Pemberton Township High School 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 ''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 ...

that serves 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 ...

from

Pemberton Township Pemberton Township is a township in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the township's population was 26,903, a drop of 1,009 from the 2010 census count of 27,912, which reflected a decline of 779 (� ...

, in

Burlington County Burlington County is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The county is the largest by area in New Jersey. Its county seat is Mount Holly.

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 of the Pemberton Township School District. The school has been accredited by the

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (Middle States Association or MSA) was a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit association that performed peer evaluation and regional educational accreditation, accreditation of public and priva ...

Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 2012Pemberton Township High School

Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed February 8, 2018. as part of the first district in the state to receive accreditation for all of its schools. As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,029 students and – 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 †:1. There were 385 students (37.4% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 131 (12.7% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Pemberton Township 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.

History

A united high school for grades nine through twelve opened at the Arney's Mount Road site in 1990; the high school was previously split with grades 9 and 10 attending Pemberton High School No. 1 on Fort Dix Road (now the Helen A. Fort Middle School) and grades 11 and 12 attending school at the building then known as Pemberton High School No. 2. In 1996, legislation signed into law would allow the Woodland Township School District to sever its

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 Pemberton Township School District and join the

Lenape Regional High School District The Lenape Regional High School District is a comprehensive regional public high school district that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from eight municipalities in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. The communities in ...

. Woodland Township had been sending about 30 students a year—and nearly $300,000 in tuition payments—to join the 1,350 students at Pemberton Township High School as part of a relationship that dated back to the 1920s. For years, the Pemberton district had refused Woodland Township's repeated requests to terminate the relationship. In May 1997, the Lenape district agreed to start accepting students from Woodland Township at Lenape High School starting with the 1997-98 school year and to add Woodland Township as the regional district's eight constituent municipality. In 1999, as part of its efforts to discourage students from smoking, the Pemberton Township Council established fines for students caught smoking in school bathrooms, with fines assessed at $100 for a first offense and $200 for each additional incident. In 2014 the

Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression is a nonprofit, nonpartisan institution devoted solely to the defense of the First Amendment rights guaranteeing freedom of speech and of the press. The center was founded in 1989, un ...

"awarded" Pemberton Principal Ida Smith a "Muzzle" for censoring student publications.

Attendance area

It is one of the two high schools which takes in high-school aged dependent students living-on post in these portions of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst:

McGuire Air Force Base McGuire AFB/McGuire, the common name of the McGuire unit of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is a United States Air Force base in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, approximately south-southeast of Trenton. McGuire is under the j ...

and

Fort Dix Fort Dix, the common name for the Army Support Activity (ASA) located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is a United States Army post. It is located south-southeast of Trenton, New Jersey. Fort Dix is under the jurisdiction of the Air Force A ...

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 293rd-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 195th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 266th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 257th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 277th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school as tied for 309th out of 376 public high schools statewide in its 2010 rankings (a decrease of 14 positions from the 2009 rank) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the language arts literacy and mathematics 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). Pemberton Township High School won first place in the New Jersey High School Consumer Bowl Burlington County competition, held at the Palmyra Cove Nature Park and Environmental Center in Palmyra as part of the 10th annual New Jersey High School Consumer Bowl. PTHS has won the statewide competition in 2000, 2003 and 2004. Pemberton Township High School Choral Music Department students have successfully auditioned into the National Association for Music Education All National Honors Mixed Chorus, New Jersey Music Educators Association All State Mixed Chorus and All State Women's Chorus as well South Jersey Choral Directors Association (SJCDA) Region III District Chorus.

Athletics

The Pemberton Township High School HornetsPemberton Township 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 Burlington County Scholastic League, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Burlington,

Mercer Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trader ...

and

Ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...

counties in

central New Jersey Central Jersey is the central region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The designation of Central New Jersey is a distinct administrative toponym. Geographic area and descriptions While the State of New Jersey is often divided into North and ...

, operating under the jurisdiction of the

(NJSIAA). With 752 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group II for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 486 to 758 students in that grade range. The football team competes in the Patriot Division of the 95-team West Jersey Football League superconference and was classified by the NJSIAA as Group III South for football for 2018–2020. The school colors are dark green and white, and the school's mascot is the hornet. The football program has enjoyed the school's most success with several winning seasons and a state championship under the guidance of former Head Coach William McDowell. The current head coach is John Rosnick.

Parade All-American ''Parade'' was an American nationwide Sunday magazine, Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 700 newspapers in the United States until 2022. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., ''Parade'' had a circulation of 32 million and a ...

s include Octavius Gould who went on to play for the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...

and Irv Smith who went on to play for Notre Dame. The 1977 football team finished the season with a record of 8-2-1 after winning the NJSIAA South Jersey Group IV state sectional title with a 9-6 win against Rancocas Valley Regional High School in the championship game. The wrestling team won the South Jersey Group IV state championship in 1980

Administration

The school's principal is Eder Joseph. His administration team includes three assistant principals.

Student body and academic achievement

In 1996, its enrollment was 1,350. At the time the percentage of students who matriculated to community colleges or four-year universities was 55%.

Notable alumni

* Jerry Dunn (born 1953), college basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the

Tuskegee Golden Tigers The Tuskegee Golden Tigers represent Tuskegee University in intercollegiate athletics. They are a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II and compete within the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC ...

. *

Matthew Emmons Matthew D. Emmons (born April 5, 1981) is an American rifle shooter. He competed in various events at the 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics and won a gold, a silver, and a bronze medal. Career Emmons started out as a successful junior and has b ...

(born 1981), Olympic Gold Medal winner at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in the Men's 50 m Rifle Prone. * Ed Gillespie (born 1962), former Chairman of the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in fu ...

, where he served from July 2003 to January 2005. * Chris Hall (born 1970), NFL player for the

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 divisi ...

. * Chelcie Ross (born 1942), character actor most known for Above the Law, Major League, Basic Instinct, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, Hoosiers and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. * Ed Smith (born 1969), former NFL tight end for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

, and

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

. * Irv Smith (born 1971),

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

who played most of his NFL career with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

. * Johnnie Troutman (born 1987), offensive lineman who has played for the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

.Johnnie Troutman
,

. Accessed October 12, 2014. "three-time All-Burlco/ Olympic-Patriot Football Conference pick at Pemberton Township High in Brown Mills, N.J."

References

External links

Pemberton Township High SchoolPemberton Township School District
*
School Data for the Pemberton Township School District

{{Authority control Pemberton Township, New Jersey Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools Public high schools in Burlington County, New Jersey