Washington Township High School (New Jersey)


Washington Township High School is a four-year public high school located in Washington Township, in Gloucester County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone secondary school of the Washington Township Public School District. It is one of the largest public high schools in South Jersey. The school building itself is just over a quarter of a mile long. It is located at 509, 519 and 529 Hurffville-Cross Keys Road.
As of the 2018–19 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,233 students and 177.0 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 12.6:1. There were 296 students eligible for free lunch and 62 eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
Washington Township High School is the home of the Investors Bank Performing Arts Center, known until 2015 as the TD Bank Arts Centre, which is a 2,500-seat performing arts center located at the center of the school. Most of the school's concerts and events are held there, and many notables have performed in this center, including the Barenaked Ladies, Tony Bennett, Wayne Brady, George Carlin, David Copperfield, Bill Cosby, BB King, Barry Manilow, Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers, Jessica Simpson, Lewis Black, and "Weird Al" Yankovic.

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 149th-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 165th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 175th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 149th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 150th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.

History

11-12 Wing

Construction on what is now the 11-12 wing of the high school began in 1962. WTHS opened in September 1963, serving grades 6-9 while parts of the building were still under construction. Each successive year, all of the grades incremented by 1 In 1966 the first High School Class of WTHS graduated. In the early 1970s, the school became overcrowded. In the fall of 1968, the 7th grade was sent to the new Birches Elementary School, occupying 1/2 of that facility. For the 1969/70 school year, the 7th grade returned to WTHS which operated an AM and PM session, staggered over 4 lunch periods. The 9th through 12th grades taking the morning session and the 7th and 8th grades, the afternoon. In the 1970-71 school year, the 7th grade was sent to Wedgewood Middle School and WTHS operated a traditional single session. In the 1971-1972 school year, the 7th and 8th were sent to Wedgewood Middle School and the school operated split sessions with grades 11-12 attending from 7:30 AM to noon and grades 9-10 attending 12:30 PM to 5:00 PM. For 1972-73 it was back to split sessions in the high school with grades 10-12 taking the morning shift. As a result, a two-story addition was opened in September 1973 to the right side of the building, as well as an additional gym and a new library. The school continued to serve students in grade 7-12 until the 1979-1980 school year. As a result of this overcrowding and moving of grades, the Class of 1975 was the youngest class as 7th graders, then again the youngest class as 8th graders, then again the youngest class as 9th graders, and finally, with split sessions, the youngest class in their session, as 10th graders.

9-10 Wing

In the late 1970s, construction on what would be the township's first middle school began. In September 1980, WTMS opened, serving 7th and 8th graders. Because of its location right next to WTHS, the two schools would often share facilities.
Despite a new rather large school to house 7th and 8th graders, and more room in the high school, the township was exploding in population at the time, and both WTHS and WTMS were overcrowded only a few years after the middle school opened. In the mid-1980s, planning for yet another new middle school was underway. This time, however, because WT's elementary schools also faced overcrowding, the school district went ahead and built two schools, which would enroll grades 6 through 8, thus relieving all the elementary schools in the district from 6th graders. In fall of 1989, Chestnut Ridge Middle School and Orchard Valley Middle School opened for grades 6-8. The former WTMS became part of the high school complex, renamed as the 9/10 Building, while the original HS was also renamed as the 11/12 Building.
The transition wasn't smooth, however. Both CRMS and OVMS weren't finished in time for the new school year. As a result, the newly formed WTHS complex started its first month with split sessions. High school students would have class starting early in the day, while all middle school students would have class in the late afternoon/early evening. During this time period, the high school students also had to share their lockers with the temp middle school students.
The 9/10 building has H-Hall, I-Pod, J-Hall, K-Pod, and L-Pod. The "Pods" are large hallways with bathrooms in the center. The classrooms are arranged around the pods like a courtyard. There were lockers in the center of each pod, but they have since been removed due to the addition of the lockers in the core.
I-Pod: Originally called "A-Pod" before the 9/10 building was connected to the 11/12 building. The flooring is Red in the classrooms. The Student Assistance office and speech therapists are located here.
K-Pod: Originally called "C-Pod" before the 9/10 building was connected to the 11/12 building. The flooring is Yellow in the classrooms. The math and science department office is here.
L-Pod: Originally called "C-Pod" before the 9/10 building was connected to the 11/12 building. The flooring is Green in the classrooms. The 9/10 executive principals office is here.
H-Hall: Originally called "D-Hall" before the 9/10 building was connected to the 11/12 building. The bathrooms, main office, principals offices, restriction room, and wood shops are here. The 9/10 Gym is also here. The old 9/10 cafeteria was converted to the "Auxiliary Gym". The new cafeterias are in the core.
J-Hall: Originally called "E-Hall" before the 9/10 building was connected to the 11/12 building. The adaptive gym, orchestra room and nurses office is downstairs. Upstairs are classrooms. The original library was here until the core expansion. The old library was converted to the 9/10 adaptive gym.

Core building

Washington Township's population continued to grow, therefore, they needed to expand the high school yet again. Under a $50 million district wide improvement program, a third building was to be built on the site between the 11/12 and 9/10 buildings. The Core building would physically connect the two existing buildings and would include a 2500-seat auditorium, administrative and guidance offices, a new Media Center, new cafeteria and more classrooms.
Construction on the core building began in the summer of 1996. Parts of the building opened in 1998, and some classes were moved immediately from both the 11/12 and 9/10 buildings.

The new WTHS

The entire building was completed before the 1998-1999 school year. WTHS was now one building for the first time since the 1988-1989 school year. The three parts of the building were renamed the 11/12 wing, core, and 9/10 wing, and hallways were renamed to integrate the building. Because the new building featured a new library, a united guidance office, and cafeteria for the 9/10 wing, the old libraries and guidance offices in each of the wings as well as the old 9/10 cafeteria were able to be renovated for other uses.

Athletics

The Washington Township High School Minutemen/Minutemaids compete in the Olympic Conference, which consists of public and private high schools located in Burlington County, Camden County, and Gloucester County, and operates under the aegis of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. With 1,779 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as South Jersey, Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,082 to 1,934 students in that grade range. The football team competes in the American Division of the 95-team West Jersey Football League superconference and was classified by the NJSIAA as South Jersey Group IV for football for 2017-18.
The WTHS Sports Hall of Fame was founded in 1992 to honor outstanding WTHS athletes as well as residents of the township who have achieved success in athletics.
Athletic accomplishments include:
Washington Township is home to the NJ-932nd Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps, which includes five curricular course offerings in aerospace science. The NJ-932 has a drill team and color guard open to all cadets in the NJ-932.

Music program

The Washington Township High School Orchestra is under the direction of Ian Hoblitzell. On April 22, 2011, the Orchestra participated and played at Carnegie Hall in the National Invitational Band and Orchestra Festival.
The Washington Township High School Wind Ensemble has been participating at the New Jersey State Gala at Rutgers University.

Marching Band

The Washington Township High School Minutemen Marching Band is a regionally and nationally recognized band. Under the direction of James Beyer, the band grew to over 225 members in 1997, the same year they achieved a 94.40 at the ACC Championships, a school record that still stands today. Later that season they participated in the 1998 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California and became the first band to be decorated in 5,000 live flowers and seeds, creating the first ever "Marching Musical Float". Designed by Todd Marcocci, this unique concept and design approach received tremendous support from all major media around the world. The band has also participated in the 1995 and 1997 Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade, invited to play for Governors Kean and Florio and President Reagan, the 2004 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida, the 2005 Holiday Bowl in San Diego, California and the 2008 Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida. Since its inception in 1973, the band has placed in the top 10 at the Tournament of Bands Atlantic Coast Championships 16 times, and was Chapter One Champions for 16 straight years from 1985 to 2000, winning the Group 3 title from 1985 to 1987 and the Group 4 titles the subsequent 13 years.
In recent years the band has undergone many changes, including becoming a separate ensemble and a director change, Casey Corigliano in 2003. In 2004, the Minutemen band became the first South Jersey band to compete in a Bands of America Regional at Rutgers University, part of the nation's top marching circuit. The show was titled "The Odyssey". The band competes in class IV-A of the United States Scholastic Band Association. The Minutemen host a home show every year titled Preview of Champions.
In the 2009-10 school year, the Minutemen band was named the 2009 USSBA Northern States Group 3A Champion. This was the band's first championship of any kind since the 16-year Chapter Championship streak was broken in 2001. The band was also named the 2010 Cotton Bowl Music Festival Grand Champion while participating in the Cotton Bowl Classic festivities in Dallas, Texas. By being named grand champion, the band had the honor of playing their show "Journey of Man" during pre-game in front of 78,000 fans. The WTHS Drumline also received first place and won the honor to play their cadence to bring all of the bands onto the field for the mass half time show at the 2010 Cotton Bowl.
Other recent bowl games include the 2012 BCS National Championship Game in New Orleans and the 2013 Alamo Bowl in San Antonio. The Minutemen placed 2nd place in field competition and parade competition. They also received the 2013 Alamo Bowl Spirit Award. This award is presented to the school who best embodies the definition of sportsmanship by positively representing their school and showing an overall enthusiasm for music and performance at the Alamo Bowl.
The Minutemen participated in the 2016 Liberty Bowl. They placed 1st in Class AA in Field Show competition capturing best marching, percussion, effect, and colorguard. They were also named the 2016 Liberty Bowl Grand Champion. They achieved this from getting the highest score in field and parade competitions. Their field show was titled "Into Darkness" featuring the music of Hector Berlioz Symphonie Fantasique.
In 2017, Calvin Spencer became band director. Under his direction, the band won numerous first place Tournament of Bands regional competitions, second place at TOB States and Atlantic Coast Championships, and first at Tournament of Bands Region 1 Group 4A. The band traveled to New Orleans for the 2018 Sugar Bowl. They placed 2nd in Class AA in Field Show. Their field show was titled "Yuletide Fantasy" an original composition by Calvin Spencer featuring Christmas music.

Administration

The school's executive principal is Jonathan A. Strout. His core administration team includes two executive assistant principals and five assistant principals.

Notable alumni