Parsippany Hills High School

Parsippany Hills High School

Knowledge is power
Address
Parsippany Hills High School
Parsippany Hills High School
Parsippany Hills High School
20 Rita Drive
Parsippany-Troy Hills, NJ 07950
Coordinates 40°51′41″N 74°27′22″W / 40.86139°N 74.45611°W / 40.86139; -74.45611
Information
Type Public high school
Established 1969
School district Parsippany-Troy Hills School District
Principal Michael DiSanto[1]
Asst. principals Richard Fonti
Christian Keegan
Carly Stout[1]
Faculty 96.0 (on FTE basis)[2]
Grades 9-12
Enrollment 1,082[2] (as of 2013-14)
Student to teacher ratio 11.3:1[2]
Color(s)      Black
     Columbia Blue and
     White[3]
Athletics conference Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference
Team name Vikings[3]
Rivals Parsippany High School
Sparta High School (New Jersey)
Publication Runes
Yearbook Aegis
Website School website

Parsippany Hills High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school in the township of Parsippany-Troy Hills, in Morris County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grade as one of the two secondary schools of the Parsippany-Troy Hills School District. Built in 1969, the school serves students who live in the western half of Parsippany. Its companion school in the district is Parsippany High School.

As of the 2013-14 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,082 students and 96.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.3:1. There were 103 students (9.5% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 35 (3.2% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[2]

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 58th-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 23rd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 50th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[5] The magazine ranked the school 87th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[6] The school was also ranked 87th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[7] PHHS was ranked #7 out of 98 schools in the 2010 "FG" District Factor Group (socioeconomic measure). Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 151st out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 30 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 (93.4%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).[8]

Academics

Parsippany Hills High School offers the basic math, science, English, and history courses, but also has a wide range of elective courses ranging from human development to choir to marketing. Parsippany Hills also offers its students a wide range of Advanced Placement (AP) courses.

96.8% of Parsippany Hills teachers hold a master's degree or doctorate in the field that they teach in. Parsippany Hills also has a student-to-faculty ratio of 10.6 students per every faculty member.[7]

Parsippany Hills students can usually easily connect to the Internet, with most school computers having Internet connections.[7] Also, most wall-mounted televisions in the school are equipped with cable television.

In order to graduate from Parsippany Hills High School, a student must take at least 24 credits of courses, where one credit equals a one period full-year class. A student must take four years of English, three years of mathematics, three years of science, three years of social sciences, one year of a career development course, one year of a foreign language, and one year of a visual and performing arts elective. In addition, all students must pass the New Jersey High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA) in their junior or senior year.[9]

Parsippany Hills High School uses the standard four marking period year, which are known as quarters. Two quarters make up one semester.[10] The school does not use any form of block days in order to schedule classes. Rather, the classes are scheduled into an 8-period day, where periods last for about forty minutes each with four minutes in between classes.

Arts

Parsippany Hills offers a wide range of artistic classes, from drawing to ceramics. Parsippany Hills has a large drama club, known unofficially as the Parsippany Hills Players. Past productions have included The Odd Couple: Female Version, West Side Story, Guys and Dolls, South Pacific, Picnic, Zombie Prom, The Importance of Being Earnest, Bye Bye Birdie, Aida, and Seussical. In the spring 2007 production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, the Parsippany Hills Players saw a record audience.

The marching band, in circuit from June to November, has taken a total of six Northern USSBA States Championship titles ('94, '97,'04, '06, '07, '08) and three state championship titles ('02, '04, '08). In both 2004 and 2008, PHHSMB captured two championship titles. At the All-state championships in 2006, they tied with long-standing rivals Verona High School, but won more captions than any other band. At the state championship competition in 2007, PHHSMB placed second (out of 17). A week later, the band finished first with a score of 94.85 and took first place in every caption except for color guard. In 2008, PHHSMB finally went an undefeated season for the first time in over 20 years, winning both titles of State Champions and Northern States Champions.

In 2016, the PHHS Marching Band, under the direction of Mr. Michael Iapicca and Mr. Mike Ryan, led by Drum Majors Alexei Sepe and Meghan Wald, won the TOB Group 3A Chapter 10 New York Metropolitan Regional Championships, taking all captions (Best Music, Best Visual, Best Percussion, Best Color Guard) with a score of 92.785 at Union HS.

Athletic

The Parsippany Hills High School Vikings[3] participate in the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.[11] With 813 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2014-15 school year as North II, Group III for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 758 to 1,061 students in that grade range.[12] Prior to the NJSIAA's 2010 realignment, the school had competed as part of the Iron Hills Conference, which was made up of public and private high schools in Essex County, Morris County and Union County.[13]

Sports offered at Parsippany Hills include tennis, football, soccer, cross country running, field hockey, cricket, volleyball, and cheerleading in the fall, swimming, basketball, ice hockey, wrestling, track, and cheerleading in the winter, and baseball, softball, tennis, and golf in the spring.[3]

The football team was in the 2005 playoffs as the third seed in the North I, Group III bracket, and won the first two rounds, beating #6-seed West Milford High School 13-6 and number-two Wayne Valley High School 27-7, before losing to top-seeded Wayne Hills High School 46-0 in the sectional finals.[14]

The Vikings were also in the North I Group III playoff finals again in 2006. They came in as 4th seed, and won the first two rounds, beating 5th-seeded Roxbury High School by a score of 28-7 and top-seeded and heavy favorite Teaneck High School 38-20. They played Wayne Hills High School again for the title for the second consecutive year, but fell short once again against the top public in the state, by a 23-12 final score.[15]

In 2007, the football team once again made it into the playoffs, as the 8th seed. For the third straight year they faced and lost to Wayne Hills High School 49-0, this time in the first round.[16]

Parsippany Hills entered the 2006-07 wrestling season with no losing seasons, dating back to the school's founding in 1969. Recent notable achievements include the 2005-06 District IX championship and the 2003-04 Iron Hills Conference Championship (first since 1989).

Individually, Parsippany Hills recently saw their streak of state place winners end at school record six straight years and has placed someone in the State's top 8 in nine of the last ten years. Recent State place winners include Evan Galipeau, Paul Galipeau, John Hesse and Chris Madia.

The 2007 boys soccer team won the North II, Group III state sectional championship. In the semi-finals the team defeated heavily favorite Millburn High School 4-0 in Millburn to advance to the championship round. Then the team defeated West Morris Mendham High School with a 2-1 overtime win over to win the championship.[17]

Also in 2007, the competition cheerleading squad captured the American National Championship in a competition in Baltimore, Maryland.

Parsippany Hills High School's primary rivals are Parsippany High School and in football, Wayne Hills High School. Rivalries have also been seen between the Vikings and Morris Hills High School and Morris Knolls High School during crucial football, basketball, and baseball games. Hanover Park High School is Parsippany Hills' rival in wrestling.

Parsippany Hills does not support random drug testing of participants in extracurricular activities.[18]

Parsippany Hills won the 2014 North II, Group III state sectional championship, defeating Cranford High School by a score of 20-13 in the tournament final.[19]

Student council

Parsippany Hills High School has an active student council, which consists of an executive board, with ten members, one non-voting student Board of Education representative, one state officer, and a general assembly with two representatives from each homeroom. The student council general assemble convenes twice a month, with one meeting during the school day and the other in the evening.[20]

Extracurricular activities

Parsippany Hills offers many after-school activities, from Academic Decathlon, Junior State of America, FCCLA, DECA, Key Club, Habitat for Humanity to FBLA, along with a steering committee for each grade, which functions as a smaller student council for that grade along with two faculty advisors. Other clubs include the Peerleaders' Activities Council, Animal Lovers Club, Garden Club, Math Team, ERASE Club and the Yearbook Club (Aegis). Parsippany Hills also has National Honor Society, National Art Honor Society, Tri-M Music Honor Society, and International Thespian Society chapters.[20]

New addition

The 2008-2009 school year saw the opening of the new "N-Wing" in the back of the school, which is a two-floor offshoot of the main "D-wing." The N-wing is equipped with whiteboards and each classroom is equipped with a ceiling-mounted projector.

Incident

Jenna Leahey, an English teacher and field hockey coach, was arrested in June 2013 for sexual relations with a 16-year-old student in a relationship that extended for six months. She was held in jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.[21]

On March 31, a judge ruled that the text messages, which were considered explicit, were admissible in court. These show the texts between the former student and the teacher. These text messages were sent from February 2013 until June of the same year.[22]

Administration

Core members of the school's administration are:[1]

Notable graduates

References

  1. 1 2 3 Contact Staff, Parsippany Hills High School. Accessed May 31, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 School Data for Parsippany Hills High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed May 31, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Parsippany Hills High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 31, 2016.
  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 26, 2012.
  6. ↑ Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed February 2, 2011.
  7. 1 2 3 "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 5, 2012.
  9. ↑ Student Course Selection Bulletin 2007-2008, Parsippany-Troy Hills School District, January 2007.
  10. ↑ Marking Period Schedule Parsippany Hills marking period schedule for the 2008-2009 school year
  11. ↑ League Memberships – 2015-2016, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 31, 2016.
  12. ↑ 2014-2015 Public Schools Group Classification: ShopRite Cup–Basketball–Baseball–Softball for North II, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, as of July 8, 2014. Accessed September 21, 2014.
  13. ↑ Home Page, Iron Hills Conference, backed up by the Internet Archive as of February 2, 2011. Accessed December 3, 2014.
  14. ↑ NJSIAA 2005 Football - North I, Group III. Accessed June 5, 2006.
  15. ↑ Parsippany Hills, NJSIAA. Accessed May 9, 2007.
  16. ↑ Bondy, Stefan. "Kayal on the ball as Wayne Hills rolls", The Record (Bergen County), November 10, 2007. Accessed March 5, 2012. "Wayne Hills ran through its oversized inflated helmet Friday night, a sea of indestructible maroon holding the longest winning streak in New Jersey.The Patriots left the same way, their air of invincibility intact after a 49-0 victory over Parsippany Hills in the North 1, Group 3 quarterfinals."
  17. ↑ 2007 Boys Soccer - North II, Group III, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 13, 2007.
  18. ↑ Jennings, Rob. "Parsippany principals object to drug testing: Administrators argue move could create a culture of 'distrust'", Daily Record (Morristown), August 3, 2007. Accessed August 3, 2007. "The principals of both township public high schools said Thursday night they opposed random drug testing at a school board meeting convened to study the issue."
  19. ↑ Kratch, James. "2014 football finals: Parsippany Hills halts Cranford's comeback drive to capture North 2 Group 3 title", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, December 7, 2014. Accessed December 7, 2014. "Cranford came within seven yards of a game-tying drive but Parsippany Hills' defense rose to the occasion with a stand at 7-yard line to preserve a 20-13 victory in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 final Saturday at MetLife Stadium."
  20. 1 2 Parsippany Hills High School Clubs, Parsippany-Troy Hills School District. Accessed August 19, 2007.
  21. ↑ Queally, James. "Morris County teacher accused of sexual relationship with 16-year-old student", The Star-Ledger, June 8, 2013. Accessed June 16, 2013. "Jenna Leahey (center), a 32-year-old English teacher and girls field hockey coach at Parsippany-Troy Hills High School in Morris County, was charged today with carrying on a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old male student. She is no longer teaching at the school and has been replaced for this moment in time."
  22. ↑ Hutchinson, Dave. "Jury can see 'explicit' texts between ex-Parsippany teacher and student", NJ.com, March 31, 2015. Accessed April 17, 2015.
  23. ↑ UMass Profile for R.J. Cobbs. Accessed January 9, 2007.
  24. ↑ "Classroom a thrill for teacher", Daily Record (Morristown), November 9, 2004.
  25. ↑ "ORSULAK SIGNS WITH MARLINS - NEXT TARGETS: CONE, MCDOWELL", The Record (Bergen County), December 6, 1995. Accessed August 2, 2007. "Orsulak, a Parsippany Hills High School graduate, signed a two-year deal worth $1.275 million and is expected to strengthen the Marlins' bench."
  26. ↑ Greenidge, Jim; and Griffith, Bill. "Singleton's number up: Former top pick waived", Boston Globe, November 3, 1993. Accessed February 23, 2011. "Singleton and his twin brother, Kevin, were the best players on their Parsippany Hills, NJ, high school team as they formed a backfield that rushed for more than 2,300 yards their senior year."
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