West Orange High School (New Jersey)

Infobox_School
name = West Orange High School


imagesize =
motto =
established =
grades = 9 - 12
district = West Orange Public Schools
type = Public high school
principal = Arthur J. Alloggiamento
asst principal = Kimberly Juirdano
Hayden N. Moore
Eric Price
enrollment = 1,998 (as of 2005-06)
faculty = 171.8 (on FTE basis)
ratio = 11.6
nickname = Mountaineers
conference = Northern Hills Conference
colors =
publication =
location = 51 Conforti Avenue
West Orange, NJ 07052
information = 973-669-5301
website = [http://www.westorange.k12.nj.us/Schools/WOHS/ School website]

West Orange High School (informally termed, West Orange High) is a comprehensive, four-year public high school, serving students in ninth through twelfth grade from West Orange in Essex County, New Jersey. WOHS is currently the only high school serving the West Orange Public Schools. The current facility was built in 1960 as Mountain High School. In 1984, the original West Orange High School was sold to become Seton Hall Preparatory School, a private Catholic school.

West Orange High School is accredited by the New Jersey Department of Education and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.

As of the 2005-06 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,998 students and 171.8 classroom teachers (on a FTE basis, for a student-teacher ratio of 11.6. [http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3417610&ID=341761002468 West Orange High School] , National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed November 1, 2007.]

Faculty

A faculty of 200 includes administration and supervisory personnel, as well as Guidance Staff, two full-time Library Media Specialists, two nurses, a Student Assistance Counselor, and a full-time Child Study Team. The majority of the professional staff members have earned masters degrees, seven have earned doctorates.

West Orange High School has a comprehensive program with a wide variety of course offerings. Graduation requirements are based on study in grades nine through twelve. Students must satisfy the state and local requirements for graduation and take additional courses to total a minimum of 135 credits. In addition to the basic academic courses offered at multiple ability levels, there are Honors and Advanced Placement Program courses in most disciplines. Programs in business education, technical and industrial education, computer education, performing and fine arts, and English as a Second Language are also offered.

The Horizons Program, an alternative approach to education, is offered to meet the needs of disaffected students. The Cooperative Education Program provides students with the opportunity to study academics as well as receive on-the-job training. Students can also choose from a wide variety of electives.

Awards and recognition

The school was the 114th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 316 schools statewide, in "New Jersey Monthly" magazine's September 2008 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools". The school was ranked 98th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 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 1998-99 school year, West Orange High School was named a "Star School" by the New Jersey Department of Education, the highest honor that a New Jersey school can achieve. [ [http://www.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/education/ss/ss3.pl?string=id=057&maxhits=10000 Star School Award recipient detail 1998-99 school year, West Orange High School] , New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed May 29, 2006.]

West Orange High School applied for, and was awarded, a Dodge Grant for the 2004-2005 academic year through Montclair State University. The focus of the grant is to explore how to develop a Conflict Resolution program responsive to the needs of West Orange High School. The Dodge Grant Team has spent this past year researching and developing a potential Conflict Resolution Model for West Orange High School.

Athletics

West Orange High School competes in the Skyline Division of the Northern Hills Conference.

The 2006 Boys Soccer team finished the season with a 24-1 record, and was ranked 4th in the nation at the beginning of the 2006 Season but finished 17th in the NSCAA/adidas National Rankings. [ [http://www.nscaa.com/hsRes.php?it=1032 NSCAA/adidas National Rankings: National Final Regular Season Poll Poll] , November 21, 2006. Accessed July 27, 2007.] The 2006 team won the Group IV State Championship with a 4-1 win over Bridgewater-Raritan High School in the semifinals and a 3-0 win against Manalapan High School in the finals. [ [http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=186283&tclass=Public%20Semis%2FFinals 2006 Boys Soccer Tournament - Public Semis/Finals] , NJSIAA. Accessed September 25, 2007.]

Their marching band the Marching Mountaineers are 2 year USSBA GROUP V Open state champs ( 2005, 2006) and ninth in the country as of 2007 BOA (Bands of America).In addition, their Color Guard is nationally known for their "globe-tossing" performance.

The school hosted a match between a team representing the New York Athletic Club and teams from Russia and Romania. The NYAC team beat Russia 14-11 in free style and Romania 14-12 in Greco-Roman matches. [Abbott, Gary. [http://www.usolympicteam.com/11652_53764.htm "NYAC beats Russia, 14-11 in freestyle and Romania 14-12 in Greco-Roman in dual meet in New Jersey"] , United States Olympic Committee, November 16, 2007. Accessed December 1, 2007.]

Administration

Core members of the school's administration are: [ [http://schools.woboe.org/Schools/WOHS/Pages/default.aspx Home page] , West Orange High School. Accessed August 21, 2008.]
*Arthur J. Alloggiamento – Principal
*Kimberly Juirdano – Assistant Principal
*Hayden N. Moore – Assistant Principal
*Eric Price – Assistant Principal

Notable alumni

* Ginny Duenkel (born 1947), Gold medalist in the 400 meter freestyle at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. ["WORLD MARK SET BY ROSE IN SWIM", "The New York Times", August 18, 1962, pg. 16."The unherladed 15-year-old Miss Duenkel cracked the listed world record in the 200-meter back-stroke in 2:32.1. The 125-pound sophomore from West Orange High School beat Miss de Varona in a tense dual [sic] in the last fifty meters. Donna was clocked in 2:33.1."]
* Mark E. Kelly (born 1964), astronaut and identical twin of Scott J. Kelly. [ [http://www11.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/kellyme.html Mark E. Kelly Biographical Data] , NASA. Accessed March 25, 2007.]
* Scott J. Kelly (born 1964), astronaut and identical twin of Mark E. Kelly. [ [http://www11.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/kellysj.html Scott J. Kelly Biographical Data] , NASA, accessed March 25, 2007.]
* General Paul J. Kern was the commanding general of the United States Army Materiel Command from 2001-2004. [ [http://www.amc.army.mil/amc/pa/releases04/kern.html "Major Army Command Says Farewell to Four-Star Commander"] , United States Army Materiel Command press release. Accessed November 19, 2007. "Kern was raised in West Orange , NJ and graduated from West Orange High School."]
* Joshua D. Maurer, actor best known as "Roger Horn" on "Tour of Duty" and producer of "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge".
* Vinnie Politan, anchor, talk show host for Court TV; radio host for Sirius Satellite Radio. [ [http://blog.courttv.com/informer/2006/11/q_and_a_with_vi.html Q and A with Vinnie Politan] , November 20, 2006, accessed April 12, 2007. "It'll be tough to deal with him, even if I was the two-time captain of the West Orange Cowboys' Group 2 Section 2 State Championship basketball team."]
* Scott Wolf (born 1968), actor best known as "Bailey Salinger" on "Party of Five".
* Ian Ziering (born 1964), actor best known as "Steve Sanders" on "Beverly Hills 90210". [http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_docid=0EFD502D5C99C190&p_docnum=2&p_queryname=NaN&p_product=NewsBank&p_theme=aggregated4&p_nbid=J4BH4EDFMTE4NTg0NzQ0OS4yODY4NjU6MTo3OnJhLTE4ODg "THE ULTIMATE NEW JERSEY HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOK: T-Z AND ALSO..."] , "The Star-Ledger", June 27, 1999. Accessed August 4, 2007.]

References

External links

* [http://www.westorange.k12.nj.us/Schools/WOHS/ West Orange High School]
*NJReportCard|13|5680|050|West Orange High School
* [http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3417610&ID=341761002468 Data for West Orange High School] , National Center for Education Statistics