James Caldwell High School

Awards and recognition

The school was the 52nd-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 46th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 45th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 57th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 43rd in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 124th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (an increase of 26 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (86.6%) and language arts literacy (93.7%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).

Athletics

James Caldwell High School's teams, nicknamed the Chiefs and Lady Chiefs respectively, compete in the Super Essex Conference, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). With 604 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as North II, Group II for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 508 to 770 students in that grade range. James Caldwell had been part of the Northern Hills Conference prior to the 2010 realignment. The school has had past successes in its football and baseball programs, but is a perennial contender in girls' volleyball and softball.

The school participates in a joint ice hockey program with West Essex High School as the lead agency, under an agreement that expires at the end of the 2017-18 school year.

Football

The football team has won state sectional championships in North II Group III in 1981, and in North II Group II in 1991, 1997, 1998 and 2008.

In 2008, the Caldwell Chiefs football team won the North II, Group II state sectional title with a 22-7 win over Governor Livingston at Giants Stadium, to earn the program's first state sectional title since 1998 and fifth overall.

On October 11, 2006, James (Jamie) Bliss, a 16-year-old football player, died suddenly during a football practice.

Softball

The girls' softball team has won the Group II state championships in 1983, 1992 and 2005.

The softball team won the 2003 North II, Group II state sectional title with a 2-1 win against Pequannock Township High School. The softball team repeated as sectional champs in 2004, shutting out Hoboken High School by a score of 10-0. The team was a sectional winner for the third consecutive time in 2005 with a 2-0 win against Governor Livingston High School in the tournament final. The team went on to win the 2005 Group II state championship with a 3-2 win against Audubon High School that came on a home run in the bottom of the seventh inning. The team won the 2007 North II, Group II state sectional championship with a 2-1 over West Essex High School. The 2009 title came in a 4-3 win against Parsippany High School. The softball team has won 11 sectional titles, including six between 2003 and 2011, winning the 2011 North II, Group II sectional with an 11-7 win against Rutherford High School.

Volleyball

The James Caldwell girls' volleyball team has won six state titles under Jeff and Scott Stiefbold, winning Group II titles in 2000, 2002 and 2003 all against Union Catholic High School, in 2004 against Pascack Valley High School and in 2009 against Tenafly High School, and took the 2008 Group I championship with a win against Bogota High School. The team was the runner-up in the Tournament of Champions in 2003, with a loss to Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest, and again in 2008, after a loss in the finals to Immaculate Heart Academy.

In 2008, the Lady Chiefs volleyball won the Group I state championship over defending champion Bogota High School, a County championship and a Conference championship, finishing the season with a record of 32-1 and ranked second in the state.

Boys' tennis

The senior class of 2012, which featured a trio of four-year starters in Dylan Silver, Neil Shulman and Michael Melchione, became the most successful senior class in the history of Essex County tennis, posting an overall team record of 52-22 over the four-year span in which they played, including back-to-back berths in the state championship match (losing twice to Bernards). Individually, Neil Shulman finished with a personal record of 52-14, the most wins by a singles player in Essex County history. Michael Melchione was right behind him with a career record of 49-17 (singles and doubles) and Dylan Silver finished with a 43-21 record.

Boys' soccer

The boys' soccer team is led by head coach Alan Branigan and assistant John Inguagiato. In 2013, The boys' team experienced their most successful season, advancing to the North II Group II state sectional semi-finals before falling to eventual champion Harrison High School (New Jersey) 1-0. The team finished with a record of 13-5-4.

Girls' soccer

The girls' soccer team won the North II Group II sectional title in 2008 with a 2-1 win over Bernards High School on the strength of a 6-5 margin in penalty kicks.

Wrestling

The wrestling program has won the North II Group II state sectional team championship five times, including 1983, 1985, 1986, 1990 and 2011. Blake Maffai was the 1991 state champion at 112 lbs, and in 2004, Steve Martell won the state title at 152 lbs.

Nickname controversy

James Caldwell's mascot, the Chief, places the school among those involved in the Native American mascot controversy, concurrent with a national trend of removing Native American nicknames from college sports teams. Support has been mounting in both Caldwell and West Caldwell in recent years to change a number of customs associated with the school's team nicknames, such as the war chant and the tomahawk chop, or to get rid of the Chief's nickname altogether.

Extracurricular activities

In September 2005, six student editors and reporters of the high school's newspaper, The Caldron, reached a settlement with the Caldwell-West Caldwell School District, through the ACLU, forbidding most censorship by the high school principal and allowing an article about sexual mores to be published.

In popular culture

Most scenes of Welcome to the Dollhouse were filmed at James Caldwell High School, including the cafeteria, hallways, classrooms, the bathroom, and the principal's office.

Administration

Core members of the school's administration are:

Notable alumni