Ridgefield Park High School
Encyclopedia
Ridgefield Park High School is a six-year comprehensive
public high school
that serves students in seventh through twelfth grade from Ridgefield Park
, in Bergen County
, New Jersey
, United States, operating as part of the Ridgefield Park Public Schools
. Students from Little Ferry
attend the district's high school as part of a sending/receiving relationship
with the Little Ferry Public Schools
that has been in place since 1953. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
Commission on Secondary Schools since 1930.
As of the 2009-10 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,197 students and 83 classroom teachers (on an FTE
basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.42.
The school was the 207th-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 180th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 161st in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.
, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association
. Prior to the 2010 realignment, the school had competed in the Bergen County Scholastic League
(BCSL) American Conference, which included private and public high schools located in Bergen County
and Hudson County
.
A team of students was one of five finalists in the 2004 New Jersey Business Idea Competition Winners at Fairleigh Dickinson University
representing the Northern Region, which covers Bergen, Essex, Morris, Passaic, Sussex and Warren Counties. Three other RPHS teams were semi-finalists.
In March 2006, alumnus Gregory Olsen
(RPHS '62), an entrepreneur who paid $20 million to become the world's third paying space tourist visited his alma mater to share his experiences in space.
were from Ridgefield Park High School. Over 300 students, nearly a quarter of the school's enrollment, had voluntarily participated in the program at Rahway State Prison
(now formally known as East Jersey State Prison), in which the students were given a hard look at the "physical and psychological brutality of prison life." The program was credited with contributing to a sharp drop in teen-aged crime in Ridgefield Park from 1976 to 1978.
Ridgefield Park High School was also featured on TruTV's The Principal's Office
.
Comprehensive high school
Comprehensive high schools are the most common form of public high schools in the United States and are meant to serve the needs of all students, as compared to the common practice in other nations in which examinations are used to sort students into different high schools for different populations...
public high school
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....
that serves students in seventh through twelfth grade from Ridgefield Park
Ridgefield Park, New Jersey
Ridgefield Park is a village in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The population was 12,729 at the 2010 United States Census. Of 566 municipalities statewide, Ridgefield Park is only one of three with a village type of government in New Jersey, along with Loch Arbour and Ridgewood.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...
, United States, operating as part of the Ridgefield Park Public Schools
Ridgefield Park Public Schools
The Ridgefield Park Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in kindergarten through twelfth grade from the Village of Ridgefield Park, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States....
. Students from Little Ferry
Little Ferry, New Jersey
Little Ferry is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 10,626.-Geography:Little Ferry is located at ....
attend the district's high school as part of a sending/receiving relationship
Sending/receiving relationship
A sending/receiving relationship is one in which a public school district sends some or all of its students to attend the schools of another district. This is often done to achieve costs savings in smaller districts or continues after districts have grown as part of a historical relationship...
with the Little Ferry Public Schools
Little Ferry Public Schools
The Little Ferry Public Schools are a community public school district that serves kindergarten through eighth-grade students from Little Ferry in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States....
that has been in place since 1953. The school has been 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...
Commission on Secondary Schools since 1930.
As of the 2009-10 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,197 students and 83 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 14.42.
The school was the 207th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 322 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly
New 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 180th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 161st in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.
Athletics
The Ridgefield Park High School Scarlets 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 2010 realignment, the school had competed in the Bergen County Scholastic League
Bergen County Scholastic League
The Bergen County Scholastic League was a New Jersey high school sports association under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association . The conference consisted of thirty public and parochials high schools covering Bergen County and Hudson County in northern New...
(BCSL) American Conference, which included private and public high schools located 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...
and 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...
.
Awards and recognition
For the 2005-06 school year, Ridgefield Park High School was one of 22 schools statewide selected as Governor's School of Excellence Winners, an award given to schools that have demonstrated significant academic improvement over the previous two academic years.A team of students was one of five finalists in the 2004 New Jersey Business Idea Competition Winners at Fairleigh Dickinson University
Fairleigh Dickinson University
Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university founded as a junior college in 1942. It now has several campuses located in New Jersey, Canada, and the United Kingdom.-Description:...
representing the Northern Region, which covers Bergen, Essex, Morris, Passaic, Sussex and Warren Counties. Three other RPHS teams were semi-finalists.
History
In 1916, Ridgefield Park High School was the subject of a groundbreaking ruling by the New Jersey Commissioner of Education, who ruled that teachers could remove their jackets while in class. A principal and teacher at the high school had been removed from his duties, based on charges against him that included 'conduct unbecoming a teacher' related to the removal of his coat while teaching one day. The charges were dismissed and the teacher was reinstated.In March 2006, alumnus Gregory Olsen
Gregory Olsen
Gregory Hammond "Greg" Olsen is an American entrepreneur, engineer and scientist who, in October 2005, became the third private citizen to make a self-funded trip to the International Space Station with the company Space Adventures....
(RPHS '62), an entrepreneur who paid $20 million to become the world's third paying space tourist visited his alma mater to share his experiences in space.
Popular culture
13 of the 17 students featured in the 1978 documentary film Scared Straight!Scared Straight!
Scared Straight! is a 1978 documentary directed by Arnold Shapiro. Narrated by Peter Falk, the subject of the documentary is a group of juvenile delinquents and their three-hour session with actual convicts...
were from Ridgefield Park High School. Over 300 students, nearly a quarter of the school's enrollment, had voluntarily participated in the program at Rahway State Prison
Rahway State Prison
East Jersey State Prison , originally Rahway State Prison, was established in 1896 as the first reformatory in New Jersey. It is a maximum-security institution operated by the New Jersey Department of Corrections, housing approximately 1,900 men .The prison is actually located in Avenel in...
(now formally known as East Jersey State Prison), in which the students were given a hard look at the "physical and psychological brutality of prison life." The program was credited with contributing to a sharp drop in teen-aged crime in Ridgefield Park from 1976 to 1978.
Ridgefield Park High School was also featured on TruTV's The Principal's Office
The Principal's Office
The Principal's Office is a reality TV program on truTV that began airing on August 21, 2008. It is set in American high schools and features dramatic and humorous encounters between students and principals. Some events that lead to such encounters are students being late to class, truancy, food...
.
Administration
Core members of the school's administration are:- James Donahue, Principal
- Michelle Aughey, Assistant Principal
- Michael Raimondi, Assistant Principal
- Michael Kilmurray, Dean of Students
Notable alumni
- Jimmy GneccoJimmy GneccoJames Francis "Jimmy" Gnecco III is an American musician. He is the vocalist for the rock band Ours as well as a solo artist with his release of The Heart.-Early life:...
(born 1973), singer/songwriter of the band Ours. - Mike Isabella, chef and reality TV Star on Bravo's Top ChefTop ChefTop Chef is an American reality competition show that airs on the cable television network Bravo, in which chefs compete against each other in culinary challenges. They are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry with one or more contestants...
. - Robert A. LewisRobert A. LewisRobert A. Lewis was a United States Army Air Forces Officer serving in the Pacific Theatre during World War II.Lewis grew up in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey and attended Ridgefield Park High School there, graduating in 1937....
(1918-83), co-pilot of the Enola GayEnola GayEnola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, mother of the pilot, then-Colonel Paul Tibbets. On August 6, 1945, during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb as a weapon of war...
, the plane which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. - Steve LoneganSteve LoneganSteven M. Lonegan was mayor of Bogota, New Jersey from 1995–2007 and a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor of New Jersey in 2005 and 2009. He is the Director of the New Jersey chapter of Americans for Prosperity....
(born 1956), former mayor of Bogota, New JerseyBogota, New JerseyAs of the 2010 Census, Bogota had a population of 8,187. The median age was 38.6. The racial and ethnic composition of the population was 61.0% White, 9.4% Black or African American, 0.8% Native American, 9.8% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander, 14.8% some other race and 4.1% reporting...
from 1995-2007. - Ozzie NelsonOzzie NelsonOswald George "Ozzie" Nelson was an American entertainer and band leader who originated and starred in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet radio and television series with his wife and two sons.-Early life:...
(1906-75), band leader and TV star. - Gregory OlsenGregory OlsenGregory Hammond "Greg" Olsen is an American entrepreneur, engineer and scientist who, in October 2005, became the third private citizen to make a self-funded trip to the International Space Station with the company Space Adventures....
(born 1945), entrepreneur and scientist who in October 2005 became the third private citizen to make a paid trip into space with Space AdventuresSpace AdventuresSpace Adventures, Ltd. is a Virginia, USA-based space tourism company founded in 1998 by Eric C. Anderson. , offerings include zero-gravity atmospheric flights, orbital spaceflights , and other spaceflight-related experiences including cosmonaut training, spacewalk training, and launch tours...
, Ltd. - Buddy Valastro (born 1977), owner of Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken, New JerseyHoboken, New JerseyHoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...
and star of the TLCTLC (TV channel)TLC is an American cable TV specialty channel which initially focused on educational content. Since 1991 TLC has been owned by Discovery Communications, the same company that operates the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and The Science Channel, as well as other learning-themed networks...
show Cake BossCake BossCake Boss is an American reality television series, airing on the cable television network TLC. Set at Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken, New Jersey, the show mainly follows Buddy Valastro, his mother, four sisters, and three brothers-in-law, as they operate their business, with a focus on how they make...
.
External links
- Ridgefield Park High School
- Ridgefield Park Public Schools
- Data for the Ridgefield Park Public Schools, 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...
- History of Ridgefield Park High School