Trenton Central High School

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 333rd-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.

Schooldigger.com ranked the school 372nd out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 14 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (22.9%) and language arts literacy (60.2%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).

History

In the late 1920s the Trenton Board of Education had the foresight and the good fortune to acquire one of the last undeveloped tracts in the city: the 36-acre (150,000 m²) Chambers Farm, then used as a nursery. The new high school would be the city's third, replacing the then existing high school at Chestnut and Hamilton Avenues built in 1900, which in turn replaced the first high school on Mercer Street built in 1874.

Trenton Central High School (TCHS) opened on January 4, 1932, and was dedicated on January 18 at ceremonies attended by 5,000 people. Hailed as "an ornament to the city" and "one of the show places of Trenton," TCHS was one of the largest and most expensive high schools built in the country. The Chambers Street façade stretches broadly for almost 1,000 feet (300 m), nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall. The cost of the building, including land and furniture, totaled $3.3 million. Most firms involved in the construction were based in Trenton, including John A. Roebling's Sons who provided "Jersey" wire lath to fireproof the ceilings and walls.

Academics

Trenton Central High School is divided into Small Learning Communities (SLCs) that span across three separate sites throughout the city of Trenton. The Chambers Campus, located on Chambers Street, houses five communities: Applied Science and Engineering, Media Technology, Performing Arts, Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism, and Business, Computer, Technology Design. The North Campus is located on N. Clinton Avenue and is home to the Medical Arts community. The West Campus sits on West State Street in the building that was formerly the home of the Arthur J. Holland Middle School. Three communities reside there: Law and Justice, Renaissance, and Business and Finance.

Athletics

The Trenton Central High School Tornadoes compete in the Colonial Valley Conference, which consists of public and private high schools located in Mercer County, Monmouth County and Middlesex County, operating under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). With 2,349 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as Central Jersey, Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,082 to 2,349 students in that grade range.

The boys' basketball team has won seven Group IV state titles: in 1927 vs. Passaic High School, in 1928 vs. New Brunswick High School, in both 1932 and 1933 vs. South Side High School, in 1934 vs. Union Hill High School, in 1935 vs. New Brunswick High School and in 1961 vs. Camden High School. In 1961, Tal Brody led the undefeated boys' basketball team to a 24–0 record and a New Jersey state championship in his senior year, as he was voted a New Jersey basketball All Star and selected to the first team Newark Star-Ledger All-State Team. Brody, though later drafted # 12 in the NBA draft, passed up an NBA career to play in Israel. The boys' basketball team won the Central, Group IV sectional championship in 2003 with a 54–40 win over Old Bridge High School.

The boys' cross country team won the all groups state championship in 1941, 1942 and 1945.

The boys' soccer team was awarded the Group IV state championship in 1946 and 1949, and won the Group IV state championship in 1961 (vs. Bloomfield High School, 1963 (vs. Teaneck High School) and 1964 (vs. East Side High School).

The boys' track team won the Group IV indoor relay state championship in 1977-1979, 1981 (as co-champion with Plainfield High School), 1986, 1986 (as co-champion with Edgewood Regional High School), 2007, 2008 (as co-champion with Hillsborough High School) and 2012; the program's seven state titles are tied for fourth-most in the state. The girls' team 2000-2002.

The girls' basketball team won the Group IV state championships in 2002 vs. Morristown High School, in 2007 vs. Eastside High School (Paterson, New Jersey) and in 2008 vs. John F. Kennedy High School (Paterson, New Jersey). The team won the 2007 Central Jersey Group IV state sectional title with a 51–24 win against Howell High School. The team moved on to win the 2007 Group IV state championship, defeating Eastside High School 52-44 for the title.

Extracurricular activities

The Tornadoes 381 FIRST robotics team, from the Applied Engineering & Science Academy, is sponsored by Bristol Myers Squibb, Sarnoff Corporation and Princeton University. The Team 381 Tornadoes were the 2004 Philadelphia Regional Winner in the FIRST Robotics Competition. In 2008, the Tornados became the Trenton Regional Winners.

The school includes a military program called United States Army ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corps).

Administration

Core members of the school's administration are:

Notable faculty

Notable alumni