Haddon Heights Junior/Senior High School, previously known as Haddon Heights High School (HHHS), is a six-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 sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

that serves students in seventh through

twelfth grade Twelfth Grade (also known as Grade 12, Senior Year, Standard 12, 12th Standard, 12th Class, or Class 12th or Class 12) is the twelfth and final Educational stage, year of Formal education, formal or compulsory education. It is typically the final ...

s from Haddon Heights, in Camden County, in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, operating as part of the Haddon Heights School District. The school also serves students from the neighboring communities of Barrington, Lawnside and

Merchantville Merchantville is a borough in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 3,820, a decrease of one person from the 2010 census count of 3,821, which in turn reflected an in ...

(starting in the 2015–16 school year), who attend the high school for grades 9–12 as part of

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. As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 942 students and 80.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

student–teacher ratio The student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio refers to the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers or staff in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that ...

of 11.8:1. There were 143 students (15.2% of enrollment) eligible for

free lunch A free lunch is the provision of a meal at no cost, usually as a sales enticement to attract customers and increase revenues from other business. The practice was once common in saloons and taverns in many places in the United States, with the ...

and 32 (3.4% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Haddon Heights Jr./Sr. High School

National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the principal federal agency responsible for collecting, analyzing, and reporting data on education in the United States. Established under , it operates within the Institute of Education S ...

. Accessed December 15, 2024.

History

The first graduating class in June 1903 included students from

Audubon The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such org ...

. The high school's current

Tudor Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...

-style building, constructed at a cost of $500,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) opened in September 1924. In September 1960, students from

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

, Somerdale and Stratford left the high school to start attending the new Sterling High School. In 1992, the borough of

, which at the time was sending students to

Pennsauken High School Pennsauken High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school in Pennsauken Township, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone secondary school of the Pennsauken Pub ...

Pennsauken Township Pennsauken Township is a township in Camden County, in the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and it is located outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which it borders directly on the Delaware River. As of the 202 ...

as part of a longstanding sending/receiving relationship with the

Pennsauken Public Schools The Pennsauken Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district serving students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Pennsauken Township, in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2022–23 schoo ...

, made plans to switch its high school students to Haddon Heights High, but the New Jersey Commissioner of Education did not allow these plans to go forward. In 2012, the board of the

Merchantville School District The Merchantville School District is a community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade from Merchantville, in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2023–24 school year, the ...

decided to send its students to Haddon Heights High. The Haddon Heights district approved a plan in September 2013; it would add nearly 80 students a year from Merchantville to the high school, in addition to the average of more than 260 students from Barrington and 120 from Lawnside that are sent to Haddon Heights each year. The plan was approved by the Commissioner of the

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 ...

, and students from Merchantville began attending the school in September 2015. Students from Merchantville already in high school before 2015 will continue to attend Pennsauken High until their graduation. Scott Strong, the chief administrator of the Merchantville district, stated that "Haddon Heights offers the right programs, the right diversity and really met our needs."

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 207th-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 New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United St ...

'' magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology. The school had been ranked 151st in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 129th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 168th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 135th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school 159th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (an increase of 69 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (84.0%) and language arts literacy (91.8%) 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 Haddon Heights High School GarnetsHaddon Heights 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 Colonial Conference, which is comprised of public high schools in Camden and

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

counties operating under the supervision of the

(NJSIAA). With 657 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2022–24 school years as Group II South for most athletic competition purposes. The football team competes in the Constitution Division of the 94-team

West Jersey Football League The West Jersey Football League (or the WJFL) is a 96-school superconference that stretches from Princeton, New Jersey, to Wildwood, New Jersey, encompassing schools from the Colonial Valley Conference, the Burlington County Scholastic League, th ...

superconference and was classified by the NJSIAA as Group II South for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 514 to 685 students. The school has Boys and Girls Basketball teams, soccer, boys/girls track, field hockey, boys cross country, as well as a softball and baseball team.

Extracurricular activities

Marching band

The marching band was

Tournament of Bands The Tournament of Bands (TOB), also known as Tournament of BandsTournament Indoor Association (TOB/TIA), is an American school band association and governing body that sanctions marching band, color guard, and drumline, competitions in the Mid-At ...

Atlantic Coast Champions in Group 1 in 1994. They finished in third place at the 2007

United States Scholastic Band Association USBands, formally United States Scholastic Band Association and sometimes referred to as USSBA, was formed in the Fall 1988 to provide high school marching bands an opportunity to compete in a circuit featuring top judges from across the contin ...

National Championships, competing as a Group I band at

M&T Bank Stadium M&T Bank Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It has been the home of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL) since its opening in 1998. The stadium is immediately adjacent to Oriol ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

on November 16, 2007, with a score of 94.175, missing second place by 1/20th of a point. At the

USSBA USBands, formally United States Scholastic Band Association and sometimes referred to as USSBA, was formed in the Fall 1988 to provide high school marching bands an opportunity to compete in a circuit featuring top judges from across the contin ...

Yamaha Cup competition in October 2012, the marching band came in first in the 1 Open group, winning awards for Best Visual and Best Guard. The marching unit continued to win at championships into the 2020s.

Administration

The school's principal is Warren Danenza. His core administration team includes two assistant principals and the athletic director.

Notable alumni

* Tommy Avallone (born , class of 2001), film director and producer. *

Mary Chalmers Mary Eileen Chalmers (born March 16, 1927) is an American author and illustrator who has written children's books frequently featuring cats from the 1950s through the 1980s. She is known for her books about Harry, an anthropomorphic cat. Her books ...

(born 1927, class of 1944), author and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

who wrote

children's books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

frequently featuring cats *

Sarah Elfreth Sarah Kelly Elfreth (, ; born September 9, 1988) is an American politician who is serving as the U.S. representative for Maryland's 3rd congressional district since 2025. She previously served as a member of the Maryland Senate representing the M ...

(born 1988, class of 2006), politician who has represented the 30th district of the

Maryland Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single ...

* Ray Fisher (born 1988) actor in 2008 short film ''The Good, the Bad, and the Confused'' and

Cyborg A cyborg (, a portmanteau of ''cybernetics, cybernetic'' and ''organism'') is a being with both Organic matter, organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'' *

Kristin Hunter Kristin Elaine Hunter (September 12, 1931 – November 14, 2008) was an African-American writer from Pennsylvania. She sometimes wrote under the name Kristin Hunter Lattany. She is best known for her first novel, ''God Bless the Child'', published ...

(1931–2008), author best known for her first novel, ''God Bless the Child'', published in 1964 *

Steve Israel Steven Jay Israel (born May 30, 1958) is an American political commentator, lobbyist, author, bookseller, and former politician. He served as a U.S. representative from New York from 2001 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elect ...

(born 1969), former football

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

who played nine seasons in

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

* Jeff Jones (born 1957), baseball player who played in MLB for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

Herb Kelleher Herbert David Kelleher (March 12, 1931 – January 3, 2019) was an American billionaire airline businessman and lawyer. He was the co-founder, later CEO, and chairman emeritus of Southwest Airlines until his death in 2019. Early life Kelleher ...

(1931–2019), co-founder, chairman and former CEO of

Southwest Airlines Southwest Airlines Co., or simply Southwest, is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States that formerly operated on a low-cost carrier model. It is headquartered in the Love Field, Dallas, Love Field neighborhood ...

Bill Manlove William B. Manlove Jr. (born February 5, 1933) is a former American football coach. He served as the head football coach at Widener University from 1969 to 1991, at Delaware Valley College from 1992 to 1995, and at La Salle University from 1997 ...

(born 1933, class of 1951), National Champion football coach at

Widener University Widener University is a private university in Chester, Pennsylvania, United States. Established in 1821, the university was known as the Pennsylvania Military College until 1972. Widener enrolls approximately 3,500 undergraduate students across s ...

, member of

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

* Walter E. Pedersen (1911–1998, class of 1929), union leader and politician who served as Mayor of Clementon and a two-year term 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 f ...

Haason Reddick Haason Samir Reddick (born September 22, 1994) is an American professional football linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Temple Owls, and was selected by the Arizona Ca ...

(born 1994),

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

selected 13th overall in

2017 NFL draft The 2017 NFL draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

* Bo Wood (born 1945), former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player and high school coach, who played in the NFL 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

, Pro Football Archives. Accessed September 13, 2022. "Born: November 3, 1945 Camden, NJ High School: Haddon Heights (NJ)"

References

External links

*
Haddon Heights School District Website
*
School Data for the Haddon Heights School District

South Jersey Sports: Haddon Heights HS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haddon Heights High School Haddon Heights, New Jersey Barrington, New Jersey Lawnside, New Jersey Merchantville, New Jersey 1910 establishments in New Jersey Public middle schools in New Jersey Public high schools in Camden County, New Jersey Educational institutions established in 1910