Morris Hills High School
Encyclopedia
Morris Hills High School is a comprehensive
regional four-year public high school
located in the borough of Rockaway
, serving students in grades 9 - 12 in Morris County
, New Jersey
, United States, operating as part of the Morris Hills Regional High School District
. The other high school in the district is Morris Knolls High School
. The school located on the 39 acres (157,827.5 m²) former Gunther Estate, opened to students on September 9, 1953.
The high school serves students from Rockaway Borough, Wharton
, and parts of Rockaway Township
. Most students come to Morris Hills from Copeland Middle School, Alfred C. MacKinnon Middle School and Thomas Jefferson Middle School.
As of the 2009-10 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,117 students and 91 classroom teachers (on an FTE
basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.27.
The campus of Morris Hills houses The Academy for Mathematics, Science, and Engineering a science-oriented magnet school operated as a joint effort with the Morris County Vocational School District
and open by competitive application to all students from Morris County.
, the highest honor that a New Jersey school can achieve.
The school was the 70th-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 106th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 101st in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.
Seed Magazine is the school's annual literary magazine. All students are allowed to submit prose or poetry, or visual works of art (though not all are put into the actual magazine).
, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association
. The school had previously participated in the 20-member Iron Hills Conference
. Sports offered at Morris Hills include Baseball, Basketball, Bowling, Cross Country, Fencing, Field Hockey, Football, Golf, Ice Hockey, Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Tennis, Track and Field, Volleyball and Wrestling.
The Morris Hills Boys Basketball team made the state tournament for the first time in 10 years in 2006, though it lost in the first round to 6th-seeded Passaic Valley High School 67-45.
Morris Hills also has a successful baseball program, winning 135 games in a span of six seasons with a Morris County Tournament Championship (2002), a North I Group III State Sectional Title (2004), and five Iron Hills Conference (Hills Division) championships (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007).
Since becoming head coach, Robinson has led the Scarlet Knights to 20 of 28 major high school cross country championships (conference, county, state section and state group) in seven years. The team has been undefeated in dual meet competition in the Iron Hills Conference since 2002.
Robinson took the head indoor track and field coaching position in 2006. In that year, the Scarlet Knights won every major championship they entered (conference, county, state group and state group relay), the first time that had happened in county history. The Scarlet Knights repeated the feat in 2008, 2009 and 2011.
Robinson was coach during Morris Hills’ county track and field championship victory in 2006, the first time the Scarlet Knights had won since 1977.
Morris Hills has also had over twenty All-American honors distributed to its runners since 2005; a number boosted due to the highly successful 4 x mile relay and shuttle hurdle relay teams. Keith Lindsley, the 2007 NJSIAA Athletic Assistant Coach of the Year, is the current sprint/hurdles coach. Morris Hills was selected to participate in the inaugural Nike Team National Cross Country Championship in 2005, where they finished 13th.
The band was named the 2010 USSBA Group 2 Open New Jersey State Champions.
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 four-year 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 in the borough of Rockaway
Rockaway, New Jersey
Rockaway is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 6,438.Rockaway was formed as a borough on June 19, 1894, from portions of Rockaway Township, based on the results of a referendum held the previous...
, serving students in grades 9 - 12 in Morris County
Morris County, New Jersey
Morris County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey, about west of New York City. According to the United States 2010 Census, the population was 492,276. It is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. Its county seat is Morristown....
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, United States, operating as part of the Morris Hills Regional High School District
Morris Hills Regional High School District
The Morris Hills Regional District is a comprehensive regional public school district that consists of two four-year public high schools serving four suburban communities in Morris County, New Jersey, United States....
. The other high school in the district is Morris Knolls High School
Morris Knolls High School
Morris Knolls High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in grades 9 to 12 in Morris County, New Jersey as part of the Morris Hills Regional High School District. The school is located in Denville but has a Rockaway mailing address...
. The school located on the 39 acres (157,827.5 m²) former Gunther Estate, opened to students on September 9, 1953.
The high school serves students from Rockaway Borough, Wharton
Wharton, New Jersey
Wharton is a Borough in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2000 United States Census, the borough population was 6,298.What is now Wharton was originally incorporated as the borough of Port Oram by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on June 26, 1895, from portions of Randolph...
, and parts of Rockaway Township
Rockaway Township, New Jersey
Rockaway Township is a township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 24,156....
. Most students come to Morris Hills from Copeland Middle School, Alfred C. MacKinnon Middle School and Thomas Jefferson Middle School.
As of the 2009-10 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,117 students and 91 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 12.27.
The campus of Morris Hills houses The Academy for Mathematics, Science, and Engineering a science-oriented magnet school operated as a joint effort with the Morris County Vocational School District
Morris County Vocational School District
The Morris County Vocational School District provides vocational and technical education to public high school students in Morris County, New Jersey, United States....
and open by competitive application to all students from Morris County.
Awards and recognition
For the 1996-97 school year, Morris Hills High School was named a "Star School" by the New Jersey Department of EducationNew Jersey Department of Education
The New Jersey Department of Education administers state and federal aid programs affecting more than 1.4 million public and non-public elementary and secondary school children in the state of New Jersey. The department is headquartered in Trenton.The Department is responsible for ensuring that...
, the highest honor that a New Jersey school can achieve.
The school was the 70th-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 106th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 101st in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.
School media
The Morris Hills Hilltopper has served as the only official paper of the school, and is published four times a year, in color. Students write all articles and take the majority of the photos, as well as set up the design and comics.Seed Magazine is the school's annual literary magazine. All students are allowed to submit prose or poetry, or visual works of art (though not all are put into the actual magazine).
Extracurricular activities
Morris Hills houses a large variety of extracurricular activities for its students, ranging from bible club (Velocity) to its very own DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) Club. Many have gained recognition or awards for their duties in the community or their overall excellence in their field, including the Morris Hills Stage Crew (part of drama club), which placed third in the ITS Statewide festival in the 2005-2006 year. Any student is permitted to join any club, a partial list of clubs include:- Academic Decathlon (with honorable essay mention for the 2006-07 year)
- E.R.A.S.E. (Eliminate Racism and Sexism Everywhere)
- G.S.A. (Gay-Straight Alliance)
- Interact (which hosts a benefit show every year)
- DDR Society (Dance Dance RevolutionDance Dance RevolutionDance Dance Revolution, abbreviated DDR, and previously known as Dancing Stage in Europe and Australasia, is a music video game series produced by Konami. Introduced in Japan in 1998 as part of the Bemani series, and released in North America and Europe in 1999, Dance Dance Revolution is the...
) - Chess Club
- Leo Club
- DECADECA (organization)DECA, also known as Collegiate DECA on the college level) is an international association of students and teachers of marketing, management and entrepreneurship in business, finance, hospitality, and marketing sales and service . DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing,...
- Mock trialMock trialA Mock Trial is an act or imitation trial. It is similar to a moot court, but mock trials simulate lower-court trials, while moot court simulates appellate court hearings. Attorneys preparing for a real trial might use a mock trial consisting of volunteers as role players to test theories or...
- FCCLA
- Ecology Club
- Peer Listening
- International Thespian SocietyInternational Thespian SocietyThe International Thespian Society is an honorary organization for high-school and middle-school theatre students located at more than 3,600 affiliated secondary schools across the United States, Canada, and abroad. The International Thespian Society was founded in Fairmont, West Virginia...
- DRAMA Club
- Pit Band
- Marching Band
- Jazz Band
- Chorus
- Knights Templars Choir
- Women's Choir
- Madrigals
- Model CongressModel CongressModel Congress gives students a chance to engage in a role-playing simulation of the United States Congress. Such events are hosted by the Congress itself, Rutgers University, American International College, Columbia University, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, Yale, The...
- Yearbook Club
- Technology Student AssociationTechnology Student AssociationThe Technology Student Association is an international Career and Technical Student Organization made up of over 150,000 Middle School and High School Technology Education Students. TSA is the premier CTSO dedicated to STEM Standards: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics...
- FBLAFBLA-PBLThe Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda, or FBLA-PBL, is an American career and technical student organization that has its headquarters in Reston, Virginia...
- Key ClubKey ClubKey Club International is the oldest and largest service program for high school students. It is a student-led organization whose goal is to teach leadership through serving others. Key Club International is a part of the Kiwanis International family of service-leadership programs...
- Junior State of AmericaJunior State of AmericaThe Junior State of America is an American non-partisan student-run youth organization. It is also the largest high school student-run organization in the country...
Athletics
The Morris Hills High School Scarlet Knights now compete in the Northwest Jersey Athletic ConferenceNorthwest Jersey Athletic Conference
The Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference is a sports league that includes public and private high schools from Morris County, Sussex County and Warren County, New Jersey, that operates under the auspices of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association...
, 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 participated in the 20-member 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....
. Sports offered at Morris Hills include Baseball, Basketball, Bowling, Cross Country, Fencing, Field Hockey, Football, Golf, Ice Hockey, Lacrosse, Soccer, Softball, Swimming, Tennis, Track and Field, Volleyball and Wrestling.
The Morris Hills Boys Basketball team made the state tournament for the first time in 10 years in 2006, though it lost in the first round to 6th-seeded Passaic Valley High School 67-45.
Morris Hills also has a successful baseball program, winning 135 games in a span of six seasons with a Morris County Tournament Championship (2002), a North I Group III State Sectional Title (2004), and five Iron Hills Conference (Hills Division) championships (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007).
Cross country / track and field
Perhaps the best known athletics program at Morris Hills is its men’s cross country and track and field teams, both of which have been very successful in the state, due in very large part to the efforts of head cross country coach Sean Robinson, who took the position in 2002.Since becoming head coach, Robinson has led the Scarlet Knights to 20 of 28 major high school cross country championships (conference, county, state section and state group) in seven years. The team has been undefeated in dual meet competition in the Iron Hills Conference since 2002.
Robinson took the head indoor track and field coaching position in 2006. In that year, the Scarlet Knights won every major championship they entered (conference, county, state group and state group relay), the first time that had happened in county history. The Scarlet Knights repeated the feat in 2008, 2009 and 2011.
Robinson was coach during Morris Hills’ county track and field championship victory in 2006, the first time the Scarlet Knights had won since 1977.
Morris Hills has also had over twenty All-American honors distributed to its runners since 2005; a number boosted due to the highly successful 4 x mile relay and shuttle hurdle relay teams. Keith Lindsley, the 2007 NJSIAA Athletic Assistant Coach of the Year, is the current sprint/hurdles coach. Morris Hills was selected to participate in the inaugural Nike Team National Cross Country Championship in 2005, where they finished 13th.
Marching band
In 1998, the Morris Hills High School Marching Band, under Director Michael Sopko, was recruited to film an MTV Commercial for the MTV Video Music Awards. The marching band was chosen after being spotted by MTV associates during their annual competition at Giants Stadium. In the commercial, the marching band played clips from nominated songs and ended in a human formation of the MTV symbol. The commercial was aired several times daily leading up to the awards ceremony.The band was named the 2010 USSBA Group 2 Open New Jersey State Champions.
Administration
Core members of the school's administration are:- Joe Cacciaguida - Principal
- Bob Merle - Assistant Principal
- Todd Toriello - Assistant Principal
Notable alumni
- Bruce BannonBruce BannonBruce Patrick Bannon is a former professional American football player. He played linebacker for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League in 1973 and 1974. He resides in Pennsylvania...
(born 1951), played linebackerLinebackerA linebacker is a position in American football that was invented by football coach Fielding H. Yost of the University of Michigan. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up approximately three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage, behind the defensive linemen...
for the Miami DolphinsMiami DolphinsThe Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
of the National Football LeagueNational Football LeagueThe National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
in 1973 and 1974. - Clifford MethClifford MethClifford Lawrence Meth is an American writer and editor best known for his dark fiction. He has said that his work is often "self-consciously Jewish."-Early life:...
, (born 1961), author and editor, graduated for Morris Hills in 1979. - General Raymond T. OdiernoRaymond T. OdiernoRaymond T. Odierno is a United States Army general and the 38th and current Chief of Staff of the Army. Odierno most recently commanded United States Joint Forces Command from October 2010 until its disestablishment in August 2011. He served as Commanding General, United States Forces – Iraq and...
(born 1954, class of 1972), appointed to the United States Military AcademyUnited States Military AcademyThe United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
at West Point, he became commanding general of the 4th Infantry Division in Fort Hood, TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, when troops under Odierno's command in Iraq were given credit for capturing Saddam HusseinSaddam HusseinSaddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
.
External links
- Official site of Morris Hills High School
- Official site of Morris Hills High School Regional District
- Data for the Morris Hills Regional High School District, National Center for Education StatisticsNational Center for Education StatisticsThe National Center for Education Statistics is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance information in the United States...
- MHRD District Hall of Fame