Morris Catholic High School is a four-year comprehensive

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

regional

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 ...

located in Denville Township, in Morris County,

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. It was founded in 1957 and is part of the Diocese of Paterson. Morris Catholic High School has been recognized by the

National Blue Ribbon Schools Program The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

, the highest award an American school can receive. As of the 2017–18 school year, the school had an enrollment of 422 students and 34.5 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 12.2:1. The school's student body was 80.3% (339) White, 8.3% (35) Asian, 6.6% (28) Hispanic and 4.5% (19) Black.School data for Morris Catholic 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 September 1, 2020. The school has been accredited by AdvancED.

Assumption College for Sisters

Assumption College for Sisters is a two-year

women's college Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male stud ...

. Founded in 1953 through an affiliation with

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan un ...

, Assumption is run by the

Sisters of Christian Charity The Sisters of Christian Charity (S.C.C.), officially called Sisters of Christian Charity, Daughters of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception, is a Roman Catholic papal congregation of consecrated Religious Sisters. They were founded ...

. Primarily designed to prepare women for work in religious vocations, Assumption specializes in theological studies and the

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...

. It is the last remaining sisters' college, or college primarily designed to educate

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

s, in the United States. In 2014, the school relocated to a convent on the Morris Catholic High School campus.

Awards, recognition and rankings

During the 1984–85 school year, Morris Catholic High School was awarded the National Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the

United States Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...

. During the 2012–13 school year, students from Morris Catholic drama classes won first place at the New Jersey Thespian Festival. It was the school's second win after taking the top prize for the main stage category the previous year.

Athletics

The Morris Catholic High School CrusadersMorris Catholic High School
New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete in the

Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference The Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) is a sports league that includes 39 public and private high schools from Morris County, New Jersey, Morris County, Sussex County, New Jersey, Sussex County and Warren County, New Jersey, Warren County ...

, which is comprised of 39 public and private high schools in Morris,

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

and

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval A ...

counties, and was established by the

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 ...

(NJSIAA) following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey. Prior to the NJSIAA's 2010 realignment, the school had participated in the

Colonial Hills Conference The Colonial Hills Conference was a New Jersey high school sports association under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). The conference comprised sixteen public, parochial, and private high schoo ...

which included schools in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, Morris and

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

counties in west

Central Jersey Central Jersey is the central region of the U.S. state of 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, ...

. With 328 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Non-Public B for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 37 to 366 students in that grade range (equivalent to Group I for public schools). The interscholastic sports that Morris Catholic offers are men's and women's soccer, football, women's volleyball, men's and women's basketball, wrestling, ice hockey, winter and spring track and field, men's and women's lacrosse, baseball, softball, fencing, and golf. The football team competes in the United Blue division of the

North Jersey Super Football Conference The North Jersey Super Football Conference is a football-only athletic league of high schools in New Jersey. The 115-team league was formed in 2016. History The NJSFC consists of nearly all of the football playing members of four conferences that w ...

, which includes 112 schools competing in 20 divisions, making it the nation's biggest football-only high school sports league. The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Non-Public Group II for football for 2018–2020. The school participates as the host school / lead agency for joint cooperative cross country running and ice hockey teams with the

Academy of Saint Elizabeth The Academy of Saint Elizabeth is a private college preparatory secondary school for young women located in Convent Station, New Jersey, United States. Established in 1860, the academy is the oldest secondary school for women in New Jersey. The ...

, while the Academy of St. Elizabeth is the host school for a joint field hockey team.

DePaul Catholic High School DePaul Catholic High School is a private, Roman Catholic, high school in Wayne, in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States, that operates under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson. The school is accredited by AdvancED.< ...

is the host school for a joint skiing team. All of these co-op programs operate under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year. The 1971 baseball team won the Parochial B state title with a 3–0 win against

Gloucester Catholic High School Gloucester Catholic High School is a co-educational six-year Roman Catholic high school located in Gloucester City, in Camden County, New Jersey. The school is managed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden. The school serves students in seve ...

in the playoff finals. The 1974 and 1975 boys cross country team won the New Jersey Meet of Champions and finished the season ranked #1 in the state becoming the first team to win back-to-back titles. They were Parochial B champions in the five consecutive years from 1974–1978. The softball team won the Non-Public A state championship in 1982 (defeating

Camden Catholic High School Camden Catholic High School (CCHS) is a four-year comprehensive private coeducational Roman Catholic high school, located in the Philadelphia metropolitan area in Cherry Hill, Camden County,in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school operates ...

in the finals) and won the Non-Public title in 1986 (vs.

). The 1982 team ended their season at 17–7 after winning the Parochial A state title with a 2–1 walk-off win against Camden Catholic in the championship game. The girls soccer team was Group I state champion in 1988 (defeating

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

in the final game of the playoffs), 1989 (vs.

Pitman High School Pitman High School is a comprehensive community public high school in Pitman, in Gloucester County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone secondary school of the Pitman School District. As of ...

), 1990 (vs. Metuchen), 1991 (vs.

Bordentown Regional High School Bordentown Regional High School is a comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from five communities in northern Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of ...

), 1992 (vs.

Pingry School The Pingry School is a coeducational, independent, college preparatory country day school in New Jersey, with a Lower School (K–5) campus in the Short Hills neighborhood of Millburn, and a Middle (6–8) and Upper School (9–12) campus ...

), 1993 (vs. Pitman), 1994 (vs. Montgomery High School), 1995 (vs Pitman) and 1997 (as co-champion with

Haddonfield Memorial High School Haddonfield Memorial High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grade from Haddonfield, in Camden County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary schoo ...

), and won the Non-Public B state title in 1999 (vs.

St. Rose High School St. Rose High School is a co-educational four-year Catholic school, Catholic high school in Belmar, New Jersey, Belmar, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The school operates under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trento ...

), 2001 (vs.

), 2003 (vs.

Eustace Preparatory School Bishop Eustace Preparatory School is a Catholic high school in Pennsauken Township, New Jersey. Founded in 1954 by the priests and brothers of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate (The Pallottines), the school operates under the auspices of ...

), 2012 (vs.

), 2013 (vs. St. Rose) and 2016 (vs. Holy Spirit High School). The 15 state titles won by the program are the most of any school in New Jersey. The team won its first title in 1988 with a 6–1 win against Metuchen in the finals at

Trenton State College The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is a public university in Ewing Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Established in 1855 as the New Jersey State Normal School, TCNJ was the first normal school, or ...

. The 1990 team finished the season 20–1–1 and won its third consecutive Group III title with a 3–0 win against Metuchen in the finals. The 1990 team won a record fourth straight title and ended the season 24–1 after a 4–0 win against Bordentown in the championship game. A 1–0 win in 1993 against Pitman in the Group I final extended the program's streak to six consecutive state championships. The 2000 girls' soccer team won the Parochial North B state sectional championship, defeating

Kent Place School The Kent Place School is a girls independent college-preparatory day school (with a coeducational nursery and pre-kindergarten) serving students in preschool through twelfth grade in Summit, Union County, New Jersey, United States. Kent Pl ...

in the tournament final. In 2012, the girls' soccer team won the NJSIAA Non-Public B state championship with a 1–0 win against St. Rose High School to give the program their 13th state championship, the most of any team in the state. In 2013, the team captured its second consecutive NJSIAA/Sports Authority Non-Public B state championship with a 3–1 victory over St. Rose. The boys' soccer team won the 2005 NJSIAA North Group B state championship with a 1–0 win against

. In 2007, the girls' basketball team won the NJSIAA North Group A state championship with a 53–32 win against Immaculata High School. In 2014, the team "captured their 3rd NJSIAA state sectional championship in a row, their 10th since 2002" in a 58–48 win over Lodi Immaculate. In 2010, Will Hurley placed 10th in the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference inaugural golf tournament. In 2010, the spring track and field team won the Non-Public B state sectional championship. In 2021, the ice hockey team was the Charette Division (MCSSIHL) League Champions with a final 6–2 division record, earning Morris Catholic the top seed in the Charette Cup.

Notable alumni

John Fassel John Fassel (born January 10, 1974) is an American football coach who is the special teams coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the special teams coordinator and interim head coach for the ...

(born 1974), special teams coach and interim head coach of 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 ...

. *

Gerry Gallagher Gerry Gallagher (born December 15, 1951) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the offensive coordinator at Parsippany High School in Parsippany, New Jersey, a position he has held since 2013. Gallagher served as the ...

(born 1951, class of 1969), head college football coach. * Stella Johnson (born 1998), professional basketball player for the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was founded pri ...

of the WNBA. * Al Krevis (born 1952), former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

offensive tackle who played in the NFL for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

and

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

. *

Marisa Lago Marisa Lago (born December 4, 1955) is an American attorney serving as the Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade. She previously served as director of the New York City Department of City Planning and chair of the City Planning Co ...

(born 1955, class of 1973), New York City government official and former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. * Joe McHale (born 1963), former

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

who played in the NFL for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

. * Judith Novellino, English teacher and librarian, murdered in June 2010. * Peter and Paul JJ Payack, (born 1950) authors. Paul JJ Payack is founder of

Global Language Monitor The Global Language Monitor (GLM) is a company based in Austin, Texas that collectively documents, analyzes, and tracks trends in language usage worldwide, with a particular emphasis upon the English language. It is particularly known for its ...

. *

Michael Pitt Michael Carmen Pitt (born April 10, 1981) is an American actor, model, and musician. Pitt is known in film for his roles in ''Murder by Numbers'' (2002), Bernardo Bertolucci's '' The Dreamers'' (2003), Gus Van Sant's '' Last Days'' (2005), and M ...

(born 1981), American actor. *

Karen Ann Quinlan Karen Ann Quinlan (March 29, 1954 – June 11, 1985) was an American woman who became an important figure in the history of the right to die controversy in the United States. When she was 21, Quinlan became unconscious after she consumed Valiu ...

(1954–1985), figure in the history of the

right to die The right to die is a concept based on the opinion that human beings are entitled to end their life or undergo voluntary euthanasia. Possession of this right is often understood that a person with a terminal illness, incurable pain, or without t ...

debate in United States. *

Roseann Quinn Roseann Quinn (November 17, 1944 – January 2, 1973) was an American schoolteacher in New York City who was stabbed to death in 1973 by a man she had met at a bar. Her murder inspired Judith Rossner's best-selling 1975 novel '' Looking for Mr. ...

(1944–1973),

schoolteacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. wh ...

whose murder inspired Judith Rossner's 1975 novel '' Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' as well as the 1977 film adaptation directed by

Richard Brooks Richard Brooks (May 18, 1912 – March 11, 1992) was an American screenwriter, film director, novelist and film producer. Nominated for eight Academy Awards, Oscars in his career, he was best known for ''Blackboard Jungle'' (1955), ''Cat on a ...

. *

Erik Storz Erik Storz (born June 24, 1975) is a former American football linebacker. He played for the Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the Nat ...

(born 1975),

who played in the NFL for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

."Morris Catholic grad to join Boston College Hall of Fame"
'' Daily Record'', October 3, 2017. Accessed January 20, 2020. "A Rockaway native, Storz played football at Morris Catholic."

References

External links

School WebsiteData for Morris Catholic High School

{{Authority control 1957 establishments in New Jersey Denville Township, New Jersey Educational institutions established in 1957 Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools Private high schools in Morris County, New Jersey Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson Catholic secondary schools in New Jersey