Type Public high school Principal Dr. Jonathan Dauber Enrollment 1,497 (as of 2014-15) Color Silver Faculty 124.3 (on FTE basis) | Established 1997 Grades 9-12 Phone +1 609-716-5100 Founded 1997 | |
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Asst. principals Peter James
Melissa Levine Address 90 Grovers Mill Rd, Plainsboro Township, NJ 08536, USA District West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District Athletics conference Colonial Valley Conference Similar Hightstown High School, Steinert High School, Notre Dame High School, Princeton High School, Peddie School | ||
West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North, also known as WW-P North, is a four-year public comprehensive high school located in Plainsboro Township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades. The school joins West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South as the two secondary schools of the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, a school district serving students from West Windsor Township (in Mercer County) and Plainsboro Township (in Middlesex County).
Contents
- Awards recognition and rankings
- Debate League
- Fed Challenge
- Science Olympiad
- Model United Nations
- Distinguished teachers
- Sports
- Boys cross country
- Administration
- Notable alumni
- References
As of the 2014-15 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,497 students and 124.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.0:1. There were 42 students (2.8% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 35 (2.3% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North opened its doors in September 1997 and an addition was added in 2000. The first class to graduate was the Class of 2002. The facility covers 240,000 square feet (22,000 m2) and contains all core facilities. The school is located on an 80-acre (320,000 m2) tract on Grovers Mill Road in Plainsboro, across from Community Middle School and the Millstone River Upper Elementary School.
The school mascot is the Northern Knight, and the school colors are Royal Blue and Silver. The mascot was chosen as voted on by the original three graduating classes, the Classes of 2002, 2003, and 2004.
Awards, recognition and rankings
During the 2006-07 school year, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive.
The school was the 23rd-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 32nd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 29th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 19th in 2008 out of 316 schools.
Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 44th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 8 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (92.9%) and language arts literacy (97.3%) 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 18th in New Jersey and 708th nationwide.
In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 183rd in the nation among participating public high schools and 12th overall (sixth of non-magnet schools) in New Jersey. The school was ranked 197th in the nation and 15th 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.
The school's student-run radio station is WWPH 107.9 FM, based in Princeton Junction.
Debate League
Since the school's opening in 1999, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North's Debate League is a top competitor in regional debate tournaments and competitions, including Princeton Moot Court, New Jersey Mock Trial, and the Colonial Valley Conference. In the 2014-2015 school year, High School North's Mock Trial was ranked second in Mercer County, ending the season with a 3-1 record. Prior in 2011, High School North also won the Spring Moot Court tournament at Princeton University and since then has had its members regularly rank among the top competitors.
Fed Challenge
North's Fed Challenge team was the New York Federal Reserve District Champion in 2007, 2010, and 2014. In 2007 and 2010, the team advanced to the National Finals and placed 2nd.
Science Olympiad
North beat out rival team West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South at the 2008 New Jersey state Science Olympiad competition, earning North their first Science Olympiad state championship and thereby their first trip to Nationals. Held in Washington D.C., the national competition hosted 60 teams from 48 states. North won 9th place as a team and brought home several individual medals in specific events.
Model United Nations
North's Model United Nations team is ranked number 7th in the nation As of the end of the 2011-2012 school year. It was also ranked number two in the Mid-Atlantic at the beginning of the 2011-12 school year. The team has won repeatedly at Princeton Model UN, Ivy League Model United Nations and Johns Hopkins Model United Nations.
Distinguished teachers
In 2009, Timothy Cornell was selected as a winner of the 2009 Edyth May Sliffe Award for distinguished high school mathematics teaching, presented by the Mathematical Association of America, one of 22 teachers throughout high schools in the United States and Canada to be selected for the award.
Sports
The West Windsor-Plainsboro High School Northern Knights participate in the Colonial Valley Conference, which includes high schools from Mercer, Middlesex and Monmouth Counties, and operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. With 1,086 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 high school has a fierce rivalry with its counterpart school, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South that began when the two high schools began operating independently of each other in 2000.
The school participates in a joint ice hockey program with West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South as the host school / lead agency, under an agreement that expires at the end of the 2016-17 school year.
In 2007, the boys' soccer team won the Central Jersey Group III state championship with a 3-0 win over Red Bank Regional High School in the tournament final. The boys soccer team, under the direction of coach Trevor Warner, repeated as Central Jersey Group III Champions when they beat Wall Township in the sectional final, finishing the season with a 19-2 record, the best in school history. In 2008, they defeated Wall High School by a score of 2-1, becoming the first team from the Colonial Valley Conference to win back-to-back sectional finals.
In 2008, the Ultimate Frisbee club team (a sport not officially recognized by the school) finished 2nd in the UPA NJ High School state championships while also winning the Spirit Award for best sportsmanship. In 2012, the team placed 2nd again.
The girls' track team won the Group III state indoor relay championship in 2012.
Boys cross country
The North boys' cross country team is led by coach Brian Gould. The team won the Group III state championship in the four consecutive years from 2007 to 2010.
In 2007, the Knights won the CVC Championship, Mercer County Championship, Central Jersey Group III Championship, Group III state championship, and finished 5th at the New Jersey Meet of Champions.
In 2008, the Knights came through with the then-greatest cross-country season in state history. The North harriers took 1st at the Shore Coaches Invite, posting the fastest team average of the day; finished 5th at the Manhattan Eastern States Championship; won the CVC championship; won their second straight Mercer County championship; won their 2nd straight Central Jersey Group III Championship; a 2nd straight Group III state championship; the team's first ever Meet of Champions title, over Don Bosco Preparatory High School team, and set a Holmdel park course record average; the team's first ever NXN Northeast Regional championship. That win propelled them to a berth in the Nike Cross-Country National Championships (NXN), where they finished 5th, which was the best a New Jersey team had ever done until that time.
In 2009, the team followed up the successful 2008 campaign, and the graduation of four top runners, by finishing 3rd in the New Jersey Meet of Champions and 4th at Nike Nationals Northeast. Preceding these championship races, the team finished 1st at Manhattan College Invitational, 3rd at Shore Coaches Invitational, 1st at Briarwood Invitational and finished the season undefeated once again (14-0). The Knights also took their 3rd straight CVC, Mercer County, Central Jersey Group III, and Group III state championships. The team had won 55 consecutive dual meets.
In 2010, the boys cross-country team finished 3rd at Shore Coaches (Championship Race); 9th at Eastern States Championship; won its 4th consecutive NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III Sectional Championship; won its 4th straight NJSIAA Group 3 Championship; 5th place at the New Jersey Meet of Champions; and 4th place at the Nike Cross Northeast Regional team. WW-P North became just the 5th program in state history to finish top-5 at the Meet of Champions four years in a row (Haddonfield, Christian Brothers Academy, Don Bosco, and Westfield were the other teams).
Administration
Core members of the school's administration are: