| Verona High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| 151 Fairview Avenue Verona, NJ 07044 |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Public high school |
| Motto | Your Future Starts Here |
| School district | Verona Public Schools |
| Principal | Glenn Cesa |
| Vice principal | David Galbierczyk |
| Faculty | 42 (on FTE basis)[1] |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Enrollment | 592 (as of 2009-10)[1] |
| Student to teacher ratio | 14.10[1] |
| Color(s) | Maroon & White |
| Team name | Hillbillies |
| Newspaper | 'The Fairviewer' |
| Yearbook | Shadows |
| Website | School website |
Verona High School is a four-year public high school, serving students in 9th through 12th grade in Verona, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Verona Public Schools. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools since 1947.[2]
As of the 2009-10 school year, the school had 592 students enrolled and 42 faculty members (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.10.[1]
The school mascot is the Verona Hillbilly, which was originally pictured with a bottle of whiskey and a shotgun, but was revised to be with a dog and a fishing pole, due to concerns of school violence and under-age drinking.[3]
Contents |
Verona High School won the New Jersey Star School Award for the 1995-96 school year.[4] The school won the New Jersey Best Practice Award in the 1995-96 school year for Citizenship / Tolerance in recognition of its program in Prejudice Reduction. In the 1997-98 school year, it received the Best Practice Award for Citizenship & Character Education in recognition of Teaching Responsibility Through Involvement.[5]
The school was the 53rd-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 322 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2010 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", after also being ranked 53rd in 2008 out of 316 schools.[6] The school was ranked 47th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state.[7]
In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 59th in New Jersey and 1,718th nationwide.[8]
The Verona High School Hillbillies now compete in the Super Essex Conference, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.[9] Prior to the realignment in 2010, the school had participated in the Colonial Hills Conference, which was made up of public and parochial high schools covering Essex County, Morris County and Somerset County in Northern New Jersey.
In 2005, the Verona High School football team reached the state championship at Giants Stadium where they competed against Hoboken High School and won 21-6[10], but they avenged the loss by beating Hoboken High School 7-3 in the 2006 NJSIAA Semifinals, the following season.[11]
The Girls Track Team won the North II, Group I, and the Group I Championship. The Girls Softball team won the North II, Group I title for the first time ever, and along with the baseball team, won the Conference title. The Girls Tennis Team won the North II Group I title and finished 2nd in the state for Group I.
The Boys and Girls spring track and field teams both won the Colonial Hills Conference Relay Championship, ending the Boy's 53-year title drought. Both the Boys and Girls teams also went on to win the Colonial Hills Conference Championships, sweeping the Conference. The boys baseball team tied the school record for most wins in a season with 21, and made it to the North I Group I sectional championship game, falling to Hasbrouck Heights High School 7-4 in the tournament final.[12]
The girls lacrosse team also clinched the conference title.
In the 2007-08 school year, the Men's Cross Country team defeated Pingry School for the Conference victory. It was the first in school history.[13] The following week, the team followed up with a State Sectional Championship, the first since 1980 when they tied with Kinnelon for the title.
Rick Porcello of Seton Hall pitched a perfect game at the Verona High School baseball field
The Boys Indoor Track & Field team won their first ever conference championship, as well as winning the North II Group I State Sectional Championship.[14] The Boy's and Girl's both won the North 1, Group 1 State Sectional Championship for the Indoor and Outdoor, a first for the Boy's squad, and for the second consecutive year for the Girl's Squad.[15]
In 2008, the football team finished the season with an 11-1 record and were North II Group I state champions with a 13-12 victory over Hoboken High School in the final, earning the program's first sectional title since 2001.[16]
The Boys Indoor Track & Field team continued their success winning their second consecutive Colonial Hills Conference championship, and North I Group I state sectional championship.
The Girls Basketball team won the Conference Championships, the Super Essex Conference (SEC) for the first time since 1976.
Verona High has a long history of drama clubs and productions.
Productions began in the 1920s with Edmond Rostand's The Romancers (1926) being the final production directed by Miss Winifred Bostwick, a long-time teacher at the school. Other shows helmed by Miss Bostwick had included The Exchange (1922), The Man Who Married a Dumb Wife (1923) and The Knave of Hearts in 1925.
Mr. Harold Butterworth was a long time director for the club (1936–1956). Under his direction, the drama club boasted its largest membership (137 registered members in 1945), became The Troupers in 1951 and continued to present contemporary dramas. Then, after Mr. Butterworth’s tenure, The Troupers presented their first "classic" play: Thornton Wilder's Our Town, also the last play performed at the then-VHS building that is now H. B. Whitehorne Middle School.
A series of directors took the Troupers into Fairview Avenue's newly constructed Verona High School, where they performed such classics as The Man Who Came to Dinner (1958), 'You Can't Take It With You (1960), and Arsenic and Old Lace (1962). Sometime in this era, the title Troupers disappeared in favor of the more generic Drama Club.
In the early 1970s, classic productions dominated: Harvey (1972, directed by Ruth Garoni), a new production of Arsenic and Old Lace (1973 and presented again in 1993) and the first production of a true Broadway musical – Oliver!, combining the students of the high school and middle school under the music direction of long-time Verona band teacher, Harry Owens. Director Jim Walsh continued dramatic shows on alternate years with Scapino, Count Dracula, and The Good Doctor.
In the early 80s, Maurice J. Moran began his 27-year tenure as drama advisor and introduced both a non-musical and musical in the same school year. The Importance of Being Earnest, Mame (1982), Grease (1984), The Fantasticks (1985), Godspell (1986), The Odd Couple, "Story Theater" and The Crucible are some examples of shows done in the 80s.
In 1991, the VHS Drama Club became The Spotlight Players. In 1996, VHS joined 100 other New Jersey high schools participating in the Paper Mill Playhouse's Rising Star Awards, winning a "best actress" nomination in its first year with a repeat production of Anything Goes. New plays and classic musicals (and Star nominations) continued as the 90s closed: All in the Timing, The Canterbury Tales, and Senior Square contrasting with Gypsy, The Music Man, and Pippin.
The 21st century began with what was apparently only the second VHS Shakespeare presentation: A Midsummer Night's Dream. In that same year, parent volunteers organized themselves to help the performing arts as The Spotlight Players Parents Association. To raise funds for the theater program, the parents' group began the annual Verona Talent Night, which continues to give an opportunity for Verona students, adults, and friends to sing, dance, play musical instruments, or tell jokes without the need for competition.
In 2002, for the first time, a completely student-produced musical was presented, Bat Boy: The Musical. The show was presented by the then-recently established local chapter of the International Thespian Society, and featured a student cast, with a student director, music director, band, and choreographer. It continues annually with Godspell, You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown, and the 2006 presentation of Musical of Musicals, being featured in The Star-Ledger's "Young and Talented" column.
Another major change was the hiring of an outside director. After 30 years directing school musicals around North Jersey, Mr. Moran decided to give up that role and serve instead as a producer of the musicals. He continued to direct the non-musicals ("Moon Over Buffalo" in 2005, for example) but recent musicals have been directed by non-VHS faculty, with 2008's "On the Town" being the third production directed by Ms. Danielle Aldrich of Cedar Grove.
Verona's drama program expanded in 2008, with the revamping of the theater including new seats, better acoustics, and a new lighting and sound booth. A One-Act Play Festival began in May of that year, bringing the number of theater offerings to four per year.
Do Anything Nice (D.A.N.) is a student-led organization that demonstrates the importance of acts of kindness in everyday life and leads in creative strategies for people to practice kindness in their daily lives. D.A.N. members engage in innovative new methods to bring community service to educational institutions.
Founded by a small group of senior students, VHS D.A.N. is now in its 7th year active at Verona High School. In the fall of 2001 the first random act of kindness was to put candy in every student's locker during the evening hours of the night. Since then the club has expanded to include a second D.A.N. chapter located at Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York; that is now in its 3rd year active.
Core members of the school's administration are:[17]