Cedar Grove High School (New Jersey)


Cedar Grove High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from the Cedar Grove, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Cedar Grove Schools. "Committed to Excellence" is the school's motto. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools since 1968.
As of the 2018–19 school year, the school had an enrollment of 506 students and 43.5 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 11.6:1. There were 8 students eligible for free lunch and 1 eligible for reduced-cost lunch.

History

Cedar Grove High School was originally named Memorial High School. With the establishment of Cedar Grove Memorial Middle School in the same building as the high school, the name of the high school was changed to Cedar Grove High School.

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 103rd-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 74th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 103rd in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 70th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 55th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school 171st out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics and language arts literacy components of the High School Proficiency Assessment.

Extracurricular activities

Choir/Band

The Cedar Grove High School choirs and band are led and conducted by Jennifer Jessen-Foose. Choir members audition for prestigious choirs such as the NJ Region I Chorus or NJ All State Choir, or National American Honor Choir and many succeed in being accepted. The choir annually competes in choral competitions. The choir and band annually perform in various locations such as Europe. Annually, the Choir and Band hold 3 or 4 concerts: Winter, Spring, Musical. The Cedar Grove High School's choirs and band have won many awards in previous years. The Cedar Grove High School's choir and band are committed to excellence.

Orchestra

The Cedar Grove High School Orchestra was formed in 1968. The current Conductor is Robert Savino. The orchestra continues to compete in competitions and play concerts yearly.
There were several years when the orchestra had no director and was completely student directed. This was done by a small group of students which consisted of 3 violins, one cello, one piano, and one bass. They were asked to perform throughout the community in the late 1990s and continued to pursue music despite the school's inability to provide them with an adequate instructor.

Athletics

The Cedar Grove High School Panthers compete in the Super Essex Conference which is made up of public and parochial high schools covering Essex County and operates under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. With 374 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group I for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 75 to 476 students in that grade range. Prior to the NJSIAA's 2010 realignment, the school had competed in the Colonial Hills Conference, which included schools in Essex County, Morris County and Somerset County in central North Jersey. For football, the school was classified by the NJSIAA as North Jersey Group I for 2018–20.
The school participates in a cooperative ice hockey program with Passaic Valley Regional High School as the host school / lead agency as part of a program that expires at the end of the 2018–19 school year; North Warren is the host school for a shared boys and girls lacrosse program, also expiring in 2019–20.
The baseball team won the Group I state championship in 1974, defeating Gloucester City Junior-Senior High School in the final of the tournament.
In 2003, the baseball team took the North II, Group I state title with a 10–7 win over New Providence High School in the tournament's final game.
The softball team has won the Group I state championship in 1977 and 1979, 2015, 2017. In 1979, the softball team went undefeated, and finished the year ranked #1 in the state. In 2004, the softball team defeated Midland Park High School 2–0, to win the North I, Group I championship. The 2006 softball team returned as sectional champion, edging Wallington High School 5–4 in the tournament final. The team won the Group I state title in 2017 against Metuchen High School behind a 13-strikeout perfect game by pitcher Mia Faieta in the final game of the tournament. The team advanced to the inaugural New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association softball Tournament of Champions as the sixth seed, defeating third-seeded Group II champion Robbinsville High School by a score of 2–1 in the first round before failing to the second-seeded eventual champion Immaculate Heart Academy by 3–0 in the semifinal game, on three runs allowed in the game's first inning.
The football team won the NJSIAA North II Group I state sectional championship in 1978, 1983, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2011. The football team won the 2004 North II Group I state sectional championship with head coach Ed Sadloch by defeating Hoboken High School 6–0 in the tournament final. In 2007, the team defeated Belvidere High School 17–0 to win the North II, Group I state sectional championship in a game played at Rutgers Stadium. The win was the team's fifth sectional title, all of which have come without giving up a point, including shutouts in 1983, 2000 and 2004, and the team was declared champion in 1978 as the only team eligible for the playoffs in its section. In 2009, the football team beat Secaucus High School by a score of 30–14 at Giants Stadium to win the North II Group I state sectional title for the fourth time in the decade.
The wrestling team won the Central Jersey Group III title in 1990 and the North II Group I title in both 2016 and 2017. In 2016 and 2017, the wrestling team upset heavily favored Bound Brook High School in consecutive years to win the North II Group I sectional title.
In 2007, Cedar Grove sophomore Matthew Giacobbe won the state sectional championship in the 3200m run in North I Group I.
The boys' basketball team won the 2008 North I, Group I state sectional title with a 43–34 win over Verona High School. The victory was the team's first sectional title in over three decades.
In 2009, Cedar Grove senior Nick Miller won the Group I state championship in golf and placed top 5 in the Tournament of Champions.
The cheerleading team won the NJCDCA Group I state championship title in 2017.

Administration

The school's principal is Richard Mangili. His administration team includes the vice principal.

Notable alumni