Lenape Regional High School District


The Lenape Regional High School District is a comprehensive regional public high school district that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from eight municipalities in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. The communities in the district are Evesham Township, Medford Lakes, Medford Township, Mount Laurel Township, Shamong Township, Southampton Township, Tabernacle Township and Woodland Township. The eight municipalities cover a combined area of which represents roughly one-third of the entire area of Burlington County, the largest county in New Jersey. Each of the eight communities served by the Lenape District has its own elementary school district. Each elementary school district is governed by its own nine-member board of education which oversees the school budget and the education of students in Kindergarten through eighth grade.
As of the 2017–18 school year, the district, comprising four schools, had an enrollment of 6,851 students and 584.0 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 11.7:1.
The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "GH", the third-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 schools

When the public school students in each of the sending districts graduate from eighth grade, they are sent to one of the four high schools that fall under the jurisdiction of the Lenape Regional High School District. Schools in the district are:
;High schools
;Alternative program
Two non-profit foundations support the Lenape District, raising funds to support scholarships for students, facilities improvements and a 1,500-seat regional performing arts center, which is home to the Cherokee's theater program.

History

The Lenape District was created as the result of a 1955 referendum. A property in Medford Township was purchased in 1957 as the site for Lenape High School, which opened in the 1958-59 school year with 548 students in 9th and 10th grades only. By the 1961-62 school year, Lenape was on double sessions with approximately 1,500 students. In July 1961, an addition to the original building was started, with a second addition dedicated on January 17, 1965.
A 1967 referendum led to development of Shawnee High School, which opened in the southeastern end of Medford Township for the 1971-72 school year, while Cherokee High School opened in Evesham Township for the 1975-76 school year. Seneca High School opened in 2003, after district voters approved a referendum in 1997 to accommodate district enrollment nearing 7,000.

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:
The district's board of education, with 11 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 either three or four seats up for election each year held as part of the November general election. Each of the eight constituent municipalities has at least one seat on the board, with two seats allocated to the three most populous constituent municipalities -- Evesham, Medford and Mount Laurel -- and the five other municipalities each assigned one seat.