John F. Kennedy Memorial High School (J.F.K.) is one of three 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 ...

s that serve 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 Woodbridge Township in Middlesex 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 part of the

Woodbridge Township School District The Woodbridge Township School District is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in kindergarten through twelfth grade from Woodbridge Township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. All schools are acc ...

. The other two high schools in the district are

Colonia High School Colonia High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades in the Colonia section of Woodbridge Township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It operates as part of the ...

and Woodbridge High School. 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 1968;John F. Kennedy Memorial High School

Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed February 6, 2022. The school's accreditation status was extended for seven years in Fall 2018. J.F.K., like the other two high schools in the district, uses

block scheduling Block scheduling or blocking is a type of academic scheduling used in schools in the American K-12 system, in which each pupil has fewer classes per day. It is more common in middle and high schools than in primary schools. Each class is schedu ...

, instead of having eight periods a day. As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,338 students and 115.0 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 11.6:1. There were 335 students (25.0% 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 the ...

and 76 (5.7% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for John F. Kennedy Memorial 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

Originally intended to be named Iselin High School, the school was constructed in time for the 1964–65 school year to alleviate overcrowding in the district's two existing high schools that had 5,600 students in double sessions during the 1962–63 school year. After President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

was assassinated, the Board of Education voted to change the name of the school from Iselin High School to John F. Kennedy Memorial High School at their meeting on November 26, 1963. The school opened in September 1964.

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 129th-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 132nd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 146th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 171st in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 142nd in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school 63rd out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 5 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (91.2%) and language arts literacy (96.4%) 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 John F. Kennedy Memorial High School MustangsJohn F. Kennedy Memorial 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

Greater Middlesex Conference The Greater Middlesex Conference is an athletic conference comprising 34 public and private high schools located in the greater Middlesex County, New Jersey area. The league operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Ath ...

, which is comprised of public and private high schools located in the greater Middlesex County area, operating under the supervision of the

(NJSIAA). With 1,008 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 5D 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,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

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 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 Angl ...

counties, which are broken down into 10 divisions by size and location. The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group IV North for football for 2018–2020. Together with Woodbridge High School, the school has participated in a cooperative ice hockey program with

as the host school / lead agency, under an agreement scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year. The 1978 football team finished the season with an 8-3 record after winning the Central Jersey Group III state sectional title by defeating

North Hunterdon High School North Hunterdon High School is a four-year regional public high school serving students from six municipalities in northern Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States, as one of two high schools in the North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High Sch ...

by a score of 23-6 in a game in which the team's kicker tied a state record for successful field goals. The softball team won the Group III state championship in 1988, defeating runner-up Ramsey High School in the tournament finals. The 2009 boys' baseball team finished the season with a 24-4 record after defeating Shawnee High School by a score of 5-2 in the tournament final to win the Group III state championship, which is the only group state title in the program's history. The boys' soccer team won the 2005 Central Jersey Group II state sectional championship with a victory over

Roselle Park High School Roselle Park High School is a four-year public high school located in Roselle Park, in Union County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Roselle Park School District. Since 2007, Roselle Park High School se ...

, the first soccer state title in the school's history, and earning Ed Bobal honors from the ''

Home News Tribune The ''Central New Jersey Home News Tribune'' is a Daily newspaper serving Middlesex County, New Jersey. The paper has an average daily weekday circulation of about 49,000. The newspaper is the result of the 1995 merger of ''The Home News'' of ...

'' as its coach of the year. The softball team won the 2007 North II Group III state sectional championship with a 2–1 win over

South Plainfield High School South Plainfield High School (or SPHS) is a four-year, co-ed comprehensive high school, comprehensive community state school, public Secondary education in the United States, high school located in South Plainfield, New Jersey, South Plainfield ...

. The team repeated as the 2008 North II Group III state sectional champions with a 5–0 win in the tournament final over crosstown rival

Administration

The school's principal is James Parry. His administration team includes two vice principals.

Notable alumni

* Robert Stone (born 1983), professional wrestler and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

with

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

, who has appeared on their

NXT NXT may refer to: Professional wrestling * ''WWE NXT'', a professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that began in 2010 ** NXT (WWE brand), WWE's Florida-based brand and former developmental territory * ''NXT UK'', the British spin- ...

brand. *

Tico Torres Hector Juan Samuel "Tico" Torres (born October 7, 1953) is an American musician, artist, and entrepreneur, best known as the drummer, percussionist, and a songwriter for American rock band Bon Jovi. In 2018, Torres was inducted into the Rock ...

(born 1953),

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

and

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

for rock band

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...

. * Joseph Vitale (born 1954), New Jersey State Senator and interim mayor of Woodbridge Township.Senator Vitale's Legislative web page

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...

. Accessed April 24, 2017.

References

External links

John F. Kennedy Memorial High SchoolWoodbridge Township School District
*
School Data for the Woodbridge Township School District

{{Authority control 1964 establishments in New Jersey Educational institutions established in 1964 Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools Public high schools in Middlesex County, New Jersey Woodbridge Township, New Jersey