Type Public high school Faculty 97.5 FTEs Enrollment 1,360 (as of 2014-15) Phone +1 609-631-4161 | Principal Frank Ragazzo Grades 9-12 Color Gold Mascot Star | |
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Vice principals Michael WalshDawn White Similar Trenton Central High Sch, Notre Dame High School, Allentown High School, West Windsor ‑ High Sc, Hopewell Valley Central H | ||
Nottingham High School (also known as Hamilton High School North) is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades located in Hamilton Township, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States, operating as one of the three secondary schools of the Hamilton Township School District.
Contents
- Awards recognition and rankings
- Athletics
- Courses
- Performances
- Controversy
- Administration
- Sister schools
- References
As of the 2014-15 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,360 students and 97.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.9:1. There were 567 students (41.7% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 155 (11.4% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 231st-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 276th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 264th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 260th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 246th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.
Athletics
The Nottingham High School Northstars compete in the Colonial Valley Conference, which operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. With 1,027 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as Central Jersey, Group III for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 822 to 1,068 students in that grade range.
The school operates as the lead agency for an ice hockey program with Hamilton High School (West), under an agreement that expires at the end of the 2016-17 school year.
Nottingham's 2012 football team won the Central Jersey Group III state championship game after defeating Neptune High School by a final score of 35-24 in a game played at The College of New Jersey. The team finished with a record of 11-1, earning the program's first state title and becoming the first Mercer County team since 1989 to win a football championship.
The girls' softball team won the Group III state championship in 1987 (vs. West Morris Mendham High School by a score of 2-1) and 1990 (vs. Morris Hills High School by a score of 6-4).
Nottingham's wrestling team is referred as the "Swamprats." The Nottingham boys' swimming team had been to the NJSIAA state tournament for seven consecutive years from 2000-2006. The boys' baseball team won the 2008 Mercer County Tournament beating Notre Dame. The 2009 girls' spring track team was the first in Nottingham history to participate in the Penn Relays. The 2011 Nottingham Boys' Track Team was the first ever team in Nottingham history to go undefeated, winning the Mercer County Tournament and the Central Jersey Group III sectional championships.
Courses
Nottingham offers Advanced Placement program (AP) courses in AP United States History, AP European History, AP Computer Science, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP French, AP Spanish, AP English Literature and Composition, and AP United States Government.
There is a FIRST robotics team available. (TEAM 2191)
Performances
The school has two core shows every year:
The annual Murder Mystery Dessert Theater and The Spring Musical.
Previous murder mysteries include "Offed at the Bake Off" (premiere workshop) - 2013, "Til Death Do Them Part" (premiere) - 2012, "An All You Can Murder Buffet" (premiere) - 2011, "Murderous Night at the Museum" (premiere) - 2010, and "A Family Reunion to Die For" (premiere) - 2009
Previous musicals include Damn Yankees (2011), High School Musical (2010) and Footloose (2009).
Controversy
In March 1999, a State grand jury indicted Social Studies teacher Lewis Shinkle on criminal charges of engaging in sexual relations with a minor after it was alleged that he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student between 1997 and 1998. Although that indictment was subsequently dismissed, The New Jersey Department of Education Board of Examiners revoked Shinkle's teaching license on August 19, 2004 based on tenure charges of unbecoming conduct resulting from his criminal indictment and a preponderance of evidence that Shinkle engaged in sexual misconduct with a student.
Administration
Core members of the school's administration are:
Sister schools
The two other high schools in the district (with 2014-15 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are: