David Brearley High School

David Brearley High School
Location
401 Monroe Avenue
Kenilworth, NJ 07033
Information
Type Public high school
Established 1966 (as David Brearley Regional High School); 1997 (as David Brearley Middle-High School)
School district Kenilworth Public Schools
Principal Brian Luciani
Asst. Principal Andrew White
Faculty 62.5 (on FTE basis)[1]
Grades 9 - 12
Enrollment 722[1] (as of 2013-14)
Student to teacher ratio 11.6:1[1]
Color(s)      Navy and
     Gold[2]
Athletics conference Union County Interscholastic Athletic Conference
Team name Bears[2]
Website School website

David Brearley High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Kenilworth in Union County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Kenilworth Public Schools. The school is named for David Brearley, a signer of the United States Constitution.

As of the 2013-14 school year, the school had an enrollment of 722 students and 62.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.6:1. There were 121 students (16.8% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 62 (8.6% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]

The district participates in the Interdistrict Public School Choice Program at David Brearley High School, having been approved on November 2, 1999, as one of the first ten districts statewide to participate in the program.[3] The school system participates in New Jersey's Interdistrict Public School Choice Program at the David Brearley Middle / High School in grades 7-10.[4] Each school year, slots are made available for seventh through tenth grades. Prospective Choice participants must be residents of Union County eligible for placement in grades 7-10 who were enrolled in a public school during the full year prior to entry to the Kenilworth Public Schools.[5] Seats in the program for non-resident students are specified by the district and are allocated by lottery (if there are more applicants than available slots), with tuition paid for participating students by the New Jersey Department of Education.[6]

Students from Winfield Township attend the school as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Winfield Township School District.[7]

History

David Brearley Middle-High School opened as the David Brearley Regional High School in June 1966 for summer school courses, after years of fighting with the Union County Regional School District to open a high school in Kenilworth. The school opened to 640 students from Kenilworth and Garwood that fall. John L. Dixey served as the inaugural principal and George Cuzzolino served as the assistant principal. The original building contained 40 classrooms, an auditorium with a capacity of 820, a cafeteria with a capacity of 430, a gymnasium with a capacity of 2000, and offices.[8]

By 1971, the school was becoming overcrowded. The Regional Board of Education built a three-classroom portable building on the campus to address immediate overcrowding issues, and an addition was quickly planned afterward. The two-story addition, containing a special education room, business education room, two health classrooms, an expanded art room, and a large, flexible group area, opened in 1972.[9] A second gymnasium was added to the school shortly thereafter. By 1990, however, it had become apparent that closing one of the four Regional high schools would be an efficient cost-cutting measure. Brearley had shown a sixty percent decrease in enrollment since its opening, making it a prime candidate for closure. A Save our Schools campaign was quickly formed by concerned parents with the goal of keeping Brearley open. In September 1992, the Regional Board of Education voted 7-1 to re-open talks discussing the possibility of a school closure. The following month, Regional superintendent Donald Merachink recommended the closure of Brearley, due to its low enrollment.[10] In early 1993, the Union County Regional Board of Education voted to close Brearley, and despite a court battle between the Committee for Concerned Parents and the Board, Brearley closed after the 1992-3 school year.[11] Kenilworth students were sent to Jonathan Dayton Regional High School in Springfield and Garwood students were sent to Arthur L. Johnson High School in Clark. Over the next three years, the Save our Schools committee lobbied the dissolution of the Union County Regional School District and the transfer of its four high schools to local control. A dissolution referendum was held in May 1996, the result being the dissolution of the Regional district. As such, the ownership of the David Brearley building was transferred to the Kenilworth Board of Education. In 1997, the school re-opened as the David Brearley Middle-High School. To boost enrollment, nearby Winfield began to send their high-schoolers to the school, the seventh and eighth grade moved in, and the Choice program was started to attract kids from nearby communities. In recent years, the school has added a Scholars' Academy to challenge the top students in the district, constructed a small addition to house athletic training offices, and renovated the courtyard.

In 2014, the school completed a garden and extensive mosaic mural dedicated to a former student who passed away while enrolled at Brearley. The mosaic was the continuation of a four-year project that has seen numerous mosaics installed inside and outside the school.[12]

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 194th-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.[13] The school had been ranked 127th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 113th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[14] The magazine ranked the school 178th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[15] The school was ranked 162nd in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[16]

Curriculum and programs

In 2001, students from David Brearley High School and Hillside High School collaborated to develop literary and art projects about bigotry presented at an exhibit, "Making Connections: Two Culturally Diverse Schools Address Prejudice and Hatred by Studying the Holocaust Together." The exhibit was presented at Kean University, and was viewed together with local Holocaust survivors and concentration camp liberators.[17]

Athletics

The David Brearley High School Bears[2] compete in the Union County Interscholastic Athletic Conference, which includes public and private high schools in Union County and is overseen by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[18] With 331 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2014-15 school year as North II, Group I for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 61 to 478 students in that grade range.[19] Prior to the NJSIAA's 2009 realignment, the school had participated in the Mountain Valley Conference, which included public and parochial high schools in Essex County and Union County in northern New Jersey.[20] School colors are navy and gold.[21]

Soccer

Brearley's soccer team won the New Jersey Group I state championship in 2015 with a 1-0 victory over Arthur P. Schalick High School. The game's lone goal came from Brearley's Justin Estremera; teammate Nick Minio shut down Schalick forward Michael D'Orio, who had scored in every tournament game until the final.[22] Brearley previously won the Group I state championship in 2013 with a 3-0 win against New Egypt High School in the tournament final[23] and were co-champions with Haddonfield High School in 1990.[24]

Football

Brearley's football team defeated Verona High School 21-20 on December 2, 2006, at Giants Stadium to win the North Jersey Section II Group 1 state sectional title.[25][26]

Wrestling

David Brearley wrestling, operating in combination with Jonathan Dayton High School, won the 2011 Group II state championship at the Poland Spring Center in Toms River.[27]

Cheerleading

The girls competition cheerleading team won the Group I NJCDCA State Championship title in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2014. They are also the reigning Mountain Valley Conference Champions.[28]

Baseball

The Brearley baseball team won its first state title when it won the 2009 Central Jersey Group I state sectional championship, defeating Point Pleasant Beach High School by a score of 6-4 in the tournament final.[29]

Administration

Core members of the school's administration are:[30]

Noted alumni

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 School Data for David Brearley Middle/High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed November 22, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 David Brearley High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 22, 2015.
  3. ↑ Interdistrict Public School Choice Program: Approved Choice Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 19, 2008.
  4. ↑ Interdistrict Public School Choice Program: Kenilworth Public Schools, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed November 6, 2006.
  5. ↑ "School choice eases student shortage; State program boosts enrollment at Kenilworth's David Brearley high.", The Star-Ledger, April 23, 2000, p. 33.
  6. ↑ Interdistrict Public School Choice Program: Introduction, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 19, 2008.
  7. ↑ David Brearly High School 2014 School Report Card, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 9, 2015. "David Brearley Middle-High School serves students in Grades 7-12 from Kenilworth, Winfield, and surrounding communities that who participate in the School Choice Program."
  8. ↑ "First Regular High School Class Starts Sept. 7 at David Brearley" Check |url= value (help). Cranford Chronicle. September 1, 1966. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Expansion of Brearley Proposed by School Board" Check |url= value (help). Cranford Chronicle. April 1, 1971. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  10. ↑ "1,000 Roar 'no' to Brearley Closing Plan" Check |url= value (help). Cranford Chronicle. October 22, 1992. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Brearley Hearing to begin Monday" Check |url= value (help). Cranford Chronicle. April 21, 1993. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Pond and mosaic mural dedication, May 8 at David Brearley Middle/H.S. in Kenilworth". Cranford Chronicle. May 6, 2014. Retrieved Jan 6, 2016.
  13. ↑ Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
  14. ↑ Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed August 23, 2012.
  15. ↑ Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed February 22, 2011.
  16. ↑ "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
  17. ↑ "Two-school project fights prejudice; Kenilworth, Hillside art and computer classes team up.", The Star-Ledger, June 7, 2001
  18. ↑ League Memberships – 2014-2015, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 30, 2014.
  19. ↑ 2014-2015 Public Schools Group Classification: ShopRite Cup–Basketball–Baseball–Softball for North II, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, as of July 8, 2014. Accessed September 30, 2014.
  20. ↑ Home Page, Mountain Valley Conference, backed up by the Internet Archive as of February 2, 2011. Accessed December 15, 2014.
  21. ↑ David Brearley High School, New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 15, 2014.
  22. ↑ Greco, Richard. "Justin Estremera leads Brearley to 1-0 win over Schalick in Group 1 final", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, November 22, 2015. Accessed November 22, 2015. "The last goal of his career, which came against Schalick in the NJSIAA/Sports Authority Group 1 final on Sunday, was all the Bears would need in a 1-0 victory to claim their third Group 1 title at Kean University on Sunday night.... Brearley defeated New Egypt, 3-0, to claim the title in 2013 and was co-champions with Haddonfield in 1990.
  23. ↑ Miller, Sean. "New Egypt High boys' soccer loses in first state final to David Brearley", The Times (Trenton), November 24, 2013. Accessed November 22, 2015. "New Egypt made its first ever appearance in the Group I state final last night at The College of New Jersey, matching up against a very tough David Brearley squad.The speed and talent of the Bears were too much for the Warriors, as Brearley ran out 3-0 winners on the night."
  24. ↑ History of NJSIAA Boys Soccer, NJSIAA. Accessed November 22, 2015.
  25. ↑ 2006 Football Tournament - North II, Group I, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, Accessed December 10, 2006.
  26. ↑ Goldberg, Jeff. NJSIAA Football Playoff Champions, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 21, 2015.
  27. ↑ History of The NJSIAA Team Championships, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed August 23, 2012.
  28. ↑ NJCDCA Cheerleading State Champions Archive, New Jersey Cheerleading and Dance Coaches Association. Accessed August 23, 2012.
  29. ↑ Staff. "Brearley 6, Point Pleasant Beach 4 (High school Baseball scores and results)", The Star-Ledger, May 30, 2009. Accessed November 20, 2015. " Marques hammered a 1-0 pitch over the fence in left field with one out and one on in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift Brearley to a 6-4 victory over Point Pleasant Beach in the championship game of the NJSIAA/Star Ledger Central Jersey, Group 1 tournament yesterday in Kenilworth. The sectional title is the first for Brearley (15-6), which will meet Gateway, which is from Gloucester County, in a Group 1 semifinal at Rider University on Tuesday."
  30. ↑ Main Office, David Brearley High School. Accessed November 19, 2014.
  31. ↑ Ditzell III, Herb. "Drummer Jack Grondin's Soul Belongs to Southern Rock", Cranford Chronicle, February 7, 1980. Accessed October 12, 2012. ""It is 30 miles from Kenilworth to the Capital Theater in Passaic, but it took Jack Grondin six years to get there.... A 1969 graduate of David Brearley High School, the drummer said he went the usual route of young musicians, playing with high school bands."
  32. ↑ Profile for Tony Siragusa, database Football. Accessed November 9, 2006.

External links

Coordinates: 40°40′46″N 74°17′50″W / 40.679461°N 74.297333°W / 40.679461; -74.297333

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