Passaic Valley Regional High School is the name of both a

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 ...

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations. North America United States In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, wh ...

and 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 ...

for students in

ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...

through

twelfth grade Twelfth grade, 12th grade, senior year, or grade 12 is the final year of secondary school in most of North America. In other regions, it may also be referred to as class 12 or Year 13. In most countries, students are usually between the ages of 17 ...

s from a district comprising Little Falls, Totowa and Woodland Park, three communities in Passaic 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. As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,005 students and 86.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.7:1. There were 231 students (23.0% 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 15 (1.5% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Passaic Valley Regional 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 district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in

District Factor Group {{refimprove, date=February 2013 Membership in a District Factor Group (DFG) is an indicator of the socioeconomic status of citizens in school districts of New Jersey. DFGs were first developed by the New Jersey Department of Education in 1975 for ...

"FG", the fourth highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common

socioeconomic Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their l ...

characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J. The Passaic Valley

board of education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

consists of nine members, with three members elected from each municipality. The board generally meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month during the school year and once a month during the summer.

History

Overcrowding at

Paterson Central High School John F. Kennedy Educational Complex (or John F. Kennedy High School) is a four-year public high school in Paterson, United States, that serves the western section of Paterson. Kennedy High School, which serves students in ninth through twelfth ...

led the three constituent municipalities to begin discussions for the formation of a regional school district that would serve an estimated 600 students at a cost that would be comparable to the amounts paid in tuition for the

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 the

Paterson Public Schools The Paterson Public Schools (PPS) is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Paterson, New Jersey, United States. The district is one of 31 former Abbott districts st ...

and more cost effective than building high schools in each community. Constructed at a cost of $500,000 (equivalent to $ million in ), nearly half of which was covered by a grant from the

Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recove ...

, the school was designed to handle an enrollment of 650 to as many as 800, and opened to students in September 1940. The school mascot, the Hornet, was derived by vote of the first class from the '' Green Hornet'' radio series popular in the 1940s, as were the school colors of green and white.

Awards, recognition and rankings

As of 2019, the school is ranked 233rd out of 415 New Jersey public high schools. The school was the 225th-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 202nd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 144th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 170th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 166th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school 192nd out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 4 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the two components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA), mathematics (79.1%) and language arts literacy (92.3%).

Academics

Passaic Valley Regional High School offers the following advanced placement courses: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Calculus AB, English Literature & Composition, English Language & Composition, United States History, Spanish, United States Government & Politics, and Environmental Science. The school also offers the following courses as honors: Anatomy and Physiology, English, United States History, World History, Algebra I, Algebra II, Pre-Calculus, Geometry, Italian, French, Spanish, Business Practice Firm, Biology and Chemistry. The school also is part of the Fairleigh Dickinson University Middle College Program where students may choose to obtain college credits for selected courses including Anatomy & Physiology Honors and Holocaust & Genocide.

Extracurricular activities

Passaic Valley participates in "24 Hours Around the World" in which students teleconference with other nations for 24 hours. Passaic Valley's Drama Department is a part of the North Jersey Metro Cappies, a student critic program that introduces students to the world of theater journalism. They run a summer program where students in grades 9-12 all around the NJ/NY area can work together on a performance. On March 1, 2019, Passaic Valley celebrated its 74th annual Girl's Show where girls within the school, separated into two teams, compete in the following categories: Exercise, Cheer, Dance, Relays and Novelties, and Posters.

Athletics

The Passaic Valley Regional High School HornetsPassaic Valley 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 Independence Division of the Big North Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

and Passaic counties, and was established following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the

. In the 2009-10 school year, the school competed in the

North Jersey Tri-County Conference The North Jersey Tri-County Conference was a high school athletic conference in New Jersey, created by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) as a holding conference. The NJTCC consisted of 45 public and non-public school ...

, which was established on an interim basis to facilitate the realignment. Prior to the realignment, the school had participated in the Skyline Division of the

Northern Hills Conference The Northern Hills Conference, was an athletic conference of nineteen private and public high schools located in Essex, Morris and Passaic counties in Northern New Jersey. There were nineteen member Northern Hills Conference schools, split into t ...

, 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 Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Manitob ...

and Passaic counties. With 930 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 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 IV North for football for 2018–2020. Passaic Valley's school colors are green and white. The school participates as the host school / lead agency in a joint ice hockey team with Cedar Grove High School. 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 1961 and the Group IV title in 1962. The boys' bowling team won the overall state championship in 1973. The football team won the North I Group IV state championships in 1975, 1979, 1980 and 1986. The 1975 team finished with an 11-0 record after winning the North I Group IV state sectional title with a 23-7 victory against

North Bergen High School North Bergen High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school, serving students in ninth through twelfth grade from North Bergen, in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the North Bergen School District. T ...

in the playoff finals. In 1979, the team finished 11-0 after defeating Clifton High School by a score of 15-0 to win the North I Group IV state sectional championship game at

Giants Stadium Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands or The Swamp) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and it primarily hosted sp ...

. The team repeated as North I Group IV state champion with a 20-0 win against

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

in the finals at Giant Stadium to finish the season at 10-1. The 1986 team won the North I Group IV state sectional title with a come-from-behind 14-10 win against North Bergen in the championship game played at

Roosevelt Stadium Roosevelt Stadium was a baseball stadium at Droyer's Point in Jersey City, New Jersey. It opened in April 1937 and hosted high-minor league baseball, 15 major league baseball games, plus championship boxing matches, top-name musical acts, an ...

, to finish the season 9-2. In 2006, the football team beat

Wayne Valley High School Wayne Valley High School is a comprehensive four-year public high school, in Wayne, in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. The school serves students in ninth through twelfth grades as one of the two secondary schools of the Wayne Pu ...

during the regular season and again in the playoffs, making it to the semi-finals before losing to defending North I Group III champions, Wayne Hills High School. Under first year coach Al Capello, the Hornets made it to the North II Group III state championship at Giants Stadium on December 4, 2009, losing to West Morris Mendham High School by a score of 28-19. The field hockey team won the North I Group IV state sectional championship in 1976, 1977, 1981, 1984, 1986 and 1987. In 2005 and 2006, the girls' field hockey team won back-to-back county championships led by Coach Cheryl Grande, before repeating as county champion in 2009, defeating Wayne Hills High School in the final game in all three championship seasons. The softball team won the Group IV championship in 1977 (defeating runner-up

Sayreville War Memorial High School Sayreville War Memorial High School (SWMHS) is a four-year state school, public Secondary education in the United States, high school located in the Parlin, New Jersey, Parlin section of Sayreville, New Jersey, Sayreville, in Middlesex County, N ...

in the finals) and the Group III title in 2000 (vs. Middletown High School South). The 1977 team won the Group IV state title with an 11-1 victory in the playoff finals against Sayreville to run their season record to 29-2. The 2000 softball team finished the season with a record of 28-3 after defeating Middletown South by a score of 6-0 in the tournament final to win the Group III state championship. The team won all five playoff games by shutout and set a state record by giving up eight runs the entire season. The wrestling team won the North I Group IV sectional title in 1981, the North II Group II title in 2005 and the North II Group III title in 2010 and 2016 In 2007-2010, the girls' varsity gymnastics team won the county championships, led by Coach Jenai Agosta. No other team in the 24 years of county championships has won the championship in four consecutive seasons. Alexis (Missy) Arena continues to hold the gymnastics all-time state record for All Around (AA) scoring with a 37.95 set in 2009. Arena's score breaks the previous mark of 37.325 by Passaic Valley's own Jackie Friscia in 2006. The meet dates to 1986. Arena also holds the 2010 New Jersey State beam Champion title with a 9.475, she placed third on vault with a 9.575 and fifth in the all-around with a 37.25. In 2007, the boys' basketball team won the North I, Group III state championship, defeating

by 60-48, in a game played at

Passaic County Technical Institute Passaic County Technical Institute (also known as PCTI, Passaic County Tech, the Passaic County Technical Vocational High School or simply Tech), is a vocational public high school in Wayne, that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades ...

. The win was their first ever sectional championship in school history and came in Head Coach Rob Carcich's third season. The Hornets advanced to the

state championship game held at the RAC at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

. The boys' basketball team returned to the sectional final in 2011, this time losing to

Teaneck High School , motto_translation = To enrich the mind and improve the character , fundingtype = Public , schooltype = high school , grades = 9– 12 , district = Teaneck Public Schools , enrollment = 1,239 (as of 2021–22) , faculty = ...

on March 8, 2011. They returned to the Sectional final again in 2008 losing once again to Teaneck who was ranked #3 in the state at the time. The team had a record of 150-85 in the previous nine seasons. In 2007, the varsity baseball team, led by Head Coach John Mazzo, won the Passaic County Championship with a 4-2 victory over

, the team's third title and their first since repeating in 1998 and 1999. In 2010, they advanced to the Passaic County final, losing to

by a score of 5-4. In 2007, George Abyad won the

Penn Relays The Penn Relays (also Penn Relays Carnival) is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. In 2012, there were ...

discus championship at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. In 2008, the boys' ice hockey team coached by Gary Steele captured their first Nardello Cup, 3-2 against

River Dell Regional High School River Dell High School is a four-year comprehensive regional public high school, part of the River Dell Regional School District, which is shared with the neighboring communities of Oradell and River Edge in Bergen County, New Jersey, Unite ...

. In the 2009 spring season, senior Gerardo Valenzuela of the boys' tennis team won the County Championship at 2nd Singles. In Fall 2009, the Marching Band won 2nd Place against six other bands in the Group 2A division at the Yamaha Cup competition that was held in Giants Stadium. In Fall 2011, the Marching Band won 1st place against four other bands in the Group 3A division at Verona High School. In Fall 2016, The Passaic Valley Marching Band placed 4th at the USBands state championship for group 2A. In the 2009-2010 season the Hornets Wrestling Team captured the state sectional championship by beating Roxbury in the finals. Then they captured the District 13 Tournament championship. In 2012 again they were able to get the District 13 Tournament championship.

Administration

Core members of the district's / school's administration are: *Bracken Healy, Superintendent *Colin Monahan, Business Administrator / Board Secretary *Principal - Vacant, following retirement of Raymond Rotella in October 2019

Board of education

The district's

, comprised of nine members, sets policy and oversees the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration. As a Type II school district, the board's trustees are elected directly by voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with three seats up for election each year held (since 2012) as part of the November general election. The board appoints a superintendent to oversee the district's day-to-day operations and a business administrator to supervise the business functions of the district. Seats on the board of education are allocated based on population, with Little Falls, Totowa and Woodland Park each allocated three seats.About the Board of Education
Passaic Valley Regional High School. Accessed February 1, 2020.

Notable alumni

David Blaine David Blaine (born April 4, 1973) is an American illusionist, endurance artist, and extreme performer. He is best known for his high-profile feats of endurance and has set and broken several world records. Early life Blaine was born and r ...

(born 1973, class of 1991), magician. *

Jeff Chase Jeff Chase (born Jeffrey L. Sniffen; January 17, 1968) is an American film and television actor who played for the Albany Firebirds of the Arena Football League. Chase was born in Paterson, New Jersey. Raised in Totowa, New Jersey and West Pate ...

(born 1968), film and television actor who played for the Albany Firebirds of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. * Frank DeCaro (born 1962), class of 1980, writer, entertainer, and satellite radio talk show host; co-wrote and hosted ''Out at the Movies'' segments on ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...

'' with

Jon Stewart Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted ''The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts ''Th ...

. *

D. C. Fontana Dorothy Catherine Fontana (March 25, 1939 – December 2, 2019) was an American television script writer and story editor, best known for her work on the original '' Star Trek'' franchise and several Western television series. After a shor ...

(1939–2019, class of 1957), television script writer and story editor, best known for her work on the original ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' franchise and several

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

television series. * Kyle Gurrieri (born 1998), professional soccer player with the

Wilmington Hammerheads FC Wilmington Hammerheads FC was a semi-professional American soccer team based in Wilmington, North Carolina. Founded in 1996, the team last competed in the Premier Development League, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid in 2017. History ...

of the

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a Association football, soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues curren ...

who transferred out of Passaic Valley after his freshman year. * Bobby Marks (born 1972/73), former

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

assistant general manager of the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The t ...

. * Ralph J. Marra Jr. (born 1953), former

United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey The U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey is the chief federal law enforcement officer in New Jersey. On December 16, 2021, Philip R. Sellinger was sworn in as U.S. Attorney. The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has juris ...

. *

Michael Peter Smith Michael Peter Smith (September 7, 1941 – August 3, 2020) was an American, Chicago-based singer-songwriter. ''Rolling Stone'' once called him "The greatest songwriter in the English language". Mark Guarino of ''Chicago Reader'' wrote, "He nev ...

(born 1941), singer-songwriter.Biography
MichaelPeterSmith.com. Accessed December 2, 2017. "Michael Peter Smith was born in South Orange, New Jersey in September of 1941 and raised in the area, attending Catholic schools later referenced in a few of his songs.... I sang bass with an a capella doowop group in high school (Passaic Valley Regional, in Little Falls, New Jersey)."

References

External links

Passaic Valley Regional High School
*
Data for Passaic Valley Regional High School

{{Authority control 1940 establishments in New Jersey Educational institutions established in 1940 Little Falls, New Jersey New Jersey District Factor Group FG Public high schools in Passaic County, New Jersey School districts in Passaic County, New Jersey Totowa, New Jersey Woodland Park, New Jersey