Hawthorne High School (New Jersey)


Hawthorne High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Hawthorne, in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Hawthorne Public Schools.
As of the 2018–19 school year, the school had an enrollment of 688 students and 54.0 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 12.7:1. There were 137 students eligible for free lunch and 28 eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "DE". District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 218th-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 234th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 171st in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 148th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 157th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. The school briefly held the Guinness World Record for most people popping bubble wrap during 2013 and was the first to hold the record before it was surpassed the following year.

Curriculum

Starting in the 2013-14 school year, Hawthorne High School will be switching to a modified rotating drop schedule, making more opportunities for new classes. The school will offer 19 honor classes along with 12 Advanced Placement classes and 25 new electives. For the 2017–18 school year, the high school added a second lunch to their drop schedule. The 2018–19 school year will see an addition of another AP course, AP Computer Science.

Athletics

The Hawthorne High School Bears compete in the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference, made up of private and public high schools located in Bergen County, Hudson County and Passaic County, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. With 495 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as North I, Group II for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 495 to 761 students in that grade range. Prior to realignment that took effect in the fall of 2010, Hawthorne was a member of the smaller Bergen-Passaic Scholastic League.
The boys' cross country team won the Group II state championship in 1973.
The football team won the North I Group II state sectional championship in 1974, 1975 and 1978.
The field hockey team won the North I Group II state sectional championship in 1976.
The wrestling team won the North I Group I state sectional title in 1994.
The girls' volleyball team won the Group II state championship in 2001 with a 31–0 record, defeating Union Catholic Regional High School in the tournament final. They also captured the Passaic County championship in that same season.
Interscholastic sports offered include:
;Fall
Winter:
Spring:
As of 2019 the band director for the Hawthorne High School Marching band is Keith Williams. There are approximately 60 students, grades 8 through 12 involved with the marching band. The 2019 season's theme is "Beautiful Nightmare”.

Notable alumni