Hunterdon Central Regional High School

Infobox School
name = Hunterdon Central Regional High School
established = 1956
grades = 9 - 12
district = Hunterdon Central Regional High School District
type = Public high school
principal = Christina Steffner
enrollment = 2,814 (as of 2005-06)
faculty = 234.0 (on FTE basis)
ratio = 12.0
nickname = Red Devils
colors =
publication =
location = 84 Route 31
Flemington, NJ 08822
information = 908-782-5727
website = [http://www.hcrhs.k12.nj.us/ School website]

Hunterdon Central Regional High School is a comprehensive, regional, four-year public high school, and school district that serves students from five municipalities in east central Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. Students hail from Delaware Township, East Amwell Township, Flemington Borough, Raritan Township and Readington Township. [ [http://education.state.nj.us/rc/rc07/narrative/19/2300/19-2300-000.html Hunterdon Central Regional High School 2007 Report card Narrative] , New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed March 9, 2008. "Located in beautiful, historic Hunterdon County in central New Jersey, Hunterdon Central Regional High School serves the five municipalities of Delaware Township, East Amwell Township, Flemington Borough, Raritan Township, and Readington Township."]

As of the 2005-06 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,814 students and 234 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 12.0. [http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3407590&ID=340759003006 Hunterdon Central Regional High School] , National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed October 31, 2007.]

Awards and recognition

For the 1997-98 school year, Hunterdon Central Regional High School received the Blue Ribbon Award from the United States Department of Education, the highest honor that an American school can achieve, is awarded for excellence in instructional delivery and educational environment. In 2002, Hunterdon Central was awarded the Blue Ribbon School award for the second time, one of a limited number of schools across the state to be recognized on two separate occasions. [ [http://www.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/list-1982.pdf Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982-1983 through 1999-2002 (PDF)] , accessed May 11, 2006]

The school was the first in the State of New Jersey to be designated as a Star School by the New Jersey Department of Education, the highest honor that a New Jersey school can achieve, and has been recognized with this award three times, in 1993-94, [ [http://www.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/education/ss/ss3.pl?string=id=009&maxhits=10000 New Jersey Department of Education Star School Award recipient 1993-94] , accessed May 23, 2006] 1994-95, [ [http://www.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/education/ss/ss3.pl?string=id=010&maxhits=10000 New Jersey Department of Education Star School Award recipient 1994-95] , accessed May 23, 2006.] and 1997-98. [ [http://www.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/education/ss/ss3.pl?string=id=045&maxhits=10000 New Jersey Department of Education Star School Award recipient 1997-98] , accessed May 23, 2006.]

The school was the 62nd-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 314 schools statewide, in "New Jersey Monthly" magazine's September 2008 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools". The school was ranked 57th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state. [ [http://njmonthly.com/articles/towns_and_schools/highschoolrankings/top-new-jersey-high-schools-by-rank.html "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank"] , "New Jersey Monthly", September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.]

For the 2005-06 school year, the district was recognized with the "Best Practices Award" by the New Jersey Department of Education for its "Books Breaking Barriers: The ESL Literature Circle" World Languages program at Hunterdon Central Regional High School. [ [http://www.nj.gov/cgi-bin/education/oipp/bp3.pl?string=recid=0831&maxhits=10000 New Jersey Department of Education Best Practices Award recipient for 2005-06] , accessed October 23, 2006]

On December 11, 2007, Hunterdon Central was recognized by President George W. Bush for its anti-drug efforts during a meeting with Principal Christine Steffner and Superintendent Lisa Brady. President Bush thanked Hunterdon Central for "feeling as passionate as we do and working as hard as we do". [ [http://www.nj.com/news/hunterdon/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1197576385319200.xml&coll=12 Bush lauds Central anti-drug efforts - Hunterdon County Democrat] , accessed January 3, 2008]

Board of Education

The Hunterdon Central Regional Board of Education has nine members elected by registered voters in the five constituent municipalities who participate in the school district. Three members are elected from both Raritan and Readington Townships, and one each from Delaware Township, East Amwell Township and the Borough of Flemington. The board is responsible for making numerous policies and regulations. They are also given the task of perform the budget cuts if the budget, which they create, does not pass.

chool

The high school is situated on a 72 acre campus that includes a 9/10 Campus Building, an 11/12 Campus Building, a 2,000-seat fieldhouse, an Instructional Media Center, and a Communications/Music Building with a TV / radio studio and three practice halls. There are also numerous outdoor fields and extensive Project Adventure facilities.

The first construction since the addition of the lower campus (the 11/12 Building), the school went through extensive renovations starting in February 2005 to help cope with the increase in students over the years. The auditorium, which hadn't been renovated since its construction in 1957, is completely renovated, which included the replacement of the old stage, and the addition of the most up-to-date technology for the music and theater departments. All classrooms were fitted with air conditioning. The main athletic complex, housing the football stadium, has been completely redone due to the generous donation of a HCRHS alum. Now dubbed the "Stewart Athletic Complex," the stadium features a turf field, brand new seating, and an up-to-date press box. Many other renovations have been made to the music buildings, communications building, and library. Construction was completed in fall of 2006.

The School has a thorough and complex security system. All administration, faculty and students have ID Cards with magnetic stripes that must be used to gain access through certain doors. There is also an extensive system of cameras throughout the school(approximately 120 cameras are currently monitoring areas throughout the school).

After many months of searching the school recently appointed a new superintendent, Dr. Lisa Brady, a former employee of Hunterdon Central. She served as a vice-principal from 1997 to 2000 and principal from 2000 to 2004; and then left to become superintendent of South Hunterdon Regional High School.

Extracurricular activities

Extracurricular activities at the high school include baseball, boys’ and girls’ basketball, boys’ and girls’ bowling, cheerleading, boys’ and girls’ cross country, boys’ and girls’ fencing, field hockey, football, boys’ and girls’ golf, gymnastics, boys’ and girls’ lacrosse, ice hockey, boys’ and girls’ soccer, softball, boys’ and girls’ swimming, boys’ and girls’ tennis, boys’ and girls’ track and winter track, boys’ and girls’ volleyball, color guard, and wrestling.

The boy's lacrosse team has won the Group IV State Championship in 2005, 2006. In 2006, number-three seed Hunterdon Central Regional High School defeated top-seed Montclair High School in the Group IV final, by a score of 10-9 in overtime. [Kinney, Mike; and Jandoli, Ron. [http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_docid=1120CC34BACC9B19&p_docnum=8&p_queryname=NaN&p_product=NewsBank&p_theme=aggregated4&p_nbid=G5ER53KKMTE4NTg0NzQ0OS4yODY4NjU6MTo3OnJhLTE4ODg "Hunterdon C edges Montclair on goal by Dyer in OT, 10-9"] , "The Star-Ledger", June 4, 2006. Accessed August 19, 2007. "The senior attackman swept across the box and fired in his fourth goal 41 seconds into overtime to carry Hunterdon Central to its second consecutive NJSIAA Group 4 championship, 10-9, yesterday in Flemington."] [ [http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=161246&tclass=Group%20IV 2006 Boys Lacrosse - Group IV] , NJSIAA. Accessed July 6, 2006.]

The Varsity Football Team won the title of Group IV Public School State Championship in 2006, winning the Central Group IV championship, beating Howell High School, 42-24, [ [http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=188015&tclass=Central%2C%20Group%20IV 2006 Football Tournament - Central, Group IV] , NJSIAA, accessed December 5, 2006] and was ranked #2 in Central New Jersey by the "Courier-News". The 2007 team won the North II, Group IV sectional title, defeating Piscataway High School 23-13 in a game played at Rutgers Stadium. [Behre, Bob. [http://www.nj.com/starledger/stories/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/119657552222160.xml&coll=1 "Hunterdon Central wins title"] , "The Star-Ledger", December 2, 2007. Accessed December 3, 2007. " When it happened again last night in the NJSIAA/Gatorade North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 final, the team didn't flinch. Instead, it got a convert|5|yd|sing=on run by tailback Anthony Toresco and a subsequent convert|1|yd|sing=on TD plunge by quarterback Richie Lachner that gave Hunterdon Central, No. 8 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, a 10-point lead late in the third quarter on the way to a 23-13 victory over No. 7 Piscataway at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway."] [ [http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=246272&tclass=North%20II%2C%20Group%20IV 2007 Football - North II, Group IV] , NJSIAA. Accessed December 3, 2007.]

In 1998, the football team won the Central Group IV state sectional title with a 42-6 win over Piscataway Township High School in the tournament final at Giants Stadium. The team had earlier won state titles in 1974 and 1979. [Glickson, Grant. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE7DD163AF935A35751C1A96E958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all "HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL; Second Straight Title for Morristown"] , "The New York Times", December 6, 1998. Accessed June 25, 2008. "The championship was Hunterdon's third. The Red Devils also won in 1974 and 1979."]

In 2007, the field hockey team won the North II, Group IV state sectional championship with a 2-1 win over Middletown High School North in the tournament final. [ [http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=243004&tclass=North%20II%2C%20Group%20IV 2007 Field Hockey - North II, Group IV] , NJSIAA. Accessed November 12, 2007.]

The Varsity Cheerleading Team has taken the title of New Jersey Group IV State Champion in 02-03, 00-01, and 98-99 and took 2nd Place nationally at UCA National High School Finals in 2003. They placed 4th in 2004.

The Marching Band, or Marching Red Devils have consistently placed very high in state, regional and all-state competitions. In their 2006 show, The Blueprint, were ranked 1st in the Central Jersey area, 3rd in the state, and 5th in the northeast. Between the 2006 and 2007 season the band made several performances in Florence, Italy, and Salzburg, Austria. In prior years, the MRD have won two state titles, Tied for first in the northeast, they have been known for out-of-the-ordinary show designs. They compete in USSBA Group 6, and biggest rivals are Immaculata High School, and North Penn High School.

Activities offered include dramatics, student government, publications, service organizations, clubs, marching band and orchestra, an Air Force Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program, a chapter of the Junior Statesmen of America, a chapter of Amnesty International, a chapter of Future Business Leaders of America, and choral programs.

The school's radio station, 90.5 FM WCVH, features today's hottest country. The call letters stand for "Community Voice of Hunterdon (county). The signal can be heard throughout most of Hunterdon County and portions of Somerset, Mercer, Warren, and Morris Counties in New Jersey and Bucks County in Pennsylvania. WCVH is the only FM station licensed to Flemington, and one of only 2 FM stations in the county.

Staff

Hunterdon Central has a student/faculty ratio of 11 to 1. Approximately 57.6% of the staff hold advanced degrees (M.A., Ph. D. or Ed.D.). The District's staff training program has been recognized by the National Center for Public Productivity at Rutgers University, The New Jersey Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and the United States Department of Education Professional Development National Awards.

Administration

*Superintendent - Lisa Brady, Ed.D.
*Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum & Instruction - Thomas Smith, Ed.D.
*Business Administrator / Board Secretary - Ray Krov
*Principal - Christina Steffner
*Vice-Principal - Barabara Manfredi
*Vice-Principal - Richard Schneebeli
*Vice-Principal - Jennifer Spieker
*Vice-Principal - Suzanne Cooley
*Vice-Principal - Craig Blanton

Notable alumni

*Zora Andrich (born 1972), class of 1991, Reality television star, winner of 1st season of "Joe Millionaire".Fact|date=November 2007
*Timothy "No Balls" Disbrow (class of 2006), Movie director, "Card Subject To Change", "FARE", "Don't Bleed On Me".Fact|date=September 2008 [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2296884/ Internet Movie Database page for] Timothy Disbrow]
*Vera Farmiga (born 1973), actress whose films include "The Manchurian Candidate" and "The Departed", graduated with the class of 1991. [Campbell, Bob. [http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_docid=0FD88625AC545FE5&p_docnum=1&p_queryname=NaN&p_product=NewsBank&p_theme=aggregated4&p_nbid=V58P4CIDMTE4NTg0NzQ0OS4yODY4NjU6MTo3OnJhLTE4ODg "Jersey locations paved way for 'Dummy' "] , "The Star-Ledger", September 12, 2003. Accessed August 20, 2007. "His angelic co-star Vera Farmiga is a child of Passaic County and a Hunterdon Central Regional High grad."] [ [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0267812/bio Biography for Vera Farmiga] from the Internet Movie Database, accessed October 10, 2006]
*Danny Federici, musician, player for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. [Nutt, Bill. [http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_docid=0FA2BCABBB6E8305&p_docnum=5&p_queryname=NaN&p_product=NewsBank&p_theme=aggregated4&p_nbid=G5ER53KKMTE4NTg0NzQ0OS4yODY4NjU6MTo3OnJhLTE4ODg "Profile: Danny Federici"] , "Courier News", October 14, 2001. Accessed August 18, 2007. "Ask Flemington-born musician Danny Federici what he finds most satisfying about being a front man, and he replies, 'I got a chance to see what being the boss is all about.'... Federici, a graduate of Hunterdon Central High School, states that teachers have always encouraged his music, although at least one educator told him that he should complete his education if he were to have a career."]
*Jamie Graf, multiple Grammy Award-winning recording engineer, graduated class of 1991. [ [http://www.jamiegraf.com Official website for] Jamie Graf]
*Tom Keeley (class of 1997), guitarist for the band Thursday
*Robyn Kenney (class of 1979), field hockey player. [ [http://www.usfieldhockey.com/teams/women/u20/kenney.htm Robyn Kenney] , USA Field Hockey. Accessed December 20, 2007.]
*Kent Osborne, Movie writer, "SpongeBob SquarePants", "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie".Fact|date=May 2008
*Mark Osborne, Movie director, "Kung Fu Panda" and "More".Fact|date=May 2008
*Michael Steven Pohle, Jr., (class of 2002), killed in Virginia Tech massacre
*Tucker Rule (class of 1997), drummer for the band Thursday.Fact|date=May 2008
*Jason Shevchuk (class of 1994), vocalist for the band Kid Dynamite.Fact|date=May 2008
*Eric Shinseki (born 1942), U.S. four-star general, Hunterdon Central transfer student for one year.Fact|date=November 2007

References

External links

* [http://www.hcrhs.k12.nj.us/ Hunterdon Central Regional High School]
*NJReportCard|19|2300|050|Hunterdon Central Regional High School
* [http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_list.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3407590 Data for the Hunterdon Central Regional High School] , National Center for Education Statistics