Jackson Memorial High School

Jackson Memorial High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in Jackson Township, in Ocean County, United States, opened in 1963 as part of the Jackson School District. It is the sister high school of Jackson Liberty High School, which opened in late summer 2006.

As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,568 students and 108.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.4:1. There were 194 students (12.4% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 76 (4.8% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Jackson Memorial High School
National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 1, 2022.

History

Before the high school opened, students living in Jackson attended Lakewood High School as part of a sending/receiving relationship.

Jackson High School first opened in September 1963 with 700 students in grades 7-9, though other district school facilities were used on a temporary basis as the building that housed Jackson Junior-Senior High School wasn't completed and opened to students until the spring of 1964. The school was originally a single, one story building with three wings. Around 1970, a second story was added to one wing. In the 1980s, it was expanded to include the nearby middle school which became known as the Clayton building. The original high school building was known as the memorial building in the early 1990s; later it was renamed the Bernie Reider Hall, for a longtime wrestling coach and former principal. The Fine Arts building, added , connects the once separate Clayton building, previously a middle school, and the two-story Bernie Reider Hall.

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 115th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide in '' New Jersey Monthly'' magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology. The school had been ranked 188th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 181st in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 216th in the magazine's September 2008 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school 166th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 22 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (80.8%) and language arts literacy (94.1%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).

Athletics

The Jackson Memorial High School JaguarsJackson Memorial High School
New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete in Division A South of the Shore Conference, an athletic conference comprised of public and private high schools in Monmouth and Ocean counties along the Jersey Shore.Shore Conference Realignment for 2018-2019 and 2019-2020
Shore Conference. Accessed November 15, 2020. The league operates under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). With 1,186 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,060 to 5,049 students in that grade range. The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group IV South for football for 2018–2020.

The school participates in a joint ice hockey team with Point Pleasant Borough High School in which Jackson Liberty High School is the host school / lead agency. The co-op program operates under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year.

Jackson is a powerhouse in many sports and its key rivals are Southern Regional, Toms River South, Toms River North, Toms River East, Brick Memorial and Brick Township.

;Baseball
*Team championships
**Ocean County Tournament champions - 1972,"Jackson Memorial baseball's success"
'' Asbury Park Press'', June 7, 2014. Accessed May 27, 2016. "Legendary former coach Larry D'Zio Jr.'s 407 career wins are sixth on the Shore's all-time list. D'Zio was the coach when the Jaguars won the Group III state and Ocean County Tournament titles in 1972 and the SCT in 1984." 2012,Ocean County baseball season in review 2012
/ref> 2015
**Shore Conference Tournament champions - 1984, 2012
**South Jersey Group IV sectional champions - 2002, 2010, 2014
**State champions - 1972 (in Group III, with a 2-1 win against runner-up Summit High School led by future MLB player Willie Wilson) and 2014 (in Group IV, with a 2-0 win vs. Roxbury High School)

;Girls basketball
*Team championships
**Group IV state champions - 2012 (with a 50-47 win vs. North Hunterdon High School in the finals)

;Boys bowling
*Team championships
**1975-1976 Overall state championsHistory of NJSIAA Boys Bowling Championships
New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed August 1, 2022.
**2010-2011 South Jersey Group IV sectional champions
**2010-2011 Group IV state champions
**2011-2012 South Jersey Group IV sectional champions
**2011-2012 Group IV state champions
**2012-2013 South Jersey Group IV sectional champions
**2012-2013 Group IV state championsWitkowski, Wayne
"Jaguars' bowlers win third straight Group IV title"
''Tri-Town News'', March 14, 2013. Accessed August 23, 2015. "I t was no surprise to knowledgeable bowling fans around the Shore that Jackson Memorial High School's boys bowling team would enjoy another great season. Few, however, expected it to be the greatest in school history. The Jaguars not only won the NJSIAA Group IV championship for the third straight year, but they also won their first Shore Conference title since 2002. Their only other Group IV title prior to the current three-peat was in 1976."
*Individual champions
**Mike Ormsby - 2013 individual state champion
**Donald Kane - 2013 South Jersey individual state sectional champion
**Mike Ormsby - 2011 South Jersey individual state sectional champion
**2022 Group III state champion

;Girls bowling
*Team championships
**1975 Overall state championHistory of NJSIAA Girls Bowling Championships
New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
**1978 Overall state champion
**2015 Group IV state champion

;Boys cross country
*Team championships
**State sectional champions - 2006
**Meet of Champions winners - 2006
**2006-2007 New Jersey state champions
**Central Jersey Group IV Champions - 2006, 2007

;Girls cross country
*Team championships
**Central Jersey Group IV Champions - 2004, 2005

;Football
*Team championships
**South Jersey Group IV sectional champions - 2000 (finishing 12-0 after a 14-7 overtime win against Shawnee High School in overtime) and 2001 (with a 12-0 record after a 24-0 win vs. Cherokee High School in the finals)
**Central Jersey Group IV sectional champions - 2005 (finishing 12-0 after a 30-28 win vs. Brick Memorial High School on a last-second touchdown), 2014, and 2015NJSIAA Football History
New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.

;Ice hockey
*Team championships
**Handchen Cup - 2017

;Indoor relay
*Team championships
**Girls champion Group IV - 2003, 2005; Group III - 2016

;Boys soccer
*Team championships
**South Jersey Group IV sectional champions - 1990
**New Jersey Group IV state champions - 1990 (defeating Kearny High School by a score of 4-0, to finish the season 22-1)

;Boys spring track
*Team championships
**2009-2010 Ocean County champions

;Girls spring track
*Team championships
**2006 Group IV state champion

;Boys winter track
*Team championships
**2010 Group III state championsNJSIAA Indoor Group Championship History
New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
**2010 Central Jersey Group III sectional champions

;Girls winter track
*Team championships
**Group IV state championship - 2005, 2006

;Wrestling
*Team championships
**Central Jersey Group IV state sectional champions - 2004-2007, 2010, 2011, 2015-2017, 2019.History of NJSIAA Wrestling Champions
New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2021.
**Group IV state champion - 2007, 2010, 2011

Marching band

The school's marching band won the US Bands State and National Championships in 2017, and traveled down to Orlando, Florida to march down Main Street in Disney's Magic Kingdom in the spring of 2017. Their current show is entitled "Heroes".

The Jackson Memorial Jaguar Band has performed at many events including:

2013 New Year's Day (Tournament of Roses Parade) in Pasadena
Presidential Inaugural Parade for George W. Bush,
Cherry Blossom Parade: Washington DC,
Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade,
NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade,
D-Day Invasion Ceremony: Normandy-France,
Hula Bowl Halftime and pregame: Waikiki-Hawaii,
4 Ticker Tape parades for the New York Yankees,
2 Ticker Tape parades for the New York Giants (NFL),
Opening Night performance for "42nd Street": Ford Theater-NYC,
Opening Night performance for "The Music Man" NYC,
Performance at the Funeral of Levon Helm: Woodstock-NY,
Conan O'Brien: 10th Anniversary Special,
Radio City Music Hall: Performance for Dolly Parton

The Jackson Jaguar Marching Band won the USBands Group 6A National Championship Title in 2013 with a score of 96.3, their first national championship. They won first place in the percussion and music category then second in colorguard, general effect, and marching.

Administration

Kevin DiEugenio is the principal of Jackson Memorial High School. His core administration team includes three assistant principals.

Notable alumni

* Scotty Cranmer (born 1987), professional BMX rider who has won nine X Games medals (2015).
* Joey DeZart (born 1998), professional soccer player who currently plays as a midfielder for Orlando City in Major League Soccer.
* Erin Gleason (born 1977), short track speed skater who competed in three events at the 1998 Winter Olympics.
* Anthony Stolarz (born 1994, class of 2012), professional ice hockey goaltender for the Edmonton Oilers.
* Tom Tarver, quarterback who played for the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights, after leading Jackson Memorial to a 32-7 record during his high school career.
* Matt Thaiss (born 1995, class of 2013), first round pick in the 2016 MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Angels.
* Zakk Wylde (born 1967), guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and Black Label Society (1985).
* E. J. Nduka (born 1988), former WWE superstar.

References

Sources

*Erbe, E. Robert (1999). ''Cranberries, Coops, and Courts: A History of Jackson Township''.

External links

Jackson Memorial High SchoolJackson School District
*
School Data for the Jackson School District
National Center for Education Statistics
Day in the Life: Jackson Memorial High School
from the '' Asbury Park Press''
DigitalSports Jackson Memorial Homepage

{{Authority control

1963 establishments in New Jersey
Educational institutions established in 1963
Jackson Township, New Jersey
Public high schools in Ocean County, New Jersey