Franklin High School (New Jersey)

Franklin High School (FHS) is a comprehensive four-year public high school serving students in ninth located in the Somerset section of Franklin Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Franklin Township Public Schools.

As of the 2012-13 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,071 students and 167.9 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.33:1. There were 727 students (35.1% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 175 (8.5% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.^[1]

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 203rd-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology.^[2] The school had been ranked 263rd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 201st in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.^[3] The magazine ranked the school 150th out of 316 schools in 2008.^[4]

History

Franklin High School (New Jersey) at sunset.

The original Franklin High School, now Franklin Middle School, was opened in 1961. Prior to that, the district sent its high school students to Princeton High School, Bound Brook High School, Highland Park High School, and New Brunswick High School among others. The original Franklin High School was designed to accommodate 1,600 students. By the mid 1990s, the student population had grown to over 2,000 making overcrowding a serious issue. In 2001, the residents of Franklin Township voted for the construction of a new High School. Construction began in 2002 and finished in September 2005. In that same month, the new Franklin High School opened its doors.

Among the persons in recent years who have served as Principal of Franklin High School are Orville Wilson, Dr. Howard Lucks, Dr. Neely Hackett, and currently James Bevere. Ron Brundidge also served as an interim principal.

Academics

Courses

FHS offers a wide selection of courses to suit all types of students. Honors level courses in the core content areas and in the areas of the Fine and Performing Arts and of Technology. The school offers business and vocational programs offering training and practical application in real world situations. Students can earn certification in Cisco Systems, acquire television production and studio recording skills, and participate in a variety of internship and co-op experiences offered through local area businesses. Students may chose to attend Somerset County Vocational and Technical High School either part-time or full-time. There students learn the core curriculum along with various skills such as auto shop and culinary arts.

The school offers an open Advanced Placement Program (AP) college-level courses. Any student can register for an AP course as along as he has completed the prerequisites. For example, it is not uncommon for sophomores to take AP United States History. The AP courses FHS has are (as of the 07-08 school year):

Certain students who have completed the majority of courses in a department have a chance to take college courses in local colleges. In many cases, these courses will earn the student college credit that can be transferred to their college at the school's discretion. In the past, seniors have taken courses in Princeton University, Rutgers University, and Raritan Valley Community College.

Curriculum

Franklin High School students need to earn a total of 120 credits to be eligible for graduation. The vast majority of the year-long courses give 5 credits each while a half-year course offers 2.5 credits. The exceptions to this rule are the science classes with labs. An extra credit is given for each lab day in the 5-day cycle. Honors science classes with one lab and AP sciences classes with two labs give the students 6 and 7 credits, respectively. The credit spread for incoming classes is as follows:^[5]

Academic excellence

Franklin High School students have been recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Program, Advance Placement Scholar Awards, Edward J. Bloustein Distinguished Scholars Program.

Athletics

Franklin High School competes in the Skyland Conference, which includes public and parochial high schools covering Hunterdon County, Somerset County and Warren County in west central New Jersey and operates under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).^[6] With 1,491 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2014-15 school year as North II, Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,087 to 3,896 students in that grade range.^[7]

Extracurricular activities

Extracurricular activities provide an excellent medium for FHS students to explore their interests, learn, and help the community. Most "clubs" meet after school when additional buses are available for after school transportation. Some clubs such as Brass Ensemble, Guitar Ensemble, and Model United Nations meet at night, in which cases the students are responsible for their own transportation. Recently, the Model United Nations club has won a major conference in 2012 at Rutgers Model United Nations (RUMUN). They are also ranked in the top 10 in the country. Clubs offered at Franklin High School include:^[8]
_{Note: Some information may be inaccurate due to clubs forming or dissipating late in the year and sparse updates for the website.}

Performing Arts

Stage productions such as Beauty and The Beast (2009), Sweeney Todd (2010), Hello, Dolly! (2011), Phantom of the Opera, (2012) Aida, (2013) and In The Heights (2014) have been previously performed by the students of Franklin High School.
The drum cadence was written by a student and has evolved over the years since it was never written down.

Administration

Members of the school administration are:^[9]

• Dr. Thomas DiGanci - Interim Principal
• Rod Brundidge - Vice Principal
• Frank Chmiel - Vice Principal
• Tracey Domena - Vice Principal
• Yolanda Toney-Lockley - Vice Principal

References

External links

• Franklin High School website
• Franklin High School's 2012–13 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
• School Data for the Franklin Township Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics

Coordinates: 40°31′02″N 74°32′48″W / 40.517217°N 74.546791°W / 40.517217; -74.546791

Public and Private High Schools of Somerset County, New Jersey Public Bernards Bound Brook Bridgewater-Raritan Central Jersey College Prep Charter School Franklin Hillsborough Manville Montgomery North Plainfield Ridge Somerset County VoTech Somerville Watchung Hills Private Gill St. Bernard's Immaculata Mount St. Mary Pingry School Purnell School Rutgers Prep by county Atlantic Bergen Burlington Camden Cape May Cumberland Essex Gloucester Hudson Hunterdon Mercer Middlesex Monmouth Morris Ocean Passaic Salem Somerset Sussex Union Warren