Leonia High School is a four-year comprehensive

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

serving students in

ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...

through

twelfth grade Twelfth grade, 12th grade, senior year, or grade 12 is the final year of secondary school in most of North America. In other regions, it may also be referred to as class 12 or Year 13. In most countries, students are usually between the ages of 17 ...

from the Borough of

Leonia Leonia is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 8,937,Bergen County Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, United States, operating as part of the

Leonia Public Schools The Leonia Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Leonia, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2018–19 school year, the distr ...

. Students from Edgewater attend the school as part of a

sending/receiving relationship A sending/receiving relationship is one in which a public school district sends some or all of its students to attend the schools of another district. This is often done to achieve costs savings in smaller districts or continues after districts hav ...

with the

Edgewater Public Schools The Edgewater Public Schools is a community public school district that serves students in kindergarten through sixth grades from Edgewater, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprisin ...

. As of the 2020–21 school year, the school had an enrollment of 822 students and 64.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

student–teacher ratio Student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio is the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that there are 10 students ...

of 12.8:1. There were 100 students (12.2% of enrollment) eligible for

free lunch A free lunch is the providing of a meal at no cost, usually as a sales enticement to attract customers and increase revenues from other business. It was once a common tradition in saloons and taverns in many places in the United States, with th ...

and 22 (2.7% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Leonia High School

National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance ...

. Accessed February 15, 2022.

History

Constructed at a cost of $65,000 (equal to $ million in ), the district's original high school facility opened in April 1912 and had its cornerstone laid at ceremonies held in December of that year. The school opened at its current location in January 1977, after multiple issues with subcontractors led to several delays from the original planned opening in September at the start of the school year. Constructed at a cost of $4.5 million (equivalent to $ million in ) and offering 50% more space than its predecessor, the building served 650 students, including 140 from Edgewater.

Awards, recognition and rankings

In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', the school was ranked 14th in New Jersey and 657th nationwide. The school was the 94th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide in ''

New Jersey Monthly ''New Jersey Monthly'' is an American monthly magazine featuring issues of possible interest to residents of New Jersey. The magazine was started in 1976. It is based in Morristown. In addition to articles of general interest, the publication fe ...

'' magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology. The school had been ranked 52nd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 49th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 51st in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 67th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school as 174th out of 376 public high schools statewide in its 2010 rankings (a decrease of 4 positions from the 2009 rank) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the language arts literacy and mathematics components of the

High School Proficiency Assessment The High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA, pronounced "hess-pah" (/ˈhɛspə/) or sometimes just "H-S-P-A") was a standardized test that was administered by the New Jersey Department of Education to all New Jersey public high school students in ...

(HSPA).

Niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...

Ranked the school 35th of 406 on its list of Best College Prep Public High Schools in New Jersey and 69th of 425 in its ranking of Best Public High Schools. In 2021, '' U.S. News & World Report'' ranked the school 56th in New Jersey, 156th in the New York City metropolitan area and 1,331st nationwide.

Extracurricular activities

In 1957, the school's chess team was the New Jersey high school team champion, winning the Father Casimir J. Finley Trophy.

Academic competition

Leonia has had an active quiz bowl team for decades. In April 2017, Leonia won the Junior Varsity National Championship title for the Small School Division of the

National History Bowl The National History Bee and Bowl (NHBB) are nationwide history quiz competitions for high school, middle school, and elementary students in the United States. International Academic Competitions oversees both NHBB and the comparable Internation ...

, led by Nathan Finn, who was the 2016 Junior Varsity New Jersey History Bee State Champion.

Athletics

The Leonia High School LionsLeonia High School

New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) 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 championsh ...

. Accessed October 20, 2020. participate in the

North Jersey Interscholastic Conference The North Jersey Interscholastic Conference, or NJIC, is a high school athletic conference located in New Jersey. It is one of the so-called "super conferences" created by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) as a pa ...

, which is comprised of small-enrollment schools in Bergen,

Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Henry Hudson, English explorer * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...

Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Manitob ...

and

Passaic Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,7 ...

counties, and was created following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the

(NJSIAA). Prior to the realignment that took effect in the fall of 2010, Leonia was a member of the

Bergen County Scholastic League The Bergen County Scholastic League (BCSL) was a New Jersey high school sports association under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). The conference consisted of thirty public and parochials high ...

Olympic Division. With 505 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group II for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 486 to 758 students in that grade range. The school participates as the host school / lead agency for joint cooperative girls soccer, boys / girls swimming and wrestling teams with Palisades Park High School, while Palisades Park is the host school for a co-op football team. These co-op programs operate under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year. The boys track team won the Group II spring track state championship in 1961. The 1967 boys basketball team used its height to its advantage and defeated

Burlington Township High School Burlington Township High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Burlington Township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Burlingto ...

by a score of 73-65 in the Group I tournament final to finish the season with a record of 20-4. The girls tennis team won the Group I state championship in 2002 (defeating

New Providence High School New Providence High School is a comprehensive public high school in the borough of New Providence, in Union County, United States, operating as the lone secondary school in the New Providence School District, serving students in ninth throu ...

in the tournament final) and 2019 (vs.

Glen Rock High School Glen Rock High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Glen Rock, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Glen Rock Pub ...

). The 2019 team used wins in all three singles matches to win the Group I finals against Glen Rock. Leonia football, which is a co-op program with Palisades Park High School, became the first cooperative program to have reached a finals game in state history when the team made the North Jersey II Group III state championship game in 2012, falling to Summit High School by a 30–0 final score. The team finished 9–3 which was the most wins in Leonia school history, and Head Coach David Schuman was awarded NJIC coach of the year and '' The Record'' ranked the team 12th in North Jersey.

Administration

The principal is Charles Kalender. His administration team includes the vice principal and athletic director.

Notable alumni

* Elizabeth Baranger (1927–2019, class of 1945), physicist and academic administrator at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

, whose research concerned

shell model The SHELL model is a conceptual model of human factors that clarifies the scope of aviation human factors and assists in understanding the human factor relationships between aviation system resources/environment (the flying subsystem) and the huma ...

calculations in

nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...

. *

Barbara Corcoran Barbara Ann Corcoran (born March 10, 1949) is an American businesswoman, investor, syndicated columnist, and television personality. She founded The Corcoran Group, a real estate brokerage in New York City, which she sold to NRT for $66 million ...

(born 1949, class of 1967), real estate investor and agent. *

Toomas Hendrik Ilves Toomas Hendrik Ilves (; born 26 December 1953) is an Estonian politician who served as the fourth president of Estonia from 2006 until 2016. Ilves worked as a diplomat and journalist, and he was the leader of the Social Democratic Party in the ...

(born 1953), class of 1972, President of

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

(Eesti Vabariigi president). *

Lim Kim Lim Kim (born Kim Ye-rim; on January 21, 1994) is a South Korean singer and a member of the band Togeworl with Do Dae-yoon. She competed in the '' Superstar K3'' singing competition as a member of Togeworl, placing third. In 2013, Kim debute ...

(born 1994), South Korean musical artist. *

Bob Klapisch Roberto Salvador "Bob" Klapisch is a sportswriter for ''the Newark Star Ledger''. He has previously written for ''The New York Times'', ''New York Post'', ESPN, Fox Sports and '' New York Daily News'', and has written six books about baseball inclu ...

, sportswriter. *

David Klass David Klass is an American screenwriter and novelist. He has written more than 40 screenplays for Hollywood studios and published 14 young adult novels. His screenplays are primarily character-based thrillers for adults, while his novels ofte ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

who has written more than 40 Hollywood

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

s and published 14

young adult novels Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

. *

Vera Maxwell Vera Huppe Maxwell (April 22, 1901 – January 15, 1995) was an American pioneering sportswear and fashion designer. Background and personal life Born Vera Huppe in The Bronx, Maxwell spent part of her childhood in Austria. She attended Leo ...

(1901–1995), fashion designer. *

David Mansfield David Mansfield (born September 13, 1956) is an American musician and composer. Mansfield was raised in Leonia, New Jersey. His father, Newton Mansfield was a first violinist in the New York Philharmonic. David played guitar, pedal steel guitar ...

(born 1956), rock musician. *

Christiane Noll Christiane Noll (born October 5, 1968) is an American actress and singer known for her work in musicals and on the concert stage. She originated the role of Emma Carew in Frank Wildhorn's '' Jekyll & Hyde'', and had roles in '' Urinetown'', ''Rag ...

(born 1968), singer and actress known for her work in musicals and on the concert stage. *

Nick Prisco Nicholas Anthony Prisco (January 12, 1909 – June 13, 1981) was an American football tailback who played one season with the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). He was born in Edgewater, New Jersey and attended Leonia High ...

(1909–1981), football tailback who played one season in the NFL with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

. * Ivory Sully (born 1957), former NFL

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

who played for nine seasons, mostly with the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

.Caldera, Pete
"Where are they now? Ivory Sully of Leonia"
'' The Record'', February 6, 2012. Accessed February 16, 2012. "Sully now resides in the University of Delaware Hall of Fame. But his professional road from Leonia High School to a nine-year NFL career, with stops in Tampa Bay and Detroit, began as an undrafted free agent."

References

External links

Leonia High SchoolLeonia Public SchoolsLeonia Alumni Network
*
School Data for the Leonia Public Schools

{{Authority control Edgewater, New Jersey Leonia, New Jersey Public high schools in Bergen County, New Jersey