Pleasantville High School is a comprehensive community

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., ...

that serves 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 ...

from the City of Pleasantville, in Atlantic 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 ...

, operating as the lone secondary school of the

Pleasantville Public Schools The Pleasantville Public Schools are a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from the City of Pleasantville, in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The dist ...

, an

Abbott District ''Abbott'' districts are school districts in New Jersey that are provided remedies to ensure that their students receive public education in accordance with Constitution of New Jersey, the state constitution. They were created in 1985 as a resul ...

. Students from Absecon attend the district's high school for grades 9-12 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 Absecon Public School District. As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 797 students and 70.0 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 11.4:1. There were 531 students (66.6% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 50 (6.3% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Pleasantville 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.

Awards, recognition and rankings

In 2004, the Try-Math-A-Lon Team won the National Championship at the National Society of Black Engineers Conference (NSBE) in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. In 2010 and 2011, the Try-Math-A-Lon teams won the regional championships and progressed to the Nationals in Boston and Orlando respectively where they placed second both years. The school was the 311th-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 267th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 299th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 309th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 281st in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school as 363rd out of 376 public high schools statewide in its 2010 rankings (a decrease of 6 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).

Athletics

The Pleasantville High School GreyhoundsPleasantville 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 National Division of the

Cape-Atlantic League The Cape-Atlantic League (CAL) is an athletic conference consisting of both public high schools and non-public high schools located in Atlantic County, New Jersey, Atlantic County, Cape May County, New Jersey, Cape May County, Cumberland County, N ...

, an athletic conference comprised of both public and private high schools located in Atlantic,

Cape May Cape May consists of a peninsula and barrier island system in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is roughly coterminous with Cape May County and runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. Th ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

, and

Gloucester County, New Jersey Gloucester County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the county was the state's List of counties in New Jersey, 14th-most populous county

counties, and operating under the aegis of the

(NJSIAA). With 668 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 Patriot Division of the 94-team West Jersey Football League superconference and was classified by the NJSIAA as Group III South for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 695 to 882 students. Interscholastic sports offered at Pleasantville High School include: *Fall sports: Football (M), Cross Country, Soccer, Volleyball, Tennis and Cheerleading *Winter sports: Indoor Track, Basketball, Swim (Co-ed) and Cheerleading *Spring sports: Baseball, Softball, Tennis, and Track & Field. All sports compete at the Varsity and Junior Varsity level. Some sports may offer a freshman team. The school has had a longstanding sports rivalry with Atlantic City High School. The best known is between the basketball teams of both schools, an event that is referred to as "Battle By The Bay" which started in 1994. Atlantic City High won 13 games and Pleasantville has won 6. The cheerleading battle between both schools is considered to be one of the highlights of the event. The boys' basketball team won the Group II title in 1974 (defeating runner-up Hillside High School in the tournament final), 1995 (vs. Boonton High School) and 1996 (vs. Dwight Morrow High School). The girls' basketball team won the Group II state championships in 1978 (against Lyndhurst High School in the finals) and 1981 (vs. Queen of Peace High School).Girls Basketball Championship History: 1919–2024

, updated March 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024. The 1978 team finished the season with a 24-3 record after winning the Group III title with a 49-42 win against Lyndhurst in the championship game. The 1981 team won the Group II title after they defeated Queen of Peace by a score of 60-45 in the championship game played at

North Brunswick Township High School North Brunswick Township High School (NBTHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in North Brunswick, in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone secon ...

with 1,500 in attendance. The girls' outdoor track and field team won the Group II state championship in 1995.NJSIAA Girls Spring Track Summary of Group Titles

. Accessed May 1, 2023. The boys track team won the indoor track Group I state championship in 1996, 2008, 2012 and 2013, and won the Group II title in 1999 (as co-champion). The girls team won the Group II title in 2011. The boys track team won the Group II spring / outdoor track state championship in 1996, 1999 and 2018. The boys' track team won the NJSIAA indoor relay championships in Group II in 1999 and in Group I in both 2012 and 2013. In 2010, the cross country team won the

conference championship, finishing the season undefeated with a record of 10-0. In 2011, Pleasantville's track and field won two state titles at the Group I indoor track and field championships at the Bennett Center in Toms River. The Pleasantville Lady Greyhounds Volleyball Team won the

Tournament in 2022, reaching the finals without losing a single set match. In the final they went up against Atlantic County Institute of Technology, defeating them 25-19 and 25-22. That same season they went on to compete in the NJSIAA South Jersey, Group 2 Tournament, where they went undefeated in all set matches to face 3rd seeded Jackson Liberty, winning 25-18 and 25-21. This team became the first female volleyball team in all of Atlantic County to win a sectional state championship.

Shooting

Six suspects were arrested after a shooting broke out during the third quarter of a November 2019 football playoff game in Pleasantville against Camden High School, with Camden leading by a score of 6-0. A 10-year-old victim, one of four injured spectators, died days later. 31-year-old Alvin Wyatt, the suspected shooter pled not guilty to his charges which included murder, attempted murder, and weapons offenses. In July 2023, Wyatt was found guilty of his charges and he was sentenced to 70 years in prison the following September.

Administration

The school's principal is Lapell Chapman. Core members of the school's administration are the two assistant principals.

Notable alumni

* Nia Ali (born 1988, class of 2006),

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 ...

athlete, who specializes in the

100 m hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first hurdle is ...

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hep ...

and other events. * Dino Hall (born 1955), former

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)#Offense ...

for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, 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 ...

who became a Physical Education teacher at the high school. *

Gene Hart Eugene Charles "Gene" Hart (June 28, 1931 – July 14, 1999) was an American sports announcer for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League and the Philadelphia Phantoms of the American Hockey League. Biography Hart was born in New ...

(1931–1999),

sports announcer In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as a sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time live commentary of a game or event, traditionally delivered in the present tense. There are two main types of sports broadcast ...

for the

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team play ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

and the

Philadelphia Phantoms The Philadelphia Phantoms were a professional ice hockey team that played in the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1996 to 2009. The club was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and played most of its home games at the Spectrum (arena), Spectrum ...

of the

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America that serves as the primary developmental league of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league comprises 32 teams, with 26 in the United States and 6 in Cana ...

. * Ralph Peterson Jr. (born 1962, class of 1980),

jazz drummer Jazz drumming is the art of playing percussion (predominantly the drum kit, which includes a variety of drums and cymbals) in jazz styles ranging from 1910s-style Dixieland jazz to 1970s-era jazz fusion and 1980s-era Latin jazz. The techniques an ...

and bandleader. * Monique Samuels, television personality best known as a cast member of the reality television series '' The Real Housewives of Potomac''. * Dave Vonner (born 1972), toy designer.Post, Michelle Brunetti
"Comic book fan and Pleasantville High School graduate helps make action figures at Hasbro"
''

The Press of Atlantic City ''The Press of Atlantic City'' is the fourth-largest daily newspaper in New Jersey. Originally based in Pleasantville, New Jersey, Pleasantville, it is the primary newspaper for southeastern New Jersey and the Jersey Shore. The Designated marke ...

'', January 29, 2011. Accessed September 21, 2015. "David Vonner, 38, grew up in Atlantic City's Pitney Village and graduated in 1990 from Pleasantville High School, where he was a talented artist, comic book fan and a bit of a class clown."

References

External links

*
Pleasantville Public Schools
*
School Data for the Pleasantville Public Schools

South Jersey Sports: Pleasantville HS
{{Authority control Pleasantville, New Jersey Absecon, New Jersey Public high schools in Atlantic County, New Jersey