Morris Hills High School

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Morris Hills High School
School type	Public
Established	1953
Principal	Joe Cacciaguida
Faculty	113
Students	1,116
Colors Mascot	Red and White Scarlet Knights
Location	520 West Main St. Rockaway, NJ 07866
Information	(973) 664-2300
Website	http://mh.mhrd.k12.nj.us/

Morris Hills High School is a comprehensive regional four-year public high school serving students in grades 9 - 12 in Morris County, New Jersey, United States, as part of the Morris Hills Regional High School District. The school, located in the borough of Rockaway, has an enrollment of 1,087 for the 2005-06 school year and supports twenty-two varsity sports. The other high school in the district is Morris Knolls High School.

The high school serves students from Rockaway Borough, Wharton, and parts of Rockaway Township.

The school was first opened for classes on September 9, 1953. A 39-acre site that was the former Gunther Estate serves as campus for Morris Hills. The school has been nationally recognized in various activities including Forensics, Athletics, Music, Academics, and Staff Development.

Additionally, the campus of Morris Hills houses the Morris County Academy for Mathematics, Science, and Engineering. It is an intensive four-year program that prepares its students for jobs in the science and technology fields. It serves students from all over Morris County. Academy students interact with Morris Hills students on a regular basis, including academics and extra-curricular activities, although some classes are Academy-specific.

1 Awards and recognition
2 School Media
3 Extracurricular activities
4 Athletics
5 Administration
6 Notable alumni
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Awards and recognition

For the 1996-97 school year, Morris Hills High School was named a "Star School" by the New Jersey Department of Education, the highest honor that a New Jersey school can achieve^[1].

Morris Hills High School was the 101st-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] School Media

The Morris Hills Hilltopper has served has the only official paper of the school, and is published four times a year, in color. Students write all articles and take the majority of the photos, as well as set up the design and comics.

Seed Magazine is the school's annual literary magazine. All students are allowed to submit prose or poetry, or visual works of art (though not all are put into the actual magazine)

[edit] Extracurricular activities

Morris Hills houses a large variety of extracurricular activities for its students, ranging from bible club (Velocity) to its very own DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) Club. Many have gained recognition or awards for their duties in the community or their overall excellence in thei field, including the Morris Hills Stage Crew (part of drama club), which placed third in the ITS Statewide festival in the 2005-2006 year. Any student is permitted to join any club, a partial full list of clubs include:

E.R.A.S.E.
G.S.A.
Interact
DDR Society
Chess Club
Leo Club
DECA
Mock Trial
FCCLA
Ecology Club
Peer Listening
International Thespian Society
DRAMA Club
Pit Band
Marching Band
Jazz Band
Chorus
Madrigals
Book Club
Yearbook Club
TSA
FBLA

[edit] Athletics

The Morris Hills High School Scarlet Knights participate in the twenty-member Iron Hills Conference. The Morris Hills Boys Basketball team made the state tournament for the first time in 10 years this year, though it lost in the first round to 6th-seeded Pascack Valley High School 67-45^[3]. In addition, the high school has a well-known track and field program that includes a cross country running team that went to the Nike Team Nationals in 2005 and became 13th in the whole nation^[4].

[edit] Administration

Mr. Joe Cacciaguida - Principal
Mrs. Marie Giantomasi - Assistant Principal
Mr. Bob Merle - Assistant Principal.
Mr. Todd Toriello - Assistant Principal
Mr. Rob Haraka - Supervisor of Student Services/Athletics

Both Merle and Toriello are graduates of Morris Hills' sister high school, Morris Knolls.

[edit] Notable alumni

Bruce Bannon, played linebacker for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League in 1973 and 1974.
Lieutenant General Raymond T. Odierno. After graduating from Morris Hills in 1972, General Ordierno was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point. Continuing in his military career, he became commanding general of the 4th Infantry Division in Fort Hood, Texas. It was during his time commanding this division in Iraq when Odierno's troops were given credit for capturing Saddam Hussein.