Summit High School (New Jersey)

Facilities

The school was originally located in a building constructed in the 1920s on Morris Avenue between Maple and Elm Streets near downtown Summit. It shared this building with the junior high school until 1936, when Edison Junior High School opened in east Summit. However, a number of parents outside of east Summit—then called "Deantown"—objected to their children traveling to this section of the city. By 1943, the new junior high school had closed and the high school again shared the Morris Avenue building with the junior high school. (The building still houses the junior high school, now known as Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle School.)

In 1962, the high school relocated to a larger, more modern facility located at 125 Kent Place Boulevard, slightly outside of downtown Summit and within the Washington Elementary School district. In the late 1990s, a push was made to renovate the outdated high school. From 2000 until 2003, the high school building underwent a series of renovations, including the construction of a new media center, cafeteria, gymnasium, and science laboratories. Special attention was also paid to upgrading the building's existing facilities and to increasing the information technology capacities of classrooms.

Athletic facilities

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 38th-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 15th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 25th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 22nd in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 20th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state.

Schooldigger.com ranked the school 85th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 37 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (88.3%) and language arts literacy (96.7%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).

In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 17th in New Jersey and 687th nationwide. The school was ranked 419th in Newsweek's 2009 ranking of the top 1,500 high schools in the United States and was the ninth-ranked school in New Jersey, with 2.289 AP tests taken in 2008 per graduating senior and 47% of all graduating seniors passing at least one AP exam; The school was ranked 441st nationwide in 2008.

In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 461st in the nation among participating public high schools and 38th among schools in New Jersey. The school was ranked 251st in the nation and 22nd in New Jersey on the list of "America's Best High Schools 2012" prepared by The Daily Beast / Newsweek, with rankings based primarily on graduation rate, matriculation rate for college and number of Advanced Placement / International Baccalaureate courses taken per student, with lesser factors based on average scores on the SAT / ACT, average AP/IB scores and the number of AP/IB courses available to students.

In its listing of "America's Best High Schools 2016", the school was ranked 76th out of 500 best high schools in the country; it was ranked 16th among all high schools in New Jersey and fourth among the state's non-magnet schools.

Extracurricular activities

The drama club has been extremely successful. In 2006 the Spring Musical "Les Misérables (musical)" sold out virtually every night and was so successful that the company put on an extra performance. This was the first year Summit High School participated in the Rising Star program and it was nominated for twelve Rising Star awards. In 2007, the spring musical was Titanic, which sold out almost every performance. Anne Poyner, the director, entered the production into the Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards, a statewide competition of excellence in New Jersey high school musicals. Summit High School received 12 final nominations. In June, Titanic ended up winning a record seven Rising Star Awards, including Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical, making Summit High School the top theatre school program in the state of New Jersey. In 2008, their production of Fiddler on the Roof was nominated for 11 awards, including, for the third year in a row, Best Overall Production of a Musical. In 2009, their production of Music Man was nominated for 17 awards. The school's 2013 production of Beauty and the Beast was recognized with six Rising Star awards, the most of any school in the state, including recognition for Outstanding Overall Production and Outstanding Direction. The cast took home the award for Best Musical.

The Forensics Team reached the National Forensic League's National Speech and Debate Tournament in recent years. In January 2011, the team, coached by John Kratch and Anne Poyner, won the First Place Sweepstakes Trophy at the Freehold High School Speech Tournament. It competes in individual and team debates. It placed 33rd out of 240 public forum debate teams at an invitation-only national competition held at Harvard University in 2011. In 2013, the team competed in a national tournament held in Birmingham, Alabama, and won an Award of Excellence in Speech which was given to the top 20 schools with the highest point totals, out of several hundred that competed. In 2014, the Summit team competed in seven New Jersey tournaments and three national tournaments, bringing home four first place and three second place sweepstakes trophies as well as more than 100 individual awards. Summit High School debaters advanced to quarter finals in public forum at the Harvard Invitational Tournament, as well as to the final rounds of three of the six offered "speech" events. As of March 2014, the Summit High School Forensics team was ranked 3rd statewide and 12th nationally for the 2013-2014 year in terms of "Team Sweepstakes", or cumulative winnings per season.

Athletics

The Summit High School Hilltoppers compete in the Union County Interscholastic Athletic Conference, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association With 956 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as North II, Group III for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 778 to 1,062 students in that grade range. Prior to the NJSIAA's 2010 realignment, the school had competed as part of the Iron Hills Conference, which was made up of public and private high schools in Essex County, Morris County and Union County.

Summit High School's athletic teams were the winner of the 2014-15 ShopRite Cup for Group III, finishing with 67 points, one point ahead of Northern Highlands Regional High School.

The boys' basketball team won the Group III state championship in 1929, defeating Weehawken High School in the tournament final. The 2005 men's basketball team won the North II, Group II state sectional championship with a 61-58 win over Hillside High School.

The boys' soccer team won the Group III state championship in 1956 (vs. [Dwight Morrow High School]]), 1957, 1961 (vs. Paramus High School), 1969 (vs. James Caldwell High School), 1974 (vs. Ewing High School), 1976 (as co-champion with Sterling High School) and 1977 (as co-champion with Sterling High School).

The boys' tennis team won the Group III state championship in 1969 (vs. Millburn High School) and 2014 (vs. Northern Highlands Regional High School), and won the Group II title in 2003 (vs. Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School). The team won the Group II state championship in 2003 with a 4–1 win over Rumson-Fair Haven.

The football team won the NJSIAA North II Group III state sectional championships in 1976, 1980, 2012 and 2013, and won the North II Group II titles in 1988, 1993–94 and 2009. The 2009 football team finished the season with a 12-0 record, winning the 2009 North II Group II title with a 28–19 win over Orange High School in a game played at Giants Stadium. The Football Team has continued its winning tradition the past two years, winning the North 2 Group 3 state championship in 2012 and 2013. During those two years the team won 24 consecutive games.

The girls' track team won the Group III indoor relay state championship in 1981.

The men's lacrosse team won state championships in 1981 against Montclair High School and in 1983 versus Columbia High School. The men's lacrosse team made it to the state championship in 2001, falling 8–3 to Moorestown High School in the championship game, after a 4–2 semi-final win over Delbarton School. The team won Group I titles against Mountain Lakes High School in both 2005 and 2010, and defeated Moorestown High School in Group II in 2009. After losing in the Tournament of Champions to Delbarton School in 2005, the 2009 team defeated Delbarton by a score of 8–4 and in 2010 the team won the ToC against St. Joseph High School. The 2002 men's lacrosse team was ranked #1 in the state before falling to #2 Ridgewood High School in the state semi-finals. They finished the year ranked #4.

The women's lacrosse team won the overall state championship in 1986 (defeating Cinnaminson High School in the tournament final) and 1999 (vs. Moorestown High School). The team won the Group II state title in 2013 (vs. Allentown High School) and 2014 (vs. Red Bank Catholic High School). The rpogram's four state titles are tied for third-most in the state.

The girls' tennis team won the Group II state championship in 1998 with a 3-2 win against Moorestown High School and finished ranked in the top 5 in the state. In 2007, the women's tennis team won the North II, Group II state sectional championship with a 3-2 win over Mountain Lakes High School in the tournament final.

In 2000, the men's hockey team surprised the #1-seeded team from Brick Township High School and eventually lost in the public school final game to second-seeded Bayonne High School by a score of 6–3.

The men's swim team was 13–2 in the 2007–08 swim season, losing only to Seton Hall Preparatory School in the regular season and Mountain Lakes High School in the sectional finals of the state tournament. By the 2012-13 season the team took home the state championship. The team was recognized by Michael Philips by their accomplishments.

The field hockey team won the North II Group II state sectional title in 2009 and 2014.

The girls' cross country team won the Group III state championship in 201.

The men's cross country team qualified for the Meet of Champions for the first time in school history, placing 14th out of 20 teams. They also won the Union County Title for the first time in school history.

Administration

Core members of the school's administration are:

Science

The general pattern for students is to study physics in ninth grade, biology in tenth grade, and chemistry in eleventh grade; these subjects can be studied at different levels, from modified to regular and to advanced/honors. Science department supervisor Tom O'Dowd explained that "teaching physics in ninth grade has been identified as the best option because physics is the fundamental science ... It is potentially the most concrete and the best suited for inquiry-based learning." A movement towards teaching physics has been going on for years, explained one school spokesperson, who explained that physics is "more basic than biology" and "makes for a more rigorous and thoughtful curriculum."

Generally honors and AP programs require test scores or honors applications (see chart) for a student to be accepted, and students in these programs are expected to maintain a B- average or better to continue in the next year's accelerated science courses. It's possible for students to apply for a more accelerated course each year by getting a favorable teacher recommendation or applying to an honors course. (One note not shown on chart: students taking modified biology in grade ten have a choice to study environmental science in their eleventh grade year.) Students in their sophomore, junior, or senior years of high school also have the option of participating in a shared-time program offered through the Union County Vocational Technical Schools (UCVTS). Student enrolled in the shared-time program can receive science credits for their coursework at UCVTS, and should discuss this option for science credit with their guidance counselors.

Single semester electives are available to juniors and seniors in the following subjects: Forensic science; Marine Biology/Oceanography; and Astronomy. Full-year courses for seniors include: Environmental science, Honors physics, and AP study. AP courses offered include: AP Environmental Science, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics C, and AP Physics B. Generally, honors and AP courses have prerequisites of past study in honors or AP courses (and maintaining grades of B- or better in those courses); and students can be admitted via a teacher recommendation.

School counseling

As of 2016, the School Counseling Department has 10 staff members, including a Director, seven School Counselors, one College Counselor, and one Student Assistance Counselor. The department helps students with post-secondary planning, scheduling, extracurricular involvement, academic support, and social and emotional counseling and programming. They also host various evening events to inform the community about post-secondary planning, making the most of the high school experience, and student health and wellness. College representatives typically visit during the fall and meet with students who are interested in attending their college. Counselors meet with students and families in small groups and have an individual family conference in winter/spring of junior year. The school subscribes to a web-based college information database called Naviance which helps students choose colleges as well as provides data about how past Summit seniors fared with particular colleges. It also provides resources for personality assessment and career exploration.

English

Emphasis is on written and oral communication. The curriculum seeks to develop students' reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing (media literacy), and critical thinking. There is a Writing Center for assistance which is staffed during school hours by English teachers.

Ninth graders have a choice of a Global Studies course which will meet for two periods each day; it teaches literacy skills with literature in a historical context and combines freshman English and world history. English 1 is also offered, as a one-period course, and it will teach literacy skills including reading and writing and focuses on putting text in a thematic or literary context. The choice of which course to take should be based on a student's learning style; the Global Studies course will have more interaction and cooperative-based learning. Both English and Global Studies will require a research project to be completed. School authorities decided to eliminate ninth grade English honors in 2009 to permit a "fairer, more efficient process for assessing the willingness and readiness of students to enter the honors program in tenth grade," according to one account. Students can apply for English 2 Honors taught in tenth grade.

Journalism is taught as an elective one-semester course and includes entry-level exposure to the SHS student newspaper. Honors and AP courses are open by application to students in grades 11 and 12. And a course in public speaking will be replaced by a course entitled "21st century media and communications." Among the retirees include English teacher novelist Robert Kaplow whose bestselling novel Me and Orson Welles was made into a film.

History

Summit high school offers a variety of programs in history, including World History. Instructors emphasize the importance of understanding how people in past times thought about their situation, and she encourages students to see the multiplicity of factors underlying historical events as well as how individuals changed history. History in 9th grade starts with World History and then can continue to U.S. History and U.S. History Honors.

Languages

Different courses of language instruction are offered, including Mandarin Chinese, which is "getting more and more popular", according to one account.

Mathematics

The Summit High School math department offers a variety of instructional paths allowing students who work hard to accelerate or decelerate their program as their needs change.

The department offers a two-year algebra program as a way to "firmly develop the concepts" of the course; the aim is "establishing a stronger foundation of Algebra 1 concepts (to) increase the potential of the student to reach Honors level courses," according to a letter to parents. School board officials suggested that a two-year algebra sequence will lead to "increased participation and greater success," and was phased in from 2010 through 2012. It is expected that greater numbers of students will complete the sequence in pre-calculus. Instructor David Pease, during back–to–school night, asked parents to solve mathematics questions (click on reference) to impart to parents a sense of what their sophomores experience as students. The school lends graphing calculators to students for their use throughout some courses such as trigonometry, and expects the calculators to be returned in functional condition at the end of the school year. Each teacher has specific grading metrics based on such measures as attendance, quizzes and tests, homework, special assignments, classroom participation, projects, and so forth. Summit mathematics instructor Michael Thayer was a college champion on the TV game show Jeopardy! representing Rutgers University in 1990, and was recognized by a Cornell student as having had a strong academic influence in his life.

Students who progress quickly have an opportunity to take Advanced Placement (AP) courses such as AP Calculus AB or BC and, as a result, possibly qualify for college credit. The highest level course is multivariable calculus. In addition, electives are offered in personal finance, AP statistics, and AP computer programming.

Notable alumni