Morris Hills High School
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| Morris Hills High School | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| 520 West Main St. Rockaway, NJ 07866 |
|
| Information | |
| Principal | Joe Cacciaguida |
| Enrollment |
1,175 (as of 2005-06)[1] |
| Faculty | 95.0 (on FTE basis)[1] |
| Student:teacher ratio | 12.4[1] |
| Type | Public high school |
| Athletics conference | Iron Hills Conference |
| Team name | Scarlet Knights |
| Color(s) | Scarlet and White |
| Newspaper | The Morris Hills Hilltopper |
| Established | 1953 |
| Information | 973-664-2300 |
| Homepage | School website |
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 1,116 for the 2007-08 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.[2]
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.
As of the 2005-06 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,175 students and 95.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 12.4.[1]
Contents |
[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.[3]
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[4].
[edit] School media
The Morris Hills Hilltopper has served as 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 their 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 list of clubs include:
- Academic Decathlon (with honorable essay mention for the 2006-2007 year)
- E.R.A.S.E. (Eliminate Racism and Sexism Everywhere)
- G.S.A. (Gay-Straight Alliance)
- Interact (which hosts a benefit show every year)
- DDR Society (Dance Dance Revolution)
- Chess Club
- Leo Club
- DECA
- Mock Trial
- FCCLA
- Ecology Club
- Peer Listening
- International Thespian Society
- DRAMA Club
- Pit Band
- Marching Band
- Jazz Band
- Chorus
- Knights Templars Choir
- Women's Choir
- Madrigals
- Model Congress
- Yearbook Club
- Technology Student Association
- FBLA
- Key Club
- Junior State of America
[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 Passaic Valley High School 67-45.[5] Morris Hills also has a prestigious baseball program, winning 135 games in the last 6 years with 1 Morris County Tournament Championship (2002), 1 North I Group III State Sectional Title (2004), and 5 Iron Hills Conference (Hills Division) championships (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007). 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 was ranked 13th in the nation.[6]
Morris Hills offers the following sports:
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Cross Country
- Fencing
- Field Hockey
- Football
- Golf
- Ice Hockey
- Lacrosse
- Soccer
- Softball
- Swimming
- Tennis
- Track and Field
- Wrestling
[edit] Administration
- Mr. Joe Cacciaguida - Principal
- Ms. Jennifer Ward - Interim Assistant Principal
- Mr. Bob Merle - Assistant Principal
- Mr. Todd Toriello - Assistant Principal
- Mr. Robert Haraka - Supervisor of Student Services/Athletics
Ward, 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.[7]
- Dr. Arthur Field became Executive Director and conductor of the Carolina Pops Orchestra in South Carolina in 2005. [1]
- Dan McDonald, 2-time Player of the Year with Morris Hills, was drafted by the New York Mets in 2007.
- 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 troops under Odierno's command were given credit for capturing Saddam Hussein.[8]
- Aaron King won the Big East heptathlon with a total of 5201 points in 2008 as a freshman
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Morris Hills High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed November 1, 2007.
- ^ Morris Hils High School Report Card Narrative 2006, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed January 28, 2008.
- ^ Star School Award recipient detail 1996-97 school year, Morris Hills High School, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed May 29, 2006.
- ^ Top Public High Schools in New Jersey: 101-150, New Jersey Monthly, September 2006
- ^ 2006 Boys Basketball - North I, Group III, NJSIAA. Accessed June 23, 2006.
- ^ High-mileage training helped Massam excel (see "Team of the year:"), The Star-Ledger article at nj.com, accessed February 14, 2007.
- ^ Bruce Bannon player profile, accessed May 2, 2007.
- ^ Manochio, Matt. "Morris general oversaw capture", Daily Record (Morristown), December 14, 2003. Accessed May 2, 2007. "Raymond T. Odierno, 48, is a 1972 graduate of Morris Hills High School."
