Raritan High School

Raritan High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Hazlet Township in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the Hazlet Township Public Schools. The school was named after the former community name, Raritan Township, and opened in September 1962 with an enrollment of 778 students, increasing to over 2,300 students by 1979.

Raritan High School
A digital announcement board located near the main entrance of the school.
School sign along Middle Road (CR 516)
Address
419 Middle Road[1]

Hazlet
,
Monmouth County
,
New Jersey
07730

United States
Coordinates40.424323°N 74.152997°W / 40.424323; -74.152997
Information
TypeComprehensive public high school
MottoHome of the Rockets
OpenedSeptember 1962
School districtHazlet Township Public Schools
CEEB code310518
NCES School ID341368003826[2]
PrincipalAndrew R. Piotrowski
Faculty71.4 FTEs[2]
Grades9–12
Enrollment879 (as of 2021–22)[2]
Student to teacher ratio12.3:1[2]
Color(s)  Green and
  gray[3]
Athletics conferenceShore Conference[3][4]
Team nameRockets[3]
AccreditationMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools[5]
NewspaperThe Rocket Review
Websitehazlet.org/rhs
Last updated: May 2022

As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 879 students and 71.4 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.3:1. There were 106 students (12.1% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 31 (3.5% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[2]

Raritan High School is accredited by the New Jersey Department of Education and has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 2013.[5] The school offers students a comprehensive program of education ranging from an academically oriented, college preparatory curriculum to courses in the vocational and career oriented field.

In May 2010, the Hazlet Township Board of Education embarked on a trial of "Going green to save green" by agreeing to enter into a power purchase agreement with a third-party vendor. Under this agreement, solar panels are to be erected on awnings over the student parking lot at Raritan High School and on the rooftop of Hazlet Middle School. The $7.5 million project will be funded by the vendor to cover the costs of construction and maintenance in their entirety and in return the Hazlet school district has contractually agreed to purchase the electricity at a below market cost. The district expects to save $1.7 million in energy costs over the next 15 years.[6]

History

Raritan High School was constructed at a cost of $1.5 million (equivalent to $14.5 million in 2022) with an opening date of September 1962. Prior to the school's opening, students had attended Keyport High School as part of a sending/receiving relationship.[7]

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 166th-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.[8] The school had been ranked 175th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 166th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[9] The magazine ranked the school 164th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[10] The school was ranked 153rd in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[11]

Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 137th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 19 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (83.5%) and language arts literacy (95.3%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).[12]

Athletics

The Raritan High School Rockets[3] compete in Division A Central of the Shore Conference, an athletic conference comprised of public and private high schools in Monmouth and Ocean counties along the Jersey Shore.[4][13] The league operates under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[14] With 698 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 486 to 758 students in that grade range.[15] The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group II South for football for 2022–2024, which included schools with 480 to 674 students.[16]

The school participates with Colts Neck High School in a joint ice hockey team in which Freehold High School is the host school / lead agency. The co-op program operates under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year.[17]

The boys' cross country team won the Group II state championship in 1964, and the Group III title in 1969 and 1970.[18]

The boys' bowling team won the overall state championship in 1971.[19]

The girls' outdoor track and field team won the Group IV state championship in 1977.[20]

The girls cross country running team won the Group IV state championship in 1981 and the Group III title in 1982.[21]

The boys soccer team finished the 1982 season with a 21–1 record after winning the Group III state championship by defeating runner-up Indian Hills High School by a score of 2–1 in the tournament final.[22][23]

The baseball team finished the 2003 season with a 24–5 record after winning the Group II state title against Hanover Park High School by a score of 9–7 in the championship game, after scoring eight runs in the sixth inning to overcome a 2–1 deficit.[24][25][26]

The boys' basketball team won the Group III state championship in 2004, defeating Manasquan High School by a score of 71–60 in the tournament final.[27][28]

The football team won the Central Jersey Group II state sectional championships in 2004 and 2015.[29] The team won its first playoff-era title in 2004, with a 35–12 win against Carteret High School in the Central Jersey Group II title game.[30] The team won the Central Jersey Group II state sectional championship in 2015 with a 28–26 win over Lincoln High School on a touchdown that came with 10 seconds left on the clock.[31]

The wrestling team won the Central Jersey Group II state sectional title in 2004, 2012, 2018, and 2022, and won the Group II state championship in 2012 and 2022.[32] The team won the 2006 Shore Conference Class A Central title.[33] With a 19–4 record, the team reached the finals of the NJSIAA Central Jersey. The 2012 wrestling team won the Class A Central title, with a 24-6 team record, the team won the Central Jersey Group II sectional championship (the team's second sectional title overall and first time since 2004) and the program's first ever NJSIAA Group II state championship. The 2022 team won the Central Jersey Group II sectional championship (the team's fourth sectional title overall and first since 2018) by defeating Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School by 42-25 in the sectional finals, and then defeating Hanover Park High School in the Group II semifinals at 56-21 and then High Point Regional High School at 37-27 in the finals to bring home the program's second Group II state championship and finish the season with a 22-6 record.[34]

The girls' track and field team won the 2007 Shore Conference A-Central Division title and in that same season defeated Red Bank Catholic High School's girls' track and field team for the first time in the school's 45-year history.

Administration

The school's principal is Andrew R. Piotrowski.[35] His administration team includes two assistant principals.[36]

Notable alumni

References
  1. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) details for Raritan High School, United States Geological Survey. Accessed December 31, 2007.
  2. School data for Raritan High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 1, 2022.
  3. Raritan High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  4. Shore Conference Realignment for 2018-2019 and 2019-2020, Shore Conference. Accessed November 15, 2020.
  5. Raritan High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed May 9, 2022.
  6. "Hazlet Township School District Goes Green to Save Green" Archived July 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Accessed January 17, 2010.
  7. "Grads Loyal to Raritan", Red Bank Register, October 5, 1961. Accessed May 9, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "The first class to graduate from Raritan High School will be loyal to Raritan rather than Keyport where they have spent most of their high school time. All Raritan students now attend Keyport High School. But the new $1,500,000 Raritan High School will be opened next year, and will have its first graduating class in June of 1963."
  8. Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
  9. Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed August 29, 2012.
  10. Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed March 21, 2011.
  11. "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
  12. New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2010-2011, Schooldigger.com. Accessed March 5, 2012.
  13. Member Schools, Shore Conference. Accessed November 15, 2020.
  14. League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  15. NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
  16. NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2022–2024, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  17. NJSIAA Winter Cooperative Sports Programs, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 1, 2020.
  18. NJSIAA Boys Cross Country State Group Champions, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  19. History of NJSIAA Boys Bowling Championships, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed August 1, 2022.
  20. NJSIAA Girls Spring Track Summary of Group Titles, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  21. NJSIAA Girls Cross Country State Group Champions, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  22. NJSIAA History of Boys Soccer, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  23. LoGiudice, Daniel. "NJ boys soccer: 30 greatest Jersey Shore teams ever", Asbury Park Press, June 16, 2020. Accessed December 8, 2020. "1982 Raritan (21-1).... In his final season coaching at Raritan, Bart Boyle ended his career with a bang by leading the Rockets to the Group III title and earning Shore Conference Coach of the Year honors. Raritan snapped Wall's five-year reign as Central Group III champions, ending the Wall dynasty and serving the Crimson Knights their first loss of the season, before beating Indian Hills 2-1 in the group final."
  24. NJSIAA Baseball Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  25. Rappleyea, Warren. "Rockets win their first state championship", CentralJersey.com, June 18, 2013. Accessed October 26, 2020. "The ability to score runs by the truckload, and six players having 20 or more RBIs and eight hitting .300 or better, propelled the Raritan High School baseball team to the NJSIAA Group II championship. Trailing 2-1 in the top of the sixth against Hanover Park in the title game, Raritan sent 14 batters to the plate and exploded for eight runs to take a seemingly commanding lead.... Hanover Park closed to within 9-7 before Walsh closed the book on Raritan’s first group championship."
  26. Graham, Tony. "8 is Enough for First Title; Eight-run sixth rallies Raritan", Asbury Park Press, June 11, 2013. Accessed December 9, 2020, via Newspapers.com. "'This is history, this is a testament to all our players, from the seniors to the freshmen,' said Mautone after Bilowus squeezed the final out of Raritan's first NJSIAA Group II championship, a wild 9-7 victory at Toms River East's Raider Ravine. It was a testament to the never-say-die ability of the Rockets (24-5) who, trailing 2-1, erupted for eight runs in the top of the sixth inning against Cunningham (7-2), the towering 6-foot-5 senior right-hander of the Hornets (28-4), who has signed with Seton Hall University."
  27. NJSIAA Boys Basketball Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 1, 2022.
  28. "Rockets fly high in Group III; Raritan advances to TOC", Asbury Park Press, March 15, 2004. Accessed December 8, 2020, via Newspapers.com. "Raritan's boys basketball team looks like it might be a combination of both. Star point guard Marques Johnson had the well-oiled Rockets machine running at full blast from the opening whistle yesterday as Raritan never trailed in an impressive 71-60 win over Manasquan that gave the Rockets (25-5) their first Group III championship in school history."
  29. NJSIAA Football History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  30. Adelizzi, Joe. "Raritan 35 Carteret 12; Crowning Glory: Raritan gains its first football state championship", Asbury Park Press, December 6, 2004. Accessed November 19, 2020. "The people at Raritan have been waiting for 41 years for a state football championship. "They deserved one,' said Raritan coach Bob Generelli after the Rockets won the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II championship with a 35-12 victory over Carteret yesterday at Rutgers Stadium."
  31. Parker, Chris. "Football: Raritan stuns Lincoln late, wins CJ2 title; Late fourth quarter drive leads Raritan to Central Group II title", Asbury Park Press, December 6, 2015. Accessed December 6, 2015. "Marc Carnivale's 11 yard touchdown pass on fourth down with 10 seconds left in the game to Nick Pasquin will go down in the history books for the Raritan football program. The late touchdown helped Raritan shock previously undefeated Lincoln for the NJSIAA Central Group II title by a final, 28-26, at Kean University on Saturday night."
  32. NJSIAA Wrestling Team Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2021.
  33. Raritan could compete with Shore's elite teams Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Holmdel Independent, December 13, 2006.
  34. Bassin, Steven. "Raritan defeats High Point to win Group II state team championship", CentralJersey.com, February 14, 2022. Accessed August 11, 2022. "Redemption was captured in the ultimate way for the Raritan High School, Hazlet, wrestling team in the NJSIAA Group II state team tournament championship match against High Point Regional High School of Wantage Township on Feb. 13 at Franklin High School.... In 2022, the Rockets reversed that setback as they defeated the Wildcats, 37-27, to claim the program’s second state championship.... On the road to winning the Group II championship, the Rockets (22-6) defeated Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School, 42-25, to win the Central Jersey Group II state sectional tournament team title. The Rockets then defeated Hanover Park High School, 56-21, in the Group II semifinals to earn the right to face High Point in the Group II championship match."
  35. Principal's Message, Raritan High School. Accessed January 18, 2022.
  36. Administrative Staff, Raritan High School. Accessed January 18, 2022.
  37. Sam Giancola - 2009 Women's Soccer, William Paterson University. Accessed June 26, 2013. "Prior to William Paterson: Was a four-year varsity letterwinner at Raritan H.S. and was named the team's Most Improved Player."
  38. Rutgers Men's Soccer Hosts Connecticut in the Second Annual Doug Hamilton Memorial Soccer Classic Archived March 23, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Rutgers University press release dated April 4, 2008. Accessed June 23, 2011. "The Doug Hamilton Memorial Classic is a tribute to Hazlet native, who starred on the Raritan High School soccer team (Raritan class of 1981) and went on to a distinguished career including President and General Manager of both the Miami Fusion (2000-2002) and the Los Angeles Galaxy (2002-2006) of Major League Soccer."
  39. Dunleavy, Ryan. "Bennett Jackson of Hazlet starts anew in Giants rookie mini-camp", Asbury Park Press, May 9, 2015. Accessed May 17, 2015. "Jackson is one of 17 second-year pros among the 66 players in rookie mini-camp with the Giants, though the Raritan High School product has the same amount of regular-season game experience as those new to the NFL."
  40. Mullen, Maryrose. "Daniel O'Brien: Fighting Words; The author of the historical non-fiction book How To Fight Presidents talks with us about the eccentricities of past commanders-in-chief, and why Millard Fillmore is dead meat.", New Jersey Monthly, April 10, 2014. Accessed February 8, 2018. "The 28-year-old O'Brien, a graduate of Raritan High School and Rutgers University (class of 2008), is head writer and creative director of video at the humor website cracked.com (one-time counterpart to the now-defunct Cracked magazine)."
  41. "Hazlet native's career taking off", Asbury Park Press, July 29, 1986. Accessed April 25, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "The part of the lab technician who examines the confiscated narcotics in the movie Running Scared is a brief one, but the actor manages to make a strong impact on the audience with his humorous performance. The actor is Jim Ortlieb, a native of Hazlet Township.... Nevertheless, acting is a serious pursuit for the 1974 Raritan High School graduate."
  42. "Wildcats Add Reddy to Staff; Former Malmö, Rutgers Star Named Assistant Coach", New Jersey Wildcats, April 26, 2006. Accessed November 17, 2017. "Following her standout career at Rutgers, the Hazlet, NJ native joined the Swedish club Umeå IK for one season in 1995 before moving to Malmö DFF for the next 10 seasons.... A Raritan High School graduate, Reddy appeared in 336 games during her career with Malmö and was a fan favorite."
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