West Orange High School | |
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Location | |
51 Conforti Avenue West Orange, NJ 07052 |
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Information | |
Type | Public high school |
Established | 1898 |
School district | West Orange Public Schools |
Principal | Arthur Alloggiamento |
Asst. Principal | Louis Della Pia Dr. Kimberly Juirdano-Mancarella Hayden N. Moore Eric Price |
Faculty | 172 (on FTE basis)[1] |
Grades | 9 - 12 |
Enrollment | 2,042 (as of 2009-10)[1] |
Student to teacher ratio | 11.87[1] |
Color(s) | Columbia Blue , Navy Blue and White |
Athletics conference | Super Essex Confrence |
Nickname | Mountaineers |
Website | School website |
West Orange High School is a comprehensive four-year public high school, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from West Orange in Essex County, New Jersey. WOHS is currently the only high school serving the West Orange Public Schools. West Orange High School is accredited by the New Jersey Department of Education and by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools since 1928.[2]
As of the 2009-10 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,042 students and 172 classroom teachers (on a FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.87.[1]
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A faculty of 200 includes administration and supervisory personnel, as well as Guidance Staff, two full-time Library Media Specialists, two nurses, a Student Assistance Counselor, and a full-time Child Study Team. The majority of the professional staff members have earned masters degrees, seven have earned doctorates.
West Orange High School has a comprehensive program with a wide variety of course offerings. Graduation requirements are based on study in grades nine through twelve. Students must satisfy the state and local requirements for graduation and take additional courses to total a minimum of 135 credits. In addition to the basic academic courses offered at multiple ability levels, there are Honors and Advanced Placement courses in most disciplines. Programs in business education, technical and industrial education, computer education, performing and fine arts, and English as a Second Language are also offered.
The Horizons Program, an alternative approach to education, is offered to meet the needs of disaffected students. The Cooperative Education Program provides students with the opportunity to study academics as well as receive on-the-job training. Students can also choose from a wide variety of electives.
The high school was built in 1898 on Gaston Street in West Orange and burned down in 1913. It was rebuilt and then moved to a new building on Northfield Avenue in 1922. The old building became Gaston Street Junior High School and was torn down in 1972. The current facility was built in 1960 as Mountain High School. In 1984, the building constructed in 1922 was sold to become Seton Hall Preparatory School, a private Catholic school. Mountain High School and the adjoined Abraham Lincoln Junior High School were converted into the existing facility. In 2004, a new building was added, doubling the size of the school. The current athletic complex includes a football field, two soccer fields, five tennis courts and a baseball field.
In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 44th in New Jersey and 1,379th nationwide.[3]
The school was the 128th-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 being ranked 114th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[4] The school was ranked 98th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[5]
For the 1998-99 school year, West Orange High School was named a "Star School" by the New Jersey Department of Education, the highest honor that a New Jersey school can achieve.[6]
West Orange High School applied for, and was awarded, a Dodge Grant for the 2004-05 academic year through Montclair State University. The focus of the grant is to explore how to develop a Conflict Resolution program responsive to the needs of West Orange High School. The Dodge Grant Team has spent this past year researching and developing a potential Conflict Resolution Model for West Orange High School.
West Orange High School competes in the Super Essex Conference, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.[7] Before the 2010 realignment, the school had participated in the Northern Hills Conference.
The 2006 Boys Soccer team finished the season with a 24-1 record, and was ranked 4th in the nation at the beginning of the 2006 Season but finished 17th in the NSCAA/adidas National Rankings.[8] The 2006 team won the Group IV State Championship with a 4-1 win over Bridgewater-Raritan High School in the semifinals and a 3-0 win against Manalapan High School in the finals.[9]
Their marching band, the Marching Mountaineers, are three-year United States Scholastic Band Association (USSBA) Group V Open State Champs (2005, 2006, 2009), USSBA Group V Open Northern State Champs (2009), and ninth in the northeastern region as of 2007 BOA (Bands of America). In addition, their Color Guard is nationally known for their "globe-tossing" performance.
The school hosted a match between a team representing the New York Athletic Club and teams from Russia and Romania. The NYAC team beat Russia 14-11 in free style and Romania 14-12 in Greco-Roman matches.[10]
Core members of the school's administration are:[11]
In the fifth season of the HBO series The Sopranos an episode entitled The Test Dream shows Tony Soprano in a dream scene with his high school football coach, Mr. Molinero. The school letters "W.O.H.S." were shown on a jacket in the coach's office.