Voorhees High School


Voorhees High School is a four-year public high school located in Lebanon Township, New Jersey, named for Foster McGowan Voorhees, the 30th Governor of New Jersey. It is one of two high schools in the North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from six municipalities in northern Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools since 1977.
Students come from the sending districts of Califon, Glen Gardner, Hampton Borough, High Bridge, Lebanon Township and Tewksbury.
As of the 2018–19 school year, the school had an enrollment of 982 students and 83.1 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 11.8:1. There were 31 students eligible for free lunch and 9 eligible for reduced-cost lunch.

Awards, recognition and rankings

In 2015, Voorhees High School was one of 15 schools in New Jersey, and one of nine public schools, recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School in the exemplary high performing category by the United States Department of Education.
In its listing of "America's Best High Schools 2016", the school was ranked 233rd out of 500 best high schools in the country; it was ranked 38th among all high schools in New Jersey and 21st among the state's non-magnet schools.
In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 24th in New Jersey and 830th nationwide. In Newsweek's May 22, 2007, issue, ranking the country's top high schools, Voorhees High School was listed in 1118th place, the 36th-highest ranked school in New Jersey.
The school was the 43rd-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 48th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 59th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 41st in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 30th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state.
Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 83rd 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.
The school was the Consumer Bowl 2006 and 2007 state champion, a program that evaluates the skills of students as informed consumers.

Athletics

Voorhees High School Vikings compete in the Skyland Conference, which is composed of public and parochial high schools in Hunterdon County, Somerset County and Warren County in west central New Jersey. The conference operates under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. With 778 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015–16 school year as North II, Group III for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 778 to 1,062 students in that grade range.
Voorhees approved a plan in 2010 for construction of an $850,000 artificial turf field to be mainly be used for football. Voorhees' football team was unable to use its grass field between 2008 and 2009 when glass shards and other debris was found in the turf.
The wrestling team won the Central Jersey Group II state sectional championship in 1980–1982, 1995, 1996 and 1998; the Central Jersey Group III title in 1983, 1985-1989 and 1991; and the North Jersey II Group II title in 2004 and 2013. The team won the state Group II title in 1982 and 1995, and the Group III title in 1985 and 1987. The program's 15 sectional titles are the seventh-most of any public high school in the state.
The boys' cross country team won the Group II state championship in 1981-1983 and 2000.
The baseball team won the Group III state championship in 1984, defeating Ramsey High School in the tournament final. The team won the 1998 Central Jersey Group II state sectional championship, defeating Raritan High School by a score of 1–0 in the first round and Manasquan High School by 4–1 in the semifinals, before defeating Carteret High School 8–2 in the tournament final. They lost 1–0 to a nationally ranked Audubon High School team in extra innings on a controversial call at the plate to end their playoff run in the Group II championship.
The field hockey team won the Central Jersey Group II state sectional championship in 1993 and 1996, and won the North II Group II title in 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2006.
Voorhees High School's football team competes in an annual Milk Can Game against rival North Hunterdon High School. After the conclusion of the game, a golden milk can is awarded to the winner, which earns bragging rights and ownership of the can until the next year's game. The 36th annual Milk Can Game was played in November 2011, with Voorhees winning at home by a score of 13-7 to end a five-year streak by North Hunterdon. With a 14–7 win in 2018, North Hunterdon has won seven consecutive games in the series and holds an overall record of 30–12–1 in the 43 Milk Can games played between the two schools. The 1995 Voorhees football team won the Central Jersey Group II state championship.
The girls' track team won the Group II indoor relay championship in 2001.
The field hockey team won the 2002 North II, Group II sectional championship, edging Madison High School 3–2 in the final game. The 2006 team won the North II, Group III tournament with a 1–0 win over Ocean Township High School.
The girls' basketball team won the 2000 Central, Group II title over Delaware Valley Regional High School, 62–42.
The boys fencing team has won three state titles, most recently in 2005 when they defeated Ramapo High School 14–13 in the tournament final. The girls' fencing team has won one state title, in 1996.
The boys cross country team won the 2015 NJSIAA Group II state championship, the team's first state title since 1983.

Notable alumni