MONTCLAIR HIGH SCHOOL (NEW JERSEY)

'Montclair High School' is a comprehensive four-year public high school located in Montclair, New Jersey, United States, as part of the Montclair Public Schools. The school serves residents from all neighborhoods in the Township of Montclair, including those living in the Upper Montclair section of town.

Contents

Awards and recognition

Background

Administration

Famous alumni

Popular culture

References

External links

Awards and recognition

Montclair High School was the 90th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 316 schools statewide, in ''New Jersey Monthly'' magazine's September 2006 cover story on the state's ''Top Public High Schools''.^[1]
In ''Newsweek's'' May 22, 2007 issue, ranking the country's top high schools, Montclair High School was listed in 896th place, the 24th-highest ranked school in New Jersey.^[2] The school was listed in 214th place, the eighth-highest-ranked school in New Jersey, in ''Newsweek's'' May 8, 2006, issue, listing the Top 1,200 High Schools in The United States.^[3]
In 2001, Montclair High School came in 2nd place in the National High School Mock Trial Championships held in Omaha, Nebraska^[4] and was the New Jersey High School Mock Trial Championships in 2006.^[5]
Montclair High School's Fed Challenge Team has ranked first in the New York Region seven times, and won the National Fed Challenge Championship in 2001.^[6]
In 2007, MHS won the Euro Challenge championship. The first place cash prize was $1,500 for each of the five team members. The Euro Challenge involved 28 schools from the New York City area, each of which competed to answer questions about the European economy as a whole and the Euro, as well as picking a member country and making policy recommendations regarding a specific economic problem facing that country.^[7]
In 2007, the Montclair High School FIRST robotics team FRC 555 won the Denver Regional and the Regional Rockwell Automation Innovation in Control Award in Denver, Colorado.

Background

Founded in the late 1800s, MHS quickly outgrew its original location (torn down in the 1930s) on Orange Road, near the site of Hillside School, and just before World War I. The current "Main Building" was then opened, and it is one of the older public high schools in New Jersey. It was initially only comprised of the "main building," as it is colloquially referred to, but as time went on and the enrollment grew, the board of education allowed the high school to annex George Inness Junior High School school across the street, which is aptly called "the annex" or the "Freshman Building", where many of the ninth grade classes take place. Montclair High School holds the rather obscure distinction of being the only school in the United States to have an outdoor amphitheater with a brook flowing through it. When the weather cooperates in late June, this is where the graduation ceremonies are held. Otherwise, it is a favorite lunchtime spot for students, even though students have the option of leaving school grounds for lunch.
MHS prides itself on the diversity of the school and students are given a relatively liberal education compared to many other public schools in the United States. Largely due to the significant influx of young, wealth New York City professionals in the early 1980s, Montclair itself has a unique liberal atmosphere and retains progressive values in its public education. Graduates of Montclair High School are often placed in some of the country's most prestigious universities.

Administration

★ 'Melvin B. Katz, Ed.D' - Principal

★ 'Edward Lebida' - Assistant Principal

★ 'William Gibney' - Assistant Principal

★ 'John Porcelli' - Assistant Principal

★ 'Peter Renwick' - Assistant Principal

★ 'Shirlene Powell-Sanders' - Assistant Principal

Famous alumni

★ Buzz Aldrin - The second human to step on the Moon.^[8]

★ Me'Lisa Barber - Sprinter

★ Allen B. DuMont - Television pioneer.^[9]

★ Daniel Karcher - NPR host and filmmaker.

★ Warren Littlefield - Former President of NBC Entertainment.^[10]

★ John McMullen - Former owner of the New Jersey Devils and Houston Astros

★ John Miller - Journalist who conducted interview with Osama Bin Laden

★ Christina Ricci - Actress

★ Anwar Robinson - ''American Idol'' finalist.^[11]

★ Adam Schlesinger - Bassist for the band ''Fountains of Wayne''.^[12]

★ David Tyree - Wide Receiver for the New York Giants.^[13]

★ Joe Walsh - Musician ''Eagles''.^[14]

★ Alex Winter - Actor, best known for his role in ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure''.^[15]

Popular culture

Montclair High School has been featured in or used as a filming location for several films and television shows including:

★ The original 1950 film version of ''Cheaper by the Dozen''

★ ''Swimfan''

★ ''Mean Girls''

★ ''Ed'' - NBC series

★ ''The Sopranos'' - HBO series

★ ''Imaginary Heroes''

★ ''Seven Minutes in Heaven''

★ NBA Back to School Commercials - Featuring many famous basketball stars

References

1. Top Public High Schools in New Jersey: 51-100, ''New Jersey Monthly'', September 2006.
2. "The Top of the Class: The complete list of the 1,200 top U.S. schools", ''Newsweek'', May 22, 2007. Accessed May 24, 2007.
3. Top 1,200 High Schools in The United States, ''Newsweek'' May 8, 2006.
4. 2001 National High School Mock Trial Championships results, accessed July 18, 2006.
5. 2005-2006 Mock Trial Competition Results NJSBF press release, dated March 28, 2006.
6. Indian Creek High School Named a Finalist in 'Fed Challenge' National Competition, accessed October 23, 2006.
7. Euro Challenge, accessed March 13, 2007.
8. Biographical Data for Buzz Aldrin from NASA, accessed December 25, 2006.
9. Biography of Dr. Allen Balcom DuMont, accessed December 25, 2006.
10. Montclair High School Hall of Fame, accessed [{April 19]], 2007.
11. Idolatry, But In A Good Way, ''The New York Times'', March 27, 2005.
12. Youngs, Stuart. "Great Scott!: Fountains of Wayne tap Montclair connection for album track", ''The Montclair Times'', October 26, 2005. Accessed August 10, 2007. "“That’s very cool,” the Montclair High School grad said with a relief that would make one wonder whether he has offended a family member or former girlfriend in the past.
13. Red and Blue play for Green: Basketball game raises ,000 for Green family, ''Montclair Times'', January 19, 2005.
14. James Gang: Joe Walsh, ''The Aquarian'', August 16, 2006.
15. profile of Alex Winter from NNDB, access December 19, 2006.

External links

★ Montclair High School webpages

★ Montclair Public Schools

★

★ National Center for Education Statistics data for the Montclair Public Schools