Roxbury High School

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Roxbury High School
''A commitment to Excellence in Education"


School type Public
Established 1971
Principal Jefferey Swanson
Students 1550 (2006/2007)
Colors
Mascot		 Blue and gold
Gael
Location 1 Bryant Drive
Succasunna, NJ 07876
Information (973) 584-1200
Website http://www.roxbury.org

Roxbury High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school in the Succasunna section of Roxbury Township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States, as part of the Roxbury School District.

Roxbury High School's students come from Roxbury Township, as well as Mount Arlington, as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Mount Arlington School District.

Contents

[edit] History

The current school building was built in 1971. In 2005, two new wings were added, for a new band room and weight room.

[edit] Campus

Roxbury High School consists of one rectangular building with various wings. The school only has windows on the front of the building, which faces northwest. (This fact has led to many jokes about the school being like a prison, due to the lack of windows.) This was done in order to save on energy costs, as the school was built during the prelude to the 1973 energy crisis. The school shares Bryant Drive with nearby Eisenhower Middle School. Behind the school are athletic fields, including a track and a football field. A wooded area is also used for the "Project Adventure" program (which includes various types of climbing and trust-building activities for freshman).

[edit] Languages spoken at home

The most common language spoken at home other than English (96%) is Spanish at 6% of homes. Russian (0.5%), Gujarati (0.5%), and Polish (0.1%) follow.

[edit] Faculty

There are very roughly 200 faculty members. Most in teaching positions have bachelor's or master's degrees, with a small number of doctoral degree holders.

[edit] Performing Arts

Roxbury High School offers a comprehensive, fully curricular performing arts curriculum. Its offerings include:

[edit] Band

The Roxbury Band program is a very distinguished program. The Roxbury Marching Gaels have won State Championships, and have shaped themselves into one of the best marching bands on the East Coast. In 2005, Roxbury performed "The Music of Scheherazade", and placed 2nd at the United States Scholastic Band Association (USSBA) New Jersey State Championships with a score of 96.70, and 4th overall at the USSBA East Coast Championships at Giants Stadium with a score of 96.48. Also in 2006, the music from Stravinsky's "The Firebird" won them second place at USSBA Regionals with a score of 97.375, a new record in the school, making them the best marching band in New Jersey.

Additionally the Roxbury concert bands have proven to be a very notable group. In particular, the Roxbury Honors Wind Symphony has distinguished itself as a prominent band in the Eastern United States, and has received many "superior" ratings. The Roxbury Bands are conducted by Todd Nichols, Rich Hartsuiker, and Sarah Koval.

  • Concert Band Gold
  • Marching Band
  • Ninth Symphony (freshman band)
  • Orchestra
  • Honors Wind Symphony
  • Jazz Ensemble
  • Jazz Lab Gold

Composer Robert Farnon composed The Gaels: An American Wind Symphony, as a commission to the Roxbury High School band in honor of the school's mascot, the gael. The piece made its world debut in May, 2006. It was performed by the Roxbury High School Honors Wind Symphony under the direction of Dr. Stanley Saunders, a close friend of Farnon.

[edit] Choir

The Roxbury Choir program is a notable performing group. The select ensembles tour every year to regional and national contests and festivals; on these tours they have taken home many awards including "Best Overall Choir" from these contests. Roxbury's Director of Choral Activities, Lorraine Lynch, initiated the Roxbury Invitational Choral Festival, which has been held annually for 16 years. At the Invitational, about two dozen choirs participate (some from as far as Maine and Virginia). On March 11, 2006, the New Hanover (VA) Chamber Singers won first place in the Concert Choir division, followed closely by the Hopewell Valley Central High School (NJ) Chamber Singers in Second Place and the Central Dauphin High School (PA) CD Singers in third. On March 31, 2007, Hopewell Valley (NJ) Chamber Singers took First Place, followed closely by the A Cappella Choir from J.P. Stevens High School in Edison, New Jersey. Last year's local Roxbury Choir tour was on May 13, 2006, where the choirs travelled to the Music in the Parks Festival. The choir received six 1st place trophies, six overall ratings of Superior, and the overall best choir of the day.

  • Roxbury Concert Choir
  • Roxbury Classic Sounds Honors
  • Roxbury Freshman Women's Ensemble
  • Roxbury Revelation
  • Roxbury Vocal Jazz
  • Roxbury Chorale
  • Roxbury Madrigals
  • Roxbury Melodies
  • Roxbury Select Men's Choir

[edit] Dance

There were five levels of sequential curricular dance classes offered. However, recent budget reorganization heavily favoring the band department has caused the cutting of these as well as other classes from the curriculum.

[edit] Extracurricular activities

Extra- and co-curricular activities include:

[edit] Sports

The Roxbury High School Gaels participate in the twenty-member Iron Hills Conference.

  • Basketball
  • Cross Country
  • Football
  • Golf
  • Field Hockey
  • Swimming
  • Soccer
  • Tennis
  • Lacrosse
  • Wrestling
  • Track
  • Volleyball
  • Baseball
  • Ice Hockey
  • Softball

[edit] Languages

[edit] Academic

[edit] Student government/Leadership

  • Conflict Resolution Team
  • Echo (yearbook)
  • Peer Leadership
  • Roxbury Review (newspaper)
  • Student Council
  • Student Empowerment/Advocacy (SEA)

[edit] Other

  • Sports Medicine Club
  • Ski/Snowboard Club
  • Fencing Club
  • Drama Club
  • Rotary Interact Club
  • Key Club
  • Lighthouse Bible Club
  • Varsity "R" Club

[edit] Curriculum

The school follows the New Jersey state curriculum.

In order to graduate, the school requires 4 years of English classes, 4 years of Physical Education, 3 years of mathematics, 3 years of sciences, 3 years of history, 1 years in foreign language, 1 year of a practical art, and 1 year of a fine/performing art.

Practical arts include keyboarding, woodworking, and cooking classes. Fine/performing arts include band, orchestra, choir, and dance, as well as any art-related class (for example, Ceramics).

Students who fulfill the requirements before their normal graduation are not permitted to graduate early. Students must carry at least 35 credits (7 full-year classes) worth of courses per semester.

[edit] SAT scores

Average SAT scores for the 2004-2005 school year were 532 on the Mathematics section and 529 on the Verbal section. 79% of students took the test.

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] References

  1. ^ Tampa Bay Buccaneers Player Profile: Dave Moore, accessed December 6, 2006

[edit] External links

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