Alexander Hamilton Preparatory Academy
Encyclopedia
Alexander Hamilton Preparatory Academy (abbreviated as AHPA ) is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Elizabeth
, in Union County
, New Jersey
, United States
, as part of Elizabeth Public Schools
. The academy accepts students from grades nine through twelve in Elizabeth who have passed the requirements for enrollment. The academy is operated by the Elizabeth Board of Education. Alexander Hamilton Preparatory Academy is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
and the New Jersey Department of Education
. The curriculum prepares its students for four-year colleges and Ivy League
schools.
, who once resided and attended a school in Elizabeth back when the city was a borough
known as Elizabethtown. Alexander Hamilton Middle School no longer exists in the city of Elizabeth, instead the academy is in its place serving grades nine through twelve.
I,II,II, Geometry
, Algebra II, Pre-Calculus, Probability
and Statistics
, Trigonometry
and plenty of Science
classes such as Biology
, Chemistry
, Physics
and Forensic Science. As a new independent high school, the academy is beginning to offer a few Advanced Placement Programs (AP) classes for students who wish take them for Course credit also known as college credits. Elective classes are also offered such as the fine arts, music, and business.
Some Advanced Placement classes are available in AP English Literature, AP Spanish Literature
, AP French Literature
, AP United States History
, AP Chemistry
and AP Biology
. A new Advanced Placement class that has been added for the 2010-2011 school year is AP Art History
which will involve students in the old aspects of art and origins of paintings and sculptures. There are three foreign language courses available for students to take as an elective. Spanish
I, II & III, French
I, II & III and Italian
I, II & III. All students must have taken three years of a world language to obtain their credits.
Electives available for students to chose are Dance
I, II & III, Chorus
, Marching Band
I, II, III (Marching Band is offered as a twelfth period course which is during after school hours), Journalism
, Drama
I & II, Criminal Justice
I & II, Public Speaking
& Debate
I & II, Sociology
, Women's Studies
, Black Studies, Economics
, Computer Science
and Drawing
and Painting
I & II. There are more electives offered at Alexander Hamilton Preparatory Academy, as well as the Advancement Via Individual Determination
(AVID) class which is a required course for every student.
In order for a student to qualify for graduation, they must acquire one hundred sixty (160) credits and sixty (60) hours of community service by their senior year. Twenty-five (25) of those sixty (60) hours must be completed during senior year.
Elizabeth Minutemen compete in the Watchung Conference
, a high school sports association under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association
(NJSIAA). The conference consists of public high schools covering Essex County
, Hudson County
and Union County
.
The football team won the 2006 North II, Group IV state sectional championships, defeating Phillipsburg High School, 14-9. The team won the 1999 North II, Group IV sectional championship with a 26-14 win over Montclair High School.
The boys basketball team won the 2003 North II, Group IV title, topping Linden High School
77-72 in the final.
The Elizabeth High School girls rugby
team won the title of Northeast Regional Champions in June 2008. They went on to become the 7th-ranked Girls U-19 rugby
team in the nation. The team only formed in 2006.
Elizabeth, New Jersey
Elizabeth is a city in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 124,969, retaining its ranking as New Jersey's fourth largest city with an increase of 4,401 residents from its 2000 Census population of 120,568...
, in Union County
Union County, New Jersey
Union County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 536,499. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Elizabeth. Union County ranks 93rd among the highest-income counties in the United States. It also ranks 74th in...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, as part of Elizabeth Public Schools
Elizabeth Public Schools
Elizabeth Public Schools is a public school district headquartered in Elizabeth, in Union County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in prekindergarten through 12th grade. The district is one of 31 Abbott Districts statewide...
. The academy accepts students from grades nine through twelve in Elizabeth who have passed the requirements for enrollment. The academy is operated by the Elizabeth Board of Education. Alexander Hamilton Preparatory Academy is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association dedicated to educational excellence and improvement through peer evaluation and accreditation...
and the New Jersey Department of Education
New Jersey Department of Education
The New Jersey Department of Education administers state and federal aid programs affecting more than 1.4 million public and non-public elementary and secondary school children in the state of New Jersey. The department is headquartered in Trenton.The Department is responsible for ensuring that...
. The curriculum prepares its students for four-year colleges and Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
schools.
History
Alexander Hamilton Preparatory Academy was originally known as Alexander Hamilton Middle School. The building was established in 1924 to when the aging Cherry Street School was demolished. The middle school became a high school during the summer of 2008. The school was named after a one-time Elizabeth resident who served as the first Secretary of the Treasury and a Revolutionary War Leader Alexander HamiltonAlexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
, who once resided and attended a school in Elizabeth back when the city was a borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
known as Elizabethtown. Alexander Hamilton Middle School no longer exists in the city of Elizabeth, instead the academy is in its place serving grades nine through twelve.
Curriculum
Alexander Hamilton Preparatory Academy selects students with a grade point average of 2.0 or higher, who demonstrate academic potential and are committed to preparing for post-secondary education. Students will comply with a rigorous academic course sequence which includes: four (4) years of English, four (4) years of Mathematics, four (4) years of Science, four (4) years of Social Studies, three (3) years of World Language, and one (1) year of World Literature. In addition, eleventh and twelfth graders will pursue a concentration in leadership studies.Academic and Elective Courses
Alexander Hamilton Preparatory Academy offers major courses for students such as EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
I,II,II, Geometry
Geometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
, Algebra II, Pre-Calculus, Probability
Probability
Probability is ordinarily used to describe an attitude of mind towards some proposition of whose truth we arenot certain. The proposition of interest is usually of the form "Will a specific event occur?" The attitude of mind is of the form "How certain are we that the event will occur?" The...
and Statistics
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
, Trigonometry
Trigonometry
Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that studies triangles and the relationships between their sides and the angles between these sides. Trigonometry defines the trigonometric functions, which describe those relationships and have applicability to cyclical phenomena, such as waves...
and plenty of Science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
classes such as Biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
, Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, Physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and Forensic Science. As a new independent high school, the academy is beginning to offer a few Advanced Placement Programs (AP) classes for students who wish take them for Course credit also known as college credits. Elective classes are also offered such as the fine arts, music, and business.
Some Advanced Placement classes are available in AP English Literature, AP Spanish Literature
AP Spanish Literature
Advanced Placement Spanish Literature is a high school course and examination offered by the College Board's Advanced Placement Program.-The course:...
, AP French Literature
AP French Literature
Advanced Placement French Literature was an Advanced Placement course and examination offered by the College Board. The course was designed to replicate a college French literature course for high school students...
, AP United States History
AP United States History
Advanced Placement United States History is a course and examination offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program...
, AP Chemistry
AP Chemistry
Advanced Placement Chemistry is a course and examination offered by the College Board as a part of the Advanced Placement Program to give American and Canadian high school students the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities and earn college-level credit.-The course:AP Chemistry is a course...
and AP Biology
AP Biology
In the United States, Advanced Placement Biology , is a course and examination offered by the College Board to high school students as an opportunity to earn placement credit for a college-level biology course....
. A new Advanced Placement class that has been added for the 2010-2011 school year is AP Art History
AP Art History
AP Art History is a course offered in high school through the Advanced Placement Program that gives college level material at the high school level. This class is operated by College Board...
which will involve students in the old aspects of art and origins of paintings and sculptures. There are three foreign language courses available for students to take as an elective. Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
I, II & III, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
I, II & III and Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
I, II & III. All students must have taken three years of a world language to obtain their credits.
Electives available for students to chose are Dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
I, II & III, Chorus
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
, Marching Band
Marching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
I, II, III (Marching Band is offered as a twelfth period course which is during after school hours), Journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
, Drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
I & II, Criminal Justice
Criminal justice
Criminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...
I & II, Public Speaking
Public speaking
Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners...
& Debate
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
I & II, Sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, Women's Studies
Women's studies
Women's studies, also known as feminist studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field which explores politics, society and history from an intersectional, multicultural women's perspective...
, Black Studies, Economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, Computer Science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
and Drawing
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
and Painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
I & II. There are more electives offered at Alexander Hamilton Preparatory Academy, as well as the Advancement Via Individual Determination
Advancement Via Individual Determination
Advancement Via Individual Determination is an American college-readiness system designed to increase the number of students who enroll in four-year colleges, focusing on students in the academic middle. The formula is to raise expectations of students...
(AVID) class which is a required course for every student.
Regulations
Students enrolled in the AHPA are expected to comply with all rules, regulations and policies of the Academy and the district. Students will be required to wear school uniforms, perform community service, and take ownership in the AVID program. The combination of rigorous and relevant courses, a variety of elective subjects, and the philosophy of the AVID program give students the opportunity to excel in high school and beyond.In order for a student to qualify for graduation, they must acquire one hundred sixty (160) credits and sixty (60) hours of community service by their senior year. Twenty-five (25) of those sixty (60) hours must be completed during senior year.
AVID
The Alexander Hamilton Preparatory Academy integrates a rigorous curriculum with the philosophies of the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program. AVID is a research-based instructional model that encourages students to prepare for and participate in a challenging college preparatory curriculum. In addition to enrolling in honors and AP level courses, students will receive academic support through a specially designed AVID elective, taught by AVID-trained instructors.Clubs and organizations
- Student Government Association
- The Green Team
- YearbookYearbookA yearbook, also known as an annual, is a book to record, highlight, and commemorate the past year of a school or a book published annually. Virtually all American, Australian and Canadian high schools, most colleges and many elementary and middle schools publish yearbooks...
Committee - JournalismJournalismJournalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
Club - Game ClubGame clubA game club is an organization devoted to bringing game players together. Schools and universities are common venues for game clubs. Other game clubs meet in members' homes. Many game clubs are often organized around a gaming store; a hobby store-type of business which sell non-computer games...
- Nature Club
- The National Honor SocietyNational Honor SocietyThe National Honor Society is a recognition program for high school students in grades 10-12 in the United States and in several other countries...
- Afterschool Tutoring
Athletics
The Alexander Hamilton Preparatory Academy does not have its own athletic teams, instead the students participate in sports that represent the whole city of Elizabeth not just one academy. Therefore being, students from all the Elizabeth Academies including Elizabeth High School are all on one sports team competing against other schools outside the city.Elizabeth Minutemen compete in the Watchung Conference
Watchung Conference
The Watchung Conference was a high school sports association under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association . The conference consisted of eleven public high schools covering Essex County, Hudson County and Union County in northern New Jersey. In 2009, the...
, a high school sports association under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association
New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association is an association of hundreds of New Jersey high schools that regulates high school athletics and holds tournaments and crowns champions in high school sports.-State championships:...
(NJSIAA). The conference consists of public high schools covering Essex County
Essex County, New Jersey
Essex County is a county located in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the United States 2010 Census, the population was 783,969, ranking it third in the state after Bergen County and Middlesex County; Essex County's population has declined from 786,147 as of the bureau's...
, Hudson County
Hudson County, New Jersey
Hudson County is the smallest county in New Jersey and one of the most densely populated in United States. It takes its name from the Hudson River, which creates part of its eastern border. Part of the New York metropolitan area, its county seat and largest city is Jersey City.- Municipalities...
and Union County
Union County, New Jersey
Union County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 536,499. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Elizabeth. Union County ranks 93rd among the highest-income counties in the United States. It also ranks 74th in...
.
The football team won the 2006 North II, Group IV state sectional championships, defeating Phillipsburg High School, 14-9. The team won the 1999 North II, Group IV sectional championship with a 26-14 win over Montclair High School.
The boys basketball team won the 2003 North II, Group IV title, topping Linden High School
Linden High School (New Jersey)
Linden High School is a comprehensive community public high school located in Linden in Union County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Linden Public Schools...
77-72 in the final.
The Elizabeth High School girls rugby
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
team won the title of Northeast Regional Champions in June 2008. They went on to become the 7th-ranked Girls U-19 rugby
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
team in the nation. The team only formed in 2006.
| Fall Sports | Winter Sports | Spring Sports | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Football (Boys) | Indoor Track (Boys and Girls) | Outdoor Track (Boys and Girls) | Girl's Rugby |
| Soccer (Boys and Girls) | Basketball (Boys and Girls) | Baseball (Boys) | |
| Volleyball (Girls) | Wrestling (Boys) | Softball (Girls) | |
| Tennis (Girls) | Swimming (Boys and Girls) | Tennis (Boys) | |
| Cross Country (Boys and Girls) | Bowling (Boys and Girls) | Golf (Boys and Girls) | |
| Gymnastics (Boys and Girls) |