Absegami High School


Absegami High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in Galloway Township, Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States The student body comes from Galloway Township. The school is one of three secondary schools operating as part of the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District, which also serves students from the constituent municipalities of Egg Harbor City, Hamilton Township and Mullica Township, together with students from Port Republic and Washington Township who attend as part of sending/receiving relationships.
As of the 2018–19 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,153 students and 101.2 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 11.4:1. There were 430 students eligible for free lunch and 127 eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
Oakcrest High School and Cedar Creek High School are Absegami's sister schools. Absegami and Oakcrest shared the same buildings during the period from the creation of Absegami High School in 1972 to the construction of a separate campus for Absegami in 1982. In a referendum held on September 25, 2007, voters approved by a 3,176 – 1,719 margin a plan to construct a third high school in the district, to be located in Egg Harbor City, which would help alleviate overcrowding in the two existing schools and serve students from Egg Harbor City and Mullica Township. Construction started in Fall 2008 and was completed in Summer 2010 at a total project cost of $80 million, with the new facility opening that September.
The school has a variety of programs designed for a diverse student body, including 'special needs', a "High School-to-Work" program, college preparatory, Advanced Placement, and performing arts. The school offers 13 courses through which students earn college credits by taking AP examinations, and 89% of students planned to go on to college.

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 164th-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. The school had been ranked 260th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 238th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 230th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 231st in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.

Programs

The school's mission statement objective is to "provide each student the educational opportunity and support that will enable him or her to develop the skills necessary to function politically, economically, and socially as a responsible and contributing citizen in a democratic society." To accomplish this goal, Absegami provides a diverse range of classes designed to help students reach their full potential during their future careers in mathematics, art, wood technology, humanities, and science.

Athletics

The Absegami High School Braves compete in the Atlantic Division of the Cape-Atlantic League, an athletic conference consisting of both parochial and public high schools located in Atlantic County, Cape May County, Cumberland County, and Gloucester County, that operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. With 1,050 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015–16 school year as South Jersey, Group III for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 794 to 1,078 students in that grade range. The football team competes in the Independence Division of the 95-team West Jersey Football League superconference and was classified by the NJSIAA as South Jersey Group IV for football for 2017–18.
School colors are brown and Vegas gold. Sports offered at the school include tennis, lacrosse, lacrosse, baseball, track and field winter, tennis, track and field winter, swimming, golf, swimming, field hockey, soccer, football, soccer, cross country, softball, volleyball, basketball, wrestling, track and field spring, basketball, track and field spring, cross country, crew, crew.
Teams that have won championships include:
The school's principal is Daniel Kern. His administration team includes two assistant principals.

Controversy

Absegami employs a school resource officer, who is a member of the area's police force permanently assigned to a particular school. In March–April 2005, it was revealed that Absegami's then resource officer, Eric Allen, had sex with a 17-year-old female student in his patrol car three times over the course of a month. Allen was dismissed from his position and found guilty of official misconduct.

Notable alumni