James Caldwell High School

Infobox_School
name = James Caldwell High School


imagesize =
motto =
established =
grades = 9 - 12
district = Caldwell-West Caldwell Public Schools
type = Public high school
principal = Kevin Barnes
enrollment = 845 (as of 2005-06)
faculty = 65.2 (on FTE basis)
ratio = 13.0
nickname = Chiefs / Lady Chiefs
conference = Northern Hills Conference
colors =
publication =
location = 265 Westville Avenue
West Caldwell, NJ 07006
information = 973-228-6981
website = [http://www.cwcboe.org/JCHS/index.htm School website]

James Caldwell High School is an American four-year comprehensive public high school in West Caldwell, in Essex County, New Jersey, as part of the Caldwell-West Caldwell Public Schools. The school is named after American Revolutionary War figure Reverend James Caldwell.

As of the 2005-06 school year, the school had an enrollment of 845 students and 65.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 13.0. [http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3402580&ID=340258002008 James Caldwell High School] , National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed November 4, 2007.]

Awards and recognition

The school was the 57th-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 43rd 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.]

Athletics

James Caldwell High School's teams, nicknamed the Chiefs and Lady Chiefs respectively, compete in the Suburban Division of the Northern Hills Conference, and in the NJSIAA's North Jersey II, Group II Section. The school has had past successes in its beloved football and baseball programs, but is a perennial contender in girls volleyball and softball.

On October 11, 2006, a 16-year-old football player by the name of James Bliss (Jamie) died during a football practice. [ [http://www.blogs.nj.com/newsupdates/slnewsupdates/default.asp?item=219306 Caldwell High football player dies on field] , "The Star-Ledger", October 11, 2006.]

The softball team won the 2007 North II, Group II state sectional championship with a 2-1 over West Essex High School. [ [http://www.bracketmaker.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=220864&tclass=North%20II%2C%20Group%20II 2007 Softball - North II, Group II] , NJSIAA. Accessed June 8, 2007.]

Controversy

Support has been mounting in the two towns in recent years to change a number of customs associated with the school's team nicknames or to get rid of the Chiefs nickname altogether. This appears as being concurrent with a similar trend in the NCAA of removing Native American nicknames from college sports teams. [Moore, Elizabeth. [http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_action=doc&p_docid=10FCDBBE8FDDC868&p_docnum=1&p_queryname=NaN&p_product=NewsBank&p_theme=aggregated4&p_nbid=V57P58APMTE4NTg0NzQ0OS4yODY4NjU6MTo3OnJhLTE4ODg "Caldwell `chief' symbol under attack: School board hears complaints, support for mascot, chants"] , "The Star-Ledger", February 15, 2006. Accessed August 6, 2007. "Members of the New Jersey State Commission on American Indian Affairs came to the Caldwell/West Caldwell School Board Monday night to object to the district's continued use of Native American mascots, chants and cheers in its athletic programs.... The school board banned the use of one cheer, but allowed the chop and the Florida State Seminoles theme song to continue, after a public meeting last fall where several parents objected to banning the practices, saying they were part of the school's tradition."]

Extracurricular activities

In September 2005, six student editors and reporters of the high school's newspaper, "The Caldron", reached a settlement with the Caldwell-West Caldwell School District, through the ACLU, forbidding most censorship by the high school principal and allowing an article about sexual mores to be published. [ [http://www.splc.org/newsflash_archives.asp?id=1074&year=2005 Censorship of sex article overturned after students fight decision] , Student Press Law Center, September 21, 2005.]

Administration

*Dr. Kevin Barnes - Principal
*James Brown - Vice Principal
*Sallie Liberio - Supervisor of Secondary Education
*Richard Porfido - Director of Athletics
*Maryanne Melnyk - Supervisor of Guidance
*Scott Chamberlain - Supervisor of Music

References

External links

* [http://www.cwcboe.org/JCHS/index.htm James Caldwell High School]
* [http://www.cwcboe.org/ Caldwell-West Caldwell Public Schools]
*NJReportCard|13|0660|0|Caldwell-West Caldwell Public Schools
* [http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_list.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3402580 Data for the Caldwell-West Caldwell Public Schools] , National Center for Education Statistics
* [http://jchs1966.com James Caldwell High School Class of 1966]
* [http://www.jchs1986.com James Caldwell High School Class of 1986]