in the Greater Middlesex Conference Blue division in all sports (Gold division in football), and its main sports rival is Metuchen High School. HPHS is well known for the performance of its football team, under the leadership of only four coaches during the program's entire history. Starting with Bus Lepine, then Jay Dakelman, the football team was led by its former all-state quarterback Joe Policastro (class of 1959),the team is now led by head coach Richard Mcglynn . L.J. Smith, now with the Philadelphia Eagles, was a star of the HPHS football team in the 1990s. HPHS is also known for its long time success in football, and track and field, and more recent successes in Boys' soccer, Girls' Basketball, Girls' Tennis, Girls' soccer, and Baseball there are also cheerladers in the high that work hard to performe in games such as basketball boys and girl and in football. HPHS is also home to an Ultimate Frisbee team, the Enforcers, although the team is not affiliated with the school's varsity sports program.The Highland Park Football team are currently three time gold division champions (2006,2007,2008).
- The Boys Varsity Soccer team, under the direction of Keith Roig, won 7 consecutive Gold Division titles before moving up to the Blue Division in the 2006/2007 season.
- The girls basketball team won the 2007 Central, Group I championship, topping Dunellen High School, 50-35 in the final.
- Notable alumni
- Jim Axelrod, class of 1981, White House correspondent for CBS News.
- Wheeler Winston Dixon, filmmaker, critic, and author.
- Willie Garson (born 1964, as Willie Paszamant), class of 1982, actor best known for his appearances on Sex and The City
- Michael Jacobs, Class of 1973. Broadway playwright and award-winning creator of many television series such as Boy Meets World, Dinosaurs and Charles in Charge.
- Soterios Johnson, local host of NPR's Morning Edition on WNYC.
- L. J. Smith (born 1980), tight end who currently plays for the Baltimore Ravens.
[ L.J. Smith profile, Philadelphia Eagles. Accessed June 9, 2007. "Growing up in the small town of Highland Park, NJ (2 square miles, population 14,500), Smith graduated from the local high school as part of a 115-person class.... Attended Highland Park (NJ) HS where he caught 10 TDs and had 143 tackles, 11 sacks and 5 INTs at LB as a senior.]
- Justin Louis, afternoon drive host at New Jersey's WJLK, "94.3 The Point".
[ Justin Louis DJ bio., Accessed October 16, 2007.]
- Robert "Bob" Bernstein, class of 1974, former Universal Music Co. president, current co-owner of "Little Dogg" Records. Also participated in music creation for the soundtrack of Brokeback Mountain, which produced a Grammy award.
- Eli Yamin, Jazz Artist, works with Winton Marsalis at Lincoln Center
- External links
- Highland Park High School official web pages
- Highland Park Public Schools
- Data for the Highland Park Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics
- Web page for Highland Park alumni. Includes classes 1938-Present
- 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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