Ocean Township High School (OTHS) is a four-year comprehensive

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

located in the Oakhurst section of Ocean Township, in Monmouth 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, operating as the lone secondary school in the Ocean Township School District. OTHS serves residents of all neighborhoods within Ocean Township, including Oakhurst, Wanamassa, Wayside and West Allenhurst. As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,008 students and 104.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.7:1. There were 167 students (16.6% 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 43 (4.3% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Ocean Township High School
National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 1, 2022. As of the 2013–14 school year there were 18 Advanced Placement (AP) courses offered. In conjunction with

Monmouth University Monmouth University is a private university in West Long Branch, New Jersey. Founded in 1933 as Monmouth Junior College, it became Monmouth College in 1956 and Monmouth University in 1995 after receiving its charter. There are about 4,400 full ...

, Ocean Township High School offers a dual credit program called MODEL to AP students. The school's average graduation rate for the past two years is 99% and 97% of students go on to post secondary education. The school's Family and Consumer Science kitchens, for culinary instruction, were remodeled in 2005. Over 93% of Ocean's teachers are at or above intermediate skill levels in the use of technology.

History

Ocean Township's students leaving eighth grade had the option to attend either

Asbury Park High School Asbury Park High School is a comprehensive, four-year community public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades. It is in a landmark building in Asbury Park, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, that was cons ...

Long Branch High School Long Branch High School is a comprehensive high school, comprehensive, four-year community state school, public Secondary education in the United States, high school that serves students in ninth grade, ninth through twelfth grades in the city o ...

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 most Ocean Township students choosing to head to Asbury Park. By 1962, Ocean Township students accounted for a majority of the student body at an overcrowded Asbury Park High School. Ocean Township was unwilling to commit to the long-term sending relationship that would allow Asbury Park to justify an expansion project. Voters in Ocean Township approved a 1962 referendum allocating $3 million (equivalent to $ million in ) towards the construction of a high school facility. The school opened in September 1965, serving more than 1,300 students in grades 7–11, which included students in grades 10 and 11 who had previously been sent out of the district for high school. Ocean Township shifted 600 students from Asbury Park to the new high school, with about 300 Ocean Township seniors completing their final year at Asbury Park High School. The school graduated its first class in 1967. Over time, the 7th and 8th grade students were moved to other schools. Beginning in the 1975–76 school year, with the opening of the then 7-9 Ocean Township Intermediate School, the school only served 10–12, with the freshman class returning to OTHS for the 1978–79 school year. At the end of the 2016–17 school year, Loch Arbour left the Ocean Township district after getting approval from the New Jersey Department of Education and following the overwhelming passage of a referendum. With 14 public school students and school property taxes of $2 million, Loch Arbour had been paying an average of $143,000 per pupil,Radel, Dan
"State OKs Loch Arbour's request to leave Ocean's schools"
'' Asbury Park Press'', January 9, 2017. Accessed September 15, 2020. "The state's acting Commissioner of Education Kimberly Harrington agreed to allow the village to leave Ocean schools. Fernicola said they want to leave because of the significant difference in school taxes for his town's students. He said Loch Arbour paid over $2 million last year to send 16 students to Ocean schools. That comes out to about $125,000 per pupil. He said Ocean taxpayers only pay $16,000 per pupil." while Ocean Township taxpayers only paid approximately $16,000 per pupil. The Loch Arbour cost per student was significantly reduced under new

s established with the West Long Branch Public Schools for PreK-8 and Shore Regional High School for 9–12, under which Loch Arbour pays tuition to each district based on the number of students. Ocean Township opposed the changes as the subsidy funded approximately 20 staff positions.

Awards, recognition and rankings

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

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

'', the school was ranked 55th in New Jersey and 1,637th nationwide. In ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

's'' May 22, 2007 issue, ranking the country's top high schools, Ocean Township High School was listed in 838th place, the 21st-highest ranked school in New Jersey. In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", ''

The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...

'' ranked the school 856th in the nation among participating public high schools and 64th among schools in New Jersey. The school was the 84th-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 95th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 64th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 97th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 69th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state."Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank"
'' New Jersey Monthly'', September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008. Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 148th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 31 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (83.8%) and language arts literacy (93.7%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).

Extracurricular activities

The school's extra-curricular programs provide invaluable learning experiences and life-lessons for students. A heavy emphasis on sportsmanship and scholarship is a primary focus at OTHS with students and teachers working together to further student's interest. Many clubs also provide public service projects. Many clubs and sports are offered to students, allowing them to look further into what interests them most.

Athletics

The Ocean Township High School SpartansOcean Township High School
New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete in Division B North of the Shore Conference, an athletic conference comprised of public and private high schools in Monmouth and Ocean counties along the Jersey Shore.Shore Conference Realignment for 2018-2019 and 2019-2020
Shore Conference. Accessed November 15, 2020. The conference operates under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). With 820 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 school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group III South for football for 2018–2020. The school participates as the host school / lead agency in a joint ice hockey team with

Monmouth Regional High School Monmouth Regional High School is a regional, four-year public high school and public school district based in Tinton Falls, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Eatontown, Shre ...

and Shore Regional High School. The co-op program operates under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year. The field hockey team won the Central Jersey Group III state sectional championship in 1980, 1985, 1997 and 2001. The 1980 boys' tennis team won the Group III state championship, defeating

Moorestown High School Moorestown High School (MHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Moorestown in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the M ...

3-1 and

Millburn High School Millburn High School is a four-year public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Millburn (including its Short Hills neighborhood), in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school ...

4–1. The 1985 baseball team finished the season with a 24–6 record after defeating

Montville Township High School Montville Township High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Montville Township, in suburban Morris County, United States. The school was founded in 1971 and serves students in ninth through twelfth grades as the ...

in the championship game by a score of 3–0 to win the Group III state title in a game played at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

. The girls cross country running team won the Group III state championship in 1992 and 1993. The football team won the Central Jersey Group III state sectional championships in 1993, 2000 and 2005. After losing all four of its previous state finals, the 1993 team finished the season with an 11–0 record after winning the Central Jersey Group III state sectional title in front of more than 6,000 spectators with a 20–12 victory against a

team that came undefeated into the championship game. As the tournament's seventh seed, Ocean Township High School defeated

Nottingham High School , motto_translation = Praise to the end , address = Waverley Mount , city = Nottingham , county = Nottinghamshire , postcode = NG7 4ED , country = England , coordinates = , type = Independent day school , established = , closed = , religious ...

(Hamilton High School North) by a score of 41–20 in the 2005 Central Jersey Group III sectional final. The softball team won the Group III state title in 1993, defeating Ramsey High School by a score of 5–3 in the championship game to finish the season with a record of 25–4. The boys' soccer team won the Group III state championship in 1996 (defeating

Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School (or SPFHS) is a comprehensive regional four-year public high school in Union County, New Jersey, United States, which serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from the Township of Scotch Plains and the ...

in the tournament final) and 2018 (vs.

). The 1996 team finished the season with a 16–6 record after defeating Scotch Plains-Fanwood by a score of 2–0 in the Group III championship game.LoGiudice, Daniel
"NJ boys soccer: 30 greatest Jersey Shore teams ever"
'' Asbury Park Press'', June 16, 2020. Accessed December 8, 2020. "1996 Ocean Township (16-6) - Ocean Township won its first ever group title when it upset defending-champion Scotch Plains-Fanwood, winners of five group finals, 2-0 in the Group III final." In 2018, the team won the Shore Conference Tournament with a 1–0 overtime win against Christian Brothers Academy and won the program's second Group III title by a score of 1–0 against Millburn in the championship game to finish the season 21-3-1. The wrestling team won the Central Jersey Group III state sectional championship 2004–2008, 2012, 2019 and 2020 The boys' bowling team won the Group II state championship in 2011.

Administration

The school's principal is Dawn Kaszuba. Her core administration team includes two assistant principals.

Notable alumni

* Lane Bess (born 1961, class of 1979),

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to start-up company, startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth poten ...

ist known for his work in technology. * Michelle Davidson (born 1970, class of 1989), masters swimmer and a long distance, open water swimmer who accomplished the

Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming External links Channel Swimming AssociationChannel Swimming & Piloting FederationCatalina Channel Swimming FederationNew York Open Water
...

, which includes crossing the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

and

Catalina Channel Santa Catalina Island ( xgf, Pimuu'nga or ; es, Isla Santa Catalina) is a rocky island off the coast of Southern California in the Gulf of Santa Catalina. The island name is often shortened to Catalina Island or just Catalina. The island is ...

, and circumnavigating Manhattan Island. *

Caroline Elkins Caroline Elkins (American, born Caroline Fox, 1969) is Professor of History and African and African American Studies at Harvard University, the Thomas Henry Carroll/Ford Foundation Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School ...

(born 1969, class of 1987), Pulitzer-prize winning historian and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

professor. * Trent Hindman (born 1995), racing driver who won the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge The Michelin Pilot Challenge is a grand touring and touring car racing series run by the International Motor Sports Association. Originating from the Canadian Motorola Cup, the series was taken over by Grand-Am in 2001 to become the Grand-Am Cu ...

in the GS class. *

Robert Legato Robert Legato (born 1956) is an American visual effects supervisor, second unit director, and second unit director of photography. Raised in Asbury Park, New Jersey, Legato graduated from Ocean Township High School.Staff. "Shore's Robert Legato ...

(born 1956), Academy Award Winner for Visual Effects in 1998 for ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...

'' and in 2012 for ''

Hugo Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on ...

''. *

Oren Liebermann Oren Liebermann is an American journalist who works as a Pentagon correspondent for CNN. Biography Liebermann was born in Virginia on October 13, 1982. He spent his childhood in Virginia and Israel until he was raised in the Wayside section o ...

(born 1982, Class of 2000), journalist who works as the Pentagon correspondent for

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

. * Susan Littenberg (born 1967, class of 1985), film editor. *

Chris Malachowsky Chris Malachowsky (born May 2, 1959) is an American electrical engineer, one of the co-founders of computer graphics company Nvidia. Raised in the Oakhurst section of Ocean Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, Malachowsky graduated from Ocean ...

(born c. 1959, class of 1976), electrical engineer who was one of the founders of the computer graphics company

Nvidia Nvidia CorporationOfficially written as NVIDIA and stylized in its logo as VIDIA with the lowercase "n" the same height as the uppercase "VIDIA"; formerly stylized as VIDIA with a large italicized lowercase "n" on products from the mid 1990s to ...

. * Eric Nies (born 1971), model and reality television personality. * John Nies (born 1967), former NFL punter for the Buffalo Bills. *

Radia Perlman Radia Joy Perlman (; born December 18, 1951) is an American computer programmer and network engineer. She is a major figure in assembling the networks and technology to enable what we now know as the internet. She is most famous for her inventi ...

(born 1951, class of 1969), inventor of the

Spanning Tree Protocol The Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is a network protocol that builds a loop-free logical topology for Ethernet networks. The basic function of STP is to prevent bridge loops and the broadcast radiation that results from them. Spanning tree also ...

. *

Kenny Pickett Kenneth Shane Pickett (born June 6, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of Pittsburgh, where he won the Johnny Unitas Golden ...

(born 1998),

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 ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the Pittsburgh Steelers. * Adam Sarafian (born 1986), geologist who has advanced theories about the

origin of water on Earth The origin of water on Earth is the subject of a body of research in the fields of planetary science, astronomy, and astrobiology. Earth is unique among the rocky planets in the Solar System in that it is the only planet known to have oceans of ...

and

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

er who won the national championship in 2004. *

Michael Uslan Michael E. Uslan (; born June 2, 1951) is an American lawyer and film producer. Uslan has also dabbled in writing and teaching, he is known for being the first instructor to teach an accredited course on comic book folklore at any university. Ear ...

(born 1951), writer and producer of the '' Batman'' film franchise. *

John Villapiano John A. Villapiano (born November 17, 1951) is an American former professional football player who played in the World Football League and a Democratic Party politician who served on the Monmouth County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders an ...

(born 1951) former professional football player who played in the World Football League and politician who served on the

Monmouth County, New Jersey Monmouth County () is a county located on the coast of central New Jersey. The county is part of the New York metropolitan area and is situated along the northern half of the Jersey Shore. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population wa ...

Board of Chosen Freeholders In New Jersey, a Board of County Commissioners (until 2020 named the Board of Chosen Freeholders) is the elected county-wide government board in each of the state's 21 counties. In the five counties that have an elected county executive, the ...

and 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 ...

from 1988 to 1992. *

Phil Villapiano Philip James Villapiano (born February 26, 1949) is a former American football linebacker who played 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Early life Villapiano played high school football at both Asbury Park High School and Ocean ...

(born 1949), former NFL

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, ...

who played in four

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

s and was a part of the Oakland Raiders

Super Bowl XI Super Bowl XI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Minnesota Vikings to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for i ...

winning team. *

Wendy Williams Wendy Williams Hunter ( Wendy Joan Williams; born July 18, 1964) is an American broadcaster and writer. From 2008 to 2021, she hosted the nationally syndicated television talk show ''The Wendy Williams Show.'' Prior to television, Williams w ...

(born 1964), radio and television host.Neglia, Ashley V
"Mixing Media"
'' New Jersey Monthly'', June 9, 2008. Accessed July 22, 2008.

References

External links

Ocean Township High SchoolOcean Township School District
*
School Data for the Ocean Township School District
National Center for Education Statistics
Ocean Township High School Drama Club
{{Authority control Loch Arbour, New Jersey Ocean Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey 1965 establishments in New Jersey Educational institutions established in 1965 Public high schools in Monmouth County, New Jersey