| Number of Schools Managed |
22 |
5 |
| Number of Students Managed |
13,350 students |
2,429 students |
| District Total Revenue |
$335,172,000 |
$39,780,000 |
| District Expenditure |
$340,644,000 |
$39,973,000 |
| District Revenue / Student |
$25,107 |
$16,377 |
| District Expenditure / Student |
$25,516 |
$16,457 |
| District Graduation Rates |
64% |
81% |
|
- Trenton Central High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Trenton, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States, as part of the Trenton Public Schools.
- As of the 2005-06 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,840 students and 239.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 11.9.
- The school was the 310th-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 311th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.
- Trenton Central High School was the focus of a research study aimed at preventing obesity in students, in which student evaluations of the results played a major role in interpretation of the outcomes.
- History
-
In the late 1920s the Trenton Board of Education had the foresight and the good fortune to acquire one of the last undeveloped tracts in the city: the 36-acre Chambers Farm, then used as a nursery. The new high school would be the city’s third, replacing the then existing high school at Chestnut and Hamilton Avenues built in 1900, which in turn replaced the first high school on Mercer Street built in 1874.
- Trenton Central High School (TCHS) opened on January 4, 1932 and was formally dedicated on January 18 amid a crowd of five thousand. Hailed as “an ornament to the city” and “one of the show places of Trenton,” TCHS was one of the largest and most expensive high schools built in the country. The Chambers Street façade stretches broadly for almost 1000 feet, nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall. The cost of the building, including land and furniture, totaled $3.3 million. Most firms involved in the construction were based in Trenton, including John A. Roebling’s Sons who provided “Jersey” wire lath to fireproof the ceilings and walls.
- Academics
-
Trenton Central High School is divided into Small Learning Communities (SLCs) that span across three separate sites throughout the city of Trenton. The Chambers Campus, located on Chambers Street, houses five communities: Applied Science and Engineering, Media Technology, Performing Arts, Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism, and Business, Computer, Technology Design. The North Campus is located on N. Clinton Avenue and is home to the Medical Arts community. The West Campus sits on West State Street in the building that was formerly the home of the Arthur J. Holland Middle School. Three communities reside there: Law and Justice, Renaissance, and Business and Finance.
- Athletics
-
The Trenton Central High School Tornadoes compete in the Colonial Valley Conference, which consists of public and private high schools located in Mercer County, Monmouth County and Middlesex County, New Jersey, under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).
- The boys basketball team won the Central, Group IV sectional championship in 2003 with a 54-40 win over Old Bridge High School.
- The girls basketball team won the 2007 Central, Group IV state sectional title with a 51-24 win against Howell High School. The team moved on to win the 2007 Group IV State Championship, defeating Eastside High School 52-44 for the title.
- Extracurricular activities
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The Tornadoes 381 FIRST robotics team, from the Applied Engineering & Science Academy, is sponsored by Bristol Myers Squibb, Sarnoff Corporation and Princeton University. TheTeam 381 Tornadoes were the 2004 Philadelphia Regional Winner in the FIRST Robotics Competition. In 2008, the Tornados became the Trenton Regional Winners.
- Notable faculty
- Joey Fink (born 1951), former professional soccer player, now teaching health and phys ed.
- Notable alumni
- George Antheil (1900-1959), composer. (Dropped out in senior year, 1918).
- Elvin Bethea (born 1946), Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end who played his entire NFL career with the Houston Oilers.
- George Case (1915-1989), major league baseball player.
- Richard Crooks (1900-1972), tenor, singer for the New York Metropolitan Opera.
- David N. Dinkins (born 1927), former Mayor of New York City.
[Cheers, D. Michael. "Mayor of 'The Big Apple': 'nice guy' image helps David N. Dinkins in building multi-ethnic, multiracial coalition - New York City", Ebony , February 1990. Accessed September 4, 2008. "Known affectionately as "Dink" while growing up, Dinkins was class president (1943) at Trenton High School and graduated in the top 10 of his class, where he studied Latin and advanced math."]
- Al Downing (born 1941), major league baseball player.
- Ernie Kovacs (1919-1962), groundbreaking American comedian and television personality.
[Laurie, Maxine N.; and Mappen, Marc; Encyclopedia of New Jersey: Rutgers University Press; 2004/2005. "Kovacs, Ernest Edward", p. 444.]
- Jay-Z (born 1969), hip-hop artist and businessman (did not graduate).
- Controversy
-
In September 2009, State officials who want to raze and rebuild Trenton Central High School faced off against residents with an alternate plan to save the historic but dilapidated building at a school board committee meeting.
- The Schools Development Authority, presented its proposal to build a new school on the TCHS athletic fields and then demolish most of the old school, except for its iconic tower and part of the facade, which would become a small athletic field house.
- According to an SDA draft conceptual plan, work on an architectural design would begin in January and construction would start in summer 2011. The old building would be demolished in summer 2014 and students would start using the new building that fall. A new athletic facility would open in fall 2015.
- However, once destroyed the school can never be replaced. The iconic and historic building has roots with many residents and past generations of Trenton. Controversy and local uproar from residents has thrown the school and its "demolishion" into headline news. The fate of the historic landmark is still in limbo.
- External links
- Trenton Central High School
- Trenton Public Schools
- Data for the Trenton 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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