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Columbia High School (New Jersey)
Encyclopedia
Columbia High School is a four-year comprehensive
regional public high school
located at 17 Parker Avenue in Maplewood, New Jersey
, which serves students in grades nine through twelve within the South Orange-Maplewood School District
, which includes Maplewood and South Orange
Townships. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
Commission on Secondary Schools since 1928.
As of the 2009-10 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,866 students and 146 classroom teachers (on an FTE
basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.78.
The new schoolhouse was a two-story wood structure, topped by a thin steeple and a lofty weather vane. It was completed before the fall term of 1815. The Trustees decided "That the price of tuition in this school be fixed at $1.75 per quarter for spelling, reading and writing; for Arithmetic in addition to the above branches the sum of $0.25 cts and for Grammar or Geography the further sum of twenty-five cents." The cost of firewood was to be "divided equally among the schollars." On May 10, 1816, the Trustees adopted a seal for the school in the form of "a spread eagle standing on a globe with the word Excelsior underneath in Roman Capitals.
In the early years, students at the Columbia School were not separated according to grade. All were subject to the same rules, among them the following adopted by the Trustees on May 2, 1827:
"Every scholar must be made to name every silent letter in his spelling when he spells a word with one in and mention every figure which is placed over a letter and be taught to know their uses and for every mistake or omission in such letter or figure shall be considered the same as spelling a word wrong and subject to the same usage.
"Every scholar that spells a word wrong or omits a silent letter or figure shall step in the rear of the class and there stand until the class shall have spelled through, then those that have spelled right are to move up in a solid body and those who are in the rear to move down and take their places at the foot."
For decades, the school was supported by tuition payments. But gradually the State began to assume a share of the financial responsibility. In 1820, a law authorized townships to levy a tax to pay the tuition of poor students. By 1828, townships had the power to tax for general school purposes. The State itself began to contribute money in 1830, and in 1846 every township was required to raise as much money each year for schools as the State itself contributed. The last tuition assessment for residents occurred in 1861, and thereafter the Columbia School was entirely supported by public taxation.
The Trustees responded in 1879 by resolving to erect a new brick building, of two stories, to accommodate between 220 and 240 pupils. The new structure was opened in 1880. The final cost of construction was $17,094.49. The building later became the northeast wing of the old South Orange Junior High School, demolished when the present middle school was built.
The separate existence of the high school began in 1885, when the Trustees decided "that in order to increase the efficiency of the Columbia School a new class of a higher grade shall be formed at the commencement of the coming term to be taught by the Principal." Lower grades continued to be housed at Columbia. The Trustees' minutes of May 31, 1888, reflect the principal's request "that a diploma be voted to Miss Etta A. Kilburn" and that, "on motion, a diploma was voted to Miss Kilburn, the first graduate of the high school.
The close of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th brought significant changes in high school curriculum and school management. The Board of Education had by now replaced the old Board of Trustees. In 1890, "manual training" was offered in school. By 1891, sciences had been added to the course of study. A tradition of excellence was beginning to evolve, and in 1892 two Columbia graduates were admitted to Cornell University. Musical enrichment was added in 1894 with the hiring of a singing teacher from New York City. Early in the 1900s the value of athletics was recognized and encouraged at Columbia by the organization of boys' and girls' teams. The student council was formed in 1912, and The Columbian student newspaper followed in 1915.
There was a reaction to these changes. Complaints arose over so-called "fads and frills"-inessentials said to be leading to the neglect of reading, writing, spelling and arithmetic. New York papers read by local commuters campaigned for a return to the efficiency of the "little old red schoolhouse." But the changes were here to stay.
At the same time, pupil behavior was becoming less inhibited, much to the distress of the adult population. Henry W. Foster, Superintendent of the District from 1900–1927, described the conditions in 1913:
"Long before prohibition was adopted, venturesome boys were surreptitiously now and then bringing liquor to dances to add to the excitement. There was a decided reversion to animalistic excitement. Musical rhythm from the wilds of barbarism stirred the pulse. The dance abandoned the restraint and refinement of waltz and polka; Bunny Hug, Turkey Trot, Fox Trot, and Shimmey began to reign."
The Board of Education reacted by banning all but "polite dances" on school premises. However, the proscribed behavior persisted, and the Board then stopped all school dances. That continued until it became apparent that students were going to outside dances anyway and the efforts at control were abandoned.
Epidemics raged during the same period of time. Polio spread around the country in 1916 and, at Columbia, resulted in the deaths of one teacher and several children. In 1918, the global influenza epidemic closed all of the schools in the District for three weeks and one teacher died.
In the early part of the 20th century most of the remaining farms in Maplewood and South Orange were sold and subdivided, leading to the present suburban character of the towns. The increase in population placed enormous pressure on the schools. In 1900, the total District school population was 792; by 1927, it had risen to 4,960, an increase of 526%.
More was needed. The old Columbia School could no longer safely accommodate the student population. A magnificent new structure was planned. The design process was unique in that the faculty and all members of the staff participated by submitting sketches, drawn to scale, of the facilities necessary to satisfy their needs. In 1926 construction began on the present Columbia High School building. Work was completed in September 1927, in time for the fall term. So well designed was this building that two years later its floor plan was described and pictured in the Encyclopædia Britannica in an article describing ideal American schools.
During this period of time Columbia gained increasing fame for its academic excellence. Educators generally considered it to be one of the most outstanding high schools in the United States. Much of that reputation was due to Mr. Henry W. Foster, Superintendent from 1900 to 1927, and Mr. John H. Bosshart, Principal from 1920 to 1927. Mr. Bosshart succeeded Mr. Foster as Superintendent, and later served as the first head of the New Jersey Department of Education.
American public schools were all significantly impacted by World War II. In the words of Lt. General Brehon Sommervell, then Commanding General, Services of Supply: "The job of the schools in this total war is to educate the nation's manpower for war and for the peace that follows." Columbia High School met the challenge, primarily with curriculum changes designed to prepare boys for service in the military. The science department developed courses in aeronautics. In biology, students studied the effect of flying on the human body. A new modern history course emphasized the "historical background for an understanding of the forces which have caused this global war, of the necessity of destroying that for which our enemies stand and of the magnitude of the international problems which face the world." Even the music department offered a new program "to train pupils in the informal singing that grows out of wartime needs." Columbia had its own Victory Corps with the objective of encouraging pupils "to take some active part in their own community's war effort while they are yet in school.
For many years following its opening in 1927, the high school physical plant was more than sufficient for the needs of its population. Although four classrooms and a shop were added to the structure in 1939, it was not until 1958 that a large addition (now C Wing) was constructed to accommodate a burgeoning student body. By 1964, the dimensions of a new population explosion were perceived, and a special Board of Education committee was formed to investigate the needs of Columbia High School in the 1970s. As a result of this study, it was calculated that further additions would be required. During the 1970-71 school year, B and D Wings were added at a total cost of $5,250,000.
The total high school population was now approaching 2,400. The same committee which concluded that physical additions were needed also recommended a new organizational plan to prevent students from feeling depersonalized in such a large system. What grew out of this was the House Plan, which, in 1970, divided Columbia into four sub-schools of approximately 600 students each. The goal was to provide the intimacy of a small school within a large plant, and each of the houses had, for example, its own student council, intramural athletic teams, and newspapers. All of these were in addition to the traditional school-wide activities.
The Invention of Ultimate Frisbee:
The Vietnam era generally coincided with a time of protest against all things establishment. One manifestation of this was the ascendancy of Ultimate
(also known as Ultimate Frisbee), which became popular around the country as an alternative to varsity sports. The game was conceived of by Columbia students in the late 1960s. It is said that the first organized game took place in 1968 in the lower Parker Avenue parking lot (aka the Student Parking Lot) between the staff of The Columbian and the Student Council. An annual CHS Ultimate Alumni game is played in the student parking lot on the night of Thanksgiving
. The event has drawn former CHS Ultimate players from as far back as the early 1970s to return to "The Lot" to play against the current incarnation of the team. The original game was played between the school's newspaper staff (The Columbian) and the school's yearbook staff (The Mirror).
Columbia High School was the first school in the nation to observe Earth Day on April 17, 1970. Due to the fact that Columbia was on spring break on April 22, when Earth Day was scheduled for national observance, the presentation was known as Earth Day Minus Five and a specially prepared flag was run up the main flagpole by students Tim Lee and Larry Schindel. The all day observance, which was coordinated by biology teacher, Jeffrey Himmelstein began with Congressman Joseph Minish
as the keynote speaker and several noted scientists from the area conducted seminars. Featured was an assembly with films and slide shows that were created by several students and environmentally themed folk songs were sung by Dorothy Giordano.
from the United States Department of Education
, the highest honor that an American school can achieve.
In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post
, the school was ranked 43rd in New Jersey and 1,358th nationwide. In Newsweek
's May 22, 2007 issue, ranking the country's top high schools, Columbia High School was listed in 1192nd place, the 39th-highest ranked school in New Jersey.
The school was the 75th-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 89th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was also ranked 79th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.
The Columbia High School Student Council was named an "NJASC Honor School" for the 3rd consecutive year in January 2008. It also won a "Top 10 Projects" award for their event, 'School in Action Night'. They won the same honor the year before for their 'How to Start a Gay-Straight Alliance' presentation created by Christian Fuscarino and Jake Esformes.
, Architectural Record
, American School and University, The Brick Builder, Pencil Points, and The American School Board Journal. Rendered in the Collegiate Gothic style by James O. Betelle of the Newark, New Jersey architectural firm of Guilbert & Betelle, the school served as a standard in design as evidenced by the inclusion of a floor plan in a 1930 Encyclopædia Britannica
article, and later design homages such as John Marshall High School (Los Angeles, California)
. Collegiate Gothic, or Academic Gothic, construction was prevalent among schools and colleges in the 1920s, and was Betelle's preferred building style for both its scholastically historic roots and practical considerations.
Predominant original exterior features include carved limestone detail, numerous false chimneys, steeply pitched slate roofs, and a seven-story clock tower. While it is not known for certain that Columbia High School was inspired by any earlier structures, the strong resemblance to Laynon Hall at Queen's University of Belfast
is hard to ignore. At the very top of the clock tower is a copper pyramidal structure. The entire pyramid structure rotates, and one side opens, serving as an observatory. The observatory is equipped with a large refracting telescope
made by John Brashear
. Two levels below are the E. Howard & Co.
Style #3 clock works. Along side the clock is an enormous bronze bell by the Meneely Bell Foundry
. Inside the school can be found rooms with fireplaces, hallways with beautiful faience
wall tiles by John Scott Award
recipient Herman Carl Mueller
of Trenton, and mosaic inlaid terrazzo
floors in the front hall. The front foyer was recently renovated, removing non-period lighting and mid-century acoustic tile. The restoration included doors that more closely replicated the 1926 originals, a new terrazzo floor, and dramatic lighting of the zodiac-inspired plaster ceiling. Recently, dubious student art dating from as far back as the 1970s was painted over, among other improvements. The auditorium includes a three-manual Ernest M. Skinner
Organ. Although it is little used and not completely functional, the organ is one of the few unmodified Skinners in existence and has received an Organ Historical Society
citation. Regrettably, on either side of the stage the large plaster grills that hide the organ pipes were water damaged. The original auditorium chandeliers have also been removed. A similar story exists with regard to the swimming pool; while the original vaulted Catalan Guastavino tile
ceiling remains, the chandeliers are gone, and a giant arched window is blocked by a later addition.
CHS has had a major addition every 20 to 30 years. In the 1930s, an industrial arts wing brought students the skills needed during the Great Depression. In the 1950s, a large addition, now known as "C-Wing", added classrooms to cope with increasing student numbers as well as a massive gymnasium (bringing the total number of gyms to three). In the early 70s a projected enrollment boom and the need for new science, fine arts, and industrial arts space created the need for "B" and "D" wings. A new cafeteria, the largest public school library at the time, space for academic advising, a now-gone small movie theater and A/V room and a TV studio were built. With these additions, the earlier 1927 structure is only visible from the front facade and between later additions. In 2005, much of the space previously used for industrial arts such as wood shop and auto shop was transformed into a theatre performance and general use space. In 2009, renovations were completed on the main entryway, reviving original stone and woodwork, but with a conspicuous misspelling of the school's motto, "Excelsior", carved as "Excelcior" into the masonry floor.
In each era of construction, the chosen design was seen as controversial. The D-Wing, the most recent and most obvious addition to the School, boasts a dramatic modernist design typical of the late-1960s and early 1970s. The clash between this new (and already out-of-fashion) style and the original, timeless architecture of the A-Wing is especially visible from Parker Ave.
, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association
. The school had previously competed in the Iron Hills Conference
before the 2010 realignment. Prior to 1972, the school competed in New Jersey's Big Ten Conference. The school is currently classified within Group IV (requiring a minimum of 1200 students in grades 10-12) by the NJSIAA. Many of the teams are successful on the local, state, and national level.
Ultimate was invented at The Columbia High School in 1968. The ultimate team has won the state championship 11 times in the tournament's 13-year history. The team has won the championship every year since 2001 giving it a 10-year winning streak. The team has attended the Paideia cup tournament in Atlanta, Georgia
, a nationally competitive tournament, every year since its inception in 2006, as well as the Amherst Invitational in Massachusetts. Last year, the men's team gained recognition in town hall meetings and Board of Education meetings after winning the 2008 High school Eastern championship on May 11, 2008. The women's team has won the state championship every year that it has been contested, beginning in 2007. However, the team is not recognized as a sport by the school and does not receive funding by the district.
The school's fencing
team (started in 1982) is one of the largest in the nation, having over 100 freshmen join the team in the last year alone. The boys team is consistently ranked among the top in the state, while the girls team has won the state championship 8 out of 10 years. The girls team record for the combined 1999-2005 seasons was 94-4. In 2006, the girls fencing team defeated Bernards High School
19-8 to win the NJSIAA 2006 Girls Team Fencing state tournament. Columbia won the 2007 Boys Team Fencing state championship with a 16-11 win over Voorhees High School
. The team's head coach, Dr. Arthur Paulina, won his milestone 300th victory during the 06-07 season. In the 2008-09 season, the boys fencing team took home the epee state title. In the 2009-10 season, the girls team won District III, but finished 5th in the state, losing in the quarterfinals to Governor Livingston High School
. The boys team won the Cetrulo Tournament and the NJSIAA/Bollinger District 3 championships, earning them a top seed going into the NJSIAA State Championship Tournament. The boys team won state championships for the first time since 2007 in a 15-12 win over Bernards High School
. In the 2010-11 season, the girls placed No. 3 in the team state championships after defeating Governor Livingston High School
in the consolation meet. The boys won their second consecutive state championship defeating Montclair High School (New Jersey) in the final by a 14-13 score.
The girl's track and field
team won the New Jersey girl's indoor track relays in the winter of 2005. The boys track team placed 5th at the Nike Indoor Nationals in the 4x400 meter relay in 2009, making it the best in history for Columbia boys and breaking a school record. In the 2010 outdoor season, both the girl's and boy's teams went to the New Balance Outdoor Nationals, where the girls team won, making them #1 in the country, and the boys placed 6th.
The boy's soccer team is coached by Gene Chyzowych
, one of the most successful active scholastic soccer coaches in the nation. The 2007 boys soccer team won the North II, Group IV state sectional championship with a 1-0 win over Westfield High School
in the tournament final.
The school's cross-country team has had success. The school won the Group IV boys title in 1960 and has had a number of individual state champions. In 2008, a senior girl won the Essex County Championships.
Columbia's Varsity football team has been notably unsuccessful in recent years, winning only two games over a span of 5 seasons, including three consecutive winless seasons from 2005–2007, but broke their 45-game losing streak with a 48-0 victory over Dickinson High School
in the last game of the 2008 season. In 2009, The team finished 8-1 in the regular season, but lost to Westfield High School
41-6 in the first round of playoffs.
produced a song on his radio program entitled "Oh, Little Town of Maplewood", mocking the new rules of Columbia High School. The new guidelines were also mentioned on The O'Reilly Factor
.
In the mid 1970s the school district was sued for teaching Transcendental Meditation
for course credit. Later, The U.S. District Court ruled in Malnak v. Yogi (1979) that under the Establishment Clause
of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution
, TM was too religious to be taught in public schools.
In June 2000, writer Tamar Lewin of The New York Times
wrote "Growing Up, Growing Apart", a lengthy feature highlight how an ethnically diverse trio struggled to maintain friendships and cope with teen life at Columbia. The story trailed Aqeelah Mateen, an African-American Muslim, Kelly Regan, an Irish Catholic, and Johanna Perez-Fox, a Puerto Rican Jew; the group quickly became ambassadors for the school, and for their respective ethnic groups. The article wasn't controversial, per se, but directed national attention to the school district and to Columbia specifically.
55% of the students are African American
heritage and 38% are Caucasian. Within this black-and-white composition are found a variety of ethnic backgrounds including Nigerian, Haitian, Jamaican, African-American, English, French, Jewish, Polish, Italian, and Irish. There has been much discussion regarding the Racial Academic Achievement Gap in the school district, and the tracking
is often cited as the most glaring example of a racial disparity.
Columbia High School has also had many student led walk-outs. In late March 2006 hundreds of students walked out after tensions with the principal regarding censorship issues and racial comments. The students were calling for her resignation. The next year a new acting principal was instated and the following school year she became the official principal. On April 27, 2010, hundreds of students participated in a state-wide walkout of high school students protesting the budget cuts put in place by Chris Christie.
Other notable alumni not currently in the hall of fame include:
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...
regional 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....
located at 17 Parker Avenue in Maplewood, New Jersey
Maplewood, New Jersey
Maplewood is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 23,867.-History:...
, which serves students in grades nine through twelve within the South Orange-Maplewood School District
South Orange-Maplewood School District
The South Orange-Maplewood School District is a regional public school district, serving students from two communities in Essex County, New Jersey, United States...
, which includes Maplewood and South Orange
South Orange, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 16,964 people, 5,522 households, and 3,766 families residing in the township. The population density was 5,945.3 people per square mile . There were 5,671 housing units at an average density of 1,987.5 per square mile...
Townships. 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 1928.
As of the 2009-10 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,866 students and 146 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 12.78.
Beginnings
Since the days of the Revolution, a one-room stone schoolhouse had stood on a grassy area known as the Common, located close to the present intersection of South Orange Avenue and Academy Street in South Orange, NJ. ln 1814, this building blocked the construction of a new toll highway from Newark to Morristown. The 73 "Proprietors and Associates" of the school met on August 3 of that year and resolved to erect a new school building near the site of the old one, naming seven Trustees to thereafter oversee the education of local children. The resolution reflected "the desire of the meeting that the said school should in the future have the name of Columbian School of South Orange."The new schoolhouse was a two-story wood structure, topped by a thin steeple and a lofty weather vane. It was completed before the fall term of 1815. The Trustees decided "That the price of tuition in this school be fixed at $1.75 per quarter for spelling, reading and writing; for Arithmetic in addition to the above branches the sum of $0.25 cts and for Grammar or Geography the further sum of twenty-five cents." The cost of firewood was to be "divided equally among the schollars." On May 10, 1816, the Trustees adopted a seal for the school in the form of "a spread eagle standing on a globe with the word Excelsior underneath in Roman Capitals.
In the early years, students at the Columbia School were not separated according to grade. All were subject to the same rules, among them the following adopted by the Trustees on May 2, 1827:
"Every scholar must be made to name every silent letter in his spelling when he spells a word with one in and mention every figure which is placed over a letter and be taught to know their uses and for every mistake or omission in such letter or figure shall be considered the same as spelling a word wrong and subject to the same usage.
"Every scholar that spells a word wrong or omits a silent letter or figure shall step in the rear of the class and there stand until the class shall have spelled through, then those that have spelled right are to move up in a solid body and those who are in the rear to move down and take their places at the foot."
For decades, the school was supported by tuition payments. But gradually the State began to assume a share of the financial responsibility. In 1820, a law authorized townships to levy a tax to pay the tuition of poor students. By 1828, townships had the power to tax for general school purposes. The State itself began to contribute money in 1830, and in 1846 every township was required to raise as much money each year for schools as the State itself contributed. The last tuition assessment for residents occurred in 1861, and thereafter the Columbia School was entirely supported by public taxation.
Post-Civil War
After the Civil War, improvements on the railroad contributed to a decided growth of population in the old Township of South Orange. The general character of the citizenry underwent a significant change and residents known as "commuters" began to emerge in numbers. In 1867, a state law required that Columbia become a graded school. By 1877, the old two-story wooden building erected in 1815 was found to be woefully inadequate for the growing community. One resident complained (perhaps hyperbolically) that "in very cold weather, with stoves at red heat, it is impossible to raise the temperature in the room above 55 degrees, and in such a place are sown the seeds of suffering, disease and death."The Trustees responded in 1879 by resolving to erect a new brick building, of two stories, to accommodate between 220 and 240 pupils. The new structure was opened in 1880. The final cost of construction was $17,094.49. The building later became the northeast wing of the old South Orange Junior High School, demolished when the present middle school was built.
The separate existence of the high school began in 1885, when the Trustees decided "that in order to increase the efficiency of the Columbia School a new class of a higher grade shall be formed at the commencement of the coming term to be taught by the Principal." Lower grades continued to be housed at Columbia. The Trustees' minutes of May 31, 1888, reflect the principal's request "that a diploma be voted to Miss Etta A. Kilburn" and that, "on motion, a diploma was voted to Miss Kilburn, the first graduate of the high school.
20th Century
In 1894, the South Orange, Maplewood, and Hilton school districts were consolidated and became the South Orange and Maplewood School District, with borders essentially identical to those which presently exist. The District remained unified even after Maplewood and South Orange became separately incorporated, although there was considerable pressure to split as early as 1904.The close of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th brought significant changes in high school curriculum and school management. The Board of Education had by now replaced the old Board of Trustees. In 1890, "manual training" was offered in school. By 1891, sciences had been added to the course of study. A tradition of excellence was beginning to evolve, and in 1892 two Columbia graduates were admitted to Cornell University. Musical enrichment was added in 1894 with the hiring of a singing teacher from New York City. Early in the 1900s the value of athletics was recognized and encouraged at Columbia by the organization of boys' and girls' teams. The student council was formed in 1912, and The Columbian student newspaper followed in 1915.
There was a reaction to these changes. Complaints arose over so-called "fads and frills"-inessentials said to be leading to the neglect of reading, writing, spelling and arithmetic. New York papers read by local commuters campaigned for a return to the efficiency of the "little old red schoolhouse." But the changes were here to stay.
At the same time, pupil behavior was becoming less inhibited, much to the distress of the adult population. Henry W. Foster, Superintendent of the District from 1900–1927, described the conditions in 1913:
"Long before prohibition was adopted, venturesome boys were surreptitiously now and then bringing liquor to dances to add to the excitement. There was a decided reversion to animalistic excitement. Musical rhythm from the wilds of barbarism stirred the pulse. The dance abandoned the restraint and refinement of waltz and polka; Bunny Hug, Turkey Trot, Fox Trot, and Shimmey began to reign."
The Board of Education reacted by banning all but "polite dances" on school premises. However, the proscribed behavior persisted, and the Board then stopped all school dances. That continued until it became apparent that students were going to outside dances anyway and the efforts at control were abandoned.
World War I
World War I profoundly affected life at Columbia. Pupils in assembly regularly delivered patriotic "four minute speeches." Every room in the school had a full complement of war posters. Quite a number of boys signed up for the Army and the Navy. All male teachers enlisted.Epidemics raged during the same period of time. Polio spread around the country in 1916 and, at Columbia, resulted in the deaths of one teacher and several children. In 1918, the global influenza epidemic closed all of the schools in the District for three weeks and one teacher died.
In the early part of the 20th century most of the remaining farms in Maplewood and South Orange were sold and subdivided, leading to the present suburban character of the towns. The increase in population placed enormous pressure on the schools. In 1900, the total District school population was 792; by 1927, it had risen to 4,960, an increase of 526%.
Post-World War I
The Board of Education initially responded by constructing a sizable addition to the old Columbia School in 1910, which building still housed primary school children as well as high school students. Seth Boyden School and the old Fielding School were erected in 1913 and 1914, respectively. By the fall of 1922 Marshall School was completed. First Street School followed the next spring, and Jefferson School opened in January 1924. Later that year the junior high schools were organized, and both the Tuscan and Montrose buildings were finished.More was needed. The old Columbia School could no longer safely accommodate the student population. A magnificent new structure was planned. The design process was unique in that the faculty and all members of the staff participated by submitting sketches, drawn to scale, of the facilities necessary to satisfy their needs. In 1926 construction began on the present Columbia High School building. Work was completed in September 1927, in time for the fall term. So well designed was this building that two years later its floor plan was described and pictured in the Encyclopædia Britannica in an article describing ideal American schools.
During this period of time Columbia gained increasing fame for its academic excellence. Educators generally considered it to be one of the most outstanding high schools in the United States. Much of that reputation was due to Mr. Henry W. Foster, Superintendent from 1900 to 1927, and Mr. John H. Bosshart, Principal from 1920 to 1927. Mr. Bosshart succeeded Mr. Foster as Superintendent, and later served as the first head of the New Jersey Department of Education.
American public schools were all significantly impacted by World War II. In the words of Lt. General Brehon Sommervell, then Commanding General, Services of Supply: "The job of the schools in this total war is to educate the nation's manpower for war and for the peace that follows." Columbia High School met the challenge, primarily with curriculum changes designed to prepare boys for service in the military. The science department developed courses in aeronautics. In biology, students studied the effect of flying on the human body. A new modern history course emphasized the "historical background for an understanding of the forces which have caused this global war, of the necessity of destroying that for which our enemies stand and of the magnitude of the international problems which face the world." Even the music department offered a new program "to train pupils in the informal singing that grows out of wartime needs." Columbia had its own Victory Corps with the objective of encouraging pupils "to take some active part in their own community's war effort while they are yet in school.
For many years following its opening in 1927, the high school physical plant was more than sufficient for the needs of its population. Although four classrooms and a shop were added to the structure in 1939, it was not until 1958 that a large addition (now C Wing) was constructed to accommodate a burgeoning student body. By 1964, the dimensions of a new population explosion were perceived, and a special Board of Education committee was formed to investigate the needs of Columbia High School in the 1970s. As a result of this study, it was calculated that further additions would be required. During the 1970-71 school year, B and D Wings were added at a total cost of $5,250,000.
The total high school population was now approaching 2,400. The same committee which concluded that physical additions were needed also recommended a new organizational plan to prevent students from feeling depersonalized in such a large system. What grew out of this was the House Plan, which, in 1970, divided Columbia into four sub-schools of approximately 600 students each. The goal was to provide the intimacy of a small school within a large plant, and each of the houses had, for example, its own student council, intramural athletic teams, and newspapers. All of these were in addition to the traditional school-wide activities.
Vietnam War
Student reaction to the Vietnam War was a nationwide phenomenon, and Columbia provided no exception to the pattern. A Student Peace Group was organized at Columbia in 1968, and over 300 students actively participated. Members wore black armbands on April 26 of that year, and a community rally was held the next day with faculty members present. On March 17, 1969, 43 Columbia students were suspended for distributing leaflets in school. The American Civil Liberties Union agreed to defend the students, but the issue later became moot when, over a period of time, the students were reinstated.The Invention of Ultimate Frisbee:
The Vietnam era generally coincided with a time of protest against all things establishment. One manifestation of this was the ascendancy of Ultimate
Ultimate (sport)
Ultimate is a sport played with a 175 gram flying disc. The object of the game is to score points by passing the disc to a player in the opposing end zone, similar to an end zone in American football or rugby...
(also known as Ultimate Frisbee), which became popular around the country as an alternative to varsity sports. The game was conceived of by Columbia students in the late 1960s. It is said that the first organized game took place in 1968 in the lower Parker Avenue parking lot (aka the Student Parking Lot) between the staff of The Columbian and the Student Council. An annual CHS Ultimate Alumni game is played in the student parking lot on the night of Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
. The event has drawn former CHS Ultimate players from as far back as the early 1970s to return to "The Lot" to play against the current incarnation of the team. The original game was played between the school's newspaper staff (The Columbian) and the school's yearbook staff (The Mirror).
Columbia High School today
By the late 1970s, student populations around the nation had entered what proved to be a period of extended numerical decline. The Board of Education organized a citizen Educational Task Force, which conducted a District-wide demographic study and ultimately recommended a series of school closings and consolidations. One of the results was the entry of the 9th grade into the high school in 1980. Declining enrollment, as well as cost considerations, led to the discontinuance of the House Plan in 1982.Columbia High School was the first school in the nation to observe Earth Day on April 17, 1970. Due to the fact that Columbia was on spring break on April 22, when Earth Day was scheduled for national observance, the presentation was known as Earth Day Minus Five and a specially prepared flag was run up the main flagpole by students Tim Lee and Larry Schindel. The all day observance, which was coordinated by biology teacher, Jeffrey Himmelstein began with Congressman Joseph Minish
Joseph Minish
Joseph George Minish was an American Democratic Party politician from New Jersey who represented in the United States House of Representatives....
as the keynote speaker and several noted scientists from the area conducted seminars. Featured was an assembly with films and slide shows that were created by several students and environmentally themed folk songs were sung by Dorothy Giordano.
Awards and recognition
For the 1992-93 school year, Columbia High School received the Blue Ribbon AwardBlue Ribbon Schools Program
The Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States government program created in 1981 to honor schools which have achieved high levels of performance or significant improvements with emphasis on schools serving disadvantaged students. The program centers around a self-assessment conducted by the...
from the United States Department of Education
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...
, the highest honor that an American school can achieve.
In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, the school was ranked 43rd in New Jersey and 1,358th nationwide. In Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
's May 22, 2007 issue, ranking the country's top high schools, Columbia High School was listed in 1192nd place, the 39th-highest ranked school in New Jersey.
The school was the 75th-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 89th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was also ranked 79th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.
The Columbia High School Student Council was named an "NJASC Honor School" for the 3rd consecutive year in January 2008. It also won a "Top 10 Projects" award for their event, 'School in Action Night'. They won the same honor the year before for their 'How to Start a Gay-Straight Alliance' presentation created by Christian Fuscarino and Jake Esformes.
Campus
While thousands of schools were constructed in the same era with little more than local notice, the opening of the present-day Columbia High School warranted articles in The Architect, ArchitectureArchitecture (magazine)
Originally titled Journal of the American Institute of Architects from January 1944 through 1951, the magazine changed its name to The American Institute of Architects Journal. After publication of the AIA Journal ended in August 1976, then followed Architecture magazine...
, Architectural Record
Architectural Record
Architectural Record is an American monthly magazine dedicated to architecture and interior design, published by McGraw-Hill Construction in New York City. It is over 110 years old...
, American School and University, The Brick Builder, Pencil Points, and The American School Board Journal. Rendered in the Collegiate Gothic style by James O. Betelle of the Newark, New Jersey architectural firm of Guilbert & Betelle, the school served as a standard in design as evidenced by the inclusion of a floor plan in a 1930 Encyclopædia Britannica
Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
article, and later design homages such as John Marshall High School (Los Angeles, California)
John Marshall High School (Los Angeles, California)
John Marshall High School is a high school located in the Los Feliz district of the City of Los Angeles at 3939 Tracy Street, in Los Angeles, California, USA.Marshall, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District...
. Collegiate Gothic, or Academic Gothic, construction was prevalent among schools and colleges in the 1920s, and was Betelle's preferred building style for both its scholastically historic roots and practical considerations.
Predominant original exterior features include carved limestone detail, numerous false chimneys, steeply pitched slate roofs, and a seven-story clock tower. While it is not known for certain that Columbia High School was inspired by any earlier structures, the strong resemblance to Laynon Hall at Queen's University of Belfast
Queen's University of Belfast
Queen's University Belfast is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The university's official title, per its charter, is the Queen's University of Belfast. It is often referred to simply as Queen's, or by the abbreviation QUB...
is hard to ignore. At the very top of the clock tower is a copper pyramidal structure. The entire pyramid structure rotates, and one side opens, serving as an observatory. The observatory is equipped with a large refracting telescope
Refracting telescope
A refracting or refractor telescope is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens as its objective to form an image . The refracting telescope design was originally used in spy glasses and astronomical telescopes but is also used for long focus camera lenses...
made by John Brashear
John Brashear
Dr. John Alfred Brashear was an American astronomer and instrument builder.- Life and work :Brashear was born in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, a town 35 miles south of Pittsburgh along the Monongahela River. His father, Basil Brown Brashear, was a saddler, and his mother, Julia Smith Brashear, was a...
. Two levels below are the E. Howard & Co.
E. Howard & Co.
thumb|Street clock by E. Howard & Co.The E. Howard & Co. clock and watch company was formed by Edward Howard and Charles Rice in 1858 after the demise of the Boston Watch Company...
Style #3 clock works. Along side the clock is an enormous bronze bell by the Meneely Bell Foundry
Meneely bell foundry
The Meneely Bell Foundry was a bell foundry established in 1826 in West Troy , New York, by Andrew Meneely. Two of Andrew's sons continued to operate the foundry after his death, while a third son, Clinton H. Meneely, opened a second foundry across the river with George H. Kimberly in Troy, New...
. Inside the school can be found rooms with fireplaces, hallways with beautiful faience
Faience
Faience or faïence is the conventional name in English for fine tin-glazed pottery on a delicate pale buff earthenware body, originally associated with Faenza in northern Italy. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip...
wall tiles by John Scott Award
John Scott Award
The John Scott Legacy Medal and Premium, created in 1816, is a medal presented to men and women whose inventions improved the "comfort, welfare, and happiness of human kind" in a significant way...
recipient Herman Carl Mueller
Herman Carl Mueller
Herman Carl Mueller , noted ceramicist, was the founder of the Mueller Mosaic Company of Trenton....
of Trenton, and mosaic inlaid terrazzo
Terrazzo
Terrazzo is a composite material poured in place or precast, which is used for floor and wall treatments. It consists of marble, quartz, granite, glass or other suitable chips, sprinkled or unsprinkled, and poured with a binder that is cementitious, chemical or a combination of both...
floors in the front hall. The front foyer was recently renovated, removing non-period lighting and mid-century acoustic tile. The restoration included doors that more closely replicated the 1926 originals, a new terrazzo floor, and dramatic lighting of the zodiac-inspired plaster ceiling. Recently, dubious student art dating from as far back as the 1970s was painted over, among other improvements. The auditorium includes a three-manual Ernest M. Skinner
Ernest M. Skinner
Ernest M. Skinner was one of the most successful American organ builders of the early 20th century.-Early years:...
Organ. Although it is little used and not completely functional, the organ is one of the few unmodified Skinners in existence and has received an Organ Historical Society
Organ Historical Society
The Organ Historical Society is an international organization primarily composed of pipe organ enthusiasts and those who enjoy its music, and professional restorers. The main activities of the Society include promoting an active interest in the organ and its builders, particularly those in North...
citation. Regrettably, on either side of the stage the large plaster grills that hide the organ pipes were water damaged. The original auditorium chandeliers have also been removed. A similar story exists with regard to the swimming pool; while the original vaulted Catalan Guastavino tile
Guastavino tile
Guastavino tile is the "Tile Arch System" patented in the US in 1885 by Valencian architect and builder Rafael Guastavino...
ceiling remains, the chandeliers are gone, and a giant arched window is blocked by a later addition.
CHS has had a major addition every 20 to 30 years. In the 1930s, an industrial arts wing brought students the skills needed during the Great Depression. In the 1950s, a large addition, now known as "C-Wing", added classrooms to cope with increasing student numbers as well as a massive gymnasium (bringing the total number of gyms to three). In the early 70s a projected enrollment boom and the need for new science, fine arts, and industrial arts space created the need for "B" and "D" wings. A new cafeteria, the largest public school library at the time, space for academic advising, a now-gone small movie theater and A/V room and a TV studio were built. With these additions, the earlier 1927 structure is only visible from the front facade and between later additions. In 2005, much of the space previously used for industrial arts such as wood shop and auto shop was transformed into a theatre performance and general use space. In 2009, renovations were completed on the main entryway, reviving original stone and woodwork, but with a conspicuous misspelling of the school's motto, "Excelsior", carved as "Excelcior" into the masonry floor.
In each era of construction, the chosen design was seen as controversial. The D-Wing, the most recent and most obvious addition to the School, boasts a dramatic modernist design typical of the late-1960s and early 1970s. The clash between this new (and already out-of-fashion) style and the original, timeless architecture of the A-Wing is especially visible from Parker Ave.
Sports
The Columbia High School Cougars now compete in the Super Essex ConferenceSuper Essex Conference
The Super Essex Conference is a high school athletic conference located in Essex County, New Jersey. The conference was formed in 2009 by the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association and was a result of a larger realignment that swept through North Jersey.-Divisions:The Super Essex...
, 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:...
. The school had previously competed in the Iron Hills Conference
Iron Hills Conference
The Iron Hills Conference was an athletic conference of twenty high schools located in Essex County, Morris County and Union County in New Jersey. The Iron division is often regarded as one of the most competitive in the state....
before the 2010 realignment. Prior to 1972, the school competed in New Jersey's Big Ten Conference. The school is currently classified within Group IV (requiring a minimum of 1200 students in grades 10-12) by the NJSIAA. Many of the teams are successful on the local, state, and national level.
Ultimate was invented at The Columbia High School in 1968. The ultimate team has won the state championship 11 times in the tournament's 13-year history. The team has won the championship every year since 2001 giving it a 10-year winning streak. The team has attended the Paideia cup tournament in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, a nationally competitive tournament, every year since its inception in 2006, as well as the Amherst Invitational in Massachusetts. Last year, the men's team gained recognition in town hall meetings and Board of Education meetings after winning the 2008 High school Eastern championship on May 11, 2008. The women's team has won the state championship every year that it has been contested, beginning in 2007. However, the team is not recognized as a sport by the school and does not receive funding by the district.
The school's fencing
Fencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...
team (started in 1982) is one of the largest in the nation, having over 100 freshmen join the team in the last year alone. The boys team is consistently ranked among the top in the state, while the girls team has won the state championship 8 out of 10 years. The girls team record for the combined 1999-2005 seasons was 94-4. In 2006, the girls fencing team defeated Bernards High School
Bernards High School
Bernards High School is a comprehensive four-year regional public high school in Somerset County, New Jersey. The school is part of the Somerset Hills Regional School District, a regional K–12 school district that consists of the participating municipalities of Bernardsville, Far Hills and...
19-8 to win the NJSIAA 2006 Girls Team Fencing state tournament. Columbia won the 2007 Boys Team Fencing state championship with a 16-11 win over Voorhees High School
Voorhees High School
Voorhees High School is a four-year public high school located in Lebanon Township, New Jersey. The school is named after Foster MacGowan Voorhees, the 30th Governor of New Jersey. It is one of two high schools in the North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District, serving students from six...
. The team's head coach, Dr. Arthur Paulina, won his milestone 300th victory during the 06-07 season. In the 2008-09 season, the boys fencing team took home the epee state title. In the 2009-10 season, the girls team won District III, but finished 5th in the state, losing in the quarterfinals to Governor Livingston High School
Governor Livingston High School
Governor Livingston High School, known informally as GL, is a comprehensive four-year co-educational public high school located in Berkeley Heights, in Union County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Berkeley Heights Public Schools...
. The boys team won the Cetrulo Tournament and the NJSIAA/Bollinger District 3 championships, earning them a top seed going into the NJSIAA State Championship Tournament. The boys team won state championships for the first time since 2007 in a 15-12 win over Bernards High School
Bernards High School
Bernards High School is a comprehensive four-year regional public high school in Somerset County, New Jersey. The school is part of the Somerset Hills Regional School District, a regional K–12 school district that consists of the participating municipalities of Bernardsville, Far Hills and...
. In the 2010-11 season, the girls placed No. 3 in the team state championships after defeating Governor Livingston High School
Governor Livingston High School
Governor Livingston High School, known informally as GL, is a comprehensive four-year co-educational public high school located in Berkeley Heights, in Union County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Berkeley Heights Public Schools...
in the consolation meet. The boys won their second consecutive state championship defeating Montclair High School (New Jersey) in the final by a 14-13 score.
The girl's track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
team won the New Jersey girl's indoor track relays in the winter of 2005. The boys track team placed 5th at the Nike Indoor Nationals in the 4x400 meter relay in 2009, making it the best in history for Columbia boys and breaking a school record. In the 2010 outdoor season, both the girl's and boy's teams went to the New Balance Outdoor Nationals, where the girls team won, making them #1 in the country, and the boys placed 6th.
The boy's soccer team is coached by Gene Chyzowych
Gene Chyzowych
Gene Chyzowych is a former professional soccer player and coach, who is now the coach of the Columbia High School soccer team in Maplewood, New Jersey. He has the second most wins of any active scholastic soccer coaches in the United States, and has compiled a 730-188-70 record in 46 years at...
, one of the most successful active scholastic soccer coaches in the nation. The 2007 boys soccer team won the North II, Group IV state sectional championship with a 1-0 win over Westfield High School
Westfield High School (New Jersey)
Westfield Senior High School, or simply, Westfield High School is the only public high school located in Westfield, in Union County, New Jersey, operating as part of the Westfield Public Schools. It was established in the early 1900s at its original location on Elm Street until 1951 when it was...
in the tournament final.
The school's cross-country team has had success. The school won the Group IV boys title in 1960 and has had a number of individual state champions. In 2008, a senior girl won the Essex County Championships.
Columbia's Varsity football team has been notably unsuccessful in recent years, winning only two games over a span of 5 seasons, including three consecutive winless seasons from 2005–2007, but broke their 45-game losing streak with a 48-0 victory over Dickinson High School
William L. Dickinson High School
William L. Dickinson High School is a four-year public high school located in Jersey City, New Jersey, as part of the Jersey City Public Schools...
in the last game of the 2008 season. In 2009, The team finished 8-1 in the regular season, but lost to Westfield High School
Westfield High School (New Jersey)
Westfield Senior High School, or simply, Westfield High School is the only public high school located in Westfield, in Union County, New Jersey, operating as part of the Westfield Public Schools. It was established in the early 1900s at its original location on Elm Street until 1951 when it was...
41-6 in the first round of playoffs.
Controversy
In 2004, Columbia High School made national headlines when the administration amended a policy regarding religiously themed holiday songs putting more strict guidelines in place. Many people believed the new rules to be too strict. Radio personality Don ImusDon Imus
John Donald "Don" Imus, Jr. is an American radio host, humorist, philanthropist and writer. His nationally-syndicated talk show, Imus in the Morning, is broadcast throughout the United States by Citadel Media and relayed on television by the Fox Business Network.-Personal life:Imus was born in...
produced a song on his radio program entitled "Oh, Little Town of Maplewood", mocking the new rules of Columbia High School. The new guidelines were also mentioned on The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor, originally titled The O'Reilly Report from 1996 to 1998 and often called The Factor, is an American talk show on the Fox News Channel hosted by commentator Bill O'Reilly, who often discusses current controversial political issues with guests.The program was the most watched...
.
In the mid 1970s the school district was sued for teaching Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation refers to the Transcendental Meditation technique, a specific form of mantra meditation, and to the Transcendental Meditation movement, a spiritual movement...
for course credit. Later, The U.S. District Court ruled in Malnak v. Yogi (1979) that under the Establishment Clause
Establishment Clause of the First Amendment
The Establishment Clause is the first of several pronouncements in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, stating, Together with the Free Exercise Clause The Establishment Clause is the first of several pronouncements in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution,...
of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
, TM was too religious to be taught in public schools.
In June 2000, writer Tamar Lewin of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
wrote "Growing Up, Growing Apart", a lengthy feature highlight how an ethnically diverse trio struggled to maintain friendships and cope with teen life at Columbia. The story trailed Aqeelah Mateen, an African-American Muslim, Kelly Regan, an Irish Catholic, and Johanna Perez-Fox, a Puerto Rican Jew; the group quickly became ambassadors for the school, and for their respective ethnic groups. The article wasn't controversial, per se, but directed national attention to the school district and to Columbia specifically.
55% of the students are African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
heritage and 38% are Caucasian. Within this black-and-white composition are found a variety of ethnic backgrounds including Nigerian, Haitian, Jamaican, African-American, English, French, Jewish, Polish, Italian, and Irish. There has been much discussion regarding the Racial Academic Achievement Gap in the school district, and the tracking
Tracking (education)
Tracking is separating pupils by academic ability into groups for all subjects or certain classes and curriculum within a school. It may be referred as streaming or phasing in certain schools. In a tracking system, the entire school population is assigned to classes according to whether the...
is often cited as the most glaring example of a racial disparity.
Columbia High School has also had many student led walk-outs. In late March 2006 hundreds of students walked out after tensions with the principal regarding censorship issues and racial comments. The students were calling for her resignation. The next year a new acting principal was instated and the following school year she became the official principal. On April 27, 2010, hundreds of students participated in a state-wide walkout of high school students protesting the budget cuts put in place by Chris Christie.
Administration
Core members of the school's administration are:- Dr. Lovie Lilly - Principal
- Michael Healy - Assistant Principal
- Faye Lewis - Assistant Principal
- Janice McGowan - Assistant Principal
Notable alumni
The school has a hall of fame listing many notable alumni. They include:- Alfred KinseyAlfred KinseyAlfred Charles Kinsey was an American biologist and professor of entomology and zoology, who in 1947 founded the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University, now known as the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, as well as producing the Kinsey Reports and the Kinsey...
(1912), biologist; created the field of study of sexologySexologySexology is the scientific study of human sexuality, including human sexual interests, behavior, and function. The term does not generally refer to the non-scientific study of sex, such as political analysis or social criticism....
. Subject of the 2004 film KinseyKinsey (film)Kinsey is a 2004 biographical film written and directed by Bill Condon. It describes the life of Alfred Kinsey , a pioneer in the area of sexology. His 1948 publication, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male was one of the first recorded works that tried to scientifically address and investigate...
. - Drew Middleton (1931), reporter; covered wars from World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
through the Falklands WarFalklands WarThe Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
for The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. - Teresa WrightTeresa WrightTeresa Wright was an American actress. She received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1942 for her performance in Mrs. Miniver. That same year, she received an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination for her performance in Pride of the Yankees opposite Gary Cooper...
(1938), Academy AwardAcademy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
-winning actress whose films include Mrs. MiniverMrs. Miniver (film)Mrs. Miniver is a 1942 American drama film directed by William Wyler, and starring Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, and Teresa Wright. Based on the fictional English housewife created by Jan Struther in 1937 for a series of newspaper columns, the film won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture,...
, Shadow of a DoubtShadow of a DoubtShadow of a Doubt is a 1943 American thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and starring Teresa Wright and Joseph Cotten. Written by Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson, and Alma Reville, the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Story for Gordon McDonell...
, and The Pride of the YankeesThe Pride of the YankeesThe Pride of the Yankees is a 1942 American film directed by Sam Wood and starring Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, and Walter Brennan. The film is a tribute to the legendary New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig, who died only one year before the film's release, at age 37, from amyotrophic lateral...
. - Judith ViorstJudith ViorstJudith Viorst is an American author, newspaper journalist, and psychoanalysis researcher. She is perhaps best known for her children's literature, such as The Tenth Good Thing About Barney and the Alexander series of short picture books.In 1968, Viorst signed the “Writers and Editors War Tax...
(1943), poetess. - Peter S. ConnorPeter S. ConnorPeter Spencer Connor was a United States Marine Corps staff sergeant who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for heroism in March 1966 in Vietnam.-Biography:...
(1950), soldier; posthumously awarded the Medal of HonorMedal of HonorThe Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
. - Paul R. EhrlichPaul R. EhrlichPaul Ralph Ehrlich is an American biologist and educator who is the Bing Professor of Population Studies in the department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University and president of Stanford's Center for Conservation Biology. By training he is an entomologist specializing in Lepidoptera , but...
(1949), entomologist; professorProfessorA professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of population studies; author of The Population BombThe Population BombThe Population Bomb was a best-selling book written by Paul R. Ehrlich and his wife, Anne Ehrlich , in 1968. It warned of the mass starvation of humans in the 1970s and 1980s due to overpopulation, as well as other major societal upheavals, and advocated immediate action to limit population growth...
and The End of Affluence. - Peter EisenmanPeter EisenmanPeter Eisenman is an American architect. Eisenman's professional work is often referred to as formalist, deconstructive, late avant-garde, late or high modernist, etc...
(born 1950), architect widely known as one of the earliest practitioners of deconstructivismDeconstructivismDeconstructivism is a development of postmodern architecture that began in the late 1980s. It is characterized by ideas of fragmentation, an interest in manipulating ideas of a structure's surface or skin, non-rectilinear shapes which serve to distort and dislocate some of the elements of...
in American architecture. - Roy ScheiderRoy ScheiderRoy Richard Scheider was an American actor. He was best known for his leading role as police chief Martin C...
(1950), actor most widely known for his leading roles in JawsJaws (film)Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
and The French ConnectionThe French Connection (film)This article is about the 1971 film. For the British fashion label, see French Connection .The French Connection is a 1971 American crime film directed by William Friedkin. The film was adapted and fictionalized by Ernest Tidyman from the non-fiction book by Robin Moore...
(for which he was nominated for an Academy AwardAcademy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
). - C. K. WilliamsC. K. WilliamsCharles Kenneth Williams is an American poet. Senior poet Paul Muldoon has described him as “one of the most distinguished poets of his generation.” -Biography:...
(1954), Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
and National Book AwardNational Book AwardThe National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
winning poet. - Amalya Lyle KearseAmalya Lyle KearseAmalya Lyle Kearse is a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and a world-class bridge player.-Legal career:...
(1955), judge; first female African AmericanAfrican AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
partner in a Wall Street law firm, first female United States Court of AppealsUnited States court of appealsThe United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system...
judge. - Linda GottliebLinda Gottlieb-Credits:, "SoapLine" -Credits:, "SoapLine" -Credits:, "SoapLine" (a joint production of ABC News and ABC Daytime to bring viewers storyline updates, special features and interviews during breaks in live, pre-emptive coverage of the O. J...
(1956), producerFilm producerA film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
of Dirty DancingDirty DancingDirty Dancing is a 1987 American romantic film. Written by Eleanor Bergstein and directed by Emile Ardolino, the film features Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in the lead roles, as well as Cynthia Rhodes and Jerry Orbach...
among other works. - Alberto IbargüenAlberto IbargüenAlberto Ibargüen is President and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in Miami, Florida. He is the former publisher of The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald in Miami, Florida, and is chairman of the board of the World Wide Web Foundation, founded by Sir Tim Berners-Lee...
(1962), publisher; first HispanicHispanicHispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
publisher of The Miami HeraldThe Miami HeraldThe Miami Herald is a daily newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company headquartered on Biscayne Bay in the Omni district of Downtown Miami, Florida, United States...
, Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winner for coverage of the Elián GonzálezElián GonzálezThe custody and immigration status of a young Cuban boy, Elián González , was at the center of a heated 2000 controversy involving the governments of Cuba and the United States, González's father, Juan Miguel González Quintana, González's other relatives in Miami, Florida, and in Cuba, and Miami's...
story. - John Payne (1963) - former Captain of the aircraft carrierAircraft carrierAn aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
USS Carl VinsonUSS Carl Vinson (CVN-70)The USS Carl Vinson is the third United States Navy Nimitz class supercarrier and is named after Carl Vinson, a Congressman from Georgia. Carl Vinson's callsign is "Gold Eagle". It played host to the first NCAA basketball game on an aircraft carrier on 11/11/11 between the University of North...
. - Myrth YorkMyrth YorkMyrth York is a Democratic politician, former Rhode Island State Senator and three-time unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Rhode Island....
(1964) - Politician. - Paul AusterPaul AusterPaul Benjamin Auster is an American author known for works blending absurdism, existentialism, crime fiction and the search for identity and personal meaning in works such as The New York Trilogy , Moon Palace , The Music of Chance , The Book of Illusions and The Brooklyn Follies...
(1965) - PEN Literary Award winning author. - Robert SternbergRobert SternbergRobert Jeffrey Sternberg , is an American psychologist and psychometrician and Provost at Oklahoma State University. He was formerly the Dean of Arts and Sciences at Tufts University, IBM Professor of Psychology and Education at Yale University and the President of the American Psychological...
(1968) - Psychologist; leading researcher in human intelligenceIntelligenceIntelligence has been defined in different ways, including the abilities for abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, planning, emotional intelligence and problem solving....
and primary figure behind the triarchic theory of intelligenceTriarchic theory of intelligenceThe triarchic theory of intelligence was formulated by Robert J. Sternberg, a prominent figure in the research of human intelligence. The theory by itself was groundbreaking in that it was among the first to go against the psychometric approach to intelligence and take a more cognitive... - Max WeinbergMax WeinbergMax Weinberg is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.Weinberg grew up in suburban New Jersey...
(1969) - Musician; drummer for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band and band leader of The Max Weinberg 7 of Late Night With Conan O'BrienLate Night with Conan O'BrienLate Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
. - Leigh Howard StevensLeigh Howard StevensLeigh Howard Stevens is a marimba artist best known for developing, codifying, and promoting the Stevens technique or Musser-Stevens grip, a method of independent four-mallet marimba performance based on the Musser grip...
(c. 1971) - marimba artist. - Jane Musky (1972) - production designerProduction designerIn film and television, a production designer is the person responsible for the overall look of a filmed event such as films, TV programs, music videos or adverts. Production designers have one of the key creative roles in the creation of motion pictures and television. Working directly with the...
of over 25 films including Glengarry Glen RossGlengarry Glen RossGlengarry Glen Ross is a 1984 play written by David Mamet. The play shows parts of two days in the lives of four desperate Chicago real estate agents who are prepared to engage in any number of unethical, illegal acts—from lies and flattery to bribery, threats, intimidation and burglary—to sell...
and When Harry Met Sally...When Harry Met Sally...When Harry Met Sally... is a 1989 American romantic comedy film written by Nora Ephron and directed by Rob Reiner. It stars Billy Crystal as Harry and Meg Ryan as Sally. The story follows the title characters from the time they meet just before sharing a cross-country drive, through twelve years or... - Robert Bianchi (1979) - LacrosseLacrosseLacrosse 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...
athlete of the century, US Navy pilot killed in the line of duty aged 26 - Joetta Clark (1980) - Athlete; four time OlympicOlympic GamesThe Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
athlete. Often known as the "Queen of American Middle-Distance Running". - Matthew CooperMatthew Cooper (American journalist)Matthew Cooper is a former reporter for Time who, along with New York Times reporter Judith Miller was held in contempt of court and threatened with imprisonment for refusing to testify before the Grand Jury regarding the Valerie Plame CIA leak investigation. He currently works as the managing...
(1980) - Reporter for TIMETime (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine recently promoted to Political Editor for Time.com. - Elisabeth ShueElisabeth ShueElisabeth Judson Shue is an American actress and producer, most famous for her roles in the films The Karate Kid, Adventures in Babysitting, Cocktail, Back to the Future Parts II and III and Leaving Las Vegas, for which she won five acting awards and was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden...
(1981) - Actress; Academy AwardAcademy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
-nominated actress of Leaving Las VegasLeaving Las VegasLeaving Las Vegas is a 1995 romantic drama film directed and written by Mike Figgis, based on a semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by John O'Brien. Nicolas Cage stars as a suicidal alcoholic who has ended his personal and professional life to drink himself to death in Las Vegas...
, Gracie (film)Gracie (film)Gracie is a 2007 American historical sports drama film directed by Davis Guggenheim. It stars Carly Schroeder as Gracie Bowen, Dermot Mulroney as Bryan Bowen, Elisabeth Shue as Lindsay Bowen, Jesse Lee Soffer as Johnny Bowen, and Andrew Shue as Coach Owen Clark.Gracie takes place in New Jersey,...
, The Karate Kid, and The Saint. - Mark BryantMark BryantMark Craig Bryant is a retired American professional basketball player who was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1st round of the 1988 NBA Draft. Bryant played for 10 NBA teams during his career, averaging 5.4 ppg and appeared in the 1990 and 1992 NBA Finals as a member of the Blazers...
(1984) - Athlete; former NBA basketball player. - Andrew ShueAndrew ShueAndrew Eppley Shue is an American actor, known for his role as Billy Campbell on the television series Melrose Place . He is currently on the Board of Directors for Do Something and is the co-founder of the social networking website CafeMom.-Early life:Shue was born in Wilmington, Delaware...
(1985) - Actor; best known for his leading role on the television series Melrose Place. He also appeared in the 2007 film, GracieGracie (film)Gracie is a 2007 American historical sports drama film directed by Davis Guggenheim. It stars Carly Schroeder as Gracie Bowen, Dermot Mulroney as Bryan Bowen, Elisabeth Shue as Lindsay Bowen, Jesse Lee Soffer as Johnny Bowen, and Andrew Shue as Coach Owen Clark.Gracie takes place in New Jersey,...
and served as producer for it - David JaverbaumDavid JaverbaumDavid Javerbaum is an American comedy writer and former executive producer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He was hired as a staff writer there in 1999, promoted to head writer in 2002 and attained EP status at the end of 2006. He has won 11 Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, two Peabody Awards...
(1989) - Writer and producerTelevision producerThe primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
; head writer for The Daily ShowThe Daily ShowThe Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
, writer for The OnionThe OnionThe Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
, David LettermanDavid LettermanDavid Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
and his own theatrical productions, first runner-up in 1988 Jeopardy! Teen TournamentJeopardy! Teen TournamentThe Jeopardy! Teen Tournament is one of the traditional tournaments held each season on the TV quiz show Jeopardy! Contestants in this tournament are primarily high school students, and between the ages of thirteen and seventeen...
. - Lauryn HillLauryn HillLauryn Noelle Hill is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress.Early in her career, she established her reputation as a member of the Fugees. In 1998, she launched her solo career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album, The Miseducation of...
(1993) - Singer; eight-time Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning artist as well as a member of The FugeesThe FugeesFugees were a Haitian American hip hop group who rose to fame in the mid-1990s. Their repertoire included elements of Hip hop, soul and Caribbean music, particularly reggae. The members of the group were rapper/singer/producer Wyclef Jean, rapper/singer/producer Lauryn Hill, and rapper Pras Michel...
. - Robert VerdiRobert VerdiRobert Verdi is an American TV personality and style expert. He is most noted for hosting a variety of TV programs featuring fashion and interior design.-Early life:...
(1986) - Television personality.
Other notable alumni not currently in the hall of fame include:
- James "Chris" Christie (1945-1949), actor best known for his role on the longest running non musical Broadway play Life with FatherLife with FatherLife with Father is the title of a humorous autobiographical book of stories compiled in 1935 by Clarence Day, Jr., which was adapted in 1939 into a long-running Broadway play by Lindsay and Crouse, which was, in turn, made into a 1947 movie and a television series.-The book:Clarence Day wrote...
, he also appeared in I Remember MamaI Remember MamaI Remember Mama is a play by John Van Druten. Based on the fictionalized memoir Mama's Bank Account by Kathryn Forbes, it focuses on the Hanson family, a loving family of Norwegian immigrants living on Steiner Street in San Francisco in the 1910s.Produced by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein...
, No Time for Seargants, and movies including Tea and SympathyTea and Sympathy (film)Tea and Sympathy is an adaptation of Robert Anderson's 1953 stage play directed by Vincente Minnelli and produced by Pandro S. Berman for MGM. The music score was by Adolph Deutsch and the cinematography by John Alton. Deborah Kerr, Leif Erickson, and John Kerr recreated their original stage roles...
and Rock, Rock, RockRock, Rock, Rock (film)Rock, Rock, Rock is a 1956 black-and-white motion picture featuring performances from a number of early rock 'n' roll stars, such as Chuck Berry, LaVern Baker, Teddy Randazzo, The Moonglows, The Flamingos, and The Teenagers with Frankie Lymon as lead singer. Future West Side Story cast member David...
. - Robert EisenmanRobert EisenmanRobert Eisenman is an American Biblical scholar, theoretical writer, historian, archaeologist, and "road" poet. He is currently Professor of Middle East Religions, Archaeology, and Islamic Law and director of the Institute for the Study of...
(1955), academic/writer/archaeologist/poet who led the international struggle to increase academic access to the Dead Sea Scrolls, skipped Senior Year to enter Cornell UniversityCornell UniversityCornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
Engineering Physics Program. - Bruce FeirsteinBruce FeirsteinBruce Feirstein is an American screenwriter and humorist, best known for his contributions to the James Bond series and his best-selling humor books, including Real Men Don't Eat Quiche and Nice Guys Sleep Alone. Real Men Don't Eat Quiche was on the New York Times best seller list for 53...
, screenwriterScreenwriterScreenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and journalistJournalistA journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
best known for his screenplays for the James BondJames BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
films GoldenEyeGoldenEyeGoldenEye is the seventeenth spy film in the James Bond series, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was directed by Martin Campbell and is the first film in the series not to take story elements from the works of novelist Ian Fleming...
, Tomorrow Never DiesTomorrow Never DiesTomorrow Never Dies is the eighteenth spy film in the James Bond series, and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Bruce Feirstein wrote the screenplay, and it was directed by Roger Spottiswoode. It follows Bond as he tries to stop a media mogul from engineering...
and The World Is Not EnoughThe World Is Not EnoughThe World Is Not Enough is the nineteenth spy film in the James Bond film series, and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was directed by Michael Apted, with the original story and screenplay written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Bruce Feirstein. It...
, and his best selling humor books, including Real Men Don't Eat QuicheReal Men Don't Eat QuicheReal Men Don't Eat Quiche, by American Bruce Feirstein, is a bestselling tongue-in-cheek book satirizing stereotypes of masculinity, published in 1982...
. - Donna FiduciaDonna FiduciaDonna Fiducia is an American media personality who worked in New York television and radio for 26 years.Fiducia gained international recognition when she was hired by The Fox News Channel, New York, NY in September 1999 as an anchor and live host. In 2003, she was reassigned to overnight duty...
(1975), radio DJ and TV news reader. - Howard S. Thies (1980) - Theatrical Lighting Designer, two time winner of the Obie Award and Bessie Award for sustained excellence in Lighting Design, Designed "Salome" The Reading on Broadway starring Al Pacino and Marisa Tomei.
- Buzzy Hellring (1970), key developer of UltimateUltimate (sport)Ultimate is a sport played with a 175 gram flying disc. The object of the game is to score points by passing the disc to a player in the opposing end zone, similar to an end zone in American football or rugby...
who was killed in an auto accident his freshman year at Princeton UniversityPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
. - Frank LangellaFrank Langella-Early life:Langella, an Italian American, was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, the son of Angelina and Frank A. Langella Sr., a business executive who was the president of the Bayonne Barrel and Drum Company. Langella attended Washington Elementary School and Bayonne High School in Bayonne...
(1955), actor. - Richard MeierRichard MeierRichard Meier is an American architect, whose rationalist buildings make prominent use of the color white.- Biography :Meier is Jewish and was born in Newark, New Jersey...
(1952), architect whose work includes his design of the Getty CenterGetty CenterThe Getty Center, in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, is a campus for cultural institutions founded by oilman J. Paul Getty. The $1.3 billion center, which opened on December 16, 1997, is also well known for its architecture, gardens, and views overlooking Los Angeles...
. - Mark RuddMark RuddMark William Rudd is a political organizer, mathematics instructor, and anti-war activist, most well known for his involvement with the Weather Underground. Rudd became a member of the Columbia University chapter of Students for a Democratic Society in 1963. By 1968, he had emerged as a leader...
(1965), activist who led student war protests at CHS and later at Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, and went on to help found The WeathermenWeatherman (organization)Weatherman, known colloquially as the Weathermen and later the Weather Underground Organization , was an American radical left organization. It originated in 1969 as a faction of Students for a Democratic Society composed for the most part of the national office leadership of SDS and their...
. - Ralph SazioRalph SazioRalph Joseph Sazio is a former football player, assistant coach, head coach general manager and team president for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He also served as president of the Toronto Argonauts...
(1941), former football player, assistant coach, head coach general manager and team president of the Hamilton Tiger-CatsHamilton Tiger-CatsThe Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a Canadian Football League team based in Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1950 with the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats. The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Ivor Wynne Stadium...
, inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of FameCanadian Football Hall of FameThe Canadian Football Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is an open to the public institution. It includes displays about the Canadian Football League, Canadian university football and Canadian...
in 1998 as a builder. - Cortlandt V.R. SchuylerCortlandt V.R. SchuylerCortlandt Van Rensselaer Schuyler was a United States Army four star general who served as Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe from 1953 to 1959.-Military career:...
(1918), United States ArmyUnited States ArmyThe United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
four star general. - Joel SilverJoel SilverJoel Silver is an American Hollywood film producer, co-creator of the sport of Ultimate, co-founder of Dark Castle Entertainment and owner of Silver Pictures.-Life and career:...
(1970), ProducerFilm producerA film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
of films such as Lethal Weapon 4Lethal Weapon 4Lethal Weapon 4 is a 1998 American action film directed by Richard Donner, starring Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Rene Russo, Chris Rock and Jet Li. It is the third sequel in the Lethal Weapon series of films. -Plot:...
and The MatrixThe MatrixThe Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...
also invented UltimateUltimate (sport)Ultimate is a sport played with a 175 gram flying disc. The object of the game is to score points by passing the disc to a player in the opposing end zone, similar to an end zone in American football or rugby...
in 1968. - Laura Anne GilmanLaura Anne GilmanLaura Anne Gilman is an American fantasy author.-Biography:Laura Anne Gilman was born in 1967 in suburban New Jersey. She received a Liberal Arts education from the Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, and was inducted into the Phi Alpha Theta honors society...
(1985), science fictionScience fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
writer and editor - Claude Coleman Jr.Claude Coleman Jr.Claude Coleman, Jr. is the drummer for the alternative rock group Ween. He has also worked with Eagles of Death Metal, Chocolate Genius, and Elysian Fields.A multi-instrumentalist, Coleman is also the singer/songwriter for his own group Amandla...
(1986), musician, drummer for WeenWeenWeen is an American alternative rock group. They formed in 1984 in New Hope, Pennsylvania when central members Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo met in an eighth grade typing class. Ween has a large cult underground fanbase despite being generally unknown in American pop music...
amongst other work. - Ahmed BestAhmed BestAhmed Best is an American voice actor and musician. He has won the Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production. He rose to prominence in the 2000s for providing the voice of Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars franchise. He later turned to television, where he played Jar Jar...
(1991) - Actor; most widely known for playing Jar Jar BinksJar Jar BinksJar Jar Binks is a fictional character from the Star Wars Saga , and the television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. His primary role was to provide comic relief, but many reacted negatively to his character...
in the Star WarsStar WarsStar Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
movie series. - Zach BraffZach BraffZachary Israel "Zach" Braff is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, comedian, and director. Braff first became known in 2001 for his role as Dr. John Dorian on the television series Scrubs, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award and three Golden Globe Awards.In 2004, Braff made his...
(1993) - Actor/ProducerFilm producerA film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
/Writer/DirectorFilm directorA film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
; leading actor on the television series ScrubsScrubs (TV series)Scrubs is an American medical comedy-drama television series created in 2001 by Bill Lawrence and produced by ABC Studios. The show follows the lives of several employees of the fictional Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital. It features fast-paced screenplay, slapstick, and surreal vignettes...
and producer / director / writer / star of Garden State. - Kiki SmithKiki SmithKiki Smith is an American artist classified as a feminist artist, a movement with beginnings in the twentieth century...
(did not graduate) - Artist; prominent sculptor, the MoMAMomaMoma may refer to:* Moma , an owlet moth genus* Moma Airport, a Russian public airport* Moma District, Nampula, Mozambique* Moma River, a right tributary of the Indigirka River* Google Moma, the Google corporate intranet...
held a major retrospective of her work in 2003-4. - Jonathan TierstenJonathan TierstenJonathan Tiersten is an American actor and singer, who is mostly known for his role as Ricky in the 1983 cult classic Sleepaway Camp. He returned to the role in the 2008 sequel, Return to Sleepaway Camp. Tiersten is currently the lead singer of his own band, Ten Tiers and he recently did the score...
- Actor in the Sleepaway CampSleepaway CampSleepaway Camp is a 1983 cult classic slasher film written and directed by Robert Hiltzik—who also served as executive producer. The film is about teen campers getting killed at a summer camp...
movies - Mark LeynerMark LeynerMark Leyner is an American postmodernist author.Leyner employs an intense and unconventional style in his works of fiction. His stories are generally humorous and absurd: In The Tetherballs of Bougainville, Mark's father survives a lethal injection at the hands of the New Jersey penal system, and...
(born 1956, postmodernist author. - Robert SheckleyRobert SheckleyRobert Sheckley was a Hugo- and Nebula-nominated American author. First published in the science fiction magazines of the 1950s, his numerous quick-witted stories and novels were famously unpredictable, absurdist and broadly comical.Sheckley was named Author Emeritus by the Science Fiction and...
(1946), a HugoHugo AwardThe Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
and NebulaNebula AwardThe Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
nominated science fiction writer - Stephen G. Bloom (1969), author of "Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland AmericaPostville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland AmericaPostville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America is a 2000 book by journalist Stephen G. Bloom. The book documents the struggle between the small town of Postville, Iowa, and a group of new arrivals: Lubavitcher Hasidim from New York who came to the town to run Agriprocessors, the largest...
" - James KaplanJames KaplanJames Kaplan is an American novelist, journalist, and biographer. He was born in New York City and grew up in rural Pennsylvania and suburban New Jersey. He matriculated at New York University and graduated from Wesleyan University in 1973 with a degree in studio art...
(1969), author of Two Guys from Verona - Grace MirabellaGrace MirabellaGrace Mirabella is a former editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine. She started working at Vogue in the 1950s and served as editor in chief between 1971 and 1988.-Biography:...
(19??), former editor-in-chief of VogueVogue (magazine)Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine that is published monthly in 18 national and one regional edition by Condé Nast.-History:In 1892 Arthur Turnure founded Vogue as a weekly publication in the United States. When he died in 1909, Condé Montrose Nast picked up the magazine and slowly began...
magazine, founder of MirabellaMirabellaMirabella was a women's magazine published from 1989 to 2000. It was created by and named for Grace Mirabella, a former Vogue editor in chief....
magazine.
In popular culture
- Gracie (film)Gracie (film)Gracie is a 2007 American historical sports drama film directed by Davis Guggenheim. It stars Carly Schroeder as Gracie Bowen, Dermot Mulroney as Bryan Bowen, Elisabeth Shue as Lindsay Bowen, Jesse Lee Soffer as Johnny Bowen, and Andrew Shue as Coach Owen Clark.Gracie takes place in New Jersey,...
(2007): Columbia and Columbia's Varsity Soccer Team were featured in Gracie, a film loosely based on the lives of alumni Elizabeth Shue and Andrew ShueAndrew ShueAndrew Eppley Shue is an American actor, known for his role as Billy Campbell on the television series Melrose Place . He is currently on the Board of Directors for Do Something and is the co-founder of the social networking website CafeMom.-Early life:Shue was born in Wilmington, Delaware...
; the film was directed by Elizabeth Shue's husband, Davis GuggenheimDavis GuggenheimPhilip Davis Guggenheim is an Academy Award-winning American film director and producer. His credits as a producer and director include Training Day, The Shield, Alias, 24, NYPD Blue, ER, Deadwood, and Party of Five and the documentaries An Inconvenient Truth and Waiting for 'Superman...
, and produced by the Shues (who also acted in it). - Lauryn HillLauryn HillLauryn Noelle Hill is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress.Early in her career, she established her reputation as a member of the Fugees. In 1998, she launched her solo career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album, The Miseducation of...
, for her 1998 release The Miseducation of Lauryn HillThe Miseducation of Lauryn HillThe Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is the debut solo album by American musician Lauryn Hill, released August 25, 1998, on Columbia Records. Recording sessions for the album took place from late 1997 to June 1998, and were held primarily at Tuff Gong Studios in Jamaica...
was photographed in the second floor bathroom of the school's "A" wing. - Garden State (film)Garden State (film)Garden State is a 2004 comedy-drama film written by, directed by, and starring Zach Braff, with Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, and Sir Ian Holm. The film centers on Andrew Largeman , a 26-year-old actor/waiter who returns to his hometown in New Jersey after his mother dies...
(2004): The school is both shown and referenced in this Zach BraffZach BraffZachary Israel "Zach" Braff is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, comedian, and director. Braff first became known in 2001 for his role as Dr. John Dorian on the television series Scrubs, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award and three Golden Globe Awards.In 2004, Braff made his...
film, which was partly filmed in neighboring South Orange, New JerseySouth Orange, New Jersey-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 16,964 people, 5,522 households, and 3,766 families residing in the township. The population density was 5,945.3 people per square mile . There were 5,671 housing units at an average density of 1,987.5 per square mile...
and Millburn, New JerseyMillburn, New JerseyMillburn is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 20,149.Millburn Township was created as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 20, 1857, from portions of Springfield Township.Millburn also...
.
External links
- Columbia High School website
- Columbia High School Skinner Organ website
- South Orange-Maplewood School District website
- Data for the South Orange-Maplewood 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...
- Columbia High School Cougar Boosters
- Columbia High School Music Parents Association