Summit High School (New Jersey)

Summit High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school in Summit, in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone secondary school of the Summit Public Schools. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1934.[3]

Summit High School
Address
125 Kent Place Boulevard

Summit
,
Union County
,
New Jersey
07901

United States
Coordinates40.719266°N 74.371343°W / 40.719266; -74.371343
Information
TypePublic high school
Established1888
School districtSummit Public Schools
NCES School ID341590005708[1]
Faculty107.0 FTEs[1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment1,156 (as of 2021–22)[1]
Student to teacher ratio10.8:1[1]
Color(s)  Maroon
  White and
  Gold[2]
Athletics conferenceUnion County Interscholastic Athletic Conference (general)
Big Central Football Conference (football)
Team nameHilltoppers [2]
AccreditationMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools[3]
PublicationQuintessence (literary magazine)[4]
NewspaperThe Verve[4]
YearbookThe Top[4]
Websitewww.summit.k12.nj.us/schools/summit-high-school

As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,156 students and 107.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.8:1. There were 112 students (9.7% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 33 (2.9% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]

History

The school opened in 1888 due to an increased need for a publicly operated secondary school within the City of Summit. The school's athletic teams are referred to as the Hilltoppers, though the school's actual mascot is a mountain goat wearing a Summit High School athletic jersey. The school's colors are maroon, white and gold, although for most of its history they were maroon and white.[2]

The Velvet Underground played their first paid concert in the high school auditorium on December 11, 1965. The headlining act for that concert was a local band, The Myddle Class.[5][6]

Athletics

The Summit High School Hilltoppers[2] compete in the Union County Interscholastic Athletic Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Union County and was established following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association[7] Prior to the NJSIAA's 2010 realignment, the school had competed as part of the Iron Hills Conference, which included public and private high schools in Essex, Morris and Union counties.[8] With 875 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group III for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 761 to 1,058 students in that grade range.[9] The football team competes in Division 3 of the Big Central Football Conference, which includes 60 public and private high schools in Hunterdon, Middlesex, Somerset, Union and Warren counties, which are broken down into 10 divisions by size and location.[10] The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group III North for football for 2022–2024, which included schools with 680 to 884 students.[11]

Curriculum

Science
Picture of a high school classroom.
Biology classroom

As of 2019, the general pattern for students is to study physics in ninth grade, chemistry in tenth grade, and biology in eleventh grade; these subjects can be studied at different levels, from modified to regular and to advanced/honors.[12]

Honors and AP programs require test scores or honors applications 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. 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).[13]

English

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.[14] 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. School authorities decided to eliminate ninth grade English honors in 2009.[14]

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."[15] Among the retirees include English teacher novelist Robert Kaplow whose bestselling novel Me and Orson Welles was made into a film.[16]

Mathematics

The department offers a two-year algebra program. 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.[17]

Students who progress quickly have an opportunity to take Advanced Placement (AP) courses such as AP Calculus AB or BC. The highest level course is Multivariable Calculus. In addition, electives such as Personal Finance, AP Statistics, AP Computer Science A, and AP Computer Science Principles are offered.[18]

Rankings
Physics classroom

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".[19] 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.[20] The magazine ranked the school 22nd in 2008 out of 316 schools.[21] The school was ranked 20th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state.[22]

In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 17th in New Jersey and 687th nationwide.[23] 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. The school was ranked 441st nationwide in 2008.[24]

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.[25] 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 and Newsweek.[26]

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.[27]

Notable alumni

References
  1. School data for Summit High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 1, 2022.
  2. Summit High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  3. Summit High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed April 12, 2020.
  4. Clubs and Activities, Summit High School. Accessed March 31, 2022.
  5. Lustig, Jay. "50th anniversary for Velvet Underground’s landmark launch at Summit High School", NJArts.net, November 19, 2015. Accessed October 23, 2023. "When was alternative-rock born? To me, the answer is clear-cut. It was born with the Velvet Underground. And the Velvet Underground played their first show nearly 50 years ago — Dec. 11, 1965 — at the unlikeliest of places: The auditorium of Summit High School."
  6. McNeil, Legs and Gillian McCain. Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk. (Grove: 2006)
  7. League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  8. Home Page, Iron Hills Conference, backed up by the Internet Archive as of February 2, 2011. Accessed December 3, 2014.
  9. NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
  10. Kinney, Mike. "Big Central revises 2020 football schedule for its shortened inaugural season", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, August 12, 2020. Accessed April 18, 2021. "The newly formed Big Central Football Conference has released a revised 2020 schedule for its inaugural season.... the BCFC is comprised of schools from Middlesex, Union, Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren counties."
  11. NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2022–2024, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  12. Summit Public Schools (December 23, 2009). "Changes Approved for Summit High School Course of Study". The Alternative Press. Retrieved January 20, 2010. Currently, students in ninth grade take physical science. Beginning next school year, freshmen will take physics instead. "Teaching physics in ninth grade has been identified as the best option because physics is the fundamental science," said Mr. O'Dowd, department supervisor. "It is potentially the most concrete and the best suited for inquiry-based learning." ... The physics first model is currently being offered in North Hunterdon, Montgomery Township, and North Bergen in New Jersey, and throughout Missouri.
  13. "FAQ: All the Answers, New Jersey Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools - 21 Counties: A World of Opportunities." New Jersey Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools - 21 Counties: A World of Opportunities. NJCCVTS, 2009. Web. 10 May 2011. <http://www.njccvts.org/faq.aspx>.
  14. Summit Public Schools (December 23, 2009). "Changes Approved for Summit High School Course of Study". The Alternative Press. Retrieved January 20, 2010. Beginning in 2010-2011, the honors option will be eliminated, thereby giving students the choice of English 1 or Global Studies; both courses address content area standards in writing, reading, and speaking. "The choice of either Global Studies or English 1 will encourage students to choose their classes based on interest and learning style, while supporting district efforts to increase global education," said Mr. Walsh. "English is a course where students have many opportunities to learn through collaboration and discussion of ideas and perspectives." "This change will also result in a fairer, more efficient process for assessing the willingness and readiness of students to enter the honors program in tenth grade," Mr. Walsh said.
  15. Liz Keill (December 18, 2009). "Summit schools face major curriculum changes". Independent Press. Retrieved January 20, 2010. In Language Arts, Honors English will be eliminated in ninth grade, and Global Studies will be offered to freshmen. Public Speaking will be replaced with 21st century media and communications courses.
  16. D. Z. Stone (November 15, 2009). "A Teacher's Dream Gets to the Screen". The New York Times. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
  17. Liz Keill (December 18, 2009). "Summit schools face major curriculum changes". Independent Press. Retrieved January 20, 2010. There will also be substantial changes in math, with a two-year algebra sequence. ... plan will be phased in over three years.
  18. "Summit High School Profile 2016-2017" (PDF). Summit Public Schools.
  19. Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
  20. Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 12, 2012.
  21. Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed February 1, 2011.
  22. "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
  23. Mathews, Jay. "The High School Challenge 2011: Summit High School", The Washington Post. Accessed July 27, 2011.
  24. Staff. "The Top of the Class: The complete list of the 1,500 top U.S. high schools", Newsweek, June 8, 2009. Accessed June 10, 2009.
  25. Streib, Lauren. "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast, May 6, 2013. Accessed May 9, 2013.
  26. Staff. "America's Best High Schools 2012", The Daily Beast / Newsweek, May 20, 2012. Accessed May 23, 2012.
  27. Staff. "America's Best High Schools 2016", Newsweek. Accessed November 11, 2016.
  28. Michael Badgley, Miami Hurricanes football. Accessed October 14, 2018. "Hometown: Summit, N.J.; High School: Summit Senior"
  29. Summit High School (1958). The Top; Class of 58. pp. 16, 81, 112. Retrieved October 16, 2018. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  30. Coombs, Joe (May 15, 2003). "Tony Barr: President/founder of Barr Systems Inc". The Gainesville Sun. Gainesville, FL.
  31. Mark Berson profile, CSTV. Accessed November 5, 2007. "A 1971 graduate of Summit (N.J.) High School, Berson attended the University of North Carolina and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism in 1975."
  32. Cahillane, Kevin. "In Person: The Smartest Guy in Summit?", The New York Times. March 5, 2006. Accessed October 14, 2018. "So, for one night at least -- the Oscars are Sunday night -- Summit will be in the spotlight as Mr. Gibney joins Marshall Curry (Summit High School class of 1988 and director of the film "Street Fight," about the 2002 Newark mayoral election) as an Academy Award nominee in the Best Feature Documentary category."
  33. "What Drew You Into Journalism?", CivicStory, April 22, 2015. Accessed November 29, 2020. "Mark Di Ionno is a lifetime newspaperman and a 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist in news commentary, primarily for his work on Hurricane Sandy.... He is a graduate of Summit High School, a veteran of the U.S. Navy and father of six."
  34. Pizarro, Max. "New Jersey bids farewell to a beloved native son: Bob Franks (1951-2010)", New York Observer, April 17, 2010. Accessed October 14, 2018. "Kean’s eulogy took the crowd back to Mr. Franks’s early days in politics, when he graduated from Summit High School and went to work for the future governor – a 'pied piper,' who brought other young people with him to help the campaign, motivated by Mr. Franks’s enthusiasm for the cause."
  35. Frank Elm (October 21, 2009). "The ASCA Hall Of Fame". Frank Elm. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
  36. "Kathy Heddy". SR Olympic Sports. October 21, 2009. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2009.
  37. Meyer, Lacy. "Summit's Own Kathy Heddy: Swim Star Eyes Olympics", The Summit Herald, February 19, 1976. Accessed October 14, 2018. "Summit has its own candidate for the summer Olympics in Montreal. Kathy Heddy, age 18, is the holder of four gold medals in swimming from the Pan American games.... 'I'm grateful that Summit High School allowed me to graduate in January.'"
  38. Thomas Meagher (September 16, 2009). "Summit mourns death of Lawton C. Johnson, namesake of town's middle school". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved February 22, 2012. Johnson volunteered in the office at Summit Middle School office when it also housed the high school he was attending.
  39. Michael P. Kelly (September 15, 2009). "Summit schools, community mourn the passing of Lawton C. Johnson". Independent Press. Retrieved February 22, 2012. Mr. Johnson had worked in the Middle School office for half a century -- he started right after graduation from Summit High School and continued until his retirement in August 2007.
  40. Staff. "Summit's Ryan O'Malley Signed to Raiders Practice Squad", TAPintoSummit, September 5, 2016. Accessed November 30, 2016. "Ryan O'Malley, Summit High School Class of 2011 -- who was signed to a free agent contract in late April by the Oakland Raiders -- has been added to the team's NFL practice squad."
  41. Keill, Liz. "Berkeley Heights man wins Japan Prize for inventing UNIX operating system", Independent Press, February 1, 2011. Accessed October 17, 2011. "Ritchie, 69, has lived in Berkeley Heights for 15 years. He was born in Bronxville, NY, grew up in Summit and attended Summit High School before going to Harvard University."
  42. Cosentino, Don. "Seth Ryan, son of Jets coach Rex Ryan, breaks collarbone at Clemson practice", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, August 5, 2014. Accessed March 31, 2022. ""
  43. "Herb Schmidt Named Coach by Lafayette", The Summit Herald, June 1, 1967. Accessed October 14, 2018. "Herb Schmidt. an all-State soccer player at Summit High School and a two-time all-American soccer and lacrosse player for Rutgers University, has been named head soccer and lacrosse coach at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa. A native of Summit, Schmidt is the son of Mr. and Mrs. W. Herbert Schmidt of 115 Tulip Street."
  44. "Baseball or football? Willie Wilson of Summit High; He Has All the Tools", The New York Times, June 10, 1974. Accessed October 27, 2020. "Baseball or football? Willie Wilson of Summit High School made his decision yesterday."
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