Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, or SPFHS, is a comprehensive regional four-year public high school in Union County, New Jersey, which serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from the Township of Scotch Plains and the Borough of Fanwood, operating as the lone secondary school of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Regional School District. The facility is located in Scotch Plains. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools since 1932.
As of the 2014-15 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,572 students and 114.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 13.8:1. There were 74 students (4.7% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 39 (2.5% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
In order to qualify for graduation, students must complete 120 credits of course work. Over 80% of students participated in clubs, athletics, service organizations, and music programs in 2008. In the class of 2008, there were ten National Merit Commended Students. In the class of 2003, 21 students were named Edward J. Bloustein Distinguished Scholars. There were 89 Advanced Placement (AP) examinations administered in 21 subject areas; 71% of the students received a score of 3 or better giving them exemption from certain required courses at various colleges and universities. 98% of the class of 2003 was enrolled in the college preparatory course of study. A total of $2,407,154 in scholarship money was awarded to graduates for their academic achievements.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
Awards, recognition and rankings
In its listing of "America's Best High Schools 2016", the school was ranked 210th out of 500 best high schools in the country; it was ranked 33rd among all high schools in New Jersey and 16th among the state's non-magnet schools.
In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 918th in the nation among participating public high schools and 69th among schools in New Jersey. In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 42nd in New Jersey and 1,349th nationwide.
The school was the 54th-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 60th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 62nd in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 69th in 2008 out of 316 schools. Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 86th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 14 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (88.6%) and language arts literacy (96.3%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).
SPHFS's quiz bowl team, founded in 1982, won the New Jersey state championship of the Rutgers University-run College Bowl competition in 1988
Scotch Plains Recreation Basketball Video
Publications
The school is host to an annually published literary magazine, Muse, which features poetry, stories and art by the students. The school's newspaper, The Fanscotian, was ranked by the GSSPA as the best newspaper in New Jersey. The school's yearbook is called Culmen.
Music
Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School is host to an extensive music department. The department is home to multiple choruses, including concert choir and five auditioned groups: Select Choir, Men's Choir, Women's Choir, Chamber Choir, and the Sensations a cappella group. The instrumental music program is made up of a plethora of groups. Non-auditioned groups include Freshman Band, Symphonic Band, Percussion Ensemble, two jazz lab bands, as well as the SPF Raiders Marching Band. Auditioned groups include the Wind Ensemble, RhythmSense, SPF Jazz, and the Moonglowers.
Scotch Plains-Fanwood is also home to the Repertory Theatre program, which in the past few years has put on such shows as Footloose, Les Misérables, West Side Story, 42nd Street, Once Upon a Mattress, Urinetown, Guys and Dolls, Curtains, Hairspray, and The Mystery of Edwin Drood garnering a number of Rising Star Award nominations from the Paper Mill Playhouse, including one win for Outstanding Student Orchestra, for 42nd Street in 2006.
SPF Moonglowers
SPF's top level ("A") jazz band, the Moonglowers, is the oldest continuously operated high school jazz band in the state of New Jersey. It was formed in 1942 to play contemporary big-band songs during lunch periods and at the high school's senior prom. Beginning in 1979, the Moonglowers started competing in the New Jersey International Association of Jazz Education (now the North Jersey Association for Jazz Education) jazz band circuit. Since then, the Moonglowers have won a McDonald's National Jazz Band title and 10 New Jersey State titles. Since 2007, when the NJIAJE reformed into the New Jersey Association for Jazz Education, the Moonglowers have competed in Division II. Notably, in 2008, both the Moonglowers and SPF Jazz, SPF's second tier ("B") jazz band, competed together at the New Jersey State Final festival, and SPF Jazz took first place. This is the only time in the 21-year competition history of the school that SPF Jazz scored higher than the Moonglowers in competitions.
When not competing, the Moonglowers play old time big band swing songs for various community events and organizations. From community concerts to retirement homes, the Moonglowers play songs from the golden age of jazz for those who remember them. Since 2007, the Moonglowers have headlined the Susan G. Komen for the Cure race in New York City in early September.
SPF Raiders Marching Band
The marching band's 2006 program was entitled "Mystic Journey" with selections from Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings movies. The band competed in the USSBA NJ State finals and won with a score of 86.6. It also competed in the USSBA All State finals, and won second place, with a score of 90.1.
The marching band's 2007 show was entitled "Quest: Visions of a Dream" with selections from Zorro and Man of La Mancha. The SPF Raiders Marching Band competed at the USSBA Yamaha Cup in Giant's Stadium and took second place. At the USSBA New Jersey State Finals, the Marching Band took first place for the second year in a row while also receiving the award for best percussion for the third year in a row. Moving on to the All-Eastern Finals in Allentown, P.A., the band received the award for second place as well as the caption award for best percussion.
The 2008 program was entitled "Destiny: Past, Present, And Future". For the first time in the band's history, it competed in USSBA Group VI Open, the most prestigious of all USSBA groups. The show included large props, actors, and narration. At the 2008 All Eastern Finals, Scotch Plains-Fanwood took 7th place with a historic score of 94.375.
The 2010 show, entitled "Generation Millennium", featured selections of music from Epcot's IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth fireworks show. The band competed in the USSBA NJ State Finals in Union, NJ and was named the state champion of Group VIA. At the All-Eastern Finals in Allentown, PA, the band received 3rd place but received the caption awards for best color guard and best music.
In 2012, the Marching Raiders went into the USBands National Championships (Groups 2 Open & 4 Open PLUS 3A &6A) at MetLife Stadium, with a show entitled "On The Brink Of Change: Gold Rush To A Better Tomorrow". They ended the competitive marching band season ranked 2nd place, with a score of 95.8 in group 6A, with a caption award of Best Effect.
Theater
The school has a Reperatory Theater, which does yearly stage productions, the most recent one being Bye Bye Birdie.
Athletics
The Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School Raiders compete in the Union County Interscholastic Athletic Conference, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). With 1,185 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as North II, Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,114 to 4,800 students in that grade range. Prior to the 2010 reorganization, the school had competed in the Watchung Conference, which consisted of public and private high schools in Essex County, Hudson County and Union County in northern New Jersey.
The girls' tennis team won the North Jersey state championship in 1971 and 1972.
The boys' baseball team won the Group IV state championship in 1977, defeating Piscataway Township High School in the final game of the tournament.
The boys' soccer team won the Group III state championship in 1987 vs. Wall High School, in 1989 vs. Bridgewater-Raritan High School, in 1991 vs. Lacey Township High School, in 1992 vs. Wall Township High School, in 1995 as co-champion with Ocean City High School, in 1997 vs. Brick Memorial High School and in 1998 vs. Delsea Regional High School.
The football team won the North II Group III state championship in 1990.
The boys' basketball team won the Group III state championship in 2008, defeating Timber Creek Regional High School in the tournament final.
The Scotch Plains Fanwood Swim Team won their first state championship title in 2011 against Princeton High School with a score of 90-80. The Lady Raider Swimmers also defeated Princeton 100-70 to win the 2015 Group B state championship. The ladies finished their 2014-2015 season with a 17-0 record.
Administration
Core members of the school's administration are:
- Dr. David L. Heisey, Principal
- Timothy Donahue, Assistant Principal
- Brooke Esposito, Assistant Principal
- Ryan Miller, Assistant Principal
Notable alumni
Business and industry
- Peter C. Schultz (born 1942), co-inventor of the fiber optics now used worldwide for telecommunications.
Government and public service
- Carol Bellamy (born 1942, class of 1959), Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
- Donald DiFrancesco (born 1944, class of 1962), elected to the New Jersey General Assembly in 1976 and moved to the New Jersey Senate in 1979, serving as the Senate President for 10 years and as Acting Governor of New Jersey for 11 months.
- Linda Stender (born 1951), member of the New Jersey General Assembly for the 22nd district who was formerly the Mayor of Fanwood.
Sports
- Bill Austin (class of 1955), former football player.
- Derrick Caracter (born 1988), former power forward/center for the University of Louisville Cardinals basketball and then power forward/center for University of Texas-El Paso UTEP basketball team. Current member of A.S. Ramat HaSharon of the Israeli Liga Leumit. Played at St. Patrick for his freshman, junior and parts of his senior year, and trained with SPFHS coach Frau Keyes for sophomore year while attending SPFHS.
- Rashan Gary (born 1997), defensive tackle for the Michigan Wolverines football team who transferred to Paramus Catholic High School after his sophomore year.
- Scott Goldblatt (born 1979, class of 1997), swimmer who won a Gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and a Silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, with both medals earned in the 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay.
- Jeffrey Hammonds (born 1971), baseball Olympian, twelve years in major leagues including one all-star appearance.
- Nathan Jones (born 1982), New England Patriots cornerback, Rutgers academic All-American.
- Jim Lambert (born 1966), track & field writer for The Star-Ledger
- Bryan Meredith (born 1989), High-School Adidas All American, Keeper for the Seattle Sounders FC soccer team of the MLS.
- James Murphy (born 1997), soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Championship club Sheffield Wednesday.
- Renaldo Nehemiah (born 1959), held 110 meter hurdles record for years, twice Superstars Champion, San Francisco 49ers Wide Receiver.
- Joe Scarpati (born 1943), holder for Tom Dempsey's record 63-yard (58 m) field goal in 1970.
- Lance Thomas (born 1988), power forward/center for the New York Knicks, and previously the Duke University basketball team. Attended Scotch Plains before graduating from St. Benedict's in 2006.
Fine arts
- Amy Lee, better known as Ailee (born 1989), famous Korean-American singer who grew up in Scotch Plains and graduated from Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School. She has gone on to wide recognition in South Korea winning awards such as "Best New Female Artist" at the 2012 Mnet Asian Music Awards.
- John B. Riley (born 1955), jazz drummer who has recorded on over 40 albums and CDs with internationally renowned artists, winning two Grammy Awards out of 14 nominations.
- Marc Shaiman (born 1959), Tony and Grammy winning composer, five time Academy Award-nominee.
- Sada Thompson (born 1927, class of 1945), actress who appeared in the television series Family.
- David S. Ware (born 1949), jazz musician.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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