Middle Township High School is a four-year

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 ...

that serves 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 ...

s from Middle Township in

Cape May County Cape May County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Much of the county is located on Cape May bound by Delaware Bay to its west and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and east. Adjacent to the Atlantic coastline are fiv ...

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 Middle Township Public Schools. In addition to students from Middle Township, students from

Avalon Avalon (; la, Insula Avallonis; cy, Ynys Afallon, Ynys Afallach; kw, Enys Avalow; literally meaning "the isle of fruit r appletrees"; also written ''Avallon'' or ''Avilion'' among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in the ...

, Dennis Township, Stone Harbor and Woodbine attend the high school as part of

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 ...

s with their respective school districts. The school is in the Cape May Court House

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

. As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 790 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 12.3:1. There were 242 students (30.6% 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 44 (5.6% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Middle Township 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 December 1, 2022. Enrollment was 900 in 2013.

History

By 2013, the high school's enrollment was declining, as Avalon, Dennis Township, and Stone Harbor were sending fewer students.D'Amico, Diane
"Woodbine seeks to send students to Middle Township High School"
''

The Press of Atlantic City ''The Press of Atlantic City'' is the fourth-largest daily newspaper in New Jersey. Originally based in Pleasantville, it is the primary newspaper for southeastern New Jersey and the Jersey Shore. The newspaper designated market runs from Ware ...

'', July 7, 2013. Accessed May 11, 2022. "Middle Township High School has about 900 students. Millville has about 1,900 in the Senior High School and Memorial High School. Millville has been grappling with overcrowding, while Middle Township has seen shrinking enrollment from its other sending districts of Stone Harbor, Avalon and Dennis Township." In 2013, the Woodbine School District changed its receiving high school district from Millville School District to Middle Township district. The first group of 15 ninth graders from Woodbine to be sent to Middle Township High School began attending in fall 2013. Lynda Anderson-Towns, superintendent of the Woodbine district, cited the closer proximity and smaller size of Middle Township High. Millville is away from Woodbine while Middle Township High School is away.

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 224th-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 194th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 263rd in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 232nd in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 223rd in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.

Athletics

The Middle Township High School PanthersMiddle Township 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 May 30, 2016. compete in the National Division of the

Cape-Atlantic League The Cape-Atlantic League (CAL) is an athletic conference consisting of both public high schools and non-public high schools located in Atlantic County, Cape May County Cape May County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jers ...

, an athletic conference comprised of parochial and public high schools located in

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, Cape May,

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

and

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

counties, that operates under the aegis of the

(NJSIAA). With 588 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2022–24 school years as Group II South for most athletic competition purposes. The football team competes in the Patriot Division of the 94-team

West Jersey Football League The West Jersey Football League is a 94-school superconference that stretches from Princeton, New Jersey to Wildwood, New Jersey encompassing schools from the Colonial Valley Conference, the Burlington County Scholastic League, the Olympic Confer ...

superconference and was classified by the NJSIAA as Group II South for football for 2022–2024. Interscholastic sports offered at Middle Township High School include: *Fall sports: Football (M), Cross Country, Field Hockey (W), Soccer, Volleyball, Tennis and Cheerleading *Winter sports: Wrestling, Indoor Track, Basketball, Swim and Cheerleading *Spring sports: Baseball, Softball, Lacrosse, Tennis, Track & Field, and Golf. All sports compete at the Varsity and Junior Varsity level. Some sports may offer a freshman team. The boys basketball team won the Group II state championship in 1993 (defeating runner-up Hillside High School in the finals of the tournament), 1994 (vs. Hillside) and 2002 (vs.

Abraham Clark High School Abraham Clark High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grade from the borough of Roselle, in Union County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Roselle Public ...

LaMarr Greer LaMarr Vernon Greer (born May 16, 1976) is a high school McDonald's All American and retired American basketball player. After short stints in the United States Basketball League and the International Basketball League, he embarked on a professio ...

had a

triple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

to lead the 1993 team to the Group II title with an 81–59 victory against Hillside in the championship game played at the

Rutgers Athletic Center Jersey Mike's Arena, commonly known as the RAC (an initialism for Rutgers Athletic Center, its former official name), is an 8,000-seat multi-purpose arena in Piscataway, New Jersey on Rutgers University's Livingston Campus. The building is shape ...

. The 1993 team advanced to the Tournament of Champions (ToC) as the third seed, winning the quarterfinals against number-six

Perth Amboy Technical High School Perth Amboy Technical High School (also known as MCVTS at Perth Amboy, Perth Amboy Tech and Perth Amboy Campus) is a four-year career academy and college preparatory magnet public high school for students in ninth through twelfth grades located ...

by a score of 54-39 and taking the semifinals 66–55 over second-seed Irvington High School before falling in the finals to top-seed St. Anthony High School by an 84-59 margin.NJSIAA Boys Basketball Tournament of Champions History

. Accessed November 1, 2020. Greer's 32 points led the 1994 team to its second straight Group II title against Hillside, with a 54–46 victory in the finals. In the 1994 ToC, the team was seeded fifth and fell in the quarterfinals against fourth-seed

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

by a score of 69–54. The girls basketball team won the Group II state championship in 1994 (defeating Summit High School in the tournament final) and won the Group III title in 1995 (vs. Sparta High School). The 1994 team won the Group II title with a 59–50 win against Summit in the championship game. In 1995, the team won the Group II state title with a 52–35 win against a Sparta team that came into the championship game undefeated and advanced to the Tournament of Champions as the number three seed and won the quarterfinal round by a score of 46–37 against number-six seed

Keyport High School Keyport High School is a four-year public high school in Keyport, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, operated as the lone secondary school of the Keyport Public Schools. Students ...

before losing in the semifinals to number-two seed

West Milford High School West Milford High School is a four-year comprehensive high school, comprehensive community state school, public Secondary education in the United States, high school that serves students in ninth grade, ninth through twelfth grades from West Mil ...

by a score of 63–54, to finish the season with a record of 30–1. The girls tennis team won the Group III state championship in 1996, defeating Ramapo High School 3–2 in the tournament final. The field hockey team won the South Jersey Group I state sectional championship in 2016.

Campus

The school includes a

labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the ...

adjacent to the athletic area. Karen Biederman, an art teacher, established the project in 2018 with the Artists in Education (AIE) Residency Program contributing $10,000 in grant money. Work began in 2019, continued through the

COVID-19 pandemic in New Jersey The COVID-19 pandemic reached the U.S. state of New Jersey with the first confirmed case occurring in Bergen County on March 2, 2020, and testing positive on March 4. , 1.63 million cases were confirmed in the state, incurring 26,795 deaths. On ...

of 2020–2021, and was scheduled to open in 2021. Biederman stated that she decided to advocate for creating a labyrinth after the death of a

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

pupil as she saw the need for an element of peace to comfort grieving students, though she wished to create a labyrinth before that event occurred.

Marching band

The school's marching band was

Tournament of Bands The Tournament of Bands (TOB) is one of the largest competitive band organizations in the United States and is one of several major circuits in the mid-Atlantic states (other circuits include Cavalcade of Bands and USBands). TOB was founded in 197 ...

Chapter One Champions in 1978 (Group 1), 1980–1982, 1984-1987 (Group 2), 1988-1994 (Group 3) and 1995-2004 (Group 2), having won championships 25 times in a span of 27 years, including a span of 21 consecutive championships. The marching band has been recognized as Atlantic Coast Champion in Group 2 on eleven occasions (1986, 1995, 1997–2003, 2006–2007) and has won the Atlantic Coast Championship in Group 3 four times (1988–1990 and 1992), totaling 15 Atlantic Coast Championships. In the years 2006 through 2008 the marching bands drum line won high percussion at Atlantic coast championships and by doing this retired the drum trophy. The school's indoor color guard was Tournament Indoor Association Scholastic A champions in 1993 and 1998, and Independent A champions in 2000 and 2001. The school's indoor drumline was Tournament Indoor Association Scholastic A champions in 1998, Scholastic Open champions in 1999 and 2003, and Scholastic World champions from 1985 to 1987.

Mock trial team

Middle Township High School's

mock trial A 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 ...

team, coached by Martina Trapani, has won state championships in 2007 and in 2011. The team finished 2nd in the first annual

American Mock Trial Invitational The American Mock Trial Invitational (AMTI) is a national mock trial competition for secondary education in the United States, high schools in the United States, created and administered by the New Jersey State Bar Foundation and the North Carolina ...

in 2006, losing by a 5–4 score in the final round. Middle Township continues to participate in the Vincent J. Appruzesse New Jersey High School Mock Trial Competition.

Administration

The principal is George West III; his administration team includes three assistant principals.

Notable alumni

* Megan Compain (born 1975, class of 1993), Olympic basketball player for

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. *

Joe Fala Joseph Fala (born December 29, 1997) is an American soccer player who plays as a defender. Career Youth Raised in the Cape May Court House section of Middle Township, New Jersey, Fala attended Middle Township High School, where he played bask ...

(born 1997), soccer player who plays as a defender for

New York Red Bulls II New York Red Bulls II is an American professional soccer team based in Montclair, New Jersey. They are the reserve team of the New York Red Bulls and play in MLS Next Pro, the third tier in the American soccer pyramid. History Red Bull New Yo ...

in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

. *

Stedman Graham Stedman Graham (born March 6, 1951) is an American educator, author, businessman, and public speaker. He is the long-term partner of Oprah Winfrey. Early life and education Graham was born on March 6, 1951, in the Whitesboro section of Middle ...

(born 1951), a 1,000-point scorer for the boys varsity basketball team, educator, author, businessman and speaker who is known as the partner of media mogul

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

. *

(born 1976, class of 1994), retired basketball player who played in the

United States Basketball League The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

and the

International Basketball League The International Basketball League (IBL) was a semi-professional men's basketball league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States. In 2010 the Albany Legends became the first team in the Northeastern United States to join. The ...

, after leading the school's basketball team to win the NJSIAA Group II state championships in both 1993 and 1994. *

Jordan Hall Jordan Hall is a 1,051-seat concert hall in Boston, Massachusetts, the principal performance space of the New England Conservatory. It is one block from Boston's Symphony Hall. It is the only conservatory building in the United States to be de ...

(born 2002),

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

who played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Saint Joseph's Hawks The Saint Joseph's Hawks are the athletic teams that represent Saint Joseph's University of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Hawks compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference a ...

. * Anthony Maher (born 1979), soccer

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

who was a member of the United States National Futsal team and a National Team 'pool player' that took part in the 2007 Pan-American Games in Brazil. * Matthew Maher (born 1984), retired soccer defender, who was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for first degree aggravated manslaughter and drunken driving. * Julius H. Taylor (1914–2011, class of 1932), professor emeritus at

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 1867, the university, then known ...

, who was chairperson of the department of physics.Rasmussen, Frederick N
"Julius Henry Taylor, head of Morgan's physics department, dies"
''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

'', September 4, 2011. Accessed August 23, 2022. "He was a 1932 graduate of Middle Township High School, where he played basketball, was a champion pole vaulter and played trumpet in the high school band."

References

External links

Middle Township High SchoolMiddle Township Public Schools
*
School Data for the Middle Township Public Schools

South Jersey Sports: Middle Township HSMiddle Township High School Alumni Association
{{Authority control Middle Township, New Jersey Avalon, New Jersey Dennis Township, New Jersey Stone Harbor, New Jersey Woodbine, New Jersey Public high schools in Cape May County, New Jersey