Morris Hills High School is a comprehensive regional 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 ...

located in the borough of Rockaway, 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, 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 ...

s as one of the two secondary schools of the Morris Hills Regional High School District. The high school serves students from

Wharton Wharton may refer to: Academic institutions * Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania * Wharton County Junior College * Paul R. Wharton High School * Wharton Center for Performing Arts, at Michigan State University Places * Wharton, Ch ...

, Rockaway Borough and parts of Rockaway Township.Home page
, Morris Hills High School. Accessed July 15, 2011. "Morris Hills High School, located in Rockaway, New Jersey, serves the residential communities of Rockaway Borough, Rockaway Township, and Wharton.... The school was first opened for classes on September 9, 1953. A 39 acre site that was the former Gunther Estate serves as campus for Morris Hills." Students come to Morris Hills from Copeland Middle School, Alfred C. MacKinnon Middle School, Thomas Jefferson Middle School, as well as local private schools. As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,185 students and 117.7 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 10.1:1. There were 173 students (14.6% 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 67 (5.7% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Morris Hills 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. The campus of Morris Hills houses The Academy for Mathematics, Science, and Engineering, a science-oriented magnet school operated as a joint effort with the

Morris County Vocational School District The Morris County Vocational School District is a countywide public school district that provides vocational and technical education to public high school students in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. The district is headquartered in D ...

and open by competitive application to all students from Morris County. The other high school in the district is

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 ...

, which serves students from

Denville Denville Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Morris County, New Jersey, Morris County, New Jersey, located west of Manhattan. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 16,635, reflecting ...

and portions of Rockaway Township.

History

The four constituent communities voted in 1949 to create the regional high school, which would allow 750 students then served by

Boonton High School Boonton High School is a comprehensive four-year public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Boonton, in Morris County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Boonton Public Schools. The school i ...

, Dover High School and Rockaway High School, with a goal of serving a total enrollment of 1,500. Student from

Wharton, New Jersey Wharton is a borough in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the borough's population was 6,522,Wharton High School, which opened in 1922 and closed when Morris Hills was opened. The school is located on the former Gunther Estate and opened to students on September 9, 1953.

Awards and recognition

For the 1996-97 school year, Morris Hills High School was named a "Star School" by the

New Jersey Department of Education The New Jersey Department of Education (NJ DOE) administers state and federal aid programs affecting more than 1.4 million public and non-public elementary and secondary school children in the state of New Jersey. The department is headquartered ...

, the highest honor that a New Jersey school can achieve. The school was the 71st-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 42nd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 70th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 106th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 101st in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state."Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank"
''

'', September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008. Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 64th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (an increase of 35 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (89.6%) and language arts literacy (97.8%) 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).

School media

''The Morris Hills Hilltopper'', the school's official newspaper, is published four times a year in color. Students write all articles and take the majority of the photos, as well as set up the design and comics. ''SEED Magazine'' is the school's annual literary magazine. All students are allowed to submit prose or poetry, or visual works of art (though not all are put into the actual magazine).

Extracurricular activities

Morris Hills houses a large variety of extracurricular activities for its students, ranging from bible club (Velocity) to its very own DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) Club. Many have gained recognition or awards for their duties in the community or their overall excellence in their field, including the Morris Hills Stage Crew (part of drama club), which placed third in the ITS Statewide festival in the 2005-2006 year. Any student is permitted to join any club. A partial list of clubs include: *

Academic Decathlon The Academic Decathlon (also called AcDec, AcaDeca or AcaDec) is an annual high school academic competition organized by the non-profit United States Academic Decathlon (USAD). The competition consists of seven objective multiple choice tests, tw ...

(with honorable essay mention for the 2006-07 year) *E.R.A.S.E. (Eliminate Racism and Sexism Everywhere) *G.S.A. (Gay-Straight Alliance) *Interact (which hosts a benefit show every year) *DDR Society (

Dance Dance Revolution (''DDR'') is a music video game series produced by Konami. Introduced in Japan in 1998 as part of the Bemani series, and released in North America and Europe in 1999, ''Dance Dance Revolution'' is the pioneering series of the rhythm and dance V ...

) *Chess Club *

Leo Club Leo clubs are a youth organization of Lions Clubs International. Leo clubs encourage youths to develop leadership qualities by participating in social service activities. They are dependent on a Lions club to sponsor and initiate a Leo club. Le ...

* DECA *

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 ...

FCCLA Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA, formerly known as Future Homemakers of America) is a nonprofit national career and technical student organization for young men and women in Family and Consumer Sciences education in public ...

(formerly Family, Career and Community Leaders of America) *Ecology Club *Peer Listening *

International Thespian Society The International Thespian Society (ITS) is an honor society for high school and middle school theatre students. It is a division of the Educational Theatre Association. Thespian troupes serve students in grades 9–12; Junior Thespian troupes s ...

*DRAMA Club *Pit Band *Marching Band *Jazz Band *Chorus *Knights Templar Choir *Women's Choir *Madrigals *

Model Congress Model Congress gives students a chance to engage in a role-playing simulation of the United States Congress. Such events are hosted by the Congress itself, Rutgers University, American International College, University of Maryland, Columbia Univers ...

*Yearbook Club *

Technology Student Association The Technology Student Association (TSA) is a national student organization created to develop skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) as well as business education. TSA aims to develop leadership, academic, and busines ...

FBLA The Future Business Leaders of America, or FBLA, is an American career and technical student organization headquartered in Reston, Virginia. Established in 1940, FBLA is a non-profit organization of high school ("FBLA"), Middle Level ("FBLA ...

Key Club Key Club International, also called Key Club, is an international service organization for high school students. As a student-led organization, Key Club's goal is to encourage leadership through serving others. Key Club International is the hig ...

Junior State of America The Junior State of America (formerly the Junior Statesmen of America), abbreviated JSA, is an American non-partisan youth organization. The purpose of JSA is to help high school students acquire leadership skills and the knowledge necessary to ...

Athletics

The Morris Hills High School Scarlet KnightsMorris Hills 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. 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 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 following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the

(NJSIAA). The school had previously participated in 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 G ...

, 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 985 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group III for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 761 to 1,058 students in that grade range. The football team competes in the Patriot White 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 IV North for football for 2018–2020. Interscholastic sports offered at Morris Hills include baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, fencing, field hockey, football, golf, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball and wrestling. The school participates in a joint ice hockey team with

as the host school / lead agency. The co-op program operates under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year. The boys cross country running team won the Group III state championship in 1954, 1975-1977, 2004 and 2005, and won the Group II title in 2003. The boys track team won the Group IV spring track state championship in 1962, in Group III in 2007 (as co-champion) and in Group II in 2012. The baseball team won the North II Group III state sectional championship in 1966. The baseball program won 135 games in a span of six seasons with a Morris County Tournament Championship (2002), a North I Group III state sectional title (2004), and five Iron Hills Conference (Hills Division) championships (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007). The boys fencing team was the overall state champion in 1975. The football team won the NJSIAA North II Group III state sectional championship in 1975 and 2016. After finishing the 1974 season with a 1-8 record, the team won the 1975 North II Group III state sectional title with a 7-0 victory against Phillipsburg High School in the tournament final to finish 10-1 for the season. In 2016, the team won the North II Group III state sectional title, the program's second title and its first in 41 years, with a 27-14 win in the tournament final against

Parsippany Hills High School Parsippany Hills High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school in the township of Parsippany-Troy Hills, in Morris County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grade as one of the two secondary s ...

. As a

homecoming Homecoming is the tradition of welcoming back alumni or other former members of an organization to celebrate the organization's existence. It is a tradition in many high schools, colleges, and churches in the United States, Canada and Liberia. ...

event, the Hills football team plays against Morris Knolls in an annual rivalry game played at the beginning of every school year. The teams have played each other since 1972, with Morris Knolls winning 15 of the 25 games through the 2017 season.

NJ.com NJ.com is a digital news content provider and website in New Jersey owned by Advance Publications. According to a report in ''The New York Times'' in 2012, it was the largest provider of digital news in the state at the time. In 2018, comScore r ...

had the rivalry at 26th on their 2017 list "Ranking the 31 fiercest rivalries in N.J. HS football". The boys track team won the indoor track public state championship in Group III in 1978, and won the Group II title in 2006, 2008 and 2009. The girls team won the Group III title in 1983 (as co-champion) The wrestling team won the North II Group III state sectional title in 1987. The 1997 softball team finished the season with a 29-2 record after winning the Group II state championship by defeating Delaware Valley Regional High School by a score of 2-1 in the tournament final. The field hockey team won the North I Group IV state sectional championship in 2001. The boys' track team won the Group II state indoor relay championship in 2006 and 2008. The boys' basketball team made the state tournament for the first time in 10 years in 2006, though it lost in the first round to 6th-seeded Passaic Valley High School 67-45. The boys ice hockey team, established in 1958, was one of the first high school teams in New Jersey along with the Morristown School (now Morristown-Beard School), Montclair High School, Livingston High School, and West Orange High School. They won the state championship for the 1960-1961 season. They have also won seven divisional titles including two Charette Division titles (2003, 2017), four Haas Division titles (1991, 1996, 1997, 2004), and one Halverson Division title (2005).

Cross country / track and field

Perhaps the most successful athletics program at Morris Hills is its men's cross country and track and field teams, both of which have been very successful in the state, under head cross country coach Sean Robinson, who took the position in 2002.Lambert, Jim
"Morris Hills Shakes and Bakes its way to Group 2 sectional sweep"
''

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 ...

'', February 12, 2011. Accessed August 20, 2011. Robinson took the head indoor track and field coaching position in 2006. In that year, the Scarlet Knights won every major championship they entered (conference, county, state group and state group relay), the first time that had happened in county history. The Scarlet Knights repeated the feat in 2008, 2009 and 2011. Robinson was coach during Morris Hills' county track and field championship victory in 2006, the first time the Scarlet Knights had won since 1977. Since becoming head coach, Robinson has led the Scarlet Knights to six NJSIAA state championships, 11 NJSIAA Sectional Championships, two NJSIAA State Relay Championships, nine Conference Championships, and seven county titles. He also has two State Coach of the Year, 1 NFHS State Coach of the Year Honor, five Area Coach of the Year Honors, and seven Excellence in Coaching Awards under his belt. He was inducted into the NJSCA Hall of Fame in March 2015. Morris Hills has also had over 34 All-American honors distributed to its XC/TF athletes since 1999, largely with the success of the school's 4 x mile relay, 4 x 800 relay and shuttle hurdle relay teams. At the 2009 Nike National Outdoor Track Championship the Morris Hills 4x800 won the race to secure the title of national champions after having the US#2 All-Time Performance of 7:31.60 (breaking the national record) at the Penn Relays. Keith Lindsley, the 2007 NJSIAA Athletic Assistant Coach of the Year, is the current sprint/hurdles coach. Morris Hills was selected to participate in the inaugural Nike Team National Cross Country Championship in 2005, where they finished 13th. The following is a list of championship titles in Morris Hills cross country/track and field history.

Marching band

In 1998, the Morris Hills High School Marching Band, under Director Michael Sopko, was recruited to film an MTV Commercial for the MTV Video Music Awards. The marching band was chosen after being spotted by MTV associates during their annual competition at Giants Stadium. In the commercial, the marching band played clips from nominated songs and ended in a human formation of the MTV symbol. The commercial was aired several times daily leading up to the awards ceremony. The band was named the 2010 USSBA Group 2 Open New Jersey State Champions. In 2016, Band Director Michael Sopko retired from his position as the band's leader. Richard Hartsuiker, a former Roxbury music teacher, replaced Sopko and continued Morris Hills' musical traditions, by directing the Marching Band, directing the Concert/Jazz Bands, and assisting with the Spring Musical.

Administration

The school's principal is Todd Toriello. His administration team includes three assistant principals.MH Administration
Morris Hills High School. Accessed January 21, 2022.

Notable alumni

Army chief of staff visits alma mater 140515-A-KH856-386

* Bruce Bannon (born 1951), played

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 ...

for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

in 1973 and 1974. *

Clifford Meth Clifford Meth is an American writer, editor, and publisher best known for his dark fiction, as well as his publishing imprint Aardwolf Publishing. He has said that his work is often "self-consciously Jewish." Early life Meth grew up in Rockaway, ...

(born 1961, class of 1979), author and editor. *

Sue Naegle Sue Naegle is an Americans, American business executive. She was the president of HBO Entertainment from 2008 until 2013, when she departed and formed her own production company. She formerly worked as chief content officer at Annapurna Pictures. I ...

, President of HBO Entertainment. * General

Raymond T. Odierno Raymond Thomas Odierno (8 September 1954 – 8 October 2021) was an American military officer who served as a four-star general of the United States Army and as the 38th chief of staff of the Army. Prior to his service as chief of staff, Odiern ...

(born 1954, class of 1972), appointed to the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

at West Point, he became commanding general of the 4th Infantry Division in

Fort Hood Fort Hood is a United States Army post located near Killeen, Texas. Named after Confederate General John Bell Hood, it is located halfway between Austin and Waco, about from each, within the U.S. state of Texas. The post is the headquarters ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, when troops under Odierno's command in Iraq were given credit for capturing

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

. * General

Gustave F. Perna Gustave F. Perna (born 1960) is a retired United States Army four-star general who last served as the chief operating officer of the federal COVID-19 response for vaccine and therapeutics. He previously served as the chief operating officer of O ...

(born 1960, class of 1978), commander of

United States Army Materiel Command U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) is the primary provider of materiel to the United States Army. The Command's mission includes the management of installations, as well as maintenance and parts distribution. It was established on 8 May 1962 and wa ...

. * Rachel Wainer Apter, lawyer who was nominated in March 2021 to be an

Associate Justice Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some state ...

of the

Supreme Court of New Jersey The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases ...

.Racioppi, Dustin
"North Jersey native tapped by Gov. Phil Murphy to state Supreme Court. Here's who she is"
'' The Record'', March 15, 2021. Accessed March 16, 2021. "Wainer Apter grew up in Rockaway and graduated from Morris Hills High School."

References

External links

Morris Hills High SchoolMorris Hills Regional School District
*
School Data for the Morris Hills Regional High School District

MHRD District Hall of Fame
{{Authority control Rockaway, New Jersey Rockaway Township, New Jersey Wharton, New Jersey 1953 establishments in New Jersey Educational institutions established in 1953 Public high schools in Morris County, New Jersey