School type Elementary School Principal Paul Ciempola Phone +1 908-204-2633 Founded 1956 | Established 1956 Grades K-5 Mascot Golden Owl | |
Address 100 Peachtree Rd, Basking Ridge, NJ 07920, USA District Bernards Township School District Similar Mt Prospect School, Liberty Corner Elementa, William Annin Middle Sc, Somerset Hills School Di, Bedwell Elementary School | ||
Cedar Hill School, located in Bernards Township, Somerset County, New Jersey, is a pre-K-5 elementary school with an enrollment of 600+ students. The school was built in 1956 on property donated by the Lee family, although a number of wealthy families owned the property previously. The 60 acres (240,000 m2) of property was donated to the Bernards Township Board of education to build Ridge High School and Cedar Hill School. These building are within a 200-ft distance of each other which provides a campus like feel to the property. The Board of Education building site is located adjacent to Cedar Hill School and houses the district's central administrative offices including the office of the Superintendent.
The ownership of the land on which Cedar Hill School is located, has a long succession of ownership. Originally, the property extended 100 acres (0.40 km2) and was owned by Samuel Owen, a pharmaceutical manufacturer and farmer. He built the elegant tutor manor house in 1912, which remains on the property and is currently the Bernards Township Municipal Building.
The Owen family named the home Cedar Hill and their farm Cedar Hill Farm. The Owen farm yielded many peach trees and had a reputation for producing large peaches, which is why the name of the street that the school is located on is Peachtree Rd.
The Cedar Hill farm was sold in the 1940s to George Ludlow Lee and he continued farm operations. Mr. Lee was the owner of the Red Devil Tool Company, located in Irvington, NJ and the high school's sport teams were named the Red Devils, however the school colors are actually green and white. In 1946, a portion of the property was sold to John Jacob Astor. Astor resided on the property periodically with his son, and allowed the local Basking Ridge Gun Club to hunt deer and pheasant.
From 1997-1998 Cedar Hill School housed all students in the township in grades 4 and 5. Later, after the construction of Mount Prospect School, Cedar Hill began a K-5 elementary school. In 2000, the school led by principal Joseph A. Mollica and Assistant Principal, Julianne Mahler, named Cedar Hill School's first mascot, the Cedar Hill Golden Owls. Joseph retired in June of 2016 after 22 years of work.