Pascack Valley High School
Encyclopedia
Pascack Valley High School (PVHS) is a four-year regional public high school
located in Hillsdale
in Bergen County
, New Jersey
, one of two high schools in the Pascack Valley Regional High School District
. Pascack Valley High School serves the residents of both Hillsdale and neighboring River Vale
, while its counterpart Pascack Hills High School
serves the communities of Woodcliff Lake
and Montvale
. The school is often noted for its 1:1 eLearning Initiative, in which the school provided a laptop to every student, teacher, and administrator for educational use.
As of the 2009-10 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,196 students and 82 classroom teachers (on an FTE
basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.59.
magazine's September 2010 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", after being ranked 25th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 23rd in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state.
and the local media were called to attend the event. Originally, the principal had planned to let students walk only to the back following an all-student meeting, but students took matters into their own hands when the leaders of the group led the walkout to the front. In the end, the budget passed.
is an Indian
. In 2004, there was a major controversy at the school about the appropriateness of the mascot. The school took up the issue after researching high schools and colleges around the U.S. with similar nicknames that had decided to change their mascots. Many of these schools had received complaints from Native American groups about the stereotypes that the mascots reinforced. The student council also discussed rumors that New Jersey would be banning Native American-related mascots eventually, and it was decided that taking up the issue by choice rather than force was the right thing to do. After months of public debate and an official symposium in which students voiced opinions from both sides of the issue, a vote was held among the students and faculty and the motion to keep the Indian was affirmed, 67% voting in favor of keeping the mascot.
took over as acting principal, and has remained in that position following Dr. Sapienza's death on March 5, 2008. DeMaio was subsequently appointed principal in his own right.
to every student and teacher for educational purposes. A wireless network
environment for the school part of a referendum project. As the concept evolved, school representatives visited districts where such a program was already in place. The school's Steering Technology Committee was responsible for the logistics of the plan from 2000 to the present.
Corporate partners for the district included Apple, Promedia Technology Services, Inc., McAfee
, Nexus Consortium, Stewart Industries, Motion Systems, ScanSoft, Minitab
, Questia Media Inc., and Quia
.
For the 2004-05 school year, the school issued all its students laptops, the first public school in the state to do so. The laptops were issued by Sony
and were put under a contractual lease for a period of four years, expiring in 2008. While the laptops were hailed as a success by the administration, students largely differed in their opinions.
As a response to a possible drop in academic performance due to non-academic use of the laptops during the school day, computer use was for the first time restricted for all students in the 2005-06 academic school year. Students no longer have access to student email during the school day and are limited to a restricted screen with a single window full of shortcuts to only the applications recognized as being appropriate for student in-class use.
The high school ceased use of the Sony Vaio laptops given to students and teachers during the years 05-07 in order to integrate 1.6 GHz MacBooks from Apple. for the student body and administration's use for the 2007-2008 school year. Several classes were used as "guinea pigs" with the MacBooks in order to test the students' abilities to adapt to Mac OS interface, and assess the laptops' value for use with school activities. The MacBooks run Mac OS X Tiger and feature all the standard Mac programs as well as having a digital camera built into the top of the screen. The "test runs" of the MacBooks were successful. However printer driver issues arose but were addressed during the 2007- 2008 school year.
, including a track (with new surface as of Spring 2006), surrounding an artificial turf football
field. The school grounds also have four tennis
courts, a softball
field and one baseball
field. The school has two levels and is mainly arranged in a rectangular fashion.
The campus
underwent major renovations in 2005 that added several wings and a total overhaul of the athletic complex.
, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association
. Prior to the realignment in 2010, the school had participated in the North Bergen Interscholastic Athletic League
. There are ten boys interscholastic sports activities and seven girls interscholastic sports activities. Sports offered include cheerleading
, dance
, cross-country
, football, boys' soccer, girls' soccer, tennis
, volleyball
, gymnastics
, basketball, bowling
, ice hockey
, swimming
, wrestling
, winter track
, baseball
, softball
, and lacrosse
. The school has had considerable success in athletics, most notably in basketball and in football.
The girls' basketball team, led since 1972 by New Jersey's winningest girls basketball coach, Jeff Jasper, has won 30 consecutive league titles (1979 through 2008), and seven county championships to go along with multiple state titles. On March 9, 2008, the Indians won the Group II State title with a 58-52 win against Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School
, qualifying for the state Tournament of Champions
, and giving Jasper the 800th coaching victory. Jasper was inducted by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association
into its Bollinger High School Hall of Fame in 2006. The 2010 girls basketball team was NBIL champions and won the North I, Group III state sectional title, defeating top-seed Teaneck High School
51-47.
The football team, coached by Craig Neilsen, has enjoyed recent success, including state playoff berths in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 along with state finals appearances in 2006 and 2007.
Pascack Valley Regional Gymnastics Team recently was selected by the Record
as Team of the Year after only its second year as a team.
The Pascack Valley Regional Dance Team has been the National Grand Champions for the past two years at the National Dance Alliance Championship. In 2007 they were state champions as well. The Pascack Valley Regional Dance Team was on the cover of the February 2008 issue of The Record's
Sports Magazine. In 2008 they took home two first place trophies in the Large Pom & Small Team Performance categories at the NDA National Championship. They were state champions in 2008 as well.
students, Matt Kracinovich of Pascack Hills
, and Ryan Shell of Pascack Valley, successfully lobbied the Board of Education
to accept a special student representative from each school to sit on the board. In the following year, the 1997-1998 school year, Kracinovich and Shell became the first students to occupy the new positions officially known as the Non-Voting Student Members of the Board of Education.
The Executive Council recommends appropriation of funds for student activities, with the approval of the Board, for the school. It is also very deeply involved in organizing activities and events for the school. The next step down the ladder of the student government consists of the four class councils, which participate in the running and operations of the school with the Executive Council, but represent and are responsible to the electing class.
Election
s to the class councils are held at the end of every year for various positions, and in the fall for the freshman class. There are two positions to which candidates must be appointed. The Executive Council, which is separate from the constituent class councils, holds elections in the spring.
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
located in Hillsdale
Hillsdale, New Jersey
Hillsdale is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 10,219.The populated area today known as Hillsdale took form in the mid-to-late 19th century as land speculators, led by David P. Patterson, developed subdivisons to profit from the...
in Bergen County
Bergen County, New Jersey
Bergen County is the most populous county of the state of New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 905,116. The county is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Hackensack...
, 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...
, one of two high schools in the Pascack Valley Regional High School District
Pascack Valley Regional High School District
The Pascack Valley Regional High School District is a regional public high school district encompassing students from four communities in the Pascack Valley region of Bergen County, New Jersey serving students in grades 9 - 12...
. Pascack Valley High School serves the residents of both Hillsdale and neighboring River Vale
River Vale, New Jersey
River Vale is a township in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 9,659. The community was ranked #29 on the 100 Best Places to Live 2007 survey published by CNN/Money magazine....
, while its counterpart Pascack Hills High School
Pascack Hills High School
Pascack Hills High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school, one of two high schools that are part of the Pascack Valley Regional High School District in Bergen County, New Jersey. PHHS serves the residents of both Montvale, where the campus is located, and the neighboring community...
serves the communities of Woodcliff Lake
Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey
Woodcliff Lake is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the borough population was 5,730.Woodcliff Lake is also the name of the reservoir that lies primarily within the borough, with a small part of it located in neighboring Hillsdale.The borough is an...
and Montvale
Montvale, New Jersey
Montvale is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 7,844.Montvale was incorporated as a borough on August 31, 1894, from portions of Orvil Township and Washington Township, at the height of the "Boroughitis" craze then...
. The school is often noted for its 1:1 eLearning Initiative, in which the school provided a laptop to every student, teacher, and administrator for educational use.
As of the 2009-10 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,196 students and 82 classroom teachers (on an FTE
Full-time equivalent
Full-time equivalent , is a unit to measure employed persons or students in a way that makes them comparable although they may work or study a different number of hours per week. FTE is often used to measure a worker's involvement in a project, or to track cost reductions in an organization...
basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.59.
Awards and recognition
The school was the 23rd-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 322 schools statewide, in New Jersey MonthlyNew Jersey Monthly
New Jersey Monthly is a monthly glossy publication featuring issues of possible interest to residents of the United States state of New Jersey...
magazine's September 2010 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", after being ranked 25th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 23rd in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state.
History
School principal Dr. Joseph Poli died suddenly in 1989. Among the many memorials to Dr. Poli was the renaming of the annual holiday girls' basketball tournament in his memory. The Joe Poli Tournament still attracts top teams from across the region.1997 walkout
In 1997, in an act of support for the proposed school budget which was up for voter approval, up to 700 students (much of the student body) walked out of the school. In the previous three years, the budget had been voted down and if the budget had gone down again, the school would have had to dismiss about one third of its teachers, including all of the teachers who were under the age of 40. In addition to other local activist activities, such as handing out fliers encouraging people to vote up the budget, students staged a walkoutWalkout
In labor disputes, a walkout is a labor strike, the act of employees collectively leaving the workplace as an act of protest.A walkout can also mean the act of leaving a place of work, school, a meeting, a company, or an organization, especially if meant as an expression of protest or disapproval.A...
and the local media were called to attend the event. Originally, the principal had planned to let students walk only to the back following an all-student meeting, but students took matters into their own hands when the leaders of the group led the walkout to the front. In the end, the budget passed.
2004 Mascot controversy
The school's mascotMascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
is an Indian
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
. In 2004, there was a major controversy at the school about the appropriateness of the mascot. The school took up the issue after researching high schools and colleges around the U.S. with similar nicknames that had decided to change their mascots. Many of these schools had received complaints from Native American groups about the stereotypes that the mascots reinforced. The student council also discussed rumors that New Jersey would be banning Native American-related mascots eventually, and it was decided that taking up the issue by choice rather than force was the right thing to do. After months of public debate and an official symposium in which students voiced opinions from both sides of the issue, a vote was held among the students and faculty and the motion to keep the Indian was affirmed, 67% voting in favor of keeping the mascot.
2008 death of Principal Sapienza
On January 29, 2008, the school district announced that following surgery on her knee, then-principal Dr. Barbara Sapienza had become comatose and that her recovery was uncertain. Assistant principal Tom DeMaioTom DeMaio
-External links:**...
took over as acting principal, and has remained in that position following Dr. Sapienza's death on March 5, 2008. DeMaio was subsequently appointed principal in his own right.
1:1 eLearning initiative
In the fall of 2000, it was proposed to provide a laptopLaptop
A laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...
to every student and teacher for educational purposes. A wireless network
Wireless network
Wireless network refers to any type of computer network that is not connected by cables of any kind. It is a method by which homes, telecommunications networks and enterprise installations avoid the costly process of introducing cables into a building, or as a connection between various equipment...
environment for the school part of a referendum project. As the concept evolved, school representatives visited districts where such a program was already in place. The school's Steering Technology Committee was responsible for the logistics of the plan from 2000 to the present.
Corporate partners for the district included Apple, Promedia Technology Services, Inc., McAfee
McAfee
McAfee, Inc. is a computer security company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA. It markets software and services to home users, businesses and the public sector. On August 19, 2010, electronics company Intel agreed to purchase McAfee for $7.68 billion...
, Nexus Consortium, Stewart Industries, Motion Systems, ScanSoft, Minitab
Minitab
Minitab is a statistics package. It was developed at the Pennsylvania State University by researchers Barbara F. Ryan, Thomas A. Ryan, Jr., and Brian L. Joiner in 1972...
, Questia Media Inc., and Quia
Quia
Quia is website for studying where teachers can create different activities for their students to aid the students studying.- Quia Resources :*Quia Books- Online textbooks accessible by the teachers and students after online purchase....
.
For the 2004-05 school year, the school issued all its students laptops, the first public school in the state to do so. The laptops were issued by Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
and were put under a contractual lease for a period of four years, expiring in 2008. While the laptops were hailed as a success by the administration, students largely differed in their opinions.
As a response to a possible drop in academic performance due to non-academic use of the laptops during the school day, computer use was for the first time restricted for all students in the 2005-06 academic school year. Students no longer have access to student email during the school day and are limited to a restricted screen with a single window full of shortcuts to only the applications recognized as being appropriate for student in-class use.
The high school ceased use of the Sony Vaio laptops given to students and teachers during the years 05-07 in order to integrate 1.6 GHz MacBooks from Apple. for the student body and administration's use for the 2007-2008 school year. Several classes were used as "guinea pigs" with the MacBooks in order to test the students' abilities to adapt to Mac OS interface, and assess the laptops' value for use with school activities. The MacBooks run Mac OS X Tiger and feature all the standard Mac programs as well as having a digital camera built into the top of the screen. The "test runs" of the MacBooks were successful. However printer driver issues arose but were addressed during the 2007- 2008 school year.
Campus
Pascack Valley High School has a wide range of facilities and a large campusCampus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
, including a track (with new surface as of Spring 2006), surrounding an artificial turf football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
field. The school grounds also have four tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
courts, a softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
field and one baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
field. The school has two levels and is mainly arranged in a rectangular fashion.
The campus
Campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
underwent major renovations in 2005 that added several wings and a total overhaul of the athletic complex.
Extracurricular activities
Like most other area high schools, Pascack Valley offers a wide range of co-curricular and extracurricular activities, including:- Academic Decathlon
- Animal RightsAnimal rightsAnimal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
Club - Art Portfolio Club
- Audio Visual Club
- Bro Squad, the all-male a capella group
- Chemistry Olympics
- Concert Band
- Computer Club
- Debate Team
- PVHS Theatre
- FrenchFrench languageFrench 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...
Club - French National Honor Society
- Gay/Straight Alliance
- Habitat for Humanity
- HOPE (Helping Other People Every Day)
- Human RightsHuman rightsHuman rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
League - Interact Club
- Investment Club
- ItalianItalian languageItalian 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...
Club - Italian Honor Society
- Jazz Band
- JAC (Just About Caring)
- Knitting Club
- Literary Magazine
- Marching BandMarching bandMarching 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...
- MathematicsMathematicsMathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
League - Model U.N.
- 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...
- Pascack Pi-oneers, the school's US FIRSTFirstFirst or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one.First or 1st may also refer to:* First , minor summit below the Schwarzhorn in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland* First , mountain in Bernese Alps in Switzerland...
robotics team, operated together with sister school Pascack Hills High School (team 1676) - Science League
- S.E.A.A (Students for Environmental Advocacy and Action)
- The Smoke Signal, the school newspaper published on a quarterly basis
- SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , 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...
Club - Spanish National Honor SocietySpanish National Honor SocietySpanish National Honor Society is an academic honor society focused on Spanish language excellence in secondary education and promotes a continuity of interest in Spanish studies. The group, which was established in 1953 in the United States is sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of...
- Spring Musical
- This Week in Politics, a club to discuss current events
- 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...
Athletics
The Pascack Valley High School Indians now compete in the Big North ConferenceBig North Conference
The Big North Conference is a high school athletic conference in New Jersey. It is one of six North Jersey "super athletic conferences" created by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association in 2009...
, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by 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:...
. Prior to the realignment in 2010, the school had participated in the North Bergen Interscholastic Athletic League
North Bergen Interscholastic Athletic League
The North Bergen Interscholastic Athletic League, abbreviated NBIL or NBIAL, was an athletic conference of twelve high schools located in the northern part of Bergen County, New Jersey...
. There are ten boys interscholastic sports activities and seven girls interscholastic sports activities. Sports offered include cheerleading
Cheerleading
Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, based on organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate...
, 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....
, cross-country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
, football, boys' soccer, girls' soccer, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
, gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
, basketball, bowling
Bowling
Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
, ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
, swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
, wrestling
Scholastic wrestling
Scholastic wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the high school and middle school levels in the United States. This wrestling style is essentially Collegiate wrestling with some slight modifications. It is currently...
, winter track
Athletics (track and field)
Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
, baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, softball
Softball
Softball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of 10 to 14 players. It is a direct descendant of baseball although there are some key differences: softballs are larger than baseballs, and the pitches are thrown underhand rather than overhand...
, and lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
. The school has had considerable success in athletics, most notably in basketball and in football.
The girls' basketball team, led since 1972 by New Jersey's winningest girls basketball coach, Jeff Jasper, has won 30 consecutive league titles (1979 through 2008), and seven county championships to go along with multiple state titles. On March 9, 2008, the Indians won the Group II State title with a 58-52 win against Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School
Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School
The Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School is a regional, four-year comprehensive public high school and school district, serving students in grades 9 through 12 from the suburban Monmouth County, New Jersey, communities of Fair Haven and Rumson...
, qualifying for the state Tournament of Champions
Tournament of Champions (NJSIAA)
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Tournament of Champions is the sports tournament for New Jersey high schools that determines which high school will be crowned as the #1 overall team in the state for each sport...
, and giving Jasper the 800th coaching victory. Jasper was inducted by 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:...
into its Bollinger High School Hall of Fame in 2006. The 2010 girls basketball team was NBIL champions and won the North I, Group III state sectional title, defeating top-seed Teaneck High School
Teaneck High School
Teaneck High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school, which is part of the Teaneck Public Schools district in Teaneck, New Jersey, United States...
51-47.
The football team, coached by Craig Neilsen, has enjoyed recent success, including state playoff berths in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 along with state finals appearances in 2006 and 2007.
Pascack Valley Regional Gymnastics Team recently was selected by the Record
The Record (Bergen County)
The Record is a newspaper in northern New Jersey. It has the second largest circulation of New Jersey's daily newspapers, behind The Star-Ledger. Owned by the Borg family since 1930, it is the flagship publication of the North Jersey Media Group. Stephen Borg is the publisher of The Record...
as Team of the Year after only its second year as a team.
The Pascack Valley Regional Dance Team has been the National Grand Champions for the past two years at the National Dance Alliance Championship. In 2007 they were state champions as well. The Pascack Valley Regional Dance Team was on the cover of the February 2008 issue of The Record's
The Record (Bergen County)
The Record is a newspaper in northern New Jersey. It has the second largest circulation of New Jersey's daily newspapers, behind The Star-Ledger. Owned by the Borg family since 1930, it is the flagship publication of the North Jersey Media Group. Stephen Borg is the publisher of The Record...
Sports Magazine. In 2008 they took home two first place trophies in the Large Pom & Small Team Performance categories at the NDA National Championship. They were state champions in 2008 as well.
Student government
The Pascack Valley High School Student Government Association consists of five councils. Each grade has a class council, and the PVHS Executive Council governs the entire student body. Each council consists of a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. In 1996, two districtPascack Valley Regional High School District
The Pascack Valley Regional High School District is a regional public high school district encompassing students from four communities in the Pascack Valley region of Bergen County, New Jersey serving students in grades 9 - 12...
students, Matt Kracinovich of Pascack Hills
Pascack Hills High School
Pascack Hills High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school, one of two high schools that are part of the Pascack Valley Regional High School District in Bergen County, New Jersey. PHHS serves the residents of both Montvale, where the campus is located, and the neighboring community...
, and Ryan Shell of Pascack Valley, successfully lobbied the Board of Education
Board of education
A board of education or a school board or school committee is the title of the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or higher administrative level....
to accept a special student representative from each school to sit on the board. In the following year, the 1997-1998 school year, Kracinovich and Shell became the first students to occupy the new positions officially known as the Non-Voting Student Members of the Board of Education.
The Executive Council recommends appropriation of funds for student activities, with the approval of the Board, for the school. It is also very deeply involved in organizing activities and events for the school. The next step down the ladder of the student government consists of the four class councils, which participate in the running and operations of the school with the Executive Council, but represent and are responsible to the electing class.
Election
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
s to the class councils are held at the end of every year for various positions, and in the fall for the freshman class. There are two positions to which candidates must be appointed. The Executive Council, which is separate from the constituent class councils, holds elections in the spring.
Administration
Core members of the school's administration are:- Thomas De Maio, Principal
- John Puccio, Assistant Principal
- Debbie Squiccimarri, Assistant Principal
Assorted facts
- 99% of the senior students of the past year received a diploma.
- 96% of the seniors planned to attend college.
- As of the 2009-10 school year, four world languages are offered: Spanish, French, Chinese and Italian.
- 14 Advanced Placement (AP) classes are offered: AP Computer ScienceAP Computer ScienceAdvanced Placement Computer Science is the name of two distinct Advanced Placement courses and examinations offered by the College Board to high school students as an opportunity to earn college credit for a college-level computer science course...
, AP BiologyAP BiologyIn 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....
, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP ChemistryAP ChemistryAdvanced 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...
, AP English Language and CompositionAP English Language and CompositionAdvanced Placement English Language and Composition is a course and examination offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program....
, AP English Literature and CompositionAP English Literature and CompositionAdvanced Placement English Literature and Composition is a course and examination offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program.-The Course:This course is designated for motivated students with a command of standard English, an...
, AP European HistoryAP European HistoryAdvanced Placement European History is a course and examination offered by the College Board through the Advanced Placement Program...
, AP French LanguageAP French LanguageAdvanced Placement French Language and Culture is a course offered by the College Board to high school students in the United States as an opportunity to earn placement credit for a college-level French course...
, AP United States Government, AP Physics BAP Physics BAP Physics B is an Advanced Placement science course that is divided into nine different sections: Newtonian Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism, Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Physics, Waves and Optics, and Atomic and Nuclear Physics. The course is equivalent to a one-year college course that...
, AP Spanish LanguageAP Spanish LanguageAdvanced Placement Spanish Language is a course and examination offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program.-The course:...
, AP StatisticsAP StatisticsAdvanced Placement Statistics is a college-level high school statistics course offered in the United States through the College Board's Advanced Placement program...
, and AP United States HistoryAP United States HistoryAdvanced Placement United States History is a course and examination offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program...
. - Pascack Valley participates in the Honors program.
Notable alumni
- Tyler CowenTyler CowenTyler Cowen is an American economist, academic, and writer. He occupies the Holbert C. Harris Chair of economics as a professor at George Mason University and is co-author, with Alex Tabarrok, of the popular economics blog Marginal Revolution...
(born 1962), economist, author, and blogger. - Rob Delaney, (born 1984), pitcher in the Tampa Bay RaysTampa Bay RaysThe Tampa Bay Rays are a Major League Baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays are a member of the Eastern Division of MLB's American League. Since their inception in , the club has played at Tropicana Field...
' organization. - Peter EnnsPeter EnnsPeter Eric Enns is a Evangelical Christian and a biblical scholar.-Biography:Peter Enns was born in Passaic, New Jersey, to German American immigrant parents. He grew up in River Vale, New Jersey and graduated from Pascack Valley High School in 1978...
(born 1961), Old Testament scholar. - David RemnickDavid RemnickDavid Remnick is an American journalist, writer, and magazine editor. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994 for his book Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire. Remnick has been editor of The New Yorker magazine since 1998. He was named "Editor of the Year" by Advertising Age in 2000...
(born 1958), Editor for The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, who was editor-in-chief of Smoke Signal while in high school. - Garrett Zablocki (born 1985), former guitarist for Senses FailSenses FailSenses Fail is an American post-hardcore band from Ridgewood, New Jersey. Formed in 2002, the line up initially consisted of vocalist Buddy Nielsen, drummer Dan Trapp, guitarists Dave Miller and Garrett Zablocki and being completed by bassist Mike Glita. The band quickly issued their debut EP, From...
. - Heather ZurichHeather ZurichHeather N. Zurich is aassistant coachfor the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos women's basketball team of Santa Barbara, California....
, Rutgers UniversityRutgers UniversityRutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...
women's basketball starter.
External links
- Pascack Valley High School web pages
- Pascack Valley Regional School District official site
- Data for the Pascack Valley Regional High School District, National Center for Education StatisticsNational Center for Education StatisticsThe National Center for Education Statistics is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance information in the United States...
- Pascack Valley H.S. Theatre