Shawnee High School (New Jersey)

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 48th-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 142nd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 100th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 108th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 110th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 58th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 5 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (90.7%) and language arts literacy (97.4%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).

Arts

The band program, under the direction of Nick Rotindo, has established a name for itself during recent years. List of recent accomplishments are as follows:

In earlier years, students auditioned and were selected for honors choirs. These accomplishments include:

Athletics

The Shawnee High School Renegades participate in the Olympic Conference, which consists of public and private high schools located in Burlington County and Camden County and operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). With 1,195 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as South Jersey, Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,082 to 1,934 students in that grade range.

In addition to nationally ranked men's soccer and women's lacrosse programs, the football, basketball, and men's lacrosse teams are consistently ranked among the top teams in South Jersey. As a part of the Lenape Regional High School District, Shawnee High School participates in many sports.

Shawnee High School has a club ice hockey team that competes in Varsity Tier I as a member of the South Jersey High School Ice Hockey League.

The girls' cross country team won the Group IV state championship in 1983, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2002 and 2003. The eight group titles are tied for fifth-most of all schools in New Jersey.

The girls' lacrosse team was overall state champion in 1989 (defeating Moorestown High School in the tournament final), 1992 (vs. Moorestown), 1993 (vs. Summit High School), 1994 (vs. Lenape High School, 1996 (vs. Lenape), 1997 (vs. Hunterdon Central High School) and 1998 (vs. Moorestown). The team won the Group IV state title in 2013 (vs. Ridgewood High School. The eight state title won by the program are second-most in the state.

The boys' basketball team won state championships in Group IV in 1992 (vs. Irvington High School), 1995 (vs. Elizabeth High School), 1996 (vs. Teaneck High School) and 2001 (vs. Passaic High School), and in Group III in 2007 (vs. Passaic Valley Regional High School). The boys' team won the South, Group III state sectional championship in 2007 with a 68–62 win against Camden High School, and went on to win the 2007 Group III NJSIAA state championship, defeating Monmouth Regional High School 73-47 in the semifinals and Passaic Valley by a score of 58-39 in the finals. In 1992 the team finished with a record of 32–1 and became the first South Jersey team to win the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions with a 46–42 win over Marist High School, a team that had been ranked third in the nation by USA Today. They have been ranked by USA Today in the top 25 National Poll numerous times and were named No. 1 in Hoop Scoops magazine's final 1994–95 poll.

The girls' basketball team won consecutive South Jersey Group IV titles in 1998 and 1999, winning their second title with a 60–42 win over Eastern High School.

The football team won the South Jersey Group IV state sectional title in 2002, 2004, 2013 and 2014, and the South Jersey Group III title in 2007 and 2008. The Shawnee football team won its third South Jersey state sectional championship in 2007, the first in Group III, rebounding from a disappointing 2006 season in which they had a losing record for the first time in nine years. The Renegades repeated as South Jersey Group III Champs in 2008 with a 28–7 win against Hammonton High School. Their two other state titles were won in 2002 and 2004 in Group IV where they returned in 2009. The 2002 team won the program's first title with a 14–10 win over Washington Township High School, despite being shut out 10–0 in the first half of the final. The '04 team went a perfect 12-0 in one of the toughest conferences in South Jersey to win the title with a 26–13 win over Washington Township. When Seneca High School was built, Shawnee waited two years to drop down from Group IV competition to Group III. Area growth has brought Shawnee back to Group IV while Seneca remains in Group III. Coached by Tim Gushue, the Renegades are perennial powerhouses in South Jersey. As of December 9, 2008, Shawnee was ranked 88th on the Rivals.com list of the top 100 high school football teams in the nation. The only other teams from New Jersey currently on the list were Wayne Hills High School (81st) and Don Bosco Prep (17th). The Shawnee Renegades won the 2013 South Jersey Group IV championship after a 31-22 win against #1 seed Timber Creek. The Renegades won against #3 Hammonton 10-7 in the quarter finals and erased a 24-0 deficit in the semi-finals to win against #2 Toms River South 28-24. This is the Renegades 5th football championship title in school history, the team ended the season with a 9-3 record.

Shawnee baseball won its first New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association title in 2003, led by future Oakland Athletics' 2007 first round draft pick Sean Doolittle and his 23 strikeouts in the group final victory over Kearny High School. After winning the state title, Seneca High School split up the Shawnee population. They played one more year in the Olympic American conference, then moved down to the Olympic Patriot conference. As of 2006, Shawnee won its conference three years in a row. They won the South Jersey Group III State title in 2009 under Brian Anderson, the head coach, also coaches the girls' basketball team and used to be the coordinator for the powerful Shawnee football defense, defeating Clearview Regional High School 9-2 in the sectional final. The 2009 team made it to the Group II final, falling to John F. Kennedy Memorial High School by 5–2.

The boys'soccer team won the Group IV state championship in 1988 (vs. Columbia High School), 1992 (vs. Columbia), 1993 (vs. East Orange High School), 1997 (vs. Kearny High School), 2001 (in overtime vs. Kearny), 2003 (vs. Bridgewater-Raritan High School), and in Group III in 2006 (vs. Ramapo High School). The team won the 2003 NJSIAA Group IV state title, defeating Bridgewater-Raritan by a score of 2-0 in the final game of the tournament. The 2006 team finished the season ranked tenth in the nation in the NSCAA/adidas National Rankings. The 2006 team took the South, Group III state sectional title with a 3–0 win against Ocean City High School in the tournament final. The 2006 team won the Group III state championship with a 1–0 win over Princeton High School in the semifinals and a 3–2 win against Ramapo High School in the finals.

The 2006 girls' soccer team won the South, Group III state sectional title with a 3–0 win against West Deptford High School in the tournament final, their first championship since winning three consecutive titles from 1994–1996.

The field hockey team won the South Jersey Group IV state sectional championship in 1977, 1981-1983, 1986, 1988-1992, 1994-1996, 1998 and 2010, won the Central Jersey Group IV title in 1999, 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2010, and the South Jersey Group III title in 2007. The team won the Group IV state championship in 1977, 1981, 1983, 1988-1992, 1995 and 1998, and the Group III title in 2007. The team won the 2007 Tournament of Champions, defeating Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child in the final game of the tournament. The 11 state championships won by the program are the fifth most of any school in the state and the streak of five consecutive titles from 1987 to 1991 is tied for second-longest. In 2007, the field hockey team won the South Jersey, Group III state sectional championship with a 4–0 win over Kingsway Regional High School in the tournament final. The team moved on to win the Group III state championship with a 4–2 win over Moorestown High School in the semis and a 6–0 win against Freehold High School in the finals.

The boys' track team won the Group IV state indoor relay championships in 1992 and 1993.

The boys' swim team won the New Jersey Group IV South titles in 1995 and 1996. They were back-to-back-to-back Group IV State Champions in 1997, 1998, and 1999. The team won the South Jersey Public A championships in 2008 and 2009.

The boys' tennis team won the 2012 South Jersey Group IV state sectional championship, beating Atlantic City High School 3-2. At 2-2 the first doubles team rallied back from 2-5 to win the deciding set 7-5, earning the team the school's first South Jersey Group IV title since 1996. They went on to lose to Westfield High School in the Group IV state semifinals 4-1. The Boys' Tennis team won the 2013 South Jersey Group IV Championship, defeating Toms River North 5-0 in the Championship.

Extracurriculars

There are a wide variety of student-run organizations. Shawnee's Student Council is an award-winning member of the NJASC and the NASC, the state and national student council associations. In addition, each grade has an executive homeroom that works to organize spirit week, prom, and an annual senior trip to Disney World in Florida.

The school also has an active extra-curricular arts program, including the All School Musical each spring.

Administration

Core members of the school's administration are:

Other high schools in the district

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

Notable alumni