Sparta High School (New Jersey)

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Sparta High School is a four-year public high school serving grades nine through twelve in Sparta Township, in Sussex County, New Jersey, as part of the Sparta Township Public School District.

1 History
2 Awards and recognition
3 Sports
4 Administration
5 Noted alumni
6 References
7 External links

[edit] History

The school opened in September of 1959 when Newton High School in neighboring Newton refused to take on Sparta's rapidly growing high school-aged population.

In its first year of operation, Sparta High had about 420 students enrolled in three grades, representing not only Sparta, but also nearby Hopatcong and Byram Township who shared the school. Ogdensburg would also eventually send its students to Sparta.

When the new school opened in 1959 it was comprised of just four pods, employed only 28 teachers, and participated in only four sports: football, basketball, wrestling, and baseball. There were, however, shop classes and home economics rooms, and there were behind-the-wheel driving lessons. In the early years, girls wore gym suits for their physical education class. In 1963, Sparta graduated 160 students, representing the first group who had attended the school for four years.

In the early 1970s, it proved necessary to institute split sessions due to burgeoning enrollment. This was only a temporary fix, however, as the town of Sparta approved a referendum to build an "annex" onto the back of the school, more than doubling its area. The section added a new cafeteria, a library, and many open classroom spaces.

In the early 1990s, as educational guidelines began to change, the open spaces provided by the built-on annex had become obsolete. The school was renovated, and the open spaces became closed classrooms. By this time, over one thousand students were enrolled in Sparta High School. (Hopatcong, Byram, and Ogdensburg were no longer sending districts.)

Later in the 1990s, the high school was expanded yet again. A state-of-the-art science wing was added, and many new technology upgrades were installed.

In September 2006, Sparta residents approved a referendum to perform major renovations on the school that aim to bring the school "up to date." The construction is set to begin in the summer of 2007. School officials hope that this reconstruction will alleviate the increasingly imminent issue of overcrowding that the school currently faces.

Today, Sparta High School is home to over 1,100 students, approximately 100 faculty members, and a myriad of sports and co-curricular activities.^[1]

[edit] Awards and recognition

Sparta High School was the 73rd-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] Sports

Sparta High School is a member of the Sussex County Interscholastic League. It competes in football, soccer (boys' and girls'), basketball (boys' and girls'), tennis (boys' and girls'), golf (co-ed), baseball, softball, cross country (boys' and girls'), track and field (boys' and girls'), bowling (co-ed), lacrosse, wrestling (co-ed) and swimming (boys' and girls').