Montclair High School is a comprehensive four-year

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 ...

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., ...

located in Montclair, in Essex County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 ...

, 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 (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 as the lone secondary school of the Montclair Public School District. The school has been accredited by the

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, also referred to as the Middle States Association or MSA, is an accreditor in the United States. Historically, it has accredited schools in the Mid-Atlantic states region of the northeas ...

Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1928. As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,961 students and 145.6 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 13.5:1. There were 271 students (13.8% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 50 (2.5% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Montclair 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

Founded in 1886, Montclair High School quickly outgrew its original location (torn down in the 1930s) on Orange Road, the site of which is now the field of Hillside School. Initially, the school included just the Main Building but as time went on and the enrollment grew, the board of education allowed the high school to annex

George Inness George Inness (May 1, 1825 – August 3, 1894) was an American landscape painting, landscape painter. Now recognized as one of the most influential American artists of the nineteenth century, Inness was influenced by the Hudson River Schoo ...

Junior High School across the street which is used for ninth-grade classes.

Facilities

The school holds classes in two buildings. The Main Building of the high school is located 100 Chestnut Street, and the George Innes Annex or Freshman building is located on 141 Park Street. Montclair High School has an

amphitheater An amphitheatre ( U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meaning "place for vie ...

. Its Woodman Field and Furlong Field House are on Essex Avenue, two blocks east of the main campus.

Rankings

The school was the 120th-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 99th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 94th in 2010 out of 322 schools. The magazine ranked the school 85th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 90th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools. Schooldigger.com ranked the school 201st out of 376 public high schools statewide in its 2010 rankings (a decrease of 56 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). In ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

''s May 22, 2007, issue, ranking the country's top high schools, Montclair High School was listed in 896th place, the 24th-highest ranked school in New Jersey. The school was listed in 214th place, the eighth-highest-ranked school in New Jersey, in ''Newsweek''s May 8, 2006, issue, listing the Top 1,200 High Schools in the United States.

Academics

Montclair High School's

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

program includes dance, fine arts, instrumental music, performing arts, theater arts, visual arts, and vocal music. In 2009 and 2013, seniors of the Civics and Government Institute at Montclair High placed second in the state at the We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution competition held in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the federal capital, capital of the United States from November 1 until D ...

. The 2013 team qualified for the We the People national finals in Washington D.C., but were unable to attend due to budgetary concerns.

Faculty

The school's principal is Jeffrey A. Freeman. His core administration team includes four assistant principals.Administration
Montclair High School. Accessed January 28, 2022. "Humanities" and "Philosophy and Composition" teacher Gregory Woodruff was named "Humanities Teacher of the Year" by the New Jersey Council for the Humanities in 2010, for teaching highly rigorous classes in classical and contemporary literature and philosophy. He was awarded the Weston Award in 2011.

Clubs and activities

As of the 2021–22 school year, Montclair High School had 107 clubs. In 2009, 2011, and 2012, the members of the Model Congress/Model United Nations Club won "Best Delegation" at the University of Pennsylvania Model Congress Conference. Montclair High School's Fed Challenge Team has ranked first in the New York Region eight times and won the National Fed Challenge Championship in 2001. The Montclair High School competes in the

FIRST Robotics Competition FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition operated by ''FIRST''®. Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work to build robots capable of competing in that year's game. Robots c ...

. In 2007, 2009, and 2016, Montclair High School won the Euro Challenge championship. In 2001, Montclair High School came in 2nd place in the National High School Mock Trial Championships held in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

. It was the New Jersey High School Mock Trial champion in 2006, and was named co-champion with

Bordentown Regional High School Bordentown Regional High School is a comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from five communities in northern Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary ...

in 2020 after the finals were canceled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Athletics

The Montclair High School MountiesMontclair 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 Super Essex Conference, which includes public and private high schools in Essex County and was established following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the

(NJSIAA). Until the NJSIAA's 2009 realignment, the school participated in Division B of the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League, which was comprised of high schools located in

Bergen County Bergen County is the List of counties in New Jersey, most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Passaic County, and was separated into three divisions based on NJSIAA size classification. With 1,596 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,060 to 5,049 students in that grade range. The football team competes in the Liberty White division of the North Jersey Super Football Conference, which includes 112 schools in 20 divisions, making it the nation's biggest football-only high school sports league. The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group V North for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 1,317 to 5,409 students. Montclair's sports programs include

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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 ...

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

softball Softball is a Variations of baseball, variation of baseball, the difference being that it is played with a larger ball, on a smaller field, and with only underhand pitches (where the ball is released while the hand is primarily below the ball) ...

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

, cross country,

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

, and

bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

. MHS expanded and refurnished its field house at Woodman Field in Essex Park. The field house houses restrooms, locker rooms, and meeting areas for many of the Montclair sports teams, in particular football. Completed for the 2008–09 school year at an estimated cost of $5 million, the field house accommodates a new weight lifting gym with glass walls overlooking Woodman Field, a film screening room for the Montclair Mounties football team, and observation rooms looking over Woodman Field. After receiving a pledge from the Furlong family of $3 million towards the project, the Furlong Field House at Montclair High School was constructed, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in October 2008. The baseball team won the North II Group IV state sectional championship titles in 1959, 1961, 1963, and 1964.Baseball Championship History: 1959–2024

, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024. The team won the Greater Newark Tournament in 1942, 1948, 1954, 1963, 2012, and 2019; the program's six titles were the third-most in tournament history as of 2019. The team won the Greater Newark Tournament in 2019, beating

Seton Hall Preparatory School Seton Hall Preparatory School, generally called Seton Hall Prep, SHP, or "The Prep", is a Roman Catholic all boys' high school located in the suburban community of West Orange in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating under ...

by a score of 12-1 under the

mercy rule A mercy rule, slaughter rule, knockout rule, or skunk rule ends a two-competitor sports competition earlier than the scheduled endpoint if one competitor has a very large and presumably insurmountable scoring lead over the other. It is called t ...

. The boys' fencing team was the épée team winner in 2013, 2014, and 2016. The girls' fencing team was the épée team winner in 2016, 2017, and 2018. The girls' field hockey team won the North II Group IV state sectional title in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1988, and 1990, and won the North I Group IV title in 2003, 2004, 2010, 2012, and 2014. The team won the Group IV state championship in 1980 and 1985.History of NJSIAA Field Hockey Championships

. Accessed May 1, 2023. The 1980 team finished the season 13-3-3 after winning the Group IV title with a 3–0 win against Toms River High School North in the tournament final at Mercer County Park. The football team won the North II Group IV state sectional championships in 1983, 1994, 1996, and 2002, and won the North I Group V state title in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2017. In 2014, the team won their third consecutive North I, Group V state title, with a 26–14 win against Passaic County Technical Institute in the final game of the tournament, played at

MetLife Stadium MetLife Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States, 5 mi (8 km) west of New York City. It opened in 2010, replacing Giants Stadium, and serves as the home for the ...

. In 2017, the team won the North I Group V state sectional championship, the program's eighth state title, with a 35–14 win against Union City High School in the tournament final. In October 2008, a Montclair High School football player, Ryne Dougherty, died as a result of a

brain hemorrhage The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

in a football game. The school's football rivalry with Bloomfield High School was listed at 19th on NJ.com's 2017 list "Ranking the 31 fiercest rivalries in N.J. HS football". Bloomfield was the stronger school in the initial years of the competition, with Montclair dominating since the early 1980s and leading the rivalry with a 69-26-1 overall record as of 2017. The hockey team won the overall state championship in 1981 (defeating Brick Township High School by a score of 6–5 in the tournament final), 1987 (defeating Delbarton School 4–2) and 1988 (defeating St. Joseph of Montvale 2–1), with the two consective titles coached by Bruce Parker. They won the public school state championship in 1995 (defeating Chatham High School 2–1 in overtime). Towards the end of every hockey season, the Montclair Mounties host the "Montclair Cup". Every year, at Clary Anderson Arena (the Mounties' home hockey arena), Montclair High School faces off against in-town rival,

Montclair Kimberley Academy Montclair Kimberley Academy (MKA) is a co-educational private school for students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade located in Montclair, New Jersey, Montclair in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. ...

. The MKA team won the 2011, 2012, and 2013 games. The boys' lacrosse team won the overall state championship in 1974 and 1975 (defeating Boonton High School both years in the tournament final), 1977, and 1978 (vs.

Columbia High School Columbia High School may refer to: *Columbia High School (Huntsville, Alabama) *Columbia High School (Georgia) *Columbia High School (Florida) *Columbia High School (Idaho) *Columbia High School (Illinois) *Columbia High School (Mississippi), a Mis ...

both years), 1980 (vs. Columbia), 1984 (vs. Bridgewater-Raritan High School East), 1985 (vs. Westfield High School), 1992 (vs. Ridgewood High School) and 1997 (vs. Mountain Lakes High School), and won the Group IV state championship in 2010 (vs. Bridgewater-Raritan High School). The 10 state titles won by the program were tied for the fourth-most of any school in the state as of 2022.NJSIAA Boys Lacrosse Championship History

. Accessed May 1, 2023. The 1974 team finished the season with a 13–2 record after winning the inaugural NJSIAA state championship with a 9–2 victory against Boonton. The 1975 team repeated as state champion with a 10–3 win against Boonton in front of a crowd of 2,000. The 1984 team finished the season with a 16–2 record after winning the program's sixth state title with a 12–6 win against Bridgewater-Raritan, The rowing team has had success in New Jersey and nationally. The girls' lightweight 4x placed 3rd at nationals in 2016. In 2017, Montclair won the men's and women's Garden State Scholastics points trophies, the first public school to do so. Later in the season, the Men's Senior 8+ became Stotesbury Regatta Champions, a first for the program, making history as the first public high school boat to win the Stotesbury Cup in a decade. The Second Varsity 8+ placed third. The boat also became Scholastic Rowing Association of America National Champions and National Schools Rowing Association National Champions. The girls' soccer team won the Group IV state title in 2014, defeating Hunterdon Central Regional High School by a score of 2–1 in the tournament final to capture the program's first state title and finish the season with a 22–1 record.NJSIAA History of Girls Soccer

. Accessed May 1, 2023. The boys' tennis team won the overall state championship in 1953 vs. William L. Dickinson High School (Jersey City). The boys' track team won the spring / outdoor track title as Group IV champion in 1924–1926, 1928–1932, 1935, 1938, 1939, 1942, 1943 (as co-champion), 1946, 1952–1956, 1958, 1972 and 1974; the team's 21 state titles are the second-most of any team in the state.NJSIAA Boys Spring Track Summary of Group Titles

. Accessed May 1, 2023. The boys' track team was indoor public champion in 1931 and won the Group IV title in 1967 and 1985 (as co-champion). The Montclair

Ultimate Ultimate or Ultimates may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums *Ultimate (Bryan Adams album), ''Ultimate'' (Bryan Adams album) *Ultimate (Jolin Tsai album), ''Ultimate'' (Jolin Tsai album) *Ultimate (Pet Shop Boys album), ''Ult ...

team won their first state championship in 2023 with a 13-10 win in the finals against

Student protests

Students protested New Jersey Governor

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...

's appearance on school grounds on March 30, 2010, in response to ensuing budget cuts that affected the school. Over 200 students walked out of their classes in protest of the budget cuts in April of the same year.

Popular culture

Montclair High School has been featured in or used as a filming location for films and television shows, including:

Film

* '' Swimfan'' (2002) * '' Imaginary Heroes'' (2004) * ''

Mean Girls ''Mean Girls'' is a 2004 American teen comedy film directed by Mark Waters and written by Tina Fey. It stars Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Tim Meadows, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler, and Fey. The film follows Cady Heron (Lohan), a naïve t ...

'' (2004) * ''

Seven Minutes in Heaven Seven minutes in heaven (or seven minutes in the closet) is a kissing party game mostly played at teenage parties. The game may also be played with a different duration. Game Two people are selected to go into a closet or other dark enclosed space ...

'' (1986) * '' Lymelife'' (2009)

Television

* '' Ed'' –

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

series (2000 to 2004) * ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

'' –

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

seriesChung, Jen
"Sopranos Series Finale: What Did You Think?"
, ''

Gothamist ''Gothamist'' is a New York City–centric blog operated by New York Public Radio. From 2003 to 2018, Gothamist LLC was the operator, or in some cases franchisor, of eight city-centric websites that focused on news, events, food, culture, an ...

'', June 10, 2007. Accessed July 15, 2011. "AJ leaves the film production office in a new BMW M3, proving that his parents will do anything to keep him from enlisting. He tries to justify the purchase of the car by saying it has good mileage on the highway and there's no public transport at the production office. He picks up Rhiannon from Montclair High School."

Notable alumni

References

External links

Montclair High School

Montclair Public Schools

Montclair High School Alumni Association
*
School Data for the Montclair Public Schools

{{Authority control 1886 establishments in New Jersey Educational institutions established in 1886 Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools Montclair, New Jersey Public high schools in Essex County, New Jersey