Rutherford High School (New Jersey)


Rutherford High School is a comprehensive four-year public high school located in Rutherford, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Rutherford School District. The original structure was built in 1922 and expanded in 1938, 1957 and 2005. Rutherford High School is overseen by the New Jersey Department of Education and has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools since 1940.
As of the 2018–19 school year, the school had an enrollment of 762 students and 64.4 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 11.8:1. There were 10 students eligible for free lunch and 6 eligible for reduced-cost lunch.

Awards, recognition and rankings

During the 1999-2000 school year, the school was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive, which recognized the school's use of technology in the instruction process in which every classroom was wired for Internet access and a substantially higher than average level of access by students to computers.
The school was the 124th-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 71st in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 73rd in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 72nd in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 88th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 141st 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.

Curriculum and facilities

Rutherford High offers courses ranging from Honors classes to Advanced Placement classes for college credit. The elective classes are also offered, ranging from classes of technology, to those that are career-related as well. The school contains a television studio that is used for morning announcements in homeroom and sends out feeds for the local public access station. There is a newly expanded library with 23 computers and over 20,000 books. Two gyms house athletic programs and physical education classes. Located on the East Wing of the school features a half-size Olympic-style swimming pool currently leased by the YMCA of the Meadowlands. It is also used by the Rutherford Bulldogs Swim Team.

Student life

A typical day at Rutherford High starts at 7:55 AM when homeroom starts. School is in session five days a week. There are 8 blocks, consisting of 57 minutes classes that are on a rotating block schedule and one lunch period. Extra-curricular activities include an abundance of clubs, academic groups, and music programs.

Academic teams and extracurricular activities

Rutherford High School has a host of academic teams and non-athletic extracurricular activities.
Rutherford was the Academic Decathlon champion for the state of New Jersey, having represented New Jersey at the National Competition in Memphis, Tennessee in April 2009, and competed once again in Omaha in April 2010.
The theater arts program puts out two performances each school year; a play in November, and a musical in March.

Athletics

The Rutherford High School Bulldogs 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 548 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as North II, Group II for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 508 to 770 students in that grade range. Prior to realignment that took effect in the fall of 2010, Rutherford was a member of the Bergen County Scholastic League American Division.
Interscholastic sports that are offered by the Rutherford athletic program include:
The boys' cross country team won the overall public school state championship in 1926.
The boys' basketball team won the Group III state championship in 1940 and 1942, and won the Group II title in 1985.
The boys' track team won the Group I and II state indoor relay championship in 1969.
The baseball team won the Group II state title in 1992, 2004 and in 2005.
In 2007, the girls' soccer team, seeded #3, won the North II, Group II state sectional championship with a 5-4 win on penalty kicks over top-seeded Summit High School in the tournament final, the team's first title in this section.
In 2017, the football team finished the season with a 12-0 record and won its first championship in the playoff era, defeating sixth-seeded Hackettstown High School in the finals of the North II Group II state sectional tournament, in a game played at MetLife Stadium.

Administration

The school's principal is Frank Morano and the assistant principal is Nick DeBari.

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of Rutherford High School's include: