Hunterdon Central Regional High School


Hunterdon Central Regional High School is a comprehensive, four-year public high school, and regional school district that serves students from five municipalities in east central Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. Students hail from Delaware Township, East Amwell Township, Flemington, Raritan Township and Readington Township.
As of the 2018–19 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,844 students and 238.8 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 11.9:1. There were 215 students eligible for free lunch and 59 eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "I", the second-highest of eight groupings. 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.

District and school history

The Hunterdon Central Regional High School School District was created by referendum on April 4, 1954, and the high school opened in the former Route 69 Elementary School in September, 1956. There were a few impetuses that lead to the creation of the district. Before 1956, public school students of the school districts of Delaware, East Amwell and Readington Townships were sent to Flemington High School as tuition students, but these districts had no voice on the Flemington-Raritan Board of Education, which administered the school. Additionally, Flemington High's facilities could no longer support the growing student population, nor could its plant support the offering of a more broad-based curriculum that was becoming standard among American high schools in the post-WWII era. A statute passed by the New Jersey Legislature in 1931 permitted two or more municipalities to create regionalized school districts so that all member municipalities had representation and authority as members of a regional board of education, as well as the benefit of being able to pool tax resources and share the cost of running a school district.
When the new HCRHS Board of Education purchased the Route 69 elementary school, its facilities were expanded to accommodate 1,000 students with the passage of a bond act in December 1954. The Board selected Robert Shoff to be the district's first superintendent. When the school opened in 1956 most of the program and faculty from the former Flemington High School was transported to the new school and district.
Throughout the 1960s, HCRHS expanded its curriculum to offer vocational training, work force and college education. The new facilities allowed for a more varied curriculum including an expanded world languages program, agricultural education programs, a music and performing arts program and continuing expansion of the Red Devils athletic program. Additionally, the physical plant was expanded in 1962 and then again in a massive expansion begun in 1969. By 1970 the campus consisted of the 9/10 building, the 11/12 building, a separate Instructional Media Center, a fieldhouse and separate fine arts building. Connecting all of these buildings to one another was a covered walkway to shield students from the elements when passing from class to class.
In 1974, radio station WCVH-FM 90.5 began broadcasting from the campus of Hunterdon Central, and it was the first NJ radio station to be part of the National Public Radio network. Today WCVH still features student programming as well as programs of local interest.
Since 1987 Hunterdon Central has had the word "Regional" as an official part of its name. Prior to that it was known as Hunterdon Central High School. Other plant renovations occurred in the 1980s, and in 1984 lights were installed on the football field.
In the 1990s Hunterdon Central embarked upon massive upgrades to the facility and infrastructure. Former superintendent Raymond Farley committed the district to embracing educational technology, and to this day the high school is known for embracing the use of technology as a tool of learning and education. In the late 1990s the 11/12 building was expanded with the addition of 34 classrooms and the Commons. Elevators were also added to the 9/10 campus as the result of a lawsuit filed against the district by student who used a wheelchair and was unable to navigate all parts of that campus. In this decade WCVH moved to its present location in the newly renovated and expanded Communications Building, and HCTV, Hunterdon Central's own cable television station, began broadcasting.
The 2000s saw the most recent expansion of the Hunterdon Central facilities with the addition of 23 new classrooms, a gymnasium and the complete renovation of all 47 classrooms in the 9/10 building. Air conditioning was also installed in the 9/10 building and athletic fields received upgrades. HCRHS also began random drug testing of students participating in athletics, co-curricular activities, extra-curricular activities and parking on campus. This was in response to indications that there was a dangerous level of drug use among students at HCRHS, including more than 30% who had indicated in surveys that they had used drugs in the previous year and 27 students who had tested positive after undergoing drug tests that had been performed based on reasonable suspicion that the students had been using drugs. Through this program the district attempts to get help and assistance to students who test positive for illegal drugs, as well as to further its commitment to anti-drug education. Some students and parent accepted the testing as a reasonable way to deter students from using drugs and participating in unhealthy lifestyles. The policy was challenged by members of the community and students who believed that it was unjustified and invaded student privacy, eventually taking the case to the Supreme Court of New Jersey. In Joye, et al. v Hunterdon Central HCRHS was found not to be in violation of a student's right to be free from search and seizure, but the court did not comment on the merits of the random drug testing policy. All HCRHS students wishing to participate in any of these activities, or to park on campus, must submit their names to the random drug testing pool. Other schools in the state and region have adopted policies similar to Hunterdon Central's.
Technology plays an important role in instruction at Hunterdon Central and its use in the classroom continues to grow. Teachers are required to use services such as Moodle, Wikispaces or Google Sites to maintain resources and materials for the courses that they teach. In March 2012 the district fully opened its bring your own device program to students, faculty and staff. In the Spring of 2013 work was completed on a second pedestrian bridge over the creek that separates the 11/12 campus from the rest of the buildings at Hunterdon Central. This was a welcome addition to the school as the existing pedestrian bridge often became bottle necked during passing times.
In December 2015, Sireen Hashem, a former history teacher at Hunterdon Central, made international news when she filed a lawsuit against her former employer alleging that the school discriminated against her as a Muslim American and American of Palestinian descent. In part, the suit alleges that Hashen was fired in April 2015 after the school received complaints from a "local rabbi and several parents" that Hashen had shown her class a video on the subject of Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, a video a non-Muslim colleague had allegedly shown a different class without incident.

Awards, recognition and rankings

For the 1997–98 school year, Hunterdon Central Regional High School was recognized with the National Blue Ribbon Award of Excellence from the United States Department of Education, the highest honor that an American school can achieve, is awarded for excellence in instructional delivery and educational environment. In 2002, Hunterdon Central was awarded the Blue Ribbon School award for the second time, one of a limited number of schools across the state to be recognized on two separate occasions.
The school was the first in the State of New Jersey to be designated as a Star School by the New Jersey Department of Education, the highest honor that a New Jersey school can achieve, and has been recognized with this award three times, in 1993–94, 1994–95, and 1997–98.
The school was the 44th-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 84th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 85th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 62nd in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 57th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school 81st out of 376 public high schools statewide in its 2010 rankings which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the language arts literacy and mathematics components of the High School Proficiency Assessment.
For the 2005–06 school year, the district was recognized with the "Best Practices Award" by the New Jersey Department of Education for its "Books Breaking Barriers: The ESL Literature Circle" World Languages program at Hunterdon Central Regional High School.
In a February 2004 radio address, President George W. Bush credited random drug testing at Hunterdon Central as resulting in significant cuts in drug use and quoted the school's principal as saying that the school now had "a tool that was making a large difference", cutting drug use by students in half in the three years since the random selection and testing plan had been implemented. On December 11, 2007, President Bush thanked Hunterdon Central for "feeling as passionate as we do and working as hard as we do" at a meeting with Principal Christine Steffner and Superintendent Lisa Brady at the White House as part of a round table discussion with other individuals who have been active in programs that cut drug use by teens.
In 2011, the FIRST Robotics FRC Team 3637 was awarded the Rookie Inspiration Award and in 2012 made it to the MAR Regional Championships.

School facilities

Hunterdon Central has a campus that consists of two large classroom buildings, a centrally located library called the Instructional Media Center, a Music building, a Communications Building and a Field House which can accommodate 2000 people. Its Auditorium can hold 900 people and its Little Theatre can seat 280. Its athletic facilities consist of the Stewart Athletic Complex in addition to other playing fields, and tennis courts, throughout the campus.

Administration

District and school administration members include:
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The district's board of education, with nine members, sets policy and oversees the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration. As a Type II school district, the board's trustees are elected directly by voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with three seats up for election each year held as part of the November general election. Seats on the board of education are allocated based in the population of the five constituent municipalities who participate in the school district, with three members elected from both Raritan and Readington Townships, and one each from Delaware Township, East Amwell Township and the Borough of Flemington. All Board of Education Members serve as volunteers.
Members of the 2019-20 Board of Education are President Vincent Panico, Vice President Lori Blutfield, Michael Dendis, Lisa Hughes, Roseann Peluso Nguyen, Scott Nicol, Noelle O'Donnell and Robert Richard.

Staff

The faculty are divided among eight academic departments: English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, World Language, Business/Fine Arts/Music/Design Technology, Health and Physical Education & Family and Consumer Sciences, and Special Services.

Academics and curriculum

Hunterdon Central offers a broad curriculum that consists of the core required courses for graduation as legislated by the State of New Jersey. In addition it offers students electives in each academic department, including Advanced Placement and honors courses. The Program of Studies provides details on graduation requirements and individual course curriculum for students attending Hunterdon Central.

Extracurricular activities

Extracurricular activities at the high school include baseball, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' bowling, cheerleading, boys' and girls' cross country, boys' and girls' fencing, field hockey, football, boys' and girls' golf, gymnastics, boys' and girls' lacrosse, ice hockey, boys' and girls' soccer, softball, boys' and girls' swimming, boys' and girls' tennis, boys' and girls' track and winter track, boys' and girls' volleyball, color guard, and wrestling. Other activities offered include dramatics, student government, publications, service organizations, clubs, marching band and orchestra, an Air Force Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program, a chapter of the Junior Statesmen of America, a chapter of Amnesty International, a chapter of Future Business Leaders of America, choral programs, and a FIRST Robotics Competition Team.
The Marching Band, or Marching Red Devils have consistently placed very high in state, regional and all-state competitions. In their 2006 show, The Blueprint, were ranked 1st in the Central Jersey area, 3rd in the state, and 5th in the northeast. Between the 2006 and 2007 season the band made several performances in Florence, Italy, and Salzburg, Austria. The 2008 program took 2nd place at the USSBA NJ state championships. In prior years, the MRD have won two state titles, tied for first in the northeast.
The Marching Red Devils season continues through the winter, however, with indoor color guard and former percussion ensemble, known collectively as "MRDi". The Indoor Percussion Ensemble performed in the MAPS circuit until their last season in the beginning of 2016. Their season ran from early November to late April. The Indoor colorguard, formed recently in the late 2000s, has competed in the NJA, USBands, and MAIN circuits. The Junior Varsity team claimed the championship title in the Scholastic Novice class in 2016, and also in 2017 with an undefeated season. Their season also runs from November to April.
The school's radio station, 90.5 FM WCVH, features current country music. The call letters stand for "Community Voice of Hunterdon ". The signal can be heard throughout most of Hunterdon County and portions of Somerset, Mercer, Warren, and Morris Counties in New Jersey and Bucks County in Pennsylvania. WCVH is the only FM station licensed to Flemington, and one of only two FM stations in the county.
Students have the option to take a series of theater classes, Exploring Theater is for the theater novice who hasn't done much in the field and is interested. Theater Studies is for the student who has had experience in all aspects of theater. After Theater Studies, students can take Advanced Theater and then Honors Theater, which grow more rigorous in that order.
In addition to the classes, there are two plays. The 9/10 Play, which takes place in November, and the 11/12 play, which takes place in January. In the 2014–15 school year, Hunterdon Central performed You Can't Take It with You as the 9/10 play, and The House of Blue Leaves as the 11/12 Play. The plays take place in the Little Theater located in the 11/12 Building. In addition to the plays there is the school's annual musical. The school performed in March 2015, Crazy for You. The musical is performed in the auditorium in the 9/10 building, near the main entrance. There is also the children's play which is rehearsed in the spring and is performed for the children of the sending district elementary schools.
Hunterdon Central Regional High School's crew program allows students to work backstage, building sets, making scenery changes, managing costumes and props. Hunterdon Central has an International Thespian Society Troupe 3035, which meets once every month and is active in the theater community, attending competitions and managing concessions at shows.

Athletics

Hunterdon Central Regional High School Red Devils compete in the Skyland Conference, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. With 2,226 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015–16 school year as Central Jersey, Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,082 to 2,349 students in that grade range.
The NJSIAA recognized the school as Group IV winner of the ShopRite Cup for 2010–11, awarded for first-place finishes in softball and boys' golf; second in boys' soccer, football, boys' lacrosse and girls' golf; third in girls' cross country, girls' volleyball and wrestling, and fourth in boys' fencing, plus bonus points for having no disqualifications for the fall and spring seasons.
The varsity cheerleading team has a long record of success, both within the state of New Jersey and at the national level. The team won 1st place in their division at the 2012 UCA National High School Championships, while the junior varsity ranked third in their division. The team taken the title of New Jersey Group IV State Champion in 09–10, 02–03, 00–01, and 98-99 and took 2nd Place nationally at UCA National High School Finals in 2003 and 2011. The cheerleading team won the NJCDCA Group IV state championship title in 2017.
The football team won the Group IV state sectional championships in 1979, 1998–99 and 2006, and repeated in 2007 in North II Group IV and in 2013 in Central Jersey Group V. In 1998, the football team won the Central Group IV state sectional title with a 42–6 win over Piscataway Township High School in the tournament final at Giants Stadium. The team had earlier won state titles in 1974 and 1979. The team won the 2006 Central Group IV championship, beating Howell High School, 42–24, and was ranked #2 in Central New Jersey by the Courier News. The 2007 team won the North II, Group IV sectional title, defeating Piscataway High School 23–13 in a game played at Rutgers Stadium. The team won the Central Jersey Group V state sectional championship in 2013 against Manalapan High School by a score of 21–0.
The wrestling team won the Central Jersey Group IV state sectional title in 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2003, and won the North Jersey II Group IV title in 2010, 2011 and 2013. The team won the Group IV state title in 1989.
The baseball team won the Group IV state championship in 1987, 2008 and 2009.
The girls' field hockey team won the Central Jersey Group IV state sectional championship in 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, the team won the North II Group IV title in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2011 and 2013. The team won the Group IV state title in 1993, 1994, 1996. In 2007, the field hockey team won the North II, Group IV state sectional championship with a 2–1 win over Middletown High School North in the tournament final.
In 2010, the men's foil team captured the state squad title in fencing. They repeated as champions the following three years.
The girls' volleyball team has won the Group IV state championship three times, in 2002 over Westfield High School, in 2006 against East Brunswick High School and again in 2007 vs. North Hunterdon High School. In both 2006 and 2007, the team advanced to the finals of the Tournament of Champions, losing in 2006 to Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest in 2006 and to Immaculate Heart Academy in 2007.
The boys' lacrosse team has won the Group IV state championship in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, becoming the first public school to win four consecutive state titles. In 2006, number-three seed Hunterdon Central Regional High School defeated top-seed Montclair High School in the Group IV final, by a score of 10–9 in overtime. The team won its fourth straight title in 2008 with a 9–8 win against Bridgewater-Raritan High School in the tournament final, making a fourth-quarter comeback after being down by as many as four goals.

Notable alumni