Pinelands Regional School District

History

Pinelands Regional High School officially opened on September 5, 1979, as a Junior-Senior High School, originally housing students in seventh through twelfth grades from Tuckerton, Little Egg Harbor, Bass River, and Eagleswood. Prior to the opening of the school, students from those communities had attended Southern Regional School District in the Manahawkin section of Stafford Township.

The building originally held grades 7-8 on the third floor, 9-10 on the second, and 11-12 on the first. The building featured an experimental "Open classroom" design, where a large group of students of varying skill levels would be in a single, large classroom with several teachers overseeing them; and contained no interior walls. However, this format didn't last long, and in the 1980s, the rooms were walled off, and separated by floor-to-ceiling folding partitions.

In 1991, Pinelands Middle School opened across the street for students in grades 7-8. Also in the 1990s, a new building was completed next to the high school, which houses a daycare center called "Rainbow Express". Students taking child care classes go to class in this building to help with the daycare kids. In 2002, the Middle School was expanded and the 9th grade was moved there. When the expansion was completed at the Middle School, it was renamed "Pinelands Regional Junior High School" while the high school was formally renamed the "Senior High School".

Most of the high school is centered around a "commons" area, which is a two-story open court with skylights, benches, and planters. The commons is home to many of the school's events, such as the Junior Prom, Semi-formal, and Jazz & Java Art show. Most of the commons feeds into a 3-story mall-like hallway where most of the classrooms are off of. Most elective classes, such as Art rooms, Shop classes, Auto tech, etc. are located in the one-story "D-wing" away from the rest of the classrooms, surrounding the Auditorium. This wing also houses remedial and self-contained classes, causing the remedial students to be called "D-wingers". Some of these classes have since been moved to a new off-site building built near the Athletic fields that opened in 2009.

Most of the school, especially the commons area, has remained unchanged since its 1979 opening. Elements from the decade, such as globe lighting, planters, and earth tones are present. Recent major improvements to the school include renovated science labs and locker rooms, expanded parking lot, permanent lighting for the football field, and repainting of the lockers.

In 2010, severe budget cuts resulted in the removal of several teachers and programs, including Freshmen sports and the three-day Pinelands Experience, which was held annually at the school since the opening.

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2014-15 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are:

Both schools are located directly across the street from each other near the Little Egg Harbor - Tuckerton border on Nugentown Road.

Board of education

The district's Board of Education is composed of nine citizens elected to serve terms of three years each. Representatives are elected on the basis of constituent population: six from Little Egg Harbor Township, and one each from Bass River Township, Eagleswood Township and from the Borough of Tuckerton.

WCAT

WCAT is a Television station on local channel 21 for the area that the district serves. Most of the cast and crew is made up of students who take the class as an elective. The channel shows live morning announcements at 7:32am daily, followed by a commercial or short skit made by members of the WCAT class. Throughout the day, especially during lunch periods, other school programs or past school events are shown on the channel, usually shown on TVs in the cafeteria. Throughout the rest of the day, however, the channel is composed of school or community announcements typical of public-access television cable TV networks.

Pinelands Experience

The Pinelands Experience was a three-day program for 7th graders entering the district, usually held in mid-October. Student chaperones from 9th grade and up were also involved, to chaperone groups. It was formerly an overnight camping trip that lasted several days, but was eventually scaled down to in 2002 due in part to hazing performed by upperclassmen, as well as budget cuts.

The three "color teams" were divided into sub-groups, and do three activities:

Students go to the BRSF to go canoeing, a treasure hunt, and a pond ecology lesson, where students go into a lake to catch fish and other organisms.

Students go to the ropes course at the High School, which includes a rock wall and a zip-line. Although the course itself isn't used in the Pinelands Experience (It is used by the High School students), students participate in many activities, including obstacle courses.

The students stay at the Junior High, but learn a variety of lessons, including a geocaching "treasure hunt", using a GPS.

In 2010, after severe budget cuts, the Pinelands Experience will not return for the 2010-2011 school year, with the 2009 event being the last year.

Paw Prints

There had been be painted-on wildcat footprints on Nugentown Road leading into the driveways for both schools, and were paved over in mid-2006 but were re-painted around mid-summer 2007. Weird NJ magazine printed an article featuring many photos of paw prints that closely resemble the Pinelands ones, painted in random places throughout New Jersey, which led many to think that the other findings were connected to the school.

Notable faculty

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are: