Morristown High School (MHS) 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 ''Öffentlichk ...

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 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 three communities in Morris County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

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 ...

, operating as part of the

Morris School District The Morris School District is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from three municipalities in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. The communities in the distric ...

. The school serves students from Morristown and Morris Township, along with students from Morris Plains, who attend the district's high 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 Morris Plains Schools. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1952. As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,820 students and 136.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.3:1. There were 207 students (11.4% 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 34 (1.9% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Morristown High School
National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 1, 2022. MHS receives students from Frelinghuysen Middle School, Morris Plains Borough School, and several public and private middle schools.

History

Morristown High School was opened on December 13, 1869 on Maple Avenue, four years after Morristown had seceded from Morris Township. It accepted students from both the town and the township. The first graduates were the class of 1874, consisting of eight students, five girls and three boys. Morristown High School played its first football game on September 28, 1901, against Port Oram (now Wharton) high school. The cornerstone of the current MHS building was laid on September 9, 1916. Classes at the current building began on September 4, 1918. In May 1974, the

Harding Township School District The Harding Township School District is a community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade from Harding Township, in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020–21 school year, the ...

was given permission by the State Commissioner of Education to end their sending / receiving relationship with the Morris School District and begin sending their students to

Madison High School Madison High School may refer to: * Madison County High School (Alabama), Gurley, Alabama * Madison High School (Idaho), Rexburg, Idaho * Madison Consolidated High School, Madison, Indiana * Madison High School (Kansas), Madison, Kansas * Kentuc ...

starting with the 1975–76 school year, ruling that the withdrawal of the mostly white students from Harding Township would not "cause a disproportionate change in the racial composition of Morristown High School".Staff
"Morristown High School Closed After Racial Fight"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', May 7, 1974. Accessed November 9, 2017. "Morristown High School has about 400 black students, most of them from Morristown. Most of the high school student from Morris Township, Morris Plain: and Harding Township are white. Morristown and Morris Township were forced to merge their school systems two years ago to advance racial integration. Last week Harding Township was given permission by the State Education Commissioner to withdraw its students from Morristown High and send them to Madison High." On May 4, 1974, Morristown High School had "racial violence" between Black and white students, which started at a carnival on Madison Street and erupted again in subsequent days, resulting in several injuries to students. The school was closed while efforts were made to address tensions. In 2005, Linda D. Murphy, an assistant principal at Morristown High School, was promoted to principal of Morristown High School, becoming the first Morristown High School graduate (Class of 1972) to fill the position. In 2009, year-round rotating block schedule replaced the semester-based

block scheduling Block scheduling or blocking is a type of academic scheduling used in schools in the American K-12 system, in which each pupil has fewer classes per day. It is more common in middle and high schools than in primary schools. Each class is sched ...

. In 2013, A/B block scheduling replaced the year-round rotating block schedule. In 2018, Homeroom was abolished in exchange for a later starting time. On March 14, 2018, students walked out to protest gun violence after one month of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 116th-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 75th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 66th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 78th in 2008 out of 316 schools. 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 69th in New Jersey and 2,029th nationwide.

Academics

Morristown High School provides 285 courses (including Honors and AP) to its students. Out of the 285 courses, 28 are offered as AP courses and range from AP

Calculus Calculus, originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the calculus of infinitesimals", is the mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizations of arithm ...

BC to AP Music Theory. College Prep level courses are also offered to students as a step down from Honors level courses. AP tests along with SAT and ACT exams are conducted onsite. Students have access to extracurricular activities in the form of programs like Marching Band, Jazz Ensemble, or Theatre; student clubs like Girls Who Code, Future Teachers, or Habitat for Humanity; honor societies. Morristown High School also offers "STEM Academy," an enrichment program for students in grades 9-12. STEM Academy offers pathways in Biomedicine, Engineering, Architecture, Environmental Sustainability, Research Science, Computer Science, Mathematics and General STEM.

Athletics

The Morristown High School ColonialsMorristown High School
New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. participate 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 ...

, an athletic conference comprised of high schools located in Morris, Sussex 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, operating under the auspices of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Prior to the NJSIAA's 2010 realignment, the school had competed as part of the

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, United States. The Iron division was often regarded as one of the most competitive in the state. ...

, 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 Grea ...

, Morris and

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

counties. With 1,394 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 football team competes in the Freedom 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 Group V North for football for 2022–2024, which included schools with 1,313 to 5,304 students. The boys track team won the Group III spring / outdoor track state championship in 1959.NJSIAA Boys Spring Track Summary of Group Titles
New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023. The boys cross country running team won the Group IV state championship in 1967 and 1985, and won the Group III title in 1996 and 1997.NJSIAA Boys Cross Country State Group Champions
New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023. The boys track team won the indoor track public state championship in Group IV in 1969. The football team won the North II Group IV state sectional championship in 1974, North II Group III title in 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2010. The 1974 team finished the season with a 10-0 record after winning the first North II Group IV sectional title of the playoff era with a 30-10 victory against Bloomfield High School at the championship game played indoors in front of a crowd of 4,500 at

Atlantic City Convention Hall Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, formerly known as the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, is a multi-purpose arena in Atlantic City in Atlantic County, New Jersey. It was Atlantic City's primary convention center until the opening of the Atlant ...

. The 1993 team finished the season with a 9-1-1 record after winning the North II Group III title with a 25-0 victory against

Morris Knolls High School Morris Knolls High School (MKHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Denville Township and most of Rockaway Township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States, operating as ...

in the championship game. The 1998 team won the North II Group III sectional championship by a score of 37-14 over

Westfield High School Westfield High School may refer to: * The Westfield School, Perry, Georgia * Westfield High School (Westfield, Indiana) * Westfield High School (Massachusetts), Westfield, Massachusetts * Westfield Technical Academy, Westfield, Massachusetts * West ...

, to finish the season 11-0. The boys' track team won the Group IV indoor relay state championship in 1987 and 1988, and won the Group III title in 2010. The field hockey team won the North II Group IV state sectional championship in 1987, 1989 and 1991, won the North I Group IV title in 2002 and 2016-2018, and won the North I Group III title in 2005 and 2006.History of NJSIAA Field Hockey Championships
New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023. The baseball team won the Group III state championship in 1993 (defeating

Steinert High School Steinert High School (also formally known as Hamilton High School East) is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as one of three secondary high schools that are part of the Hamilton Townsh ...

in the tournament final) and 2006 (vs.

Ocean Township High School Ocean Township High School (OTHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in the Oakhurst section of Ocean Township, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school in the Ocean Township ...

), and won the Group IV title in 2006 (vs. Steinert).NJSIAA Baseball Championship History
New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023. The team won the Group III state championship in 2006 with wins over

Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan is a comprehensive four-year public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from the suburban communities of Harrington Park, Northvale, Norwood and Old Tappan in Berge ...

in the semifinals and

in the finals, by scores of 3-1 and 11–7, respectively. They finished the season ranked third in the state in ''

The Star Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to ''The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the ''Staten Island Advance'', all of wh ...

''s Top 20. The team has won the Morris County Tournament 15 times, the most of any school in tournament history, winning in 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975-1977, 1979, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1999, 2009, 2010 and 2018. The girls cross country team won the Group III state championship in 1997 and 2011.NJSIAA Girls Cross Country State Group Champions
New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023. The boys fencing team was the épée team winner in 2005. The program's nine individual state champions is tied for third-most in the state. The ice hockey team won the Public B championship in 2014 and won the Public A title in 2016. The team won the Public B state championship in 2014, beating Ramsey High School by a score of 1–0 in the tournament final, with the game-winning goal scored with less than a minute left in the game to break a scoreless tie and earn Morristown the program's first championship. In 2016, the team won their second title, this time in the Public A division, against Randolph High School by a final score of 2–0. The school has two certified athletic trainers providing sports medicine coverage to all levels of athletics across all three seasons.

Administration

The school's principal is Mark Manning. His core administration team includes four assistant principals.

Notable people

Alumni

* James J. Barry Jr. (born 1946, class of 1964), Director of the

New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs (DCA) is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is responsible for protecting the public "from fraud, deceit and misrepresentation in the sale of goods and services." The DCA operate ...

and member of the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

Scott Blumstein Scott Blumstein (born March 27, 1992) is an American poker player from Morristown, New Jersey. In 2017, he won the World Series of Poker Main Event for $8,150,000. Blumstein graduated from Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) ...

(born 1992, class of 2010), winner of the 2017

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker p ...

Main Event for $8,150,000. *

John T. Cunningham John T. Cunningham (June 26, 1915 – June 7, 2012) was an American journalist, writer, and historian who published numerous works related to the history of his native state, New Jersey. Long known as "New Jersey’s popular historian", his '' ...

(1915-2012, class of 1932), journalist, writer, and historian who published numerous works related to the history of his native state, New Jersey. * Christina Epps (born 1991, class of 2009), track and field athlete specializing in the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

; member of US 2016 Olympic Team *

Daniel Kleitman Daniel J. Kleitman (born October 4, 1934)article availableon Douglas West's web page, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign)."Kleitman, Daniel J.," in: ''Who's Who in Frontier Science and Technology'', 1, 1984, p. 396. is an American mathe ...

(born 1934, class of 1950), professor of applied mathematics at MIT.
article available
on Douglas West's web page,

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

). * Connor Lade (born 1989, class of 2008), former professional soccer player for the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

Fran Lebowitz Frances Ann Lebowitz (; born October 27, 1950) is an American author, public speaker, and occasional actor. She is known for her sardonic social commentary on American life as filtered through her New York City sensibilities and her association ...

(born 1950), author, public speaker and occasional actor. *

Bob McCann Robert Glen McCann (April 22, 1964 – July 1, 2011) was an American professional basketball player. He was listed as a power forward at 6'7" (or 6'6") and 244–248 lbs. McCann died of heart failure in July 2011. McCann was born in Morristo ...

(1964-1971), former professional basketball player who played for five teams in the NBA. *

Craig Newmark Craig Alexander Newmark (born December 6, 1952) is an American internet entrepreneur and philanthropist best known as the founder of the classifieds website Craigslist. Prior to founding Craigslist, he worked as a computer programmer for companie ...

(born 1952, class of 1971), creator of the web community

Craigslist Craigslist (stylized as craigslist) is an American classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums. Craig Newmark began the ...

. * Tim O'Connor (born 1976, class of 1995), professional skateboarder * John Panelli (1926-2012),

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 wi ...

player who played in the NFL for the Detroit Lions and the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ...

. * Dan Quinn (born 1970, class of 1989),

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

defensive coordinator *

Gene Shalit Eugene Shalit (born March 25, 1926) is an American retired journalist, television personality, Film criticism, film and Literary criticism, book critic and author. After starting to work part-time on NBC's ''Today (American TV program), The Toda ...

(born 1926), book and movie criticStaff
"Morris History Includes Rich, Famous"
'' Daily Record'', June 23, 2002. Accessed September 11, 2011. "Gene Shalit film critic on NBCTV's Today show got his start writing a humor column called 'The Korn Krib' for the Morristown High School newspaper." * Rick Sofield (born 1956, class of 1975), former Major League Baseball first-round draft pick; former outfielder for the Minnesota Twins *

Lexington Steele Clifton Todd Britt (born November 28, 1969), better known by his stage name Lexington Steele, is an American pornographic actor, director, producer, and former stockbroker. He is the owner of the adult production companies Mercenary Motion Pictur ...

(born 1969, stage name of Clifton Britt), adult film star. * Jahmar Thorpe (born 1984), professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the

Iwate Big Bulls The Iwate Big Bulls are a professional basketball team that compete in the third division of the Japanese B.League. Roster Notable players * Wayne Arnold *Lawrence Blackledge *Jamal Boykin * Brian Carlwell * Tatsunori Fujie * ...

in Japan. * William Treanor (born 1957, class of 1975), attorney and legal scholar; dean of

Georgetown University Law Center The Georgetown University Law Center (Georgetown Law) is the law school of Georgetown University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law school in the United States by enrollment and ...

* C. Alfred Voegeli (1904–1984, class of 1922), bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti, serving from 1943 to 1971. *

Ben Weinman Benjamin A. Weinman (born August 8, 1975) is an American musician, film composer, and music manager, most notable for being the lead guitarist and primary songwriter of the metalcore band The Dillinger Escape Plan. He was the founder and sole con ...

(born 1975), musician who was a founding member of

The Dillinger Escape Plan The Dillinger Escape Plan was an American metalcore band. The band was formed in 1997 in Morris Plains, New Jersey by guitarist Ben Weinman, bassist Adam Doll, vocalist Dimitri Minakakis, and drummer Chris Pennie. The band's use of odd time si ...

and current member of

Suicidal Tendencies Suicidal Tendencies is an American crossover thrash band formed in 1980 in Venice in Los Angeles, California by vocalist Mike Muir. Muir is the only remaining original member of the band. Along with D.R.I., Corrosion of Conformity, and Stor ...

. *

Stephen B. Wiley Stephen Bradford Wiley (June 21, 1929 – October 8, 2015) was an American attorney, poet, businessman, civic leader, and Democratic Party politician. Wiley served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1973 to 1978, where he represented Morris C ...

(1929-2015, class of 1947), attorney, poet, businessman, civic leader and politician who served in the

New Jersey State Senate The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232, ...

from 1973 to 1978.

Faculty

* John Chironna (1928–2010), former head football coach at the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Isla ...

; teacher and head football coach at Morristown; mentored

Charlie Weis Charles Joseph Weis Sr. (born March 30, 1956) is a former American football coach. He was the head coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 2005 to 2009 and the Kansas Jayhawks from 2012 to 2014. He also served as an offensive coordinator ...

* William Flynn (-1958), football coach who was head coach at Morristown from 1934 until his death. *

Joyce Kilmer Alfred Joyce Kilmer (December 6, 1886 – July 30, 1918) was an American writer and poet mainly remembered for a short poem titled "Trees" (1913), which was published in the collection ''Trees and Other Poems'' in 1914. Though a prolific poet wh ...

(1886–1918), poet and author; taught at Morristown High School, 1908-1909 *

(born 1956), former head football coach at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

; assistant football coach and English teacher, 1980-1985 Thamel, Pete
"Weis Made His Luck on Way to the Irish"
''

'', December 19, 2004. Accessed September 16, 2008. "After graduating in 1978, Weis decided to become a coach and teacher. He returned to New Jersey and taught at Boonton High School, then at nearby Morristown High, where he found his first football mentor, Morristown Coach John Chironna." He was also the school's fencing coach for the 1984–85 season.

References

External links

Morristown High SchoolMorris School District
*
School Data for the Morris School District
National Center for Education Statistics {{Authority control Morristown, New Jersey Morris Plains, New Jersey Morris Township, New Jersey 1869 establishments in New Jersey Educational institutions established in 1869 Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools Public high schools in Morris County, New Jersey