Middlesex High School

Middlesex High School (MHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in the center of Middlesex, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone secondary school of the Middlesex Board of Education. The school is surrounded by Mountain View Park and all of its athletic complexes, including Memorial Field.

Middlesex High School
Address
300 John F. Kennedy Drive

Middlesex
,
Middlesex County
,
New Jersey
08846

United States
Coordinates40.5832°N 74.4951°W / 40.5832; -74.4951
Information
TypePublic high school
Motto"Home of the Blue Jays"
Established1959
NCES School ID341005003404[1]
PrincipalRyan Regan
Faculty54.1 FTEs[1]
Grades9-12[1]
Enrollment622 (as of 2021–22)[1]
Student to teacher ratio11.5:1[1]
Color(s)  Royal Blue and
  white[2]
Athletics conferenceGreater Middlesex Conference (general)
Big Central Football Conference (football)
Team nameBlue Jays[2]
RivalDunellen High School
Websitemhs.mbschools.org

As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 622 students and 54.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.5:1. There were 118 students (19.0% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 44 (7.1% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]

History

The new high school opened in September 1959 with students in ninth and tenth grades. Prior to that time, students from Middlesex had attended Bound Brook High School. Middlesex students entering eleventh and twelfth grades continued their education at the Bound Brook school through graduation.[3]

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 177th-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.[4] The school had been ranked 155th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 183rd in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[5] The magazine ranked the school 169th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[6] The school was ranked 148th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[7] Schooldigger.com ranked the school 158th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (an increase of 3 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (83.6%) and language arts literacy (92.4%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).[8]

Athletics

The Middlesex High School Blue Jays[2] compete in the Greater Middlesex Conference, which includes public and private high schools located in the greater Middlesex County area and operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[9] With 462 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.[10] The football team competes in Division 1A 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.[11] The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group I South for football for 2022–2024, which included schools with 200 to 463 students.[12]

The school participates as the host school / lead agency for a joint wrestling team with Dunellen High School. Middlesex and Somerville High School are partners in a co-op ice hockey program with Bernards High School. These co-op program operate under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year.[13]

The football team won the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group II state sectional championship in 1974, then in Central Jersey Group I in 1981, 1982, 1984 and 2017.[14] The 1974 team finished the season with a 9-0-1 record after winning the first Central Jersey Group II sectional title of the playoff era with a 24–6 victory against Hillsborough High School indoors at the Atlantic City Convention Hall.[15] The 1994 team defeated four-time defending champion South River High School by a score of 14–7 to win the Central Jersey Group I title and finish the season 10–1.[16] In a turnaround from winning only one game in 2016, the football team won the 2017 Central Jersey Group I state sectional tournament with a 33–21 win at Alumni Stadium at Kean University against seventh-seeded Point Pleasant Beach High School in the tournament final.[17][18] Middlesex ended its Thanksgiving Day rivalry with Dunellen High School in 2019, after 21 games in the annual series.[19]

The boys' wrestling team won the Central Jersey Group I state championships in 1985 and 1986.[20]

The baseball team won the Group I state championship in 1990 (defeating New Providence High School in the final game of the tournament playoff), 2007 (vs. Hoboken High School), 2013 (vs. Pompton Lakes High School), 2017 (vs. Emerson Jr./Sr. High School) and 2018 (vs. Park Ridge High School); the five state group titles are tied for eighth-most in the state.[21] The team won the Central Jersey Group I state sectional championship in 1982, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2003, 2007 (in a 13–3 win over Metuchen High School[22]) and again in 2013 (with a 4–0 win over Shore Regional High School).[23] The team won the Group I state championship in 1990 vs. New Providence High School and again in 2007 (with a 14–12 win over Hoboken High School)[24] and in 2013 (defeating Pompton Lakes High School by a 9–5 score).[25] The team won the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament (GMCT) Championship in 2012, with a 10–4 win over Sayreville High School.[26]

The softball team won the Central Jersey Group I state sectional titles from 2001 through 2004. The team won the New Jersey State Group I championship in 2004, defeating Cedar Grove High School in the playoff finals.[27][28] Increased enrollment made Middlesex a Group II team in 2005 and they won the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament (GMCT) championship in 2005 with a 2–1 win in extra innings against East Brunswick High School.[29]

The boys tennis team won the Central Jersey Group I state sectional title in 2003, and in 2007 with a 3–2 win vs. Florence Township Memorial High School.[30]

The boys' basketball team won the Central Jersey Group I state sectional title in 1994, the program's first championship, with a 55–35 win against Piscataway Technical High School in the tournament final.[31]

The boys cross country team won the Mountain Valley Conference championship in 1982, 1983, 1989, 1991, and 1992.

Girls Track two-time GMC division champs (2010–2012)

  • 1st Place Medium Varsity 2005 Del Val Invitational
  • 1st Place Medium Varsity 2005 UCA Regional
  • 1st Place Medium Varsity 2006 UCA Garden State Open

Clubs

Administration

The principal is Ryan Regan. His core administration team includes the assistant principal and the athletic director.[32]

Notable alumni

References
  1. School data for Middlesex High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 1, 2022.
  2. Middlesex High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  3. Geraghty, Gloria. "Record 30,000 Ready for School Bells", The Daily Home News, September 5, 1959. Accessed February 16, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Bound Brook will lose 9th and 10th graders from Middlesex to the new Middlesex High School. Eleventh and 12th graders from Middlesex will continue in Bound Brook High School until they complete their secondary school education."
  4. Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
  5. Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed August 28, 2012.
  6. Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed March 18, 2011.
  7. "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
  8. New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2010-2011, Schooldigger.com. Accessed March 6, 2012.
  9. League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  10. NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
  11. 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."
  12. NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2022–2024, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  13. NJSIAA Winter Cooperative Sports Programs, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 1, 2020.
  14. NJSIAA Football History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  15. "Middlesex, Ramapo Capture Jersey Football Titles", The New York Times, December 9, 1974. Accessed December 28, 2020. "Middlesex defeated Hillsborough, 24-6, for the Central Jersey, Group 2 title, and Ramapo routed Dumont, 46-14, for the North Jersey, Section 1, Group 3 crown today in Convention Hall. This was the final day of the state's first high school football playoffs. Bob Parlo, the Middlesex quarterback, scored one touchdown on a plunge, threw his 14th scoring pass of the season—to Carl Mayer—intercepted two passes and averaged 40 yards a punt to spark his team, which finished with a 9-0-1 won-lost-tied mark."
  16. Merrill, Everett. "Middlesex silences South River", Courier News, December 7, 1981. Accessed January 20, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Not only was the South River High mascot resting, but just a short 30 yards up the bench the entire football team was quiet. A dynasty had just been silenced. Middlesex High School had just ended South River's four-year domination of Central Jersey Group 1 football by stopping the Rams 14-7. The victory gave Middlesex its first state championship since 1974, when the Blue Jays bumped off Hillsborough.... Middlesex ended its season at 10-1, the best fall it has since '74."
  17. Lanni, Patrick. "Middlesex fights off Point Pleasant Beach to win CJ1 title, caps turnaround season", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, December 2, 2017. Accessed December 5, 2017. "Middlesex won one game in 2016.... Middlesex never trailed Saturday as it had an answer every time Point Pleasant Beach threatened and held on for a 33-21 victory Saturday in the Central Jersey, Group 1 final at Kean University's Alumni Stadium in Union.... That challenge ultimately secured Middlesex's first sectional title since 1984."
  18. "Football - 2017 NJSIAA Central, Group 1 Playoffs", NJ.com. Accessed December 5, 2017.
  19. Tufaro, Greg. "NJ football: Middlesex-Dunellen Thanksgiving rivalry comes to an end", Courier News, October 25, 2018. Accessed November 18, 2020. "Next month’s 21st annual meeting between the Middlesex and Dunellen high school football programs will mark the last Thanksgiving Day game for the border rivals. Middlesex athletics director Mike O’Donnell said the NJSIAA’s revamped postseason format, which creates a three-week layoff to Thanksgiving Day for nonplayoff qualifiers who don’t play two regional crossover games, led to the end of his school’s holiday meeting with Dunellen."
  20. NJSIAA Wrestling Team Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2022.
  21. NJSIAA Baseball Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  22. 2007 Baseball - Central, Group I, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed June 6, 2007.
  23. Tufaro, Greg. "Middlesex tops Shore for Central Group I title", Courier News, May 31, 2013. Accessed June 11, 2013. "Price celebrated his final home game with yet another round-tripper – his ninth of the season – to put the finishing touches on Middlesex's 4-0 victory over Shore Regional in Friday's NJSIAA Central Group I final. The Blue Jays, who won their first sectional title since 2007, the same year they last won a state crown, advanced to Tuesday's Group I semifinals (4 p.m. Tuesday at Rutgers University) against Pitman, the South Group I champion."
  24. Tufaro, Greg. "Middlesex, Spotswood break GMC's 14-year state-title drought", Home News Tribune, June 30, 2007. Accessed June 12, 2012. "Blue Division powers Spotswood and Middlesex help put the GMC back on the map, winning the NJSIAA Group II and NJSIAA Group I crowns, respectively.... Middlesex won its state title in dramatic come-from-behind fashion, erasing a five-run deficit in the seventh before posting a 14-12 victory over Hoboken."
  25. Idec, Keith. "H.S. Baseball: Pompton Lakes falls to Middlesex in Group 1 final", The Record, June 9, 2013. Accessed June 11, 2013. "But three runs was as close as Pompton Lakes could get to Middlesex, which defeated the Cardinals, 9-5, in the Group 1 final at Toms River South. Middlesex (26-4) won its third Group 1 championship and denied Pompton Lakes (25-5) what would've been its first group baseball championship."
  26. Haley, John. "Middlesex (10) at Sayreville (4), Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament, Final Round - Baseball", The Star-Ledger, May 31, 2012. Accessed June 4, 2012. "That's what happened yesterday when Tommy Marcinczyk and Chris Petiya blasted back-to-back homers in the third before pinch-hitter Brennan Price broke the game open in the sixth with a grand slam as third-seeded Middlesex, No. 19 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, knocked off top-seeded and No. 2 Sayreville, 10-4, in the championship game of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament held at East Brunswick Tech High School."
  27. NJSIAA Softball Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  28. 2001 NJSIAA Softball - Central, Group I Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed July 15, 2007.
  29. Haley, John. "A look back at the history of the Middlesex County/GMC Tournament going back 40 years", The Star-Ledger, May 29, 2013. Accessed December 5, 2017. "2005: Middlesex 2, East Brunswick 1 (13)"
  30. 2007 Boys Tennis - Central, Group I, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed June 7, 2007.
  31. Holobowski, Bill. "Middlesex wins 1st CJ I crown; Routs Piscataway Tech as Feath pours in game-high 23 points", The Home News, March 8, 1994. Accessed May 11, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Middlesex High School boys basketball coach Gary Feath used it to describe the play of his son, senior forward Kevin Feath, in last night's 55-35 win over Piscataway Tech in the Central Jersey Group I championship game. With the way Kevin played, father and coach Gary could have used 'stepped on' to be more exact, because Kevin exploded for a game-high 23 points in the Blue Jays' first sectional title after losing to Perth Amboy Tech and Keyport in the last two finals."
  32. Student Handbook 2022-2023, Middlesex High School. Accessed January 19, 2023.
  33. La Gorce, Tammy. "In Person; Gotcha! Stay Tuned", The New York Times, January 1, 2006. Accessed November 27, 2017. "One, Mr. Scharpling, who went to Middlesex Community College after Middlesex High School and graduated from Trenton State is a self-professed Jersey guy."
  34. Newell, Kevin. "Irish eyes are smiling: Notre Dame has entrusted alum Charlie Weis as the man to recapture the football program's proud legacy.(Interview)", Coach and Athletic Director, January 1, 2007. Accessed November 20, 2014. "Coach: You were born in Trenton, NJ in 1956 and graduated from Middlesex (NJ) High School. What was your childhood like? What sports did you participate in?"
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