Pope John XXIII Regional High School

Pope John XXIII Regional High School
Address
28 Andover Road
Sparta, NJ, (Sussex County) 07871
Coordinates 41°1′55″N 74°40′4″W / 41.03194°N 74.66778°W / 41.03194; -74.66778Coordinates: 41°1′55″N 74°40′4″W / 41.03194°N 74.66778°W / 41.03194; -74.66778
Information
Type Private, Coeducational
Motto Esse Honorem Patri Nostro
Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic
Established 1956
Founder Rev. James Gacquin
President Rev. Kieran McHugh
Dean Gene Emering
Principal Thomas Costello
Vice principals Michael Schleer
Brian Vohden
Faculty 74.9 (on FTE basis)[1]
Grades 8–12
Enrollment 951 [1] (2013-14)
Average class size 19
Student to teacher ratio 12.0:1[1]
Color(s)      Navy Blue
     white and
     gold[2]
Athletics conference Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference
Team name Lions[2]
Average SAT scores 534 Verbal
555 Math
541 Writing
Publication Le Coeur du Lion (literary magazine)
Newspaper The Lion's Pride
Yearbook Generation
Tuition $14,500[3]
Athletic Director Mia Gavan
Website http://www.popejohn.org

Pope John XXIII Regional High School is a Roman Catholic high school in Sparta Township, in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. The school was founded in 1956, originally as Our Lady Of The Lake School[4] and is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson.[5] The school name was changed to honor Pope John XXIII after his death in 1963.

As of the 2013-14 school year, the school had an enrollment of 951 students and 74.9 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.0:1.[1]

Philosophy and coursework

Pope John XXIII Regional High School has a Catholic philosophy in accordance with Church teaching.The school also has a college prep course of study in academic subjects. Students are required to not only take state required courses but an additional year of Math and Science. Theology coursework is required for every marking period a student is enrolled at the school. Two years of a foreign language such as Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Arabic, Russian or Latin (and Mandarin Chinese being introduced for the 2009-2010 curriculum), are also required as well as computer courses. 17 Advanced Placement (AP) courses are offered. An eighth grade honors program for math and science is also offered for other Catholic schools in the area, including St.Michael School (Netcong), Rev. Brown, Immaculate Conception, and St. Joseph's, collectively known as "The Academy of Sussex County Catholic Schools." The math and science taught to the eighth grade honors students is also taught to the freshman. In addition to the eighth grade honors program for area Catholic schools, Pope John launched their own eighth grade class in the 2009-2010 academic year, but only accepted eighth grade students who were previously from public schools.

Like most Catholic schools, students are required to wear uniforms. The uniform policy is often strictly enforced to ensure students live up the proper standard expected of them by the administration and faculty. Uniforms, for example, include uniform dress shoes, ties (for boys), and dress pants and skirts, respectively, which are coordinated by class and change as a student moves to the next grade. The school also does not allow for any facial hair on boys or any "hair that reaches past the ear or below the collar;" infractions of proper uniform often result in punishment by the administration or faculty.

The school's theological position is that of a mainstream Roman Catholic belief taking neither a progressive or traditional position, with 80% of the student body being Catholic, though students from all denominations and religions are accepted.

Athletics

Pope John has a full complement of boys and girls athletic programs. The Pope John Lions[2] compete in the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[6] Until the NJSIAA's 2009 realignment, the school had participated in the Sussex County Interscholastic League, which was made up of public and private high schools located in Sussex County and northern Morris County.[7] The school is categorized by the NJSIAA as Non-Public North, Group A.

Through the years, its football team has had a great amount of success, accumulating 20 state championships under coach Victor Paternostro. The football team won the NJSIAA North B state sectional title in 1975, 1979, 1981–83, 1986–91 and 1993, and won the Non-Public II titles in 1995-98 and 2001-02.[8] In 2002, the football team won the Non-Public II state sectional championship with a 41-12 win against Queen of Peace High School in the tournament final.[9] In 2009, Coach Paternostro became New Jersey's winningest high school football coach with the Lions' win over West Morris Mendham High School.[10] Paternostro resigned from his coaching position after the 2010 season, leaving with an overall record of 373-68-5 in 43 seasons, including 20 state championships, 19 Sussex County Interscholastic League titles and two NJAC titles, and was replaced by Brain Carlson formerly from Kean University.[11]

In 2005-06, the hockey team advanced to the state semi-finals, where they lost 3-2 to the Delbarton School.[12] The 2003-04 team was the champions of the Northern Red division, going undefeated in conference play and winning the conference tournament. The 2002-03 team had lost the previous year in the conference championship game after winning the conference regular season title.[13]

In March 2008, the Pope John ski team won its first state championship.

Student organizations and clubs

The following organizations and clubs are present at Pope John XXIII Regional High School:

Robotics team

The Pope John XXIII Regional High School FIRST Robotics Team supports three levels of FIRST robotics: FLL for area elementary schools, FTC and FRC for high school students. In 2011 a Zero Robotics team was also started. Pope John does not restrict the program to their own students, approximately ten to fifteen percent of the FTC and FRC team members in any given year come from other area high schools, and FLL students come from both public and private area elementary schools. In the 2010-2011 academic year sixty-two students were involved in some level of the program.

In the 2009-2010 season the school's two FTC teams both qualified for the World Championship held in Atlanta, Georgia. FTC Team 247 won the New York City Championship as captain team,[14] and FTC Team 248 won the New Jersey Championship as captain team. Additionally, the teams jointly came in second place at the Pennsylvania Championship.

In the 2010-2011 season the school expanded FTC to three teams. One of the three teams qualified for the World Championship held in St. Louis, Missouri (team 4391). This marked the third consecutive season in which a Pope John FTC team qualified for the World Championship.

In the 2011-12 season the school added a Zero Robotics team and was one of only nine schools nationally to qualify as a captain team in the finals.[15] The finals were held on board the International Space Station on small SPHERES robots which maneuver in zero gravity. Pope John and other finalist teams observed from MIT. Astronauts on board the ISS served as referees for the game. Although the tournament only officially named the top three winning teams, Pope John's scores during elimination rounds placed them at fourth position nationally.[16]

The team also publishes a book, FTC Robotics: Tips, Tricks, Strategies, and Secrets, which guides new and veteran teams through the process of building a winning FTC program. The book is available through major online retailers.[17] Over one thousand copies sold during the 2010-2011 season. The team has also donated over hundreds of copies of the book to rookie FTC teams across the United States as an outreach effort.

A major expansion of the Robotics program took place in 2010-2011. This expansion included adding academic awards recognition to robotics team participants, creating the first Varsity Letter program for Robotics in Sussex County, New Jersey on March 31, 2011, and adding a new academic course, Honors Robotics I.[18]

Notable alumni

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 School Data for Pope John XXIII Regional High School, National Center for Education Statistics. February 10, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Pope John XXIII High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed February 10, 2016.
  3. ↑ Pope John XXIII High School: Tuition Information. Accessed November 24, 2014.
  4. ↑ History of Pope John, Pope John XXIII Regional High School. Accessed November 24, 2014. "In 1956 - the year of groundbreaking ceremonies for the high school - thirty-six freshmen met in the activity hall of Our Lady of the Lake Church, where they were taught by Sister Mary Angelina Garbowksi and Sister Mary Eustace Harczynska, assisted by two priests."
  5. ↑ Sussex County Elementary / High Schools, Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson. Accessed July 29, 2008.
  6. ↑ League And Conference Affiliations – 2016-2017, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed January 10, 2017.
  7. ↑ Home page, Sussex County Interscholastic League, backed up by the Internet Archive as of May 9, 2009. Accessed December 16, 2014.
  8. ↑ Goldberg, Jeff. NJSIAA Football Playoff Champions, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 19, 2015.
  9. ↑ 2002 Football - Parochial 2, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed July 29, 2007.
  10. ↑ Reyes, Masulli Jesicca. "Beloved coach's funeral expected to draw many mourners", KWWL (TV), February 1, 2012. Accessed August 24, 2012. "The funeral and visitation are expected to draw a large number of people because of Paternostro's great tenure at Pope John. While coaching football for 43 years, Paternostro earned the title of the state's all-time winningest football coach with 373 victories."
  11. ↑ Reilly, Sean. "High school football previews: Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference", The Star-Ledger, September 7, 2011. Accessed March 14, 2012. "Bill Percey has replaced Delaney at High Point, while Brian Carlson is the new coach at Pope John, where he replaces Vic Paternostro, the winningest coach in state history, who exited with a 373-68-5 record over 43 years."
  12. ↑ NJSIAA 2006 Ice hockey - Non-Public, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed June 13, 2006.
  13. ↑ Yardley, Jonathan. 2003-04 New Jersey Hockey Standings, HNIB New Jersey. Accessed August 24, 2012.
  14. ↑ Press Release. Pope John XXIII High School Robotics Team Wins New York City FTC Championship
  15. ↑ Joe Moszczynski, Newark Star Ledger. Sparta school robotics team ready for NASA satellite contest after nailing down the No. 1 seed Accessed August 8, 2014.
  16. ↑ MIT Zero Robotics Website. Zero Robotics High School Tournament 2011 Accessed August 8, 2014.
  17. ↑ FTC Robotics: Tips, Tricks, Strategies, and Secrets Amazon.com book listing.
  18. ↑ Pope John XXIII Regional High School Website Science Department Course Listing
  19. ↑ Spaulding, Anthony. "After breaking leg in 2015, former PJ star Noah Brown to start for Ohio State on Saturday", New Jersey Herald, September 2, 2016. Accessed January 12, 2017. "Noah Brown has every reason to be pumped up for Saturday.That day at noon, the Flanders native and 2014 Pope John High School graduate is expected to start in the first NCAA Division I college football game of his career at wide receiver in the Ohio State Buckeyes' season opener against Bowling Green."
  20. ↑ Doyle, Jerry. Have You Seen My Country Lately?: America's Wake-Up Call, p. 30. Simon & Schuster, 2010. ISBN 9781439199251. Accessed December 16, 2014. "I transferred from Xavier High School to Pope John XXIII Regional High School."
  21. ↑ Bouchal, Lyndsay Cayetana. "Delicate Steve frontman happy to be home", New Jersey Herald, April 22, 2011. Accessed January 12, 2017. "The Fredon resident began taking private piano lessons as child, but when he was given a toy guitar by his grandmother one Christmas, the young musician quickly switched to guitar.... His first brush with the professional world of music came in 2004 when his high school band was signed by Warner Brothers. Marion was a 2005 Pope John graduate."
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