New Brunswick High School

For other schools named Brunswick High School see Brunswick High School (disambiguation).

New Brunswick High School
Location
1000 Somerset Street New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Information
Type	Public high school
Established	1875
School district	New Brunswick Public Schools
Principal	Asia S Jones
Vice principal	Tyrone Harrison Ashanti Holley
Asst. Principal	Janene Rodriguez
Faculty	86 (on FTE basis)[1]
Grades	9 - 12
Enrollment	1,480 (as of 2009-10)[1]
Student to teacher ratio	17.21[1]
Color(s)	Navy and white
Athletics conference	Greater Middlesex Conference
Team name	Zebras
Website	School website

New Brunswick High School (NBHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in New Brunswick, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the New Brunswick Public Schools.

As of the 2009-10 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,480 students and 86 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 17.21.^[1]

The school was the 282nd-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 322 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2010 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", after being ranked 303rd in 2008 out of 316 schools.^[2] The school was ranked 302nd in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.^[3]

Facilities

The 1875 NBHS building

The 1916 NBHS building (before expansions)

The first dedicated high school facility in New Brunswick, known as Livingston Avenue High School, was built in 1875 on the Livingston Avenue property where Roosevelt Elementary School currently stands. Previously, the "high school department" took up the second and third floors of the Bayard Street School, and the New Brunswick's first graduating high school class was in July 1869.^[4]

The second high school facility was completed in 1916, and contained 30 classrooms and an 800-seat auditorium. A new gymnasium was built as part of an addition in 1941, and another addition was built in 1945. This facility was repurposed as A. Chester Redshaw Elementary School following the construction of the current high school facility. Redshaw Elementary was closed in 2005 and demolished in 2006, and a new elementary school is planned for the site.

The next facility was located on Livingston Avenue, near the North Brunswick Township border. Construction was completed in 1964.^[5] The 166,000-square-foot (15,400 m²) facility contains 67 classrooms (including dedicated classrooms for music and industrial arts classes), a gymnasium, a cafeteria, an auditorium, a library, and office space. The school was originally built to hold 1,200 students, and overcrowding necessitated the use of modular classrooms.

The current high school building opened in January 2010. The 400,000-square-foot (37,000 m²) facility, constructed at a cost of $185 million, is located on Route 27.^[5] The previous high school building will be converted into a middle school for grades 6 through 8, to open in September 2010.^[6]

Student body

The Class of 2010 had a 68.8% graduation rate. Among 2010 graduates, 18.9% planned to attend four-year colleges after graduating, while 15.1% pursue education at two-year colleges and more than half were undecided.^[7]

As of 2010, the school's population is 73% Hispanic and 24% African-American.^[1] 70.1% of students speak English as their first language at home, while 28.5% speak Spanish; 11.9% of students have limited English proficiency.^[7]

The school has a Student Exchange Program, with various nations. Some neighboring countries went through with the program and students from NBHS went to China, India, and Japan.^{[citation needed]}

Athletics

NBHS is a member of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) and holds membership in the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC). Athletic programs offered by NBHS include football, baseball, basketball, softball, soccer, cross country, tennis, golf, bowling, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling. The school's athletic facilities include a gymnasium, a football stadium (Memorial Stadium), baseball diamonds, and a racing track. The school's mascot is the zebra.

Electives and extracurricular activities

NBHS currently offers a significant variety of extracurricular activities for students, including over 40 clubs, and nearly 20 student organizations. There are clubs devoted to languages and cultures, academic fields, sports, fitness, music, art, computers, and other interests and skills. Student organizations include chapters of the National Honor Society and the Key Club, as well as a student council, a school newspaper, and a group that designs the school's yearbook. NBHS also offers the U.S. Army JROTC program as an elective.

Theatre program

NBHS offers courses and clubs focusing on various aspects of theatre arts, including music and acting. In the spring of 2002, participants in these groups, as well as several art-related classes, became involved in the school's first musical theatre production in 24 years - a production of Once on This Island. The production proved to be a success, and since then, NBHS has put together productions of such shows as West Side Story, A Chorus Line, and Grease.

Administration

Core members of the school's administration are:^[8]

• Asia S Jones, Principal
• Tyrone Harrison, Vice Principal
• Ashanti Holley, Vice Principal
• Janene Rodriguez, Assistant Principal

Notable alumni

• Gary Brokaw (born 1954), former player in the NBA.^[9]
• Jonathan Casillas (born 1987), linebacker for the New Orleans Saints Super Bowl XLIV champions.^[10]
• Dwayne Jarrett (born 1986), wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers, MVP of the 2007 Rose Bowl Game.^[11]
• Eric Young (born 1967), Major League Baseball player who plays for the Texas Rangers.^[12]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} New Brunswick High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed July 19, 2011.
2. ^ Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed February 10, 2011.
3. ^ "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
4. ^ History, New Brunswick High School. Accessed July 19, 2011.
5. ^ ^{a b} Keller, Karen. "High school in New Brunswick opens without stoplight, crosswalk", The Star-Ledger, January 20, 2010. Accessed July 19, 2011. "The brand-new, $185 million public high school in New Brunswick will have energy-providing solar panels on the roof, state-of-the-art lighting for its athletic fields and touch-sensitive, internet-connected "Smart Boards" instead of traditional blackboards. But when it opened last week, it didn’t have a couple of comparatively low-tech necessities — a crosswalk and a stoplight.... Devco designed and managed construction of the school, which replaces the old high school on Livingston Avenue that was built in 1964."
6. ^ Kaltwasser, Jared. "Work Nearly complete on new high school in New Brunswick", Home News Tribune, August 30, 2009. Accessed July 19, 2011. "When students do leave the current high school at 1125 Livingston Ave it won't be the end for that building. Officials plan to give the building a facelift, then move the middle school into the facility."
7. ^ ^{a b} New Brunswick High School 2010 School Report Card, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed July 19, 2011.
8. ^ Administration, New Brunswick High School. Accessed July 19, 2011.
9. ^ Gary Brokaw, Basketball-Reference.com. Accessed September 17, 2007.
10. ^ Opinion. "Heaven help me if sports betting becomes legal in New Jersey", Home News Tribune, February 20, 2010. Accessed July 19, 2011. "According to early reports, the ball was recovered by Jonathan Casillas, an all-area player at New Brunswick High School in 2004."
11. ^ Finley, Bill. "COLLEGE FOOTBALL; Big East's Defections Send Recruit Elsewhere", The New York Times, February 5, 2004. Accessed October 19, 2007. "Southern California strengthened its impressive group of incoming talent when it signed wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett of New Brunswick (N.J.) High School, another who had been uncommitted."
12. ^ Eric Young, The Baseball Cube. Accessed September 16, 2006.

External links

• New Brunswick High School Official site
• New Brunswick Public Schools page about New Brunswick High School
• New Brunswick Public Schools's 2009–10 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
• Data for the New Brunswick Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics
• Description and artist's rendering of the future NBHS facility
• Statistics for NBHS from Public School Review
• Website of NBHS instructors Laurie and Russ Lazovick - include photos of the school's dramatic productions

Coordinates: 40°28′22″N 74°27′58″W / 40.472765°N 74.465988°W / 40.472765; -74.465988