| Willingboro High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| 20 JFK Way Willingboro, NJ 08046 |
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| Information | |
| Type | Public high school |
| Established | 1975 |
| School district | Willingboro Township Public Schools |
| Principal | Ellis Brown |
| Faculty | 68 (on FTE basis)[1] |
| Grades | 9 - 12 |
| Enrollment | 979 (as of 2009-10)[1] |
| Student to teacher ratio | 14.40[1] |
| Color(s) | light blue, black |
| Athletics conference | Burlington County Scholastic League |
| Team name | Chimera |
| Website | School website |
Willingboro High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Willingboro Township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Willingboro Township Public Schools.
As of the 2009-10 school year, the school had an enrollment of 979 students and 68 classroom teachers (on a FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.40.[1]
The school was the 295th-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 247th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[2] The school was ranked 300th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[3]
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The high school was opened in 1975 as a response to the overcrowded student population at John F. Kennedy, then the only high school in Willingboro, located just down the road on Kennedy Way. For a short time, residents were having a difficult time in deciding what to call the new Willingboro high school; some sought to name the new high school "J.F. Kennedy High School - East" while others debated on naming the school, "Robert F. Kennedy" after President Kennedy's brother, the former US Attorney General during his administration, Robert. A vote was taken and it was decided that the only appropriate name would be what the school is called today, "Willingboro High School." The school colors are navy blue, scarlet and white - which are the slight opposite of the school's former sister school, J.F.K. (which were scarlet, navy and white). The mascot is the "Chimera", a mythological monster with the head of a lion and body and wings of an eagle, opposite of the former sister school, which was a "Gryphon."
The two schools were merged at the start of the 1989-90 school year, with all students attending what is now Willingboro High School.[4]
Willingboro High School competes in the Patriot Division of the Burlington County Scholastic League (BCSL), sports association under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). The league consists of public and non-public high schools covering Burlington County, Mercer County and Ocean County in central New Jersey. When WHS started its athletic competitions in 1975, the school was considered a "Group III" category school, next to the largest of schools (Group IV). During the 1980s, it moved up to Group IV and competed with many of the out-of-county schools in that populace grouping. But, since the Willingboro Township School District is experiencing financial woes and being taken-over by the state, as well as the student population falling drastically each year in the past seven years, the school now is barely able to compete as a Group II school and may very well be on their way to becoming a Group I school. Attendance at sporting events - most notably football and basketball, have been way down; nothing like what they were in the school's early history.
The girls basketball team won the 2007 Group III State Championship, defeating South Plainfield High School 53-46 for the title.[5][6] The team won the South, Group III state sectional championship in 2000 with a 47-35 win against Pemberton Township High School.[7]
Core members of the school's administration are:[15]
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