Type Public high school Principal Adam Lee Grades 9-12 District Pine Hill Schools Number of students 722 (2014–2015) Lowest grade Ninth grade | School district Pine Hill Schools Faculty 65.5 FTEs Phone +1 856-767-8000 Color Blue Athletics conference Colonial Conference | |
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Asst. principals Doug Endee
Karim Fisher Address 1200 Turnerville Rd, Pine Hill, NJ 08021, USA Similar Pine Hill Middle School, Sterling High School, Lindenwo High School, Timber Creek Regional, Cherry Hill East High School Profiles | ||
Overbrook High School is a comprehensive community four-year public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Pine Hill, in Camden County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Pine Hill Schools. The high school also serves the communities of Berlin Township and Clementon through sending/receiving relationships with their respective school districts. Its colors are orange and blue. The principal of Overbrook is Adam Lee.
Contents
- History
- Awards recognition and rankings
- Athletics
- Extracurricular activities
- Performing arts
- Administration
- Notable alumni
- References
As of the 2014-15 school year, the school had an enrollment of 722 students and 65.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.0:1. There were 293 students (40.6% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 83 (11.5% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
History
The school was founded as Lower Camden County Regional High School in 1939, in Lindenwold. It served students from up to ten municipalities at one point. The population soon began to grow, however, and Edgewood Regional High School (now Winslow Township High School) was founded in Winslow Township. The school took the name Overbrook Regional Senior High School in the 1950s, and joined its sister school Edgewood as part of Lower Camden County Regional High School District #1.
Soon, the student population became too large for the now 60+ year old building to handle, and the current building was erected in 1969 in Pine Hill. The former building became known as Overbrook Regional Junior High School.
Overcrowding again became an issue in the late 90s, as Overbrook Junior High School was serving Berlin Township, Clementon, Lindenwold, Pine Hill, and portions of Winslow Township.
In 1999, each of the individual school boards voted to dissolve LCCRHSD. Lindenwold would build its own high school and take over the old junior high building to make it the district's middle school. Edgewood Regional Junior High became Winslow Township Middle School, and Edgewood Senior High became Winslow Township High School. Pine Hill would build Pine Hill Middle School in the forested area next to the school.
Over the next decade, the population at Overbrook slowly faded from a high of over 1700 students to a new low of just under 800 students.
After 28 years at Overbrook, Paul J. Harmelin retired as principal following the 2012–13 school year. His replacement starting in the 2013–14 school year was Don Borden. Adam Lee was hired as the Principal in July 2015. Lee was a social studies teacher and then an Assistant Principal before being named the Principal.
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 282nd-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 253rd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 300th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 276th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 278th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.
Athletics
The Overbrook High School Rams compete as a member of the Colonial Conference, which includes high schools in Camden County and Gloucester County and operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). With 533 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2014–15 school year as South Jersey, Group II for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 496 to 778 students in that grade range.
The school offers fall, winter, and spring season sports. For fall, the school offers boys'/girls' cross country, girls' tennis, boys'/girls' soccer, girls' cheerleading, girls' field hockey and boys' football. Winter sports are boys'/girls' basketball, boys'/girls' bowling, girls' dance, boys'/girls' indoor track, and boys' wrestling. For spring, there are boys'/girls' track, girls' softball, boys' tennis and boys' baseball.
The boys' soccer team won the Group III state title in 1977 as co-champion with Summit High School.
The wrestling team won the South Jersey Group III sectional championship in 1980 and 1981.
The football team won the South Jersey Group III title in 1990 and the South Jersey Group IV title in 1998. The Overbrook Rams were undefeated in football in 1998, winning the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) South Jersey Group IV title, defeating Shawnee High School 21–14 in a game played at Rutgers Stadium and ending the season with a perfect 12–0 record. The win marked the program's first state sectional title since they won in Group III in 1990.
As of September 9, 2006, Overbrook High School's varsity football field was renamed as the Larry Mauriello Varsity Football Complex.
The school and their crosstown rival, Lindenwold High School, play a traditional Thanksgiving Day football game each year.
Extracurricular activities
The clubs offered at Overbrook are African American Culture Club, Band (including Concert Band, Lab Jazz Band, Jazz Band, and Marching Band) Choir (including Concert Choir, Chambers Singers, Overtones Honors Choir and After-School Choir), Stage Crew, Sports (see above), Academic Challenge, Interact Club, Leo Club, National Honor Society, Science League, Student Government, Yearbook Committee, and Model United Nations (MUN).
Performing arts
The Performing Arts at Overbrook High School is a well established program consisting of band, choir and theatre. All 3 programs combined make up about 1/3 of the entire school's population. These programs are some of the most well recognized in the state. Some recent achievements include...
Recent Fall Plays include – You Can't Take It with You (2009), Murder's in the Heir (2010), Noises Off! (2011), Romeo and Juliet (2012), and A Midsummer Night's Dream (2013)
Recent Spring Musicals include – Little Shop of Horrors (2007), Guys and Dolls (2008), The Pirates of Penzance (2009), Once on This Island (2010), Les Miserables (2011), Pippin (2012), Beauty and the Beast (2013), and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (2014)
The Performing Arts Program has helped Overbrook to become a "Choice School" for the Performing Arts for the 2013–14 school year.
Administration
Core members of the school's administration are: