Willingboro High School
Willingboro High School | |
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Location | |
Willingboro High School Willingboro High School Willingboro High School | |
20 JFK Way Willingboro, NJ 08046 | |
Information | |
Type | Public |
Established | 1975 |
School district | Willingboro Township Public Schools |
Principal | Kimberly Ash |
Asst. principals |
Harold Hill Theresa Hipplewith-Munford Leon Owen Chrystal Walker |
Faculty | 15.5 (on FTE basis)[1] |
Grades | 9–12 |
Enrollment | 807 (as of 2013-14)[1] |
Student to teacher ratio | 52.1:1[1] |
Color(s) |
Navy Scarlet[2] |
Athletics conference | Burlington County Scholastic League |
Team name | Chimeras[2] |
Website | School website |
Willingboro High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Willingboro Township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Willingboro Township Public Schools.
As of the 2013-14 school year, the school had an enrollment of 807 students and 15.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 52.1:1.[1] There were 284 students (35.2% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 18 (2.2% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 320th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology.[3] The school had been ranked 252nd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 295th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[4] The magazine ranked the school 247th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[5] The school was ranked 300th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[6] Schooldigger.com ranked the school as 362nd out of 376 public high schools statewide in its 2010 rankings (a decrease of 17 positions from the 2009 rank) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the language arts literacy and mathematics components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).[7]
History
The high school was opened in 1975 as a response to the overcrowded student population at John F. Kennedy, then the only high school in Willingboro, located just down the road on Kennedy Way. For a short time, residents were having a difficult time in deciding what to call the new Willingboro high school; some sought to name the new high school "J.F. Kennedy High School – East" while others debated on naming the school, "Robert F. Kennedy" after President Kennedy's brother, the former US Attorney General during his administration, Robert. A vote was taken and it was decided that the only appropriate name would be what the school is called today, "Willingboro High School." The school colors are navy blue, scarlet and white – which are the slight opposite of the school's former sister school, J.F.K. (which were scarlet, navy and white). The mascot is the "Chimera", a mythological monster with the head of a lion and body of a goat and the tail of a serpent, opposite of the former sister school, which was a "Gryphon, which had the head of an eagle and the body of a lion."
The two schools were merged at the start of the 1989–90 school year, with all students attending what is now Willingboro High School.[8]
Athletics
The Willingboro High School Chimeras[2] compete in the Patriot Division of the Burlington County Scholastic League (BCSL) sports association, which operates under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) and consists of public and non-public high schools covering Burlington County, Mercer County and Ocean County in central New Jersey[9] With 576 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2014-15 school year as Central Jersey, Group II for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 506 to 749 students in that grade range.[10]
The girls basketball team won the Group IV state championship in 1978 vs. Columbia High School and won Group III titles in 2000 vs. Orange High School, in 2002 vs. Malcolm X Shabazz High School and in 2007 vs. South Plainfield High School.[11] The team won the 2007 Group III state championship, defeating South Plainfield by a score of 53–46 in the tournament championship for the title.[12][13] The team won the South, Group III state sectional championship in 2000 with a 47–35 win against Pemberton Township High School.[14]
Administration
Core members of the school's administration are:[15]
- Kimberly B. Ash, Principal
- Harold Hill, Assistant Principal
- Theresa Hipplewith-Munford, Assistant Principal
- Leon Owen, Athletic Director / Assistant Principal
- Chrystal Walker, Assistant Principal
Notable alumni
- City High group members Claudette Ortiz, Robby Pardlo and Ryan Toby.[16]
- Tom Davis (born c. 1970), college basketball standout at Delaware State University.[17]
- James Green (born 1992), amateur wrestler who won bronze at the 2015 World Wrestling Championships at Men's freestyle 70 kg.[18]
- David Grimaldi (born 1954), former professional soccer player who served as Commissioner of the National Indoor Soccer League.[19]
- Crystal Langhorne (born 1986), women's basketball player for the University of Maryland and national champion in the 2006 NCAA Women's tournament. Langhorne was drafted by the Washington Mystics.[20]
- Carl Lewis (born 1961), track and field legend, winner of ten Olympic medals, including nine gold medals.[21]
- Kareem McKenzie (born 1979), National Football League offensive tackle.[22]
- Dezman Moses (born 1989), National Football League linebacker with the Green Bay Packers.[23]
- Shaun Phillips (born 1981), National Football League outside linebacker.[24]
- Ryan Toby (born 1976), soul singer, songwriter, producer, and actor best known for playing Wesley Glen Ahmal James in the 1993 film Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit.[25]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 School Data for Willingboro High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed October 28, 2015.
- 1 2 3 Willingboro High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 28, 2015.
- ↑ Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
- ↑ Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 4, 2012.
- ↑ Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed February 14, 2011.
- ↑ "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
- ↑ New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2009–2010, Schooldigger.com. Accessed February 9, 2012.
- ↑ Quinn, Laura. "WILLINGBORO GIRDS FOR SCHOOL MERGER", The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 28, 1989. Accessed October 8, 2008.
- ↑ League Memberships – 2015-2016, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed June 5, 2016.
- ↑ 2014-2015 Public Schools Group Classification: ShopRite Cup–Basketball–Baseball–Softball for Central Jersey, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, as of July 8, 2014. Accessed November 25, 2014.
- ↑ NJSIAA Group Basketball State Champions, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 28, 2015.
- ↑ Graves, Jody. "Willingboro wins fourth quarter, captures Group 3 championship", Courier-Post, March 7, 2000. Accessed August 19, 2007. "With the score tied at 29 to start the fourth quarter, the Chimeras,ranked No. 3 in the Courier-Post Top 20 Poll, went on a 12–2 run to put the game away en route to a 49–35 victory over Pemberton."
- ↑ 2007 Girls Basketball – Public Group Semis/Finals, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, May 9, 2007.
- ↑ Public Sectionals – South, Group III, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed August 19, 2007.
- ↑ Contact Information, Willingboro High School. Accessed May 9, 2016.
- ↑ "City High: Top of Their Class" (Biography). MTV. 2007. Retrieved October 9, 2009.
- ↑ Hunt, Donald (March 25, 1991). "Tom Davis Sets Sights On NBA". The Philadelphia Inquirer. philly.com. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
- ↑ James Green, United States Olympic Committee. Accessed August 9, 2016. "Residence: Willingboro, N.J.... As a senior at Willingboro High School, became first wrestler in school history to win state championship after perfect 29-0 season... Closed prep career with 148-8 overall record"
- ↑ Retired Jerseys, Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's soccer team. Accessed February 14, 2011. "An all-state performer for Willingboro High School, Grimaldi played three years in the Major Indoor Soccer League for the Cleveland Force where he was elected player-representative and team captain."
- ↑ Editorial. "Crystal clear: Entire county celebrates as W'boro grad ends March madness with a flair", Burlington County Times, April 6, 2006. Accessed February 14, 2011. "Her parents have known it all along. Her teammates at Willingboro High School and the University of Maryland learned it quickly. And now the whole country is in on the secret: In the world of college basketball, Crystal Langhorne is unstoppable."
- ↑ Strauss, Robert. "WORTH NOTING; Carl Lewis Takes Honors, But Not at His Home Track", The New York Times, December 2, 2001. Accessed February 9, 2012. "Mr. Lewis, who graduated from Willingboro High School in 1979, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in Mobile, Ala., along with three fellow Olympians from the 1984 Games – the marathoner Alberto Salazar, the steeplechase runner Henry Marsh and Larry Myricks, a long jumper."
- ↑ Eisen, Michael. "Giants Sign OL Kareem McKenzie: Signing is second major addition in two days for Big Blue", new York Giants, March 4, 2005. Accessed May 25, 2007. "McKenzie played only two years of football at Willingboro High School, but was still named an All-America by USA Today. He was All-State and All-Burlington County. McKenzie competed in the discus and shot put on the track team, serving as captain for two seasons."
- ↑ Dezman Moses, Tulane Green Wave football. Accessed December 27, 2012. "High School: Four-year letterman at Willingboro High where he played wide receiver and inside linebacker for coach Nelson Hayspell... Personal: Born Dezman Mirrill Moses on Jan. 4, 1989, in Willingboro, N.J."
- ↑ Shaun Phillips player profile, San Diego Chargers. Accessed July 20, 2007. "Shaun grew up in Willingboro, New Jersey, not far from Giants Stadium where the New York Jets play their home games....all-state, All-South Jersey and all-city at Willingboro High School in Willingboro, New Jersey"
- ↑ Lowe, Herbert. "Standing Tall, In And Out Of Character Ryan Toby, 17, Wants The World To Judge Him 'Not By My Money, Not By My Status.'", The Philadelphia Inquirer, January 26, 1994. Accessed October 31, 2015. "'Honestly,' said Toby, dressed in jeans and a white crewneck sweater in his parents' living room in Willingboro, 'I think he (Ahmal) just started wanting to know more about his heritage and... was rebellious in that 'I'm going to do something different than what my friends are doing.'... A student at Willingboro High School, Toby began his singing in school and church choirs."
External links
- Willingboro High School
- Willingboro Township Public Schools
- Willingboro Township Public Schools's 2014–15 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
- School Data for the Willingboro Township Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics
Coordinates: 40°00′38″N 74°53′18″W / 40.010439°N 74.88825°W