As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 641 students and 47.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.5:1. There were 224 students (34.9% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 82 (12.8% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 191st-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide in the New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology.[5] The school had been ranked 122nd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 190th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[6] The magazine ranked the school 2008 out of 316 schools.[7] The school was ranked 156th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[8]
Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 104th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (an increase of 92 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (88.3%) and language arts literacy (94.5%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).[9]
History
Upon the incorporation of the Borough of Roselle Park in 1901, the municipal school district assumed control of Livingston School, which had been constructed in the late 19th century.[10] As the borough population grew, it was decided to construct a new school building at the corner of West Grant Avenue and Locust Street. Ground breaking for the new school, to house students from kindergarten through grade 12, was held on August 8, 1908, and the building opened to students in September 1909. The building contained 11 classrooms, three recitation rooms, rooms for domestic science and manual training, a laboratory, a library, a gymnasium, an assembly hall, and offices.[11] The original building remains in use as the Robert Gordon Elementary School.
In 1919, the high school moved to a new building formerly occupied by the Hercules Munitions Company and located at the corner of West Clay Avenue and Locust Street. However, industrial arts and physical education classes continued to meet in the previous school building.[12] During this time, students from the surrounding municipalities of Garwood, Kenilworth, and Springfield attended Roselle Park High School on a tuition basis.[13]
On April 30, 1931, the cornerstone was laid for a new building for the high school to be located on West Grant Avenue adjacent to the Robert Gordon School that was to be constructed at a cost of $350,000 (equivalent to $7 million in 2023).[14] This building remains in use as the Roselle Park Middle School.
In January 1961, Roselle Park voters rejected a proposal for the construction of a new high school that would have cost $2.5 million to build (equivalent to $25.5 million in 2023).[15] The current high school building opened to students in September 1963.[12] In 1993, a new wing was constructed, adding three additional classrooms.[16]
Athletics
The Roselle Park High School Panthers[2] compete in the Union County Interscholastic Athletic Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Union County and was established after a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[17] Prior to the NJSIAA's 2009 realignment, the school had participated in the Mountain Valley Conference, which included public and private high schools in Essex County, Somerset County and Union County.[18] With 434 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group I for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 75 to 476 students in that grade range.[19] The football team competes in Division A 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.[20] The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group I North for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 254 to 474 students.[21] The school's Athletic Director is James Foy.[2]
Sports at Roselle Park High School include fall, winter, and spring seasons:[2]
Fall sports:
Football coached by Terry Hanratty,
Boys' Soccer coached by Patrick Pietro,
Girls' Soccer coached by Anthony Trezza, and
Volleyball coached by Dennis Dagounis.
Winter sports:
Boys' Basketball coached by Jon Bergbauer,
Girls' Basketball coached by Richard Suchanski,
Bowling coached by Vicent Fucci, and
Wrestling Coached by Ryan Rooney.
Spring sports:
Baseball coached by Nick Agoglia,
Softball coached by Fran Maggio,
Golf coached by Bruce Coultas, and
Track and Field coached by Glenn Grieco and Shannon Smith.
The baseball team won the Group I state championship in 1972 (defeating Pitman High School in the tournament final) and 1987 (vs. Kingsway Regional High School).[23] The 1972 team finished the season with a 19-5 record after winning the Group I title with a 9-6 victory in the championship game.[24]
The football team won the North II Group I state sectional championship in 1979, 1992 and 1993.[25] An 11-0 season in 1992 culminated with a 27-6 win against Butler High School in the North II Group I state sectional championship game.[26] The 1993 finished the season with an 11-0 record and won its second consecutive North II Group I title with a 10-7 victory on a field goal in overtime against Summit High School in the championship game.[27] The school has had a longstanding football rivalry with Abraham Clark High School in Roselle, with Roselle Park leading the series with an overall record of 51-40-8 through 2017. NJ.com listed the rivalry as 31st best in their 2017 list "Ranking the 31 fiercest rivalries in N.J. HS football".[28]
The wrestling team won the North II Group I state sectional title in 1980–1991, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2010, 2014 and 2018, and won the Central Jersey Group I title in 2004–2006, 2008, 2009 and 2011. The team won the Group I state championship in 1982 and 1997 (as co-champion with Paulsboro High School). The program's 22 sectional titles are tied for fourth-most among schools in New Jersey[29] In 2018, Roselle Park High School became just the fourth high school in the United States to accumulate 1,000 wins in dual meets, joining Granite City High School (in Illinois), Vacaville High School (in California) and Paulsboro High School (in New Jersey) in the elite 1,000-win club.[30]
The boys track team won the indoor track Group I state championship in 1980.[31]
The boys' track team won the Group I indoor relay state championship in 1982.[32]
The softball team won the Group I state championship in 2003 (defeating Gloucester City High School in the playoff finals) and 2018 (vs. Gloucester City).[34] The team won the 2018 Group I title with a 4-3 win in extra innings against Gloucester City in the championship game before losing to eventual-champion Steinert High School in the quarterfinal round of the Tournament of Champions to finish the season with a 27-3 record.[35][36]
The boys bowling team won the Group I state championship in 2016.[37]
Clubs and organizations
Clubs and organizations at RPHS include Crisis Center, Dads Club, Ecology Club, ESL Club, National Honors Society, and Peer Leadership.[38]
^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."
^Burrows, Walt. "Gremlins Lead Roselle Past Luckless Pitman", Courier-Post, June 12, 1972. Accessed February 7, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "The Pitman High School baseball coach has an even greater distaste for them today. He had all he could stomach last Saturday on spooky Clark Field here. What he saw in one bizarre 25 minute inning was enough of the unreal to last him a lifetime. A five-run fourth inning by Roselle Park enabled the North Jersey tossers to beat Pitman 9-6 and win the NJSIAA Group 1 championship."
^Fox, Ron. "Butler victimized by Roselle Park", The Record, December 6, 1992. Accessed January 22, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "The spread offense carried Butler to the State Group 1, Section 2 championship football game, but it was the spread-the-wealth backfield of Roselle Park that kept the Bulldogs from the title Saturday. The Panthers and their three-pronged running attack out of the Delaware Wing T Nick Fowler, Mark Carlson, and Kevin Kirby churned out 236 rushing yards and a 27-6 victory to complete an 11-0 season."
^"Unbeaten Summit wins title", The Record, December 5, 1993. Accessed December 13, 2020. "John Schinestuhl kicked a 22-yard field goal in overtime to lead Roselle Park (11-0) to a 10-7 win over New Providence for its second straight North Jersey Section 2 Group 1 title and 22nd straight victory."
^Stypulkoski, Matt. "Ranking the 31 fiercest rivalries in N.J. HS football", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, October 27, 2017, updated May 15, 2019. Accessed December 1, 2020. "31-Roselle vs. Roselle Park Amanda Brown/For the Star-Ledger Two school can't get much closer than these two — just 1.5 miles separate the Union County rivals. And while Roselle Park has historically dominated the series (including four shutout victories by a combined score of 125-0 from 2008 to 2011) Roselle has been resurgent in recent years with two straight wins, and this season will mark the 100th anniversary of the series. All-time series: Roselle Park leads Roselle, 51-40-8"
^"Roselle Park Wrestling Achieves Its 1,000th Win", Roselle Park News. Accessed September 17, 2020. "82 years later – with an overall average of more than one win a month without fail – Roselle Park Wrestling reached a significant milestone of 1,000 dual meet wins. A review shows that Roselle Park appears to be only the fourth high school in history to be recognized for achieving such an accomplishment and the just second from the Garden State. The other three other high school wrestling teams to achieve 1,000 wins were Granite City High School from Illinois, Vacaville High School in California, and Paulsboro High School – who had its 1,000th win in 2011 – from New Jersey."
^Valentino Ambrosio, Tulane Green Wave football. Accessed March 19, 2024. "Hometown Cranford, NJ; High school: Cranford... High School: Lettered at Cranford High School his junior and senior years after playing first two years for Roselle Park High School"
^Lloyd, Cathy. "Michael Ausiello Returns Home to Roselle Park", TAP into Roselle Park, November 21, 2017. Accessed September 28, 2022. "American television industry journalist, Michael Ausiello returned to his hometown of Roselle Park on Monday evening to discuss his memoir: Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies. Ausiello first visited his high school and met with the schools Gay/Straight Alliance said, I was really happy to see all anti-bullying posters throughout the school."
^"Hometown Author Stops By Library To Discuss Memoir", Roselle Park News. Accessed September 28, 2022. "Journalist, columnist, actor, TV columnist, and founder and editor-in-chief of TVLine.com Michael Ausiello will be stopping by his hometown at the Roselle Park Veterans Memorial Library to discuss his memoir Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies next Monday, November 20th, at 6 p.m. The Roselle Park High School graduate will take part in an interview with Joseph DeIorio regarding his book and reminisce about Michael's years growing up in Roselle Park in the 1980s and 90s."
^"Best in the West", Time (magazine), January 13, 1975. Accessed May 19, 2007. "Barry has worked for a long time to become the game's premier forward. He took to the basketball court at age five to play against his older brother Dennis when the Barrys lived in Roselle Park, N.J."
^Amdur, Neil. "Sports; Frank Burns: Man in Motion", The New York Times, April 2, 1978. Accessed August 12, 2019. "Like most aggressive, hard‐working individualists, Frank Burns, a former all‐stater at Roselle Park High School and a star quarterback when he played for Rutgers, never considered himself a likely candidate for a heart attack."
^"Frank Burns - A Singular Career", p. 3, in Rutgers Football 1980 Media Guide, Rutgers Scarlet Knights football. Accessed August 12, 2019. "The young QB brought in some weighty credentials from Roselle Park, where he was a three-sport standout for four years. He had captained his football and basketball squad, had earned All-State honors in football and baseball for two seasons and in basketball once. His grid team had taken the Group II state title in 1943 and 1944 and the court squad was the state champ in 1945."
^Chris Ostrowsky, Central Michigan Chippewas football. Accessed February 8, 2024. "He graduated from Roselle Park High School, where he played quarterback, and he went on to play at New Jersey City University."
