Newark Early College High School, which prepares students in grades 7-12 to complete up to 60 college-level credits during their high school career As of the 2015-16 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 469 students and 41.0 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 11.4:1.
Newark Vocational High School prepares students in grades 9-12 for college and career options. As of the 2015-16 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 312 students and 29.0 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 10.8:1.
History
West Side High School opened on September 14, 1925, in a building designed to provide students with classrooms, an auditorium, gyms, and other facilities, serving 520 boys and 809 girls.
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 326th-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 268th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 319th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 313th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 313th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. The school has twice received gifts of $50,000 from Ellen DeGeneres. It also received a gift of $500,000 from Oprah Winfrey.
Athletics
The West Side High School Roughriders compete in the Super Essex Conference, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. With 675 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 the 2009 realignment, the team had been in the Skyline Division of the Northern Hills Conference. The boys' cross country team won the Group IV state championship in 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953 and 1954. The boys' track team won the Group III indoor relay state championship in 1988. The girls' basketball team won the Group III state championship in 1993, defeating Egg Harbor Township High School in the tournament final. The football team won the 2007 North II Group III state sectional championship with a 20-0 win against South Plainfield High School in a game played at Giants Stadium, earning the team its first ever sectional title. Since 2009, the football team plays their home games at Untermann Field, which is shared with other public school in Newark, following the closure and demolition of Newark Schools Stadium.
