Raritan High School is a 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 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., ...

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 from Hazlet Township in Monmouth 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 Hazlet Township Public Schools. The school was named after the former community name, "Raritan Township," and opened in September 1962 with an enrollment of 778 students, which would increase to more than 2,300 students by 1979. As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 817 students and 68.4 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 12.0:1. There were 100 students (12.2% 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 48 (5.9% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Raritan 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. Raritan High School is accredited by 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 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 2013.Raritan High School

Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed May 9, 2022. The school offers students a comprehensive program of education ranging from an academically oriented, college preparatory curriculum to courses in the vocational and career oriented field.

History

Raritan High School was constructed at a cost of $1.5 million (equivalent to $ million in ) with an opening date of September 1962. Prior to the school's opening, students had attended

Keyport High School Keyport High School is a four-year public high school in Keyport, in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, operated as the lone secondary school of the Keyport Public Schools. Stud ...

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 ...

. In May 2010, the Hazlet Township Board of Education embarked on a trial of "Going green to save green" by agreeing to enter into a power purchase agreement with a third-party vendor. Under this agreement, solar panels are to be erected on awnings over the student parking lot at Raritan High School and on the rooftop of Hazlet Middle School. The $7.5 million project will be funded by the vendor to cover the costs of construction and maintenance in their entirety and in return the Hazlet school district has contractually agreed to purchase the electricity at a below market cost. The district expects to save $1.7 million in energy costs over a 15-year period.

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 166th-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 175th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 166th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 164th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 153rd in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 137th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 19 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (83.5%) and language arts literacy (95.3%) 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 Raritan High School RocketsRaritan 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 Division A Central of the Shore Conference, an athletic conference comprised of public and private high schools in Monmouth and

Ocean The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian, Southern Ocean ...

counties along the

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore, commonly called the Shore by locals, is the coast, coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The term encompasses about of shore, oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, Perth Amboy in the n ...

.Shore Conference Realignment for 2018-2019 and 2019-2020
Shore Conference. Accessed November 15, 2020. The league operates under the jurisdiction of the

(NJSIAA). With 698 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 486 to 758 students in that grade range. The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group II South for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 514 to 685 students. The school participates with

Colts Neck High School Colts Neck High School is a four-year comprehensive high school, comprehensive state school, public Secondary education in the United States, high school located in Colts Neck Township, New Jersey, Colts Neck Township, in Monmouth County, New Je ...

in a joint ice hockey team in which Freehold High School is the host school / lead agency. The co-op program operates under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year. The boys' cross country team won the Group II state championship in 1964, and the Group III title in 1969 and 1970.NJSIAA Boys Cross Country State Group Champions

. Accessed May 1, 2023. The boys' bowling team won the overall state championship in 1971. The girls' outdoor track and field team won the Group IV state championship in 1977.NJSIAA Girls Spring Track Summary of Group Titles

. Accessed May 1, 2023. The girls cross country running team won the Group IV state championship in 1981 and the Group III title in 1982.NJSIAA Girls Cross Country State Group Champions

. Accessed May 1, 2023. The boys soccer team finished the 1982 season with a 21–1 record after winning the Group III state championship by defeating runner-up Indian Hills High School by a score of 2–1 in the tournament final.NJSIAA History of Boys Soccer

. Accessed May 1, 2023. The baseball team finished the 2003 season with a 24–5 record after winning the Group II state title against Hanover Park High School by a score of 9–7 in the championship game, after scoring eight runs in the sixth inning to overcome a 2–1 deficit.Baseball Championship History: 1959–2024

, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024. The boys' basketball team won the Group III state championship in 2004, defeating

Manasquan High School Manasquan High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grade from Manasquan, in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone high school of the ...

by a score of 71–60 in the tournament final. The football team won the Central Jersey Group II state sectional championships in 2004 and 2015. The team won its first playoff-era title in 2004, with a 35–12 win against

Carteret High School Carteret High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Carteret in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, as the lone secondary school of the Carteret School ...

in the Central Jersey Group II title game. The team won the Central Jersey Group II state sectional championship in 2015 with a 28–26 win over Lincoln High School on a touchdown that came with 10 seconds left on the clock. The wrestling team won the Central Jersey Group II state sectional title in 2004, 2012, 2018, and 2022, and won the Group II state championship in 2012 and 2022. The team won the 2006 Shore Conference Class A Central title. With a 19–4 record, the team reached the finals of the NJSIAA Central Jersey. The 2012 wrestling team won the Class A Central title, with a 24-6 team record, the team won the Central Jersey Group II sectional championship (the team's second sectional title overall and first time since 2004) and the program's first ever NJSIAA Group II state championship. The 2022 team won the Central Jersey Group II sectional championship (the team's fourth sectional title overall and first since 2018) by defeating Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School by 42-25 in the sectional finals, and then defeating Hanover Park High School in the Group II semifinals at 56-21 and then High Point Regional High School at 37-27 in the finals to bring home the program's second Group II state championship and finish the season with a 22-6 record.

Administration

The school's principal is Andrew R. Piotrowski. His core administration team includes two assistant principals.

Notable alumni

Sammi Giancola Samantha Giancola (born March 14, 1987) also known as Sammi Sweetheart, is an American television personality. She is best known as one of the eight main cast members in the MTV reality series ''Jersey Shore''. Early life Raised in Hazlet, Ne ...

(born 1987, class of 2005), appeared on MTV's ''

'' from 2009 to 2012. * Doug Hamilton (1963–2006, class of 1981), Major League Soccer executive. * Bennett Jackson (born 1991, class of 2010),

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 ...

for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

. * Mark Lemongello (born 1955), former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

pitcher who played for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

and

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

* Daniel O'Brien (born 1986), three-time Emmy winning humorist, author, writer, comedian and songwriter. * Jim Ortlieb (born 1956, class of 1974), film, television and theatre actor known for his roles in ''Roswell'' and ''Felicity''. * Denise Reddy (born 1970), former professional

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 ...

player who has been head coach of

Sky Blue FC Gotham Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the New York metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 un ...

in the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

since November 2017."Wildcats Add Reddy to Staff; Former Malmö, Rutgers Star Named Assistant Coach"

New Jersey Wildcats The New Jersey Wildcats is an American women's soccer team, founded by Vincent Baldino in 1996. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues USL W-League (1995–2015), W-League, the second tier of women's soccer in the United States and C ...

, April 26, 2006. Accessed November 17, 2017. "Following her standout career at Rutgers, the Hazlet, NJ native joined the Swedish club Umeå IK for one season in 1995 before moving to Malmö DFF for the next 10 seasons.... A Raritan High School graduate, Reddy appeared in 336 games during her career with Malmö and was a fan favorite."

References

External links

Raritan High School - Official WebsiteRHS School ReviewHazlet Township Public Schools
*
Data for the Hazlet Township Public Schools

{{Authority control 1962 establishments in New Jersey Educational institutions established in 1962 Hazlet, New Jersey Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools Public high schools in Monmouth County, New Jersey