High Tech High School is a full-time magnet public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, located in North Bergen, in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Hudson County Schools of Technology. Since its establishment in 1991, High Tech High School has been named a Top Ten High School, a Governor's School of Excellence, a New Jersey Star School (twice) and has been cited by New Jersey Monthly magazine as one of the state's great public high schools. The school is noted for success in the sciences and in the performing arts (winning several awards in both fields).
As of the 2014-15 school year, the school had an enrollment of 835 students and 70.9 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a studentâ€"teacher ratio of 11.8:1. There were 258 students (30.9% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 102 (12.2% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
Awards, recognition, and rankings
Awards received by High Tech High School include:
- Business Insider, using data from the 2015 Niche rankings, ranked High Tech High School 21st on its 2014 list of the "25 best public high school in the United States".
- In September 2013, the school was one of 15 in New Jersey to be recognized by the United States Department of Education as part of the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program, an award called the "most prestigious honor in the United States' education system" and which Education Secretary Arne Duncan described as schools that "represent examples of educational excellence".
- In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 436th in the nation among participating public high schools and 36th among schools in New Jersey.
- Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 29th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 10 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (92.3%) and language arts literacy (100.0%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).
- In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 49th in New Jersey and 1,516th nationwide.
- 2003 Governor's School of Excellence
- 2002 School Leader Award, NJ School Boards Association
- 2001 Best High School Musical, Director, Costumes - Paper Mill Playhouse
- 2000 2000 National Student Community Service Award - SkillsUSA
- 1999 100 Top Wired Schools in the US by FamilyPC Magazine
- 1998 New Jersey Star School by NJ Department of Education.
- 1997 Flagship School for Exemplary Video Journalism by Channel One
- 1996 Best Practices in World Languages by the New Jersey Department of Education
- 1995 New Jersey Star School by New Jersey Department of Education.
- 1995 10 Best Overall Schools in New Jersey by New Jersey Monthly Magazine
- 1994 Philanthropic Corporate Award by Panasonic, Matsushita
- 1993 Outstanding Program Award by NJASCD
- 1992 School Leadership Exemplary Program Award by NJSBA
- 1992 NJ State National Blue Ribbon Nominee, New Jersey Department of Education
- 1992 School Leader Award Competition, NJ School Boards' Association
- 1991 Model Parental Involvement Program Award by NJSBA
Demographics
High Tech High School was founded in 1991 by the Hudson County Schools of Technology school district to provide Hudson County residents with a quality public education in a technology based environment. The high school has grown from 30 students in 1991 to 480 students in present school year. High Tech has been able to maintain a student to faculty ratio of 12 to 1. Hudson County is the smallest of New Jersey's 21 counties. Highly urbanized and densely populated, the 2000 census ranked this area as fourth in the nation on the ethnicity index. As a regional magnet school, High Tech draws on its diverse student population from the 12 towns and cities within the county. The average expenditure per student is $14,760 and is derived from federal, state, and county aid. High Tech High School is accredited by the New Jersey Department of Education. 43% of the student body is Hispanic, 32% is Caucasian, 16% is Asian/Pacific Islander, and 9% is African American.
Sports
The High Tech Lasercats had competed in the Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic Association (HCIAA), which includes private and parochial high schools in Hudson County. The league operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).
High Tech has few sports teams, including girls' and boys' tennis, bowling, a judo club and basketball. Their best, however, continues to be their soccer team. This included a five-year run of county championships (2004-2008).
The girls' softball team won the 2008 North I, Group II state sectional championship, defeating Hoboken High School 3-1 in the tournament final. The team won the first round of the Group I state championship with a 4-2 win over Pompton Lakes High School 4-2, before falling to Pennsville Memorial High School by a score of 8-2 in the final game.
On March 12, 2010, mayors from all 12 municipalities in Hudson County signed a petition stating that High Tech High School and County Prep High School should eliminate their sports programs because of budget cuts. On April 22, 2010; it was revealed in the new budget that sports were cut from both schools for the 2010-11 school year. The students attending High Tech High School at the time that the petition was signed (graduating classes 2010 to 2014) demonstrated their deep disapproval towards Hudson County's decision during the spring of 2010. Many seniors of the Class of 2010 risked their ability to graduate in order to participate in the walk-out that occurred.
Majors
At High Tech, Juniors are required to have 80 minutes of a major per day, and Seniors are required to have 120 minutes (2 hours) of a major per day:
- Architecture
- Music and Audio Tech
- Automotive Tech
- Broadcasting
- CADA
- Dance
- Studio Arts
- Musical Theatre
- Drama
- TV Production
- Science
- Computational Fundamentals
- Culinary Arts
- Graphic Arts
AACT program
The Academy of Architectural and Contemporary Themes, which opened in September 2006, is an academy within High Tech High School. This non-traditional learning environment is devoted to inquiry-based learning within small, personalized learning communities; students think critically and problem solve through standards-aligned interdisciplinary projects and seminars, performance-based assessment, real-world learning, and differentiated instruction. Group dynamics, writing proficiencies, project planning, and task completion skills are honed through projects. A "Personal Education Plan" is created for each student. Through modeling, facilitators teach the importance of equity, democracy, success, and lifelong learning.
Student government and Newspaper
According to the school's website, "The High Student Government provides the main forum for discussing student concerns and ideas. The student government consists of four student councils (one each for the freshman class, the sophomore class, the junior class, and the senior class). Student government meetings are attended by these four councils, the student government counselor, the Principal, the Vice Principal, and representatives from various departments, such as the cafeteria, maintenance, transportation, etc. In addition, student councils from new programs such as AACT are also present. Each student council consists of a President, a Vice President, a Secretary, a Treasurer, and a homeroom representative from each homeroom. In addition, representatives-at-large are occasionally appointed by the President. Each council also has one-two faculty advisors.
The Laser (thelaser.org) is High Tech's online school newspaper. Students in the Digital Publishing / Journalism LEAP course manage it, and all students that produce material within the criteria stated on the site can contribute. The social media extension is @The_Laser on Twitter.
References
External links
- The High Tech High School website
- High Tech High School's 2015â€"16 School Performance Report from the New Jersey Department of Education
- School Data for the Hudson County Schools of Technology, National Center for Education Statistics
- Class of 2000
- AACT Program website
