Somerville 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 ...

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 from Somerville and Branchburg Township in Somerset 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 secondary school for

Somerville Public Schools The Somerville Public Schools are a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Somerville, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2018–19 school year, ...

. Students from Branchburg Township attend Somerville High School as part of a

sending/receiving relationship A sending/receiving relationship is one in which a public school district sends some or all of its students to attend the schools of another district. This is often done to achieve costs savings in smaller districts or continues after districts hav ...

with the

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

. As of the 2020–21 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,155 students and 92.0 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 12.6:1. There were 158 students (13.7% 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 46 (4.0% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Somerville 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 February 15, 2022.

Advanced Placement Advanced Placement (AP) is a program in the United States and Canada created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students. American colleges and universities may grant placement and course ...

(AP) courses (such as

AP United States Government and Politics Advanced Placement (AP) United States Government and Politics (often shortened to AP Gov and sometimes referred to as AP American Government or simply AP Government) is a college-level course and examination offered to high school students throug ...

) and the Senior Options Program at

Raritan Valley Community College Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) is a public community college in North Branch, New Jersey. RVCC offers Associate degree programs leading to an Associate of Arts (A.A.), Associate of Science (A.S.), Associate of Fine Art (A.F.A), or a ...

allow students the opportunity to earn college credits while attending high school. AP offerings include

AP Biology Advanced Placement (AP) Biology (also known as AP Bio) is an Advanced Placement biology course and exam offered by the College Board in the United States. For the 2012–2013 school year, the College Board unveiled a new curriculum with a greate ...

AP Calculus Advanced Placement (AP) Calculus (also known as AP Calc, Calc AB / Calc BC or simply AB / BC) is a set of two distinct Advanced Placement calculus courses and exams offered by the American nonprofit organization College Board. AP Calculus AB cove ...

(AB/BC),

AP Chemistry Advanced Placement (AP) Chemistry (also known as AP Chem) is a course and examination offered by the College Board as a part of the Advanced Placement Program to give American and Canadian high school students the opportunity to demonstrate their ...

AP English Literature and Composition Advanced Placement (AP) English Literature and Composition (also known as Senior AP English, AP Lit, APENG, or AP English IV) is a course and examination offered by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program in the United State ...

AP French Language Advanced Placement (AP) French Language and Culture (also known as AP French Lang, AP French Language or AP French) is a course offered by the College Board to high school students in the United States as an opportunity to earn placement credit ...

AP Comparative Government and Politics Advanced Placement (AP) Comparative Government and Politics (also known as AP CoGo or AP CompGov) is an Advanced Placement comparative politics Comparative politics is a field in political science characterized either by the use of the ''compa ...

AP Music Theory Advanced Placement (AP) Music Theory (also known as AP Music or AP Theory) is a course and examination offered in the United States by the College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program to high school students who wish to earn credit for ...

AP Physics In the United States, Advanced Placement (AP) Physics collectively refers to the College Board Advanced Placement Program courses and exams covering various areas of physics. These are intended to be equivalent to university courses that use bes ...

AP Spanish Language Advanced Placement (AP) Spanish Language and Culture (also known as AP Spanish Language, AP Spanish V, or AP Spanish) is a course and examination offered by the College Board in the United States education system as part of the Advanced Placeme ...

and

AP United States History Advanced Placement (AP) United States History (also known as AP U.S. History or APUSH () is a college-level course and examination offered by College Board as part of the Advanced Placement Program. Course The AP U.S. History course is designe ...

History

In 1888, the first set of students graduated from the high school. Students from Hillsborough Township attended Somerville High School for grades 9-12 as part of a

with the

Hillsborough Township School District The Hillsborough Township School District is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Hillsborough Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. Students fr ...

that ended when Hillsborough High School opened in September 1969 with 730 students in grades 9 and 10, with those in grades 11 and 12 completing their high school education in Somerville.

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 54th in New Jersey and 1,635th nationwide. 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 911th in the nation among participating public high schools and 68th among schools in New Jersey. The school was the 110th-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 76th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 77th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 73rd in 2008 out of 316 schools. Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 122nd out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 13 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (85.0%) and language arts literacy (95.5%) 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).

Athletics

The Somerville High School PioneersSomerville 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. have historically competed in the

Skyland Conference The Skyland Conference is a New Jersey high school sports association under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). The conference is made up of 22 public and parochial high schools covering Hunterd ...

, which is comprised of public and private high schools located in Hunterdon, Somerset 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 in west

Central Jersey Central Jersey is the central region of the U.S. state of 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, ...

and operates under the supervision of the

. With 881 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 Division 3 of the

Big Central Football Conference The Big Central Football Conference is a football-only athletic league of high schools in Central New Jersey. The 60-team league was formed in 2020. History The Big Central consists of the members of the former Mid-State 38 Conference and the foot ...

, which includes 60 public and private high schools in Hunterdon,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

, Somerset,

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 ...

and Warren counties, which are broken down into 10 divisions by size and location. The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group III South for football for 2018–2020. The school participates together with

Middlesex High School Middlesex High School (MHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in the center of Middlesex, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone secondary school o ...

in a joint ice hockey team with

Bernards High School Bernards High School is a comprehensive four-year regional public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. The school is part of the Somerset Hills Regional School District, ...

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 Pioneers football team has won eight Central Jersey Group II sectional championships: 1976, 1977, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1994 and 2017, and won the Central Jersey Group III title in 1979. The team won the program's first playoff-era title in 1976, defeating

Red Bank Regional High School Red Bank Regional High School (often abbreviated RBR) is a comprehensive regional four-year public high school and school district that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from the boroughs of Little Silver, Red Bank and Shrewsbur ...

by a score of 27–6 in the Central Jersey Group II sectional championship game. The 1977 team finished the season with a 10–1 record after winning the Central Jersey Group III state sectional title with a 28–6 win in the playoff finals against

Hightstown High School Hightstown High School is a four-year comprehensive high school, comprehensive state school, public Secondary education in the United States, high school that serves students in ninth grade, ninth through twelfth grades three communities in Mer ...

, becoming the first team to win consecutive titles in different groups in the playoff era. With a 27–14 win against

Manasquan High School Manasquan High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grade from Manasquan, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone high school of the Manas ...

, the 1979 team won the Central Jersey Group III title and finished the season 11–0. The 1983 team finished the season 11-0 and extended its unbeaten streak to 14 after winning the Central Jersey Group II sectional title with a 30–6 win against West Windsor-Plainsboro High School in the championship game. The 1994 team finished the season with a 8–3 record after winning the Central Jersey Group II state sectional title with a 21–14 win against

in the 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 ...

, a turnaround from an 0–9 season in 1993. Pioneer football teams reached the Central Jersey Group II sectional playoffs in 1994, 1999–2001, 2004, 2005, 2016 and 2017, winning seven Skyland Conference championships over that time period. In January 2015, former Devils owner Jeffrey Vanderbeek was named head football coach. On October 2, 2015, Somerville won its first home game in nearly three years. In the following 2016 season, Vanderbeek led the Pioneers to an undefeated regular season, the fourth in the program's history. The 2017 team won Somerville's eighth sectional championship, its first in 23 years, against

Rumson-Fair Haven High School The Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School (often abbreviated RFH) is a regional, four-year comprehensive public high school and school district in the eastern United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from the suburba ...

in the playoff final of the Central Jersey Group III state sectional tournament, in a game played at

High Point Solutions Stadium SHI Stadium is the football stadium at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey. Rutgers Scarlet Knights football, Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's lacrosse, and women's lacrosse use the venue for home games. It is located on the Busch Campus at ...

on the campus of Rutgers University. Rumson-Fair Haven had defeated Somerville in the 2016 sectional final. The boys' basketball team reached the Central Jersey Group sectional finals in 1992 and 2007 and won the Somerset County Tournament in 1999. The Pioneers' baseball team has won Central Jersey Group sectional titles in 1963, 1973 and 2018. The Pioneers won the program's first Group III state title in 2018, defeating Roxbury High School 1–0 in the semifinal and

Allentown High School Allentown High School is a public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from three communities in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Upper Freehold Regional School District. The scho ...

by a score of 3–2 in the final. The team has won the Somerset County Tournament in 1974, 1987, 1992 and 1995; the program's four titles (through 2018) are the fifth-most in the tournament's history since it was established in 1973. The boys swimming team won the Division B state championship in 1971. The wrestling team won the Central Jersey Group II sectional championship in 1991, 1992 and 2003 The gymnastics team won the overall state championship in 1993. The boys' soccer team won the 2006 Central Jersey Group II sectional championship with a 3–1 win over

Raritan High School Raritan High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Hazlet Township in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the Hazl ...

. In 2007, the boys soccer team repeated as sectional champion with a 2–0 win over

Shore Regional High School Shore Regional High School is a regional public high school and school district serving students from four communities in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The high school serves students from the constituent municipalities of Monmo ...

. The girls' soccer team defeated Shore Regional High School 3–1 to win the 2006 Central Jersey Group II sectional title. The boys' outdoor track and field team won the Group III title in 1942 and roup II titles in 1973, 2001, 2003–2005 and 2007. The team won 72 consecutive dual meets and was Central Jersey Group II sectional champion for eight straight seasons (2001–2008). The boys' cross country team won the Group II state championship in 1984. The boys' lacrosse team, founded in 2004, won Central Jersey Group II sectional championships in 2013 and 2014, compiling a 35-game home winning streak dating back to 2011.

Robotics

Somerville's

FIRST Robotics Competition FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition. Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work during a six-week period to build robots capable of competing in that year's game that weig ...

team is Team 102, The Gearheads. Team102 participates in the New Jersey and Connecticut

FIRST First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

Regionals.

Administration

The school's principal is Gerard T. Foley. Core members of the school's administration include the vice principal.

Notable alumni

* Kip Bateman (born 1957), politician who served in the

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

from 2008 to 2022, representing the 16th Legislative District. *

Raymond Bateman Raymond H. "Ray" Bateman (October 29, 1927 – June 25, 2016) was an American politician who represented Somerset County, New Jersey, Somerset County in the New Jersey Senate in the 1960s and 1970s and was the Republican candidate for Governor of ...

(born 1927, class of 1945),

president (1970–1972) and Republican candidate for

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official res ...

(1977). *

Ryan Carty Ryan Carty (born August 9, 1983) is an American college football coach. He is the head football coach at the University of Delaware, a position he had held since the 2022 season. Playing career Raised in Somerville, New Jersey, Carty played hig ...

(born 1983),

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 with ...

coach who is the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

and quarterbacks coach at

Sam Houston State University Sam Houston State University (SHSU or Sam) is a public university in Huntsville, Texas. It was founded in 1879 and is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools west of the Mississippi River and ...

. *

Ben Carnevale Bernard Louis Carnevale (October 30, 1915 – March 25, 2008) was an American basketball coach and college athletic administrator. He served as the head basketball coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1944 to 1946 and the ...

(1915–2008, class of 1934), basketball coach inducted into the

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

in 1970. *

John G. Demaray John George Demaray (November 27, 1930 – October 24, 2015) was an American medievalist. Biography Demaray was born in Bound Brook, New Jersey to parents John and Marjorie Coyle Demaray and raised in Somerville, New Jersey, where he graduated ...

(1930–2015), medievalist. *

Joe Lis Joseph Anthony Lis (August 15, 1946 – October 17, 2010), was an American professional baseball first baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (–), Minnesota Twins (–), Cleveland Indians (–), and Sea ...

(1946–2010, class of 1964), Major League Baseball player. *

Brendan O'Hare Brendan O'Hare (born 16 January 1970) is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist musician, primarily known for being the drummer in the rock band Teenage Fanclub from 1989 until early 1994, and a member of and collaborator with Mogwai. Career O'Hare ...

, comedian known for his absurdist humor and podcast, ''This Is Branchburg''. * Frank Perantoni (1923-1991),

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

who played professional football for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

. *

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his p ...

(1898–1976, class of 1915), athlete, bass-baritone, concert singer, and civil rights activist. * Elliott F. Smith (1931–1987), politician who served in 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 for ...

from 1978 to 1984, where he represented the 16th Legislative District. *

Lee van Cleef Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. (January 9, 1925 – December 16, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of Italian Spaghetti Westerns, partic ...

(1925–1989, class of 1943), character actor who starred in

Sergio Leone Sergio Leone (; 3 January 1929 – 30 April 1989) was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter credited as the pioneer of the Spaghetti Western genre and widely regarded as one of the most influential directors in the history of cin ...

's ''

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' ( it, Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo, literally "The good, the ugly, the bad") is a 1966 Italian epic spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood as "the Good", Lee Van Clee ...

''. *

Fred Wenz Frederick Charles "Fireball" Wenz (August 26, 1941 – October 6, 2020) was a middle relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1968 through 1970 for the Boston Red Sox (1968–69) and Philadelphia Phillies (1970). Listed at , , h ...

(1941–2020),

middle relief pitcher In baseball, a middle reliever or middle relief pitcher, is a relief pitcher who typically pitches during the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings of a standard baseball game. In leagues with no designated hitter, such as in the National League prio ...

in Major League Baseball who played for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. * Jon Williams (born 1961), former NFL

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

who played for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

in 1984.Jon Williams

Pro-Football-Reference.com Pro-Football-Reference.com is a website providing a variety of statistics for American football. It is one of the few sites that provides information on both active and retired players. The site provides statistics for teams dating back to 1920. ...

. Accessed November 25, 2018.

References

External links

Somerville High SchoolSomerville Public Schools
*
Data for the Somerville Public Schools

Public School Review: Somerville High SchoolRobotics team
{{Authority control 1909 establishments in New Jersey Branchburg, New Jersey Educational institutions established in 1909 Public high schools in Somerset County, New Jersey Somerville, New Jersey