The West Morris Regional High School District is a limited purpose regional

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 ...

district in

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 ...

that serves students from the surrounding Morris County communities of Chester Borough, Chester Township, Mendham Borough, Mendham Township and Washington Township.West Morris Regional High School District 2015 Report Card Narrative

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

. Accessed June 4, 2016. "Established in 1958, the West Morris Regional High School District operates two schools, West Morris Central High School and West Morris Mendham High School. The regional district serves the students of five Morris County communities: Chester Borough, Chester Township, Mendham Borough, Mendham Township and Washington Township. Students from Washington Township attend West Morris Central High School, and students from the Chesters and the Mendhams attend West Morris Mendham High School." Elementary school students of the constituent municipalities attend separate K-8 school districts maintained by four of the five municipalities; Chester Borough and Chester Township schools are consolidated under the

Chester School District The Chester School District is a fully accredited elementary public school district responsible for the education of students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grades from Chester Borough and Chester Township, two municipalities in Morris Co ...

and the remaining three municipalities each have their own districts ( Mendham Borough Schools,

Mendham Township Public Schools The Mendham Township Public Schools is a community public school district serving students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in Mendham Township, in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020–21 school year, the distric ...

and Washington Township Schools). As of the 2021–22 school year, the district, comprised of two schools, had an enrollment of 2,240 students and 189.4 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 11.8:1.District information for West Morris Regional High School District

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

as being in District Factor Group "I", the second-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 local ...

characteristics of the local districts. Both schools in the district are accredited by the New Jersey Department of Education, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...

program. In August 2015, West Morris Central (ranked 151st) and Mendham (18th) were ranked among "America's Top High Schools 2015" by ''

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'' magazine. West Morris Mendham High School was ranked as the seventh-most challenging public, non-magnet, non-charter high school in 2017 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 ...

'' and the most challenging such school in New Jersey.

History

The district was established in March 1956 and the "West Morris" name was adopted the following month. The district's first school opened in September 1958, at what is now West Morris Central, with 531 students in grades 9-11 in a building with 39 classrooms designed to accommodate a maximum enrollment of 1,200. Mount Olive Township was part of the district until that municipality created its own district in 1977. Students from Mount Olive Township attended West Morris Central High School until 1972. West Morris Mount Olive High School, in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

, opened in 1972 and was operated by the regional district until the 1978-1979 school year, with the West Morris Mount Olive High School Class of 1978 being the last graduating class from this facility under the regional administration. The high school building and remaining faculty became part of the Mount Olive Township School District and is operated as Mount Olive High School. In June 2015, a feasibility study requested by Chester Borough, Chester Township, Mendham Borough and Mendham Township was released that discussed potential restructuring of the West Morris Regional High School District, considering two different options. In one scenario, West Morris Mendham High School would be stripped away from the district to become a standalone regional high school for the Chesters and Mendhams. In the second scenario, the existing PreK-8 districts would be dissolved and combined with West Morris Mendham to create a consolidated PreK-12 district. In either scenario, Washington Township would take over West Morris Central High School and become its own PreK-12 district. Significant tax savings would have been achieved for the Chesters and Mendhams under both scenarios, with equivalent tax increases for Washington Township.

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2021–22 enrollment data from the

) are: *

West Morris Central High School West Morris Central High School (WMCHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Washington Township, Morris County, New Jersey, United States. It is one of two high schools in ...

was built in 1958 with of space, is located in -- and serves students from -- Washington Township. with 1,084 students in grades 9-12 *

West Morris Mendham High School West Morris Mendham High School (also known as Mendham High School) is home of the Minutemen, and is a four-year comprehensive regional public high school that serves students in ninth though twelfth grades as part of the West Morris Regional H ...

was built in 1970 with of space, is located in Mendham Borough and serves Chester Borough, Chester Township, Mendham Borough and Mendham Township. with 1,106 students in grades 9-12

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are: *Barbara Sargent *L. Douglas Pechanec, business administrator and board secretary

Board of education

The district's

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 ...

, 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 day-to-day operation of the district. The nine seats on the board of education are allocated based on the populations of the constituent municipalities, with four seats assigned to Washington Township, two to Chester Township and one each to Chester Borough, Mendham Borough and Mendham Township.Board of Education
West Morris Regional High School District. Accessed February 12, 2020.

References

External links

West Morris Regional High School District
*
West Morris Regional High School District

{{Education in Morris County, New Jersey Chester Borough, New Jersey Chester Township, New Jersey Mendham Borough, New Jersey Mendham Township, New Jersey Washington Township, Morris County, New Jersey 1958 establishments in New Jersey School districts established in 1958 New Jersey District Factor Group I School districts in Morris County, New Jersey