Paramus High School

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Paramus High School is an American, four-year comprehensive public high school, located in Paramus, New Jersey, as part of the Paramus Public Schools.

Historically Paramus shared many municipal services with the township of Rochelle Park, including schooling. In 1922, the school situation was the hot topic of discussion. Residents felt that the schools were too far away and wanted to make sure that their children were safe when they went to school. It was because of this that Paramus decided to become a borough of its own, and it built the High School on Spring Valley Road in 1957.

Paramus High School offers a wide range of course offerings to its students. Advanced Placement courses are offered in from ten to fourteen subjects. Paramus High School has been recognized as an outstanding secondary school in the state of New Jersey.

The 50th Anniversary will be celebrated on September 28 and 29, 2007.

1 Awards and recognition
2 Trivia
3 Notable alumni
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Awards and recognition

For the 1988-89 school year, Paramus High School was formally designated as a National Blue Ribbon School, the highest honor that an American school can achieve^[1].

Paramus High School was the 45th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 316 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2006 cover story on the state's Top Public High Schools^[2].

[edit] Trivia

Part of the 1993 Saturday Night Live spin-off movie Coneheads took place here. Michelle Burke's character "Connie Conehead" was a member of the school's swimming team (though Paramus High School did not have a swim team until the 2003-2004 season and continues to not have a swimming pool on campus to this day) and cheerleading squad while Dan Aykroyd's "Beldar Conehead" character served on the school's PTA and oversaw a fireworks display at one of the school's football games.

[edit] Notable alumni

Some notable Paramus High school alumni include:

In 1965, Colette Daiute won Miss Teenage America in Texas.
In 1976, Frank L. Ryerson, Paramus High School's first band director retired. Ryerson played trumpet with such big bands as Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra and Jimmy Dorsey. He also co-wrote the Dorsey hit "Blue Champagne" written in 1941 and covered by The Manhattan Transfer in 1975. He also wrote the stirring "Lament in D Minor". Ryerson wrote the Paramus High School alma mater lyrics (sung to the tune "Aura Lee" or for the Elvis Presley fans out there, "Love Me Tender") and was instrumental in bringing the big band sound to the Jazz ensemble.
Actress Stacey Dash (born January 20, 1966) Her movies include: Clueless, Mo' Money and View from the Top.^[3]
Mark Fields Executive Vice President, Ford Motor Company; President, The Americas, Class of 1979
Dean Friedman: Musician: One-hit wonder, a top 20 tune "Ariel" in 1977. The only top 40 song to ever include the word "Paramus" in the lyrics.
Matt Ghaffari Olympic silver-medal wrestler. Two-time Olympic team member and a 1996 Olympic silver medallist. Only wrestler with 4 World and Olympic Medals. Four-Time World Cup Champion. Seven-Time Pan-American Champion. Class of 1979.
Jamie Gold (class of 1987) won the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event.
New York Post entertainment columnist Michael Starr (the Starr Report), graduated in 1979.
In 1979, Elaine Zayak, born on 4/4/1965, won the U.S. Figure Skating Championships with an injured leg. Her foot was severed in a lawn mower accident.