Parsippany Hills High School

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Parsippany Hills High School
"Knowledge is Power"
Location
20 Rita Drive

Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ, USA
Information
School district Parsippany-Troy Hills School District
Principal Dr. Richard Konet
Enrollment

1,244 (as of 2005-06)[1]
Faculty 99.6 (on FTE basis)[1]
Student:teacher ratio 12.5[1]
Type Public high school
Grades 9 - 12
Team name Vikings
Publication Runes
Established 1969
Homepage School website

Parsippany Hills High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school, one of two high schools in the township of Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey, United States. The school serves students in ninth through twelfth grade as part of the Parsippany-Troy Hills School District. Built in 1969, the school serves 1,166 students who live in the western half of Parsippany. Its companion school in the District is Parsippany High School. Parsippany Hills is a very democratically organized school, with students, faculty, and administration all contributing to the school equally.

As of the 2005-06 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,244 students and 99.6 classroom teachers (on a FTE basis, for a student-teacher ratio of 12.5.[1]

The school is located at coordinates 40°51′41″N, 74°27′22″W.

Contents

[edit] Awards and recognition

Parsippany Hills High School was the 87th-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] Academics

Parsippany Hills High School offers the basic math, science, English, and history courses, but also has a wide range of elective courses ranging from human development to choir to marketing. Parsippany Hills also offers its students a wide range of Advanced Placement Program (AP) courses.

49.1% of Parsippany Hills teachers hold a master's degree or doctorate in the field that they teach in. Parsippany Hills also has a student-to-faculty ratio of 10.6 students per every faculty member.[2]

Parsippany Hills students can usually easily connect to the Internet, with most school computers having Internet connections.[2] Also, most wall-mounted televisions in the school are equipped with cable television.

In order to graduate from Parsippany Hills High School, a student must take at least 24 credits of courses, where one credit equals a one period full-year class. A student must take four years of English, three years of mathematics, three years of science, three years of social sciences, one year of a career development course, one year of a foreign language, and one year of a visual and performing arts elective. In addition, all students must pass the New Jersey High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA) in their junior or senior year.[3]

[edit] Arts

Parsippany Hills offers a wide range of artistic classes, from drawing to ceramics. Parsippany Hills has a large drama club, known unofficially as the Par Hills Players. Past productions have included The Odd Couple: Female Version, West Side Story, Guys and Dolls, South Pacific, Picnic, Zombie Prom, The Importance of Being Earnest, Bye Bye Birdie and Aida. In the spring 2007 production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, the Par Hills Players saw a record audience, giving new hope and spirit to the drama club.

The marching band, in circuit from June to November, has taken a total of five Northern USSBA States Championship titles ('94,'97,'04,'06,'07) and two State Championship titles ('02,'04). In 2004, PHHSMB rivaled the West Essex Regional and Archbishop Wood Bands, but steadily beat them and captured two championship titles. In 2006, the band took their program in a more contemporary direction with a show entitled "Vitruvian Man". At the All-State Championships, they tied with long-standing rivals Verona, but won more captions than any other band. 2007 was a true test. At the State Championship competition, PHHSMB placed second (out of 17 bands) behind North Warren Regional by 0.2 points. A week later, however, the band leaped ahead of them and 14 other bands from the north east coast, capturing first place with a school/circuit record-breaking score of 94.85 (over 4 points above 2nd place, a relatively large gap), taking first place in every single caption except for color guard. 2007 has been another year in which the Parsippany Hills Marching Band established themselves as a strong representative of the school overall.

[edit] Athletics

The Parsippany Hills High School Vikings participate in the Iron Hills Conference. Students at Parsippany Hills can play many sports, such as tennis, football, soccer, cross country running, field hockey, volleyball, and cheerleading in the fall, swimming, basketball, ice hockey, wrestling, track, and cheerleading in the winter, and baseball, softball, tennis, and golf in the spring.

The football team was in the 2005 playoffs as the third seed in the North I, Group III bracket, and won the first two rounds, beating #6-seed West Milford High School 13-6 and number-two Wayne Valley High School 27-7, before losing to top-seeded Wayne Hills High School 46-0 in the sectional finals.[4]

The Vikings were also in the North I Group III playoff finals again in 2006. They came in as 4th seed, and won the first two rounds, beating 5th-seeded Roxbury High School 28-7 and top seeded and heavy favorite Teaneck High School 38-20. They played Wayne Hills High School again for the title for the second consecutive year, but fell short once again against the top public in the state, by a 23-12 final score.[5]

In 2007, the football team once again made it into the playoffs, as the 8th seed. For the third straight year they faced and lost to Wayne Hills High School 49-0, this time in the quarter finals.

In 2007, they made it again to the playoffs as the #8-seed and faced top seed Wayne Hills High School in the first round. But for the third year in a row, they fell to the Patriots 49-0.

Parsippany Hills entered the 2006-2007 wrestling season with zero losing seasons dating back to the school's founding in 1969. Recent notable achievements include the 2005/06 District IX championship and the 2003/04 Iron Hills Conference Championship (first since 1989).

Individually, Parsippany Hills recently saw their streak of state place winners stop at school record six straight years and has placed someone in the State's top 8 in nine of the last ten years. Recent State place winners include Evan Galipeau, Paul Galipeau, John Hesse and Chris Madia.

The 2007 boys soccer team won the North II, Group III state sectional championship with a 2-1 win over West Morris Mendham High School in the tournament final.[6]

Parsippany Hills High School's primary rivals are Parsippany High School and in football, Wayne Hills High School. Rivalries have also been seen between the Vikings and Morris Hills High School and Morris Knolls High School during crucial football, basketball, and baseball games. Hanover Park High School is Parsippany Hills' rival in wrestling.

Parsippany Hills does not support random drug testing of participants in extracurricular activities.[7]

[edit] Student Council

Parsippany Hills High School has an active student council. The student council currently consists of an executive board, with ten members, one non-voting student Board of Education representative, one state officer, and a general assembly (two represntatives from each homeroom. The student council general assemble convenes twice a month, with one meeting during the school day and the other in the evening.[8]

[edit] Extracurricular Activities

Parsippany Hills offers many after-school activities, from Academic Decathlon, DECA, Key Club, Habitat for Humanity to FBLA , along with a steering committee for each grade, which functions as a smaller student council for that grade along with two faculty advisors. Other clubs include the Peerleaders' Activities Council, Anime Club, Library Pages Club, Animal Lovers Club,Garden Club, Math Club, and the Yearbook Club (Aegis). Parsippany Hills is also a part of the National Honor Society and the International Thespian Society.[9]

[edit] Administration

  • Dr. Richard J. Konet, principal (retiring June 30, 2008)
  • Mike Cardell, interim athletic director
  • Dr. Nancy A. Gigante, assistant principal (becomes principal July 1, 2008)
  • Edward E. Nathan, assistant principal

[edit] Notable graduates

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Parsippany Hills High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed November 10, 2007.
  2. ^ a b c "Top Public High Schools in New Jersey" (Schools 51-100), New Jersey Monthly, September 2006, backed up by Internet Archive as of March 10, 2007. Accessed March 5, 2008.
  3. ^ Student Course Selection Bulletin 2007-2008, Parsippany-Troy Hills School District, January 2007.
  4. ^ NJSIAA 2005 Football - North I, Group III, accessed June 5, 2006.
  5. ^ Parsippany Hills, NJSIAA, accessed May 9, 2007.
  6. ^ 2007 Boys Soccer - North II, Group III, NJSIAA. Accessed November 13, 2007.
  7. ^ Jennings, Rob. "Parsippany principals object to drug testing: Administrators argue move could create a culture of 'distrust'", Daily Record (Morristown), August 3, 2007. Accessed August 3, 2007. "The principals of both township public high schools said Thursday night they opposed random drug testing at a school board meeting convened to study the issue."
  8. ^ Parsippany Hills High School Clubs, Parsippany-Troy Hills School District, accessed August 19, 2007.
  9. ^ Parsippany Hills High School Clubs, Parsippany-Troy Hills School District, accessed August 19, 2007.
  10. ^ UMass Profile for R.J. Cobbs, accessed January 9, 2007.
  11. ^ Classroom a thrill for teacher, Daily Record (Morristown), November 9, 2004.
  12. ^ "ORSULAK SIGNS WITH MARLINS - NEXT TARGETS: CONE, MCDOWELL", The Record (Bergen County), December 6, 1995. Accessed August 2, 2007. "Orsulak, a Parsippany Hills High School graduate, signed a two-year deal worth $1.275 million and is expected to strengthen the Marlins' bench."

[edit] External links