Hasbrouck Heights High School

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 138th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology. The school had been ranked 72nd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 107th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 82nd in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 92nd in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 49th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 14 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (93.2%) and language arts literacy (96.6%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).

Athletics

The Hasbrouck Heights Aviators compete as a member of the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference in the Meadowlands Division, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). With 430 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as North I, Group I for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 187 to 490 students in that grade range. Prior to realignment that took effect in the fall of 2010, Hasbrouck Heights was a part of the Bergen County Scholastic League. The team nickname is the Aviators.

Together with Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest, the school participates in a joint ice hockey program with Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan as the host school / lead agency, under an agreement that expires at the end of the 2016-17 school year.

Baseball

The baseball team, coached by Rocco Minichiello, won the North I, Group I state sectional championship in 2007, topping Verona High School 7-4 in the tournament final.

Girls' basketball

In March 2015, the girls' basketball team won the North I, Group I state sectional championship with a 40-27 victory against Wood-Ridge High School in the tournament final, the first state title for any of the school's basketball teams.

Boys' soccer

The soccer program was run for many years by head coach Dennis Sayer. After he resigned following the 2001 season, Peter Morisco stepped in as head coach and took the team to the states two out of the three years he ran the program. The first game of the 2004 state sectional championships was an overtime win against Leonia High School, the first in the soccer team's history. The next game was the state semis against North Warren Regional High School getting the furthest the team ever did, falling 3-2. Joe Bitteto took over the team and brought it to its 2nd consecutive state appearance. The team is currently coached by Vincent Marchese.

Football

The football team is coached by Nick Delcalzo. The most recent state championship won by the football program was in 2007. In 2005, Hasbrouck Heights made the North I Group I State Final in Giants Stadium, losing 27-7 to Pompton Lakes High School. Hasbrouck Heights made the 2nd round in the North I Group I state playoffs in 2006, beating Pascack Hills High School 9-3 in the opening round then losing to ultimate winner Bogota High School 24-17 in the semifinals. Hasbrouck Heights made the playoffs for seven consecutive seasons.

The football team won the NJSIAA North I Group I state sectional championship in 1975, 1976, 1994 and 2007. In 1975, the Heights team went 10-0-1 and won the North I, Group I state sectional championship by defeating Ridgefield Memorial High School 22-6 in the first year that the state held playoffs. They were also the BCSL National champions as well. The 1976, the 11-0 Heights Aviators repeated as North I, Group I sectional champions by defeating Mahwah High School in the finals and were the league champions of the BCSL National. In 1994, the Heights team went 10-1 and won the North I, Group I state sectional championship by defeating North Arlington High School by a score of 14-6 at the tournament final in Giants Stadium. In 2007, the team won the North I, Group I state sectional championship with a 26-16 win over New Milford High School, in a game played at Giants Stadium. The team went 12-0 while also capturing the BCSL Olympic league championship. Depken Field was also resurfaced with field turf. The team won the North I, Group I state sectional title in 2016 with a 30-12 win against New Milford High School in the tournament final.

The Hasbrouck Heights Aviators football team tied for the most wins with Bergen Catholic High School and had the highest winning percentage from 1970 to 1979 of any team in Bergen County. This success continued well into the mid-1980s when Hasbrouck Heights went to the North I Group I finals in 1985 and 1986 but were defeated by New Milford High School both years.

Hasbrouck Heights High School has won a total of 19 Group I state sectional championships and two Group II state sectional championships since 1920 when the team played in Franklin School. Their best year was in 1969 when the Aviators went undefeated and were ranked #1 in the state of NJ and finished in the top 10 nationally.

The Hasbrouck Heights football Aviators natural rival by geographic location are the Wood-Ridge High School Blue Devils. The two programs had one of the state's longest Thanksgiving Day rivalry games dating back at least 60 years, and lasting until a final game in the series in 2009, after which realignment prevented a continuation of the match-up. Hasbrouck Heights has won the vast majority of the games and had a 21-year Thanksgiving Day game winning streak.

The team's current rivals are Wood-Ridge, Cresskill, Emerson, Glen Rock, New Milford, Bogota, Park Ridge and Pompton Lakes high schools.

Girls' soccer

The joint Hasbrouck Heights/Wood-Ridge High School soccer team won the North I Group II state sectional championship in 2008 under former coach Ollie Pimm with a 2-0 win against Glen Rock High School. His assistant coach Joseph Mastropietro took over the program in 2009 and finished with a record of 17-2-2 in his first season. The Aviators were undefeated BCSL National League champions that season.

Tennis

In 1968, the men's tennis team had a perfect 17-0 record. They won the BCSL title and became the only men's sports team to go undefeated for an entire season.

In 2013, the top-ranked boys' tennis team beat Cedar Grove High School by 3-2 to claim the North I Group I state sectional title.

Wrestling

The recreation level wrestling program was established in the 1970s by then-director Andy Feintuch. In 1976, heavyweight Bill Spindler became the school's first NJSIAA state champion, pinning each of his opponents on his way to the gold medal.

Head coach Tom Basile led the 1989 team to league and county titles. The Aviators captured their first North Jersey Group I state sectional championship after a one-sided victory over defending champion Waldwick High School. The team was back-to-back champions in 1990, and won again in 1993 and 1995. For their accomplishments, the 1989 team was elected to the Hasbrouck Heights Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005.

In the mid-1990s, HH alum Mike Scuilla took over from Basile. The pinnacle individual performance came in 2001 when Morgan Horner won the 189 lb. weight class at the NJSIAA championships defeating the defending champion. This accomplishment earned Horner the award for the championship's Most Outstanding Wrestler. The 2006 team won the state North II, Group I sectional title. The 2007 team repeated as North II, Group I state sectional championship with a 46-16 win vs. Madison High School.

Girls' track & field

The spring track program won 20 league championships in the BCSL, in 1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010. The program has also won the Bergen County Relay Championships in 1994, 1998, 2002, 2009, 2010, Bergen County Group Championship in 1998, 2009, 2010, and state sectional championships in 1994, 1998. Recent highlights: 2010 4×400 relay team of Naomi Robinson, Jenn Nass, Marissa Romano, & Michele Gianni won their heat at the prestigious Penn Relay Carnival in a time of 4:05.12 to win the Penn Relays Wall Plaque. The same team later in the season broke the school record in the 4 × 400 with a time of 4:02.09. Jeff Kresch was the head coach from 1987-April 1996, Robert Brady is the head coach starting in April 1996.

Boys' track & field

The boys' outdoor team won BCSL titles in 1970, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010. The boys' have also won the Bergen County Relay Championships in 1994, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, Bergen County Group Championships in 1970, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, and State Sectional Titles in 1970, 1994, 2006, and have finished 2nd in the state group championships in 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010. Recent highlights, Junior Pat Cole won the 2010 Bergen County Meet of Champions in the Shot Put, Pat also won the 2010 League, county Group, State Sectional, State Group Shot put Championships. Cole also had a 6th-place finish at the Penn Relay Shot put Championships and a 4th-place finish in the NJ State Meet of Champions. Kevin Condal won the 2010 Bergen County Meet of Champions 400m dash with a new meet record of 47.94 seconds a new school record and the 5th fastest time in Bergen County History. Kevin Also won the league, county group, state sectional 400m dash all with new meet records. The Boys' 4 × 400 team of Condal, Harris, Davis and Quinn won the league, county group, state sectional, and state group championships, setting new meet records in the county and state sectional. The team was coached by Jeff Kresch from 1988 to April 1996 and coached by Robert Brady since then.

The boys' track team won the 2011 Group I indoor relay championships.

Pilot's Log

The high school publishes Pilot's Log, an award-winning student newspaper. At the 2006 National Scholastic Press Association Fall National High School Journalism Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, Pilot's Log earned the highest accolade of "best in show" for newspapers with 13-16 pages, from all high schools, regardless of size. The newspaper staff also won a National Pacemaker Award for the publication, one of 26 high school publications nationwide to be recognized, unofficially known as the "Pulitzer Prizes of student journalism".

Coronian

The high school's yearbook is named the Coronian. The 2010 102nd volume was the first to be printed entirely in color.

Theatrical performances

Every school year, a selected performance is created by students under the supervision of the school's communications teacher Erin Schneeweiss. A different play is performed every year.

Music

The school holds a concert three times during the school year in which the concert band and jazz band, directed by Joseph Ascolese, perform. The marching band, also directed by Ascolese, recently came in first place in Best Music as well as Best Effect during the 2012 USSBA Competition.

Administration

Core members of the school's administration are:

On March 22, 2014, superintendent of schools Dr. Mark Porto resigned for "personal reasons". Porto, who was under contract with the Hasbrouck Heights school system until June 30, 2018, earned $157,500 and was to be paid through September 19, 2014.

Notable alumni