West Morris Central High School


West Morris Central High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Washington Township, Morris County, New Jersey, United States, where the school is located, operating as part of the West Morris Regional High School District. The school has a Chester Township mailing address. Other communities served by the district are Chester Borough, Chester Township, Mendham Borough and Mendham Township, whose students attend West Morris Mendham High School.
As of the 2017-18 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,239 students and 95.8 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 12.9:1. There were 13 students eligible for free lunch and none eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
The school is overseen by the New Jersey Department of Education and has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. The school has offered the IB Diploma Programme, as part of the International Baccalaureate Organization, since January 1998 and along with its sister school, West Morris Mendham, is one of two public high schools in New Jersey to offer both the IB Diploma and Career Programs.

Awards, recognition and rankings

West Morris Central was the 14th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2018 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology. The school had been ranked 56th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 43rd in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 42nd in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 41st in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state.
Schooldigger.com ranked the school 92nd 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.
In 2017, the Washington Post ranked West Morris Central High School as the third most challenging public, non-charter high school in New Jersey behind West Morris Mendham HS and Princeton HS. West Morris Central High School was also ranked 328th in the entire nation in the list of most challenging high schools.
In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 535th in the nation among participating public high schools and 43rd among schools in New Jersey. The school was ranked 226th in the nation and 20th in New Jersey on the list of "America's Best High Schools 2012" prepared by The Daily Beast / Newsweek, with rankings based primarily on graduation rate, matriculation rate for college and number of Advanced Placement / International Baccalaureate courses taken per student, with lesser factors based on average scores on the SAT / ACT, average AP/IB scores and the number of AP/IB courses available to students.
West Morris Central High School History Teacher, Rosanne Lichatin, was named the 2005 Preserve America History Teacher of the Year, and was recognized with the honor by First Lady Laura Bush.

Athletics

The West Morris Central High School Highlanders or Wolf Pack compete in the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference, an athletic conference made up of high schools located in Morris County, Sussex and Warren counties, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Prior to the NJSIAA's 2009 realignment, the school had been a member of the Iron Hills Conference.
School colors are Columbia blue, navy blue and gray. Interscholastic athletic teams at West Morris Central include baseball, basketball, cross country, fencing, field hockey, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field spring, track and field winter, volleyball and wrestling.
While the original school mascot was the Highlander, many West Morris Central teams have taken on the name Wolfpack, though some teams still call themselves the Highlanders out of respect for school tradition.
The boys' tennis team won the Group III state championship in 1990, defeating Ramapo High School in the tournament final.
The boys' soccer team won the 2000 Group III state championship after playing Ocean City High School to a 0-0 tie in the title game.
The football team won the North II Group III state sectional championships in 2001, 2004, 2009, and 2012. The 2001 football team won the North II, Group III state championship against West Morris Mendham High School by a score of 15-14. The 2004 football team won the North II, Group III state championship against West Morris Mendham High School by a score of 10-7. The 2009 football team won the North II, Group III state championship against Passaic Valley High School by a score of 28-19.
The girls' lacrosse team won the 2001 North A championship, defeating Bridgewater-Raritan High School 8-7 in the tournament final.
The 2002 girls' softball team won the North II, Group III sectional state championship, edging Cranford High School by a score of 1-0. The team won the North II Group III sectional title in 2013 with a 5-4 win in the tournament final against West Morris Mendham High School.
The boys' wrestling team won its first ever Iron Hills-Iron title in 2006. The Wolfpack wrestlers were considered as high as number two in the Daily Record area, and was voted a top ten team in Region 1 of NJSIAA wrestling. The team was led under the guidance of Ken Rossi who was a two-time state finalist for Jefferson High School.
The boys' lacrosse team won the Group II state championship in 2007 with an 8-7 win against Ramapo High School in the tournament final.
The 2008-09 girls' basketball team won the Morris County Tournament by advancing to the finals and defeating top-seeded Hanover Park High School by a score of 42-32 for the championship, winning the county title for the third time in program history, having most recently won in 1993.
The women's volleyball team has won the Group III state championship in 2009, 2002 and 2018. The 2009 team won the Group III state championship against Northern Highlands High School, for the program's first group title in school history, in a season in which they also won the Morris County Tournament and were American Division champions in the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference. The 2018 team won the Group III title, defeating Old Tappan in two sets—25-18 and 25-20—in the tournament's final match; Old Tappan had won the Group III title the three previous years. The Lady Highlanders have won the most County Championships in Morris County, including four consecutive MCT titles from 2000 to 2003, and won 13 of the 19 titles through 2018.
The field hockey team won the North I Group III state sectional championship in 2010 and 2012.
The girl's soccer team has won the state sectional in 2011, 2013 and 2015. The team won the North II Group III state sectional championship with a 1-0 win against Somerville High School in the final game of the tournament.

Activities

The clubs at West Morris Central include: A Capella Singing Groups, Academy of Science, Anti-Bullying Club, Archery Club, Art/Photography Club, Band Front, Book Talk Group, Bowling Club, Boy's Volleyball Club, Chess Club, Chinese Club, Choral Club, Debate Club, Diversity Club, Fall Cheerleader, Fashion Design Club, FBLA, Film Club, Future Educators, Highlanders for Humanity, International/Cultural Arts Club, Intramurals, Literary Magazine, Marching Band, Math League, National History Club, National Honor Society, Newspaper, Reach, Relay for Life, School Store, Science League, Service Learning Club, Ski Club, Sound/Lighting, Stage Craft, STARS, Student Council, Technology Club, Unified Sports Club, World Language Honor Society, Yearbook, Fishing Club, Gardening Club, Investment Club, Jam Club, Self-Defense Red Cross, Spike Ball Club and Kick Boxing.
West Morris Central has three student-run a cappella groups, the Noteworthies, the Loreleis, and the Howlers. The Noteworthies are an all-male singing group established some time between the 1970s and 1980s. Not long after came The Loreleis, an all-female singing group. The Howlers are the mixed male and female singing group. During the school year, the groups perform in various local placesand in June, they host their own Cabaret in which they sing all of the music they have rehearsed and taught themselves in the second semester of the school year. The students sometimes create their own arrangements to be performed at Cabaret.
West Morris participates in the National Honor Society, as well as the French National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society and Chinese National Honor Society.
WMCHS is also home to Central Theatre, West Morris' theatre troupe. They produce four shows each year: one in the fall, one in the spring, and two during the summer.

Notable alumni