Watchung Hills Regional High School
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Watchung Hills Regional High School is a regional public high school and regional school district serving students in portions of Somerset and Morris Counties in New Jersey, United States. The high school is located next to Woodland School in Warren Township, New Jersey, United States.
Students from Warren Township and from the neighboring communities of Watchung, and Green Brook in Somerset County and Long Hill Township in Morris County attend the school. The High School serves students in grades nine through twelve and as of the 2005-2006 school year, there were over 1,900 students attending.
Its mascot is the warrior and its school colors are brown and gold.
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[edit] Awards and recognition
Watchung Hills Regional High School received the Blue Ribbon Award from the United States Department of Education in 1994-1995, the highest honor that an American school can achieve.[1][2]
In their 2004 survey, Newsweek ranked WHRHS as the 583rd best high school in the nation.[3] In the magazine's 2006 survey, the school was ranked as 745th nationwide.[4]
Watchung Hills Regional High School was the 38th-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.[5]
[edit] Facilities
WHRHS is currently under construction and almost complete. An extensive addition has been constructed and all classrooms have been renovated. The addition included many new classrooms including a four-tier band room. The addition also included a brand new auditorium with rising orchestra pit and catwalk. This state-of-the-art theater includes a programmable lighting system, movable sound shell and a balcony. All classrooms have been renovated and the old theater is currently being renovated. The TV studio is still under construction but will be ready for next year. There is also a new "FieldTurf" football field along with numerous base/softball fields. There is now parking for all seniors close to the school. Previously, some students had to park far away and even across a busy road and then walk to the school.
[edit] Technology
The school has eight dedicated Citrix MetaFrame Presentation Servers and one NFuse server. The system allows students who don't have programs such as Microsoft Office to use Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint and other applications.
WHRHS has 24 Dell servers that serve as everything from domain controllers to web servers. These servers are housed in the IDF room, located next to the library. There are approximately 15 laptop carts (each with 24 laptops) that are designated to different areas of the school. All teachers have either Dell D500, D600 or D610 laptops. There are four computer labs with Dell Optiplex desktops. The school has Cisco access-points in almost every classroom.
[edit] Athletics
The Watching Hills Regional High School Warriors compete in the 18-member Skyland Conference.
Some of WHRHS's most successful sports teams are:
- Men's and Women's Soccer
- Women's Tennis
- Ice Hockey
- Men's Basketball
- Ultimate
- Men's Baseball
- Men's and Women's Track and Field
- Men's and Women's Fencing
- Men's and Women's Cross Country
- Wrestling
[edit] Administration
- Dr. Frances Stromsland - Superintendent
- Kersti Kolu - School Business Administrator
- Dr. Thomas DiGanci - Principal
- Nicholas Serritella - Vice Principal, Director of Athletics
- Beverly DiGeronimo - Vice Principal
- Terrence P. MacConnell - Vice Principal
- Michael Waluk - Vice Principal
- Steven Searfoss - Vice Principal
[edit] Notable alumni
- Laura Prepon, actress best known for her work on That '70s Show.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ "If You're Thingking of Living In/ Watchung, N.J.; Stunning Vistas, but Entry Is Not Cheap And there is the matter of dealing with 80 deer per acre.", The New York Times, March 11, 2001. p. RE5
- ^ Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982-1983 through 1999-2002 (PDF), accessed August 22, 2006
- ^ The Complete List of the 1,000 Top U.S. Schools (2004), Newsweek, May 16, 2004
- ^ The Complete List: 1,200 Top U.S. Schools, Newsweek, May 23, 2006
- ^ Top Public High Schools in New Jersey, New Jersey Monthly, September 2006
- ^ Biography for Laura Prepon from the Internet Movie Database, accessed December 5, 2006