Type Public high school School district Newark Public Schools Faculty 42.0 FTEs District Newark Public Schools Number of students 483 (2014–2015) Lowest grade Ninth grade | Established 1933 Principal Faheem Ellis Phone +1 973-705-3900 Color Brown Founded 1933 | |
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Vice principals Troy Long
Gary Westberry
Willie Worley Address 279 Chancellor Ave, Newark, NJ 07112, USA Similar Irvington High School, Weequahic Park, East Orange Campus, Verona High School, James Caldwell High Sch | ||
Basketball game at weequahic high school
Weequahic High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The school is operated by the Newark Public Schools and is located at 279 Chancellor Avenue. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools since 1935.
Contents
- Basketball game at weequahic high school
- Remembering weequahic high school
- Awards recognition and rankings
- History
- Athletics
- Extracurricular activities
- Administration
- Notable alumni
- References
As of the 2014-15 school year, the school had an enrollment of 483 students and 42.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.5:1. There were 397 students (82.2% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 15 (3.1% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
Remembering weequahic high school
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 325th-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 258th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 310th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 305th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 308th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school 353rd out of 376 public high schools statewide in its 2010 rankings (an increase of 6 positions from the 2009 rank) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the language arts literacy and mathematics components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).
History
Construction of the high school was completed in 1932 and classes began in September 1933. Max J. Herzberg was the first Principal and remained as the leader of the high school for 18 years until his retirement in 1951.
The high school is home to the New Deal era mural "Enlightenment of Man" painted by Michael Lenson who was director of New Jersey mural activities for the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
The Weequahic section of Newark, which is the neighborhood sending students to the high school, was described as it was in the 1930s and early 1940s by Weequahic alumnus Philip Roth in The Plot Against America.
Weequahic High School has an active alumni association that raises scholarship monies for the students.
The documentary film, Heart of Stone (2009), is about Ron Stone, former principal of the high school and his efforts to work with students and further the mission of the high school. This documentary was presented at the Sundance Film Festival and has been shown in selected venues.
Athletics
The Weequahic High School Indians compete in the Super Essex Conference, which consists of public and private high schools in Essex County and operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). With 332 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as North II, Group I for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 73 to 487 students in that grade range. Prior to the NJSIAA's 2009 realignment, the school had participated in the Hills Division of the Iron Hills Conference. The school's athletic teams are called the Indians and its colors are orange and brown.
The boys' basketball team won its first Group IV state championship in 1962 (defeating Westfield High School in the tournament final) and repeated as state champions in 1966 (vs. Hackensack High School), 1967 (vs. Camden High School) and 1973 (vs. Atlantic City High School) and won the Group II title in 2001 (vs. Pleasantville High School). The 1967 team was the number one ranked team in the country. The 2002 boys' basketball won the North II, Group III state sectional championship, edging West Side High School in the tournament final.
The football team won the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II state sectional championship in 2006. The sectional title was the first ever for Weequahic and the first for a Newark high school since 1975. Coach Altariq White was named state Coach of the Year and Amara Kamara was selected as the state Defensive Player of the Year. In 2016, in the first sectional title game between two Newark high schools, the football team defeated Malcolm X Shabazz High School by a score of 18-8 to win the North II, Group I championship, the program's second sectional title in the playoff era.
The boys' winter track team won the Group III state relay champions in both 1991 and 1992.
Lester Fine was the coach of the basketball team in the 1960s coaching many winning teams. His most successful season was 1966-67 when his team was 26-0 and captured the New Jersey state championship in its Group. Some of his players went on to play in the National Basketball Association such as Al Attles.
2009 marked the return of the Thanksgiving Day game called the "Soul Bowl" between Weequahic and Malcolm X Shabazz High School, which had last been played in 1993 and had been in abeyance due to the two schools being placed in different athletic conferences. The 2011 game was the 29th between the two teams, ending in a 27-20 win for Weequahic, which won its fifth consecutive defeat of Shabazz.
Extracurricular activities
The high school newspaper is The Calumet, the literary magazine is Ergo, and the yearbook is called The Legend. The school's student governing body is the Orange and Brown Association (OBA).
Administration
Core members of the school's administration are: