As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 731 students and 49.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.9:1. There were 357 students (48.8% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 74 (10.1% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]
A new high school facility, completed at a cost of almost $2 million (equivalent to $20.4 million in 2023) was opened to students in February 1961.[7]
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 270th-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 179th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 194th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[9] The magazine ranked the school 190th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[10] The school was ranked 247th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[11]
Athletics
The Gloucester City High School Lions[2] compete as a member school in the Colonial Conference, which is comprised of public high schools in Camden and Gloucester counties, and operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[12][13] The school had been a member of the Tri-County Conference since it was established in 1928, and joined the Colonial Conference for the 2020-21 school year.[14] With 480 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2022–24 school years as Group II South for most athletic competition purposes.[15] The football team competes in the Colonial Division of the 94-team West Jersey Football League superconference[16][17] and was classified by the NJSIAA as Group II South for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 514 to 685 students.[18]
1967 Basketball Group II state champion with a 70-47 win vs. Shore Regional High School in the school's first final, to finish the season with a record of 25-1[25][26]
Lucinda Florio (1947–2022), teacher and advocate for education and literacy, who, as the wife of former New Jersey Governor James Florio, served as the First Lady of New Jersey[31]
^What We Do: History, New Jersey Schools Development Authority. Accessed March 1, 2022. "In 1998, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in the Abbott v. Burke case that the State must provide 100 percent funding for all school renovation and construction projects in special-needs school districts. According to the Court, aging, unsafe and overcrowded buildings prevented children from receiving the "thorough and efficient" education required under the New Jersey Constitution.... Full funding for approved projects was authorized for the 31 special-needs districts, known as 'Abbott Districts'."
^Graham, Kristen A. "Brooklawn Considers Finding New District For High School Pupils", The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 16, 2001. Accessed June 19, 2008. "The tiny Brooklawn system, comprising just over 300 students and one school, sends about 80 ninth through 12th graders to the neighboring Gloucester City district, which has more than 2,000 students and four schools."
^"3 Counties Share Classroom Expansion", Courier-Post, September 3, 1960. Accessed April 1, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Gloucester City's New Junior Senior high school is located on the south side of Market st. west of Rt. 130. During the summer school officials were making plans to utilize part of the $1,980,000 structure this fall, but have now set February for the switch."
^Friedman, Josh. "Gloucester, a founding member of the Tri-County Conference, joins the Colonial Conference", Courier-Post, June 19, 2020. Accessed November 18, 2020. "Gloucester High School is leaving the Tri-County Conference after nearly a century in the organization. Gloucester, a founding member of the TCC in 1928, has been accepted into the Colonial Conference, taking the place of Overbrook, which is moving back to the TCC after leaving in 2008.... The move wasn’t supposed to occur until 2021, but because Overbrook and Gloucester are essentially switching places, both conferences agreed it made more sense to expedite the process."
^Home Page, West Jersey Football League. Accessed May 1, 2023. "The WJFL is a 94-school super conference that stretches from Princeton to Wildwood encompassing schools from the Colonial Valley Conference, the Burlington County Scholastic League, the Olympic Conference, the Tri-County Conference, the Colonial Conference, and the Cape Atlantic League. The WJFL is made up of sixteen divisions with divisional alignments based on school size, geography and a strength-of-program component."
^"Grear's single lifts Haddon Heights", Asbury Park Press, June 10, 2001. Accessed December 27, 2020, via Newspapers.com. "In Group I Gloucester High 11, Emerson 4: After trailing by three runs after the first inning, Gloucester High School (20-4) made up the deficit and more to defend its Group I state softball title with an 11-4 victory over Emerson."
^Iezzi, Bill. "Chain finds corners; Lions win Group 1 over Falcons", The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 8, 2009. Accessed August 23, 2014. "The adrenaline paid off for Chain as she struck out 18 and allowed two hits in a 3-0 victory, wrapping up Gloucester's first state crown since 2005. The Lions (29-1), ranked No. 2 in South Jersey by The Inquirer, also won state titles in 2000 and 2001."
^"Midnight Struck Early for Shore's Cinderella Team", Asbury Park Press, March 19, 1967. Accessed March 12, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Gloucester City High School's won the Group II state basketball championship yesterday, thoroughly beating Shore Regional the Shore area's 'Cinderella' team, 70-47, in the final. The game was a big one for both schools, being the first trip to the N.J. State Interscholastic Athletic Association finals for Gloucester City and the first for Shore Regional, a school only five years old.... John McCarthy, who coached the Gloucester Lions to a 25-1 season and the school's first state championship, summed up the game when he said after the title was secure, 'We kept going and they started folding.'"
^Hunter, Kev. "Gloucester baseball earns first sectional title in 50 years", Courier-Post, June 3, 2024. Accessed June 3, 2024. "The senior third baseman's resolve typified that of his teammates, as the Gloucester City High School baseball team kept digging deep to overcome a tremendous effort by Woodstown with a 5-4 victory in the South Jersey Group 1 championship on Monday, earning the program's first sectional title since 1974."
^About Us, Gloucester City Public Schools. Accessed June 3, 2024.
^Turner, Elizabeth. "Meet Lucinda Florio", Asbury Park Press, April 22, 1990. Accessed July 24, 2023, via Newspapers.com. "At Gloucester High School, Mrs. Florio was an honor student and a member of the Future Teacher's Club."
