Closter High School Explained

Closter High School was a comprehensive public high school in Closter, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, that operated from 1912 to 1955 as part of the Closter Public Schools.

History

The high school program opened in 1912 after a series of classrooms were added to accommodate the higher grades in the existing Closter School. The building became Closter Junior-Senior High School after Tenakill Grammar School opened in 1929.^[1]

The school served students from neighboring communities as part of sending/receiving relationships with their home districts, including those from Northvale, Norwood and Rockleigh.^[2] Students from Norwood were assigned by lottery to attend either Closter High School or Tenafly High School.^[3]

The school was closed in 1955 when the district became a constituent municipality in the Northern Valley Regional High School District and students began attending Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest. The defunct high school became Village Middle School, which operated until 1996.^{[4] [5]}

References

40.975°N -73.966°W

Notes and References

1. Garbe-Morillo, Patricia. Closter and Alpine, p. 29. Arcadia Publishing, 2001. . Accessed March 29, 2022. "When six classrooms were added to the north side in 1912, the school opened to high school students. It also operated as a receiving high school for surrounding communities for many years—students from communities with no high school attended school here. With the construction of nearby Tenakill Grammar School in 1929, this school became the Closter Junior-Senior High School from 1929 to 1955."
2. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98635274/closter-high-school-sending-districts/ "Closter Dinner To Hear Former Big League Star; Alex Gaston Speaker Tonight At Party For Top Squad; Program Follows"
3. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/488939822/ "Board Defends School Lottery As Fairest Way; Norwood Appeals Argued Before Commissioner At Hackensack; Faced A Problem"
4. Beuscher, Kristin. "Back in Time: A wartime Christmas at Closter High School", Northern Valley Press, December 26, 2017. Accessed March 29, 2022. "The Closter High School on Durie Avenue operated from 1912 until 1955 when the Northern Valley Regional High School in Demarest opened. The Closter Jr./Sr. High School was then renamed the Village Middle School and housed the sixth, seventh and eighth grades until it closed in 1996."
5. Beuscher, Kristin. "Back in Time: School Days at Demarest", Northern Valley Press, June 17, 2019. Accessed March 29, 2022. "Before this, students from the seven Northern Valley towns attended high school in Closter (that building became Village Middle School after 1955), Dumont, or Tenafly.... Kids from Closter, Demarest and Haworth remained at NVD, the system that continues to this day."