West Orange High School (WOHS) is a comprehensive four-year community public high school, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from West Orange in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Since the closure of West Orange Mountain High School, WOHS is the only secondary school serving the West Orange Public Schools. West Orange High School has been accredited by the New Jersey Department of Education and by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1928.
As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,208 students and 192.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.5:1. There were 762 students (34.5% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 205 (9.3% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
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Curriculum
In addition to basic academic courses offered at different ability levels, there are Honors and Advanced Placement courses in most subjects. Programs in business education, technical and industrial education, computer education, performing and fine arts, and English as a Second Language are also offered. The Cooperative Education Program provides students with the opportunity to study academics as well as receive on-the-job training.
History
The high school was built in 1898 on Gaston Street in West Orange but was burned down in 1913. It was rebuilt, and was relocated to a new building on Northfield Avenue in 1922. The old building became Gaston Street Junior High School (Fairmount Elementary School was built behind it) and was torn down in 1972. The current facility was built in 1960 as Mountain High School. In 1984, the 1922 building was sold to become Seton Hall Preparatory School, a private Catholic school. Mountain High School and the adjoined Abraham Lincoln Junior High School were converted into the existing facility. In 2004, a new building was added, doubling the size of the school. As of February 19, 2021, the athletic complex includes a football field, one soccer field, one softball field, an outdoor basketball court, one 80-yard field, five tennis courts, and a baseball field.
Awards, recognition and rankings
In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 44th in New Jersey and 1,379th nationwide.
The school was the 170th-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. The school had been ranked 136th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 128th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 114th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 98th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.
For the 1998–99 school year, West Orange High School was named a "Star School" by the New Jersey Department of Education, the highest honor that a New Jersey school can achieve.
West Orange High School applied for, and was awarded, a Dodge Grant for the 2004–05 academic year through Montclair State University. The focus of the grant is to explore how to develop a Conflict Resolution program responsive to the needs of West Orange High School. The Dodge Grant Team spent a year researching and developing a potential Conflict Resolution Model for West Orange High School.
Athletics
The West Orange High School Mountaineers compete in the Super Essex Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Essex County and was established following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). Before the NJSIAA's 2010 realignment, the school had competed in the Northern Hills Conference an athletic conference comprised of public and private high schools located in Essex, Morris and Passaic counties. With 1,574 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 1,060 to 5,049 students in that grade range. The football team competes in the Liberty White division of the North Jersey Super Football Conference, which includes 112 schools competing in 20 divisions, making it the nation's biggest football-only high school sports league. The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group V North for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 1,317 to 5,409 students.
The boys' basketball team won the Group III state championship in 1936 (defeating Millville Memorial High School in the tournament final) and won the Group IV title in 1949 (vs. Emerson High School). The 1935 team defeated Millville by a score of 35-24 to win the Group III state finals in the title game played at Rutgers University.
The ice hockey team won the Gordon Cup in 1961 (as co-champion) and won the Monsignor Kelly Cup in 2004.
The boys' swimming team won the Division B state championship in 1963.
The boys' baseball team won the North II Group III state championship in 1967 and won the Group III state title in 1971 (against runner-up Bridgewater-Raritan High School East in the final of the playoffs).
The girls' tennis team won the Group IV state championship in 1984 (defeating Cherry Hill High School East in the final match of the tournament), 1985 (vs. Ridgewood High School) and 1986 (vs. Cherry Hill High School East); the team lost to Red Bank Catholic High School in the finals of the Tournament of Champions in both 1984 and 1985, before defeating Red Bank Catholic in 1986 to win the overall state championship.
Administration
The school's principal is Oscar Guerrero. His administration team includes three assistant principals.
Notable alumni
Notable alumni of West Orange High School and West Orange Mountain High School include:
Anna Easter Brown (1879-1957, class of 1897), founder of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority
Brendan Byrne (1924–2018, class of 1942), former governor of New Jersey
Chris Christian (born 1989), professional soccer player who currently plays as a defender for Oakland Roots SC in the National Independent Soccer Association
Charles Cullen (born 1960, class of 1978), nurse and convicted serial killer, who murdered multiple hospital patients, at least 29 of which have been confirmed
PlaqueBoyMax (born 2003, class of 2021), online streamer, record producer and rapper
Ginny Duenkel (born 1947), gold medalist in the 400 meter freestyle at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo
Chris Gethard (born 1980), actor and comedian
Martin Glenn (born 1946, class of 1964), jurist who serves as the chief judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York
Benedict Gross (born 1950), mathematics professor
Robert Hebble (1934–2020), composer, arranger and organist
Marcus Jackson (born 2008, class of 2026), soccer player who plays for the UCLA Bruins men's soccer team
Mark Kelly (born 1964), United States Senator from Arizona who is a former NASA astronaut and is the identical twin of Scott Kelly
In popular culture
A fifth-season episode of the HBO series The Sopranos titled "The Test Dream" shows Tony Soprano in a dream scene with his high school football coach, Mr. Molinero. The school letters "W.O.H.S." are shown on a jacket in the coach's office.