- Summit Senior High School is a four-year public high school in Summit, in Union County, New Jersey, United States, and is operated by the Summit Board of Education as a part of the Summit Public Schools. The school was opened in 1888 due an increased need for a publicly-operated secondary school within the City of Summit. The school's athletic teams are referred to as the Hilltoppers, though the school's actual mascot is a mountain goat wearing a Summit High School athletic jersey. The school's colors are maroon and gold, although for most of its history they were maroon and white.
- In 2006-07, the school had an enrollment of 1,050 students and 90 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 11.6.
- Facilities
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The school was originally located in a building constructed in the 1920s on Morris Avenue between Maple and Elm Streets near downtown Summit. It shared this building with the junior high school until 1936, when Edison Junior High School opened in east Summit. However, a number of parents outside of east Summit—then called "Deantown" -- objected to their children traveling to this section of the city. By 1943, the new junior high school had closed and the high school again shared the Morris Avenue building with the junior high school. (The building still houses the junior high school, now known as Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle School.)
- In 1962, the high school relocated to a larger, more modern facility located at 125 Kent Place Boulevard, slightly outside of downtown Summit and within the Washington Elementary School district. In the late 1990s, a push was made to renovate the outdated high school. From 2000 until 2003, the high school building underwent a series of renovations, including the construction of a new media center, cafeteria, gymnasium, and science laboratories. Special attention was also paid to upgrading the building's existing facilities and to increasing the information technology capacities of classrooms.
- Athletic facilities
- The Metro Homes Sports Complex, better known as Tatlock Field, one of the biggest fields in the county, is located on Butler Parkway (a short distance from the high school), is utilized as Summit High School's main venue for football, men's lacrosse, and track and field. The field was recently converted to FieldTurf due to frequent problems with poor field conditions. A generous grant was made by the Metro Homes Corporation, and the football stadium has been renamed Metro Homes Field. Tatlock also includes a field house with locker room facilities and practice fields adjacent to Washington Elementary School. Junior varsity and middle school tennis practices at the four tennis courts adjacent to the track complex.
- Memorial Field, located a short drive from the high school on Larned Road near the Brayton School this large public field (currently operated by the Board of Recreation) is utilized for men's and women's soccer, cross country, baseball and softball. This field complex is also used extensively by Summit's youth sports programs. Varsity and junior varsity tennis matches are played at the new eight court complex next to the Brayton School. It is also the only field that has been sold out in the town's history, when the Varsity played on it, before the HS Upper Field was being rebuilded. Around 67 people came to watch that game. Since then, Summit has brought in big crowds.
- Warinaco Rink, located in Warinaco Park in Elizabeth is shared by Summit High School, Westfield High School, Arthur L. Johnson High School in Clark, and Cranford High School as a home hockey venue. The Summit High School hockey team also utilizes several other local rinks for practice and has hosted home games at the newer, smaller Union Sports Arena, also located in Union Township.
- Summit High School Gymnasium, the high school's main gymnasium is used to host men's and women's basketball as well as volleyball. The high school's second (newer) gymnasium used primarily as a practice facility.
- Summit High School Lower Field, located directly behind the high school this field is used for field hockey, women's lacrosse, and physical education classes.
- Buntin and Hurst Pools, located at the Summit YMCA in downtown Summit, these facilities are utilized by the men's and women's swimming teams.
- Summit High School Upper Field, located directly behind the high school, this field is used for boys JV and Varsity soccer, and Lacrosse. It was being rebuilded into a FieldTurf, It is one of the most beautiful fields in the county.
- Awards and recognition
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The school was the 22nd-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 20th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state.
- The school was ranked 419th in Newsweek's 2009 ranking of the top 1,500 high schools in the United States and was the ninth-ranked school in New Jersey, with 2.289 AP tests taken in 2008 per graduating senior and 47% of all graduating seniors passing at least one AP exam; The school was ranked 441st nationwide in 2008.
- Summit High School students have an average SAT score which is considerably higher than the national average and frequently are admitted to the nation's most competitive colleges and universities.
- The drama club has been extremely successful. In 2007, the spring musical was Titanic, which sold out almost every performance. Anne Poyner, the director, entered the production into the Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards, a statewide competition of excellence in New Jersey high school musicals. Summit High School received 12 final nominations. In June, Titanic ended up winning a record 7 Rising Star Awards, including Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical, making Summit High School the top theatre school program in the state of New Jersey.
- In 2008, their production of Fiddler on the Roof was nominated for 11 awards, including, for the third year in a row, Best Overall Production of a Musical. The awards ceremony is on June 10, 2008.
- In 2009, their production of Music Man was nominated for 17 awards.
- The Forensics Team is thriving as well. The team took home two third-place trophies, and one first-place this year. Among the team's top competitors, sophomore Tim Lynch, and seniors Ismenia Mendes and Max Rissman, were selected to compete in the nation's National Forensic League's National Speech and Debate Tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada in June 2008, where they will compete against over 3,000 students from around the country.
- Athletics
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Despite the fact that Summit High School faces many of the challenges that small, suburban public high schools are plagued by — most notably, competition with private school recruitment, a small student-athlete base, and frequent turnover due to graduation — Summit High School's athletic teams have a long and proud tradition. For more information on Summit High School sports please see external links (bottom of page).
- The Summit High School cross-country team has also been very successful since 2004. The girl's team has won several sectional championships, and has made it to the Meet of Champions.
- The Summit High School Hilltoppers compete in the Iron Hills Conference.
- The girls' lacrosse team won the state championship in 1999.
- The boys' lacrosse team made it to the state championship in 2001, falling 8-3 to Moorestown High School in the championship game, after a 4-2 semi-final win over Delbarton School. They again reached the state championship in 2005, falling to Delbarton School 6-2. On June 6, 2009 Summit defeated arch-rival, Delbarton School by a score of 8-4 to win the Tournament of Champions.
- The 2002 boy's lacrosse team was ranked #1 in the state before falling to #2 Ridgewood in the state semi-finals. They finished the year ranked #4.
- The boys' hockey team surprised the well-respected and dominant team from Brick and eventually lost in the public school final game to Bayonne in 2000.
- The boys tennis team has won, or shared, the conference or county title many years in a row. This includes a Group II state championship in 2003 earned with a 4-1 win over Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School.
- The 2005 boys basketball team won the North II, Group II state sectional championship with a 61-58 win over Hillside High School.
- The 1998 girls tennis team won the Group II state championship (with a 3-2 win over Moorestown) and finished in the top 5 in the state. In 2007, the girls tennis team won the North II, Group II state sectional championship with a 3-2 win over Mountain Lakes High School in the tournament final.
- The boys swim team was 13-2 in the 2007-2008 swim season, losing only to Seton Hall Preparatory School in the regular season and Mountain Lakes High School in the sectional finals of the state tournament.
- Track and Field:The boys cross country team qualified for Meet Of Champions for the first time in school history, placing 14th out of 20 teams. They also won the Union County Title for the first time in school history.
- Soccer:Summit is also known for a solid soccer team. In 2008, The Summit Freshmen Soccer Team had its best start, when it won its home-opener against Arch-Rivals Mendham by a score of 3-1. Then the streak ended on the second game of the season, when Summit lost at home against Dover by a score of 2-0. Summit's finest freshmen came strengthen when they played the biggest game of season, when Summit won 3-1 against Hated, Arch-Rivals, Chatham, at Cougar Field. There was also five star performances for the lads in Maroon & White, when they thrashed Parisspany Hills 5-0. Summit's Frosh also did the impossible by sweeping Governor Livingston by outscoring them 11-1 with the two games. Also, Summit won the pre-season tournament by outscoring their opponents 17-0 and winning the tournament in home-soil. Now most the freshmen in the group are in JV, and one of them is in Varsity in 2009. The new freshmen group are in the worst start in 13 years with a record of 0-1-2. In 2008, the freshmen were 6-1-0 in week 7. Ending up with a record of 8-5-1. The mens varsity soccer team was 16-6-1 in the 2008-2009 soccer season. They reached the Union County Final for the first time in 27 years, loosing to Elizabeth High School. They also reached the Semifinals of their state sectional group. They were currently known as one of the most physical teams in the state of New Jersey.
- Administration
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Core members of the school's administration are:
- Paul Sears, Principal
- Anthony Akey, Assistant Principal
- Stacy Grimaldi, Assistant Principal
- School Songs
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At football games, the school's fight song is "Stand Up and Cheer" and the victory song is "King of the Road."
- SUMMIT HIGH SCHOOL ALMA MATER
Alma mater, wise and gloriousThee we hail with loudest praise.As we honor Summit High SchoolHonor thee through all our days.May thy precepts ever strengthen usAs we fight for truth and right.Of thy name, oh make us worthyWorthy of the red and white. - Chorus:Hail, hail!Alma mater hail!Hail Summit High great and glorious!Hail, hail!Alma mater hail!Hail red and white victorious!
- Thou hast given us more than learning;Thou hast helped us to prepareFor the struggle which will followWhen we leave thy portals fair;And through all the years yet comingMay thou firmer, stronger, be—Handing on the torch of learning,Guiding others, praise to thee.
- (Repeat Chorus)
- Trivia
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In 1965, A band of New York City musicians then called The Warlocks (one of several bands, including The Grateful Dead, to use that name) played their debut show together at Summit High. The band went on to replace one of its members and rename itself The Velvet Underground.
- Notable alumni
- Mark Berson (born 1953), men's soccer coach at the University of South Carolina.
- Willie Wilson (born 1955), former Major League Baseball player for the Kansas City Royals, Oakland Athletics, and Chicago Cubs.
- Kathy Heddy (born 1958), Olympic swimmer who competed in 1972 Olympics in Montreal. Finished 5th in 400 meter freestyle.
- Lawton C. Johnson (1937-2009) Long-serving administrator who worked tirelessly for over 52 years of service. The middle school was named in his honor in 2004.
- External links
- Summit High School's Official Website
- Summit High School sports
- Data for Summit Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics
- 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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