Ridgefield Park High School Explained

Ridgefield Park Junior-Senior High School
Logo Alt:This is the logo for Ridgefield Park High School.
Principal:Melissa M. Cavins
Enrollment:1,174 (as of 2022–23)
Ratio:13.4:1
Us Nces School Id:341380000754
Teamname:Scarlets
Conference:Big North Conference (general)
North Jersey Super Football Conference (football)
Colors: Scarlet and
white
Address:1 Ozzie Nelson Drive
Zipcode:07660
Country:United States
Coordinates:40.8599°N -74.0145°W
Pushpin Map:USA New Jersey Bergen County#USA New Jersey#USA
Newspaper:Scarlet Quill[1]

Ridgefield Park Junior-Senior High School is a six-year comprehensive community public high school that serves students in seventh through twelfth grade from Ridgefield Park, in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the Ridgefield Park Public Schools.

As of the 2022–23 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,174 students and 87.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.4:1. There were 342 students (29.1% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 151 (12.9% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[2]

Students from Little Ferry attend the district's high school as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Little Ferry Public Schools that has been in place since 1953.[3] [4] [5] The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1930.[6]

History

In 1916, Ridgefield Park High School was the subject of a groundbreaking ruling by the New Jersey Commissioner of Education, who ruled that teachers could remove their jackets while in class. A principal and teacher at the high school had been removed from his duties, based on charges against him that included 'conduct unbecoming a teacher' related to the removal of his coat while teaching one day. The charges were dismissed and the teacher was reinstated.[7]

In March 2006, alumnus Gregory Olsen (RPHS '62), an entrepreneur who paid $20 million to become the world's third paying space tourist visited his alma mater to share his experiences in space.[8]

Awards, recognition and rankings

For the 2005-06 school year, Ridgefield Park High School was one of 22 schools statewide selected as Governor's School of Excellence Winners, an award given to schools that have demonstrated significant academic improvement over the previous two academic years.[9]

A team of students was one of five finalists in the 2004 New Jersey Business Idea Competition Winners at Fairleigh Dickinson University representing the Northern Region, which covers Bergen, Essex, Morris, Passaic, Sussex and Warren Counties. Three other RPHS teams were semi-finalists.[10]

The school was the 209th-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.[11] The school had been ranked 237th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 207th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[12] The magazine ranked the school 180th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[13] The school was ranked 161st in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[14] Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 145th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 25 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (81.3%) and language arts literacy (96.7%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).[15]

Athletics

The Ridgefield Park High School Scarlets[16] compete in the Big North Conference, which comprises public and private high schools in Bergen and Passaic counties, and was established following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJISAA).[17] Prior to the 2010 realignment, the school had competed in the Bergen County Scholastic League (BCSL) American Conference, which included public and private high schools located in Bergen and Hudson counties.[18] [19] With 667 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 486 to 758 students in that grade range.[20] The football team competes in the American Red 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.[21] [22] The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group II North for football for 2022–2024, which included schools with 478 to 672 students.[23]

The school participates in a joint wrestling team with Bogota High School as the host school / lead agency. The co-op program operates under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year.[24]

The boys' basketball team won the Group III state championship in 1924 (defeating Glen Ridge High School in the tournament final), 1926 (vs. Princeton High School), 1927 (vs. Roselle Park High School), 1934 (vs. Woodbury High School), 1944 (vs. Rahway High School), and won the Group II title in 1960 (vs. Riverside High School).[25] The team won the 1924 state title in Class B (since recategorized as Group III) with a 31-27 overtime win against Glen Ridge in the championship game played at the Jersey City Armory.[26] The 1926 team won the Class B (Group III) title with a 23-21 win against Princeton in the finals.[27] A 40-25 win against Roselle Park gave the team the 1927 Class B (Group III) state title.[28]

The baseball team won the Group III state championship in 1974 (defeating Franklin High School in the final game of the tournament) and 1977 (vs. Rancocas Valley Regional High School).[29] The 1974 team defeated Franklin by a score of 4-1 in the Group III championship game to finish the season at 23-4.[30] The 1977 team finished the season with a 24-9 record after winning the Group III title with a 2-1 victory against Rancocas Valley in the championship game.[31]

The football team won the NJSIAA North I Group III state sectional championships in both 1975 and 1976, and won the North I Group II state titles in 1995 and 1996.[32] The 1975 team finished the season with a 10-0-1 record after winning the North I Group III sectional title after defeating Northern Highlands Regional High School by a score of 10-8 in the championship game.[33] The school has maintained a rivalry with Cliffside Park High School since the two schools first played each other, which was listed by The Record as one of the best in Bergen and Passaic counties; though the first game between the two schools was earlier, from 1950 through the 2017 season, Ridgefield Park is ahead with a 38-20-2 record in games between the two schools.[34]

The girls fencing team was the overall team champion in 1978.[35]

The cross country team won both the Big North Division Championship and the County Group C Championship in the 2011 fall cross country season. The team hadn't won a division championship since 1985 and had never won a county championship title. The team finished off their 2011 season with an undefeated dual meet record and several championship titles, including the Group 1-2 Maroon Invitational, the program's first invitational championship.[36]

Popular culture

13 of the 17 students featured in the 1978 documentary film Scared Straight! were from Ridgefield Park High School. Over 300 students, nearly a quarter of the school's enrollment, had voluntarily participated in the program at Rahway State Prison (now formally known as East Jersey State Prison), in which the students were given a hard look at the "physical and psychological brutality of prison life." The program was credited with contributing to a sharp drop in teen-aged crime in Ridgefield Park from 1976 to 1978.[37]

Ridgefield Park High School was featured on TruTV's The Principal's Office in 2009.[38]

Administration

The school's principal is Melissa M. Cavins. Her core administrative team includes the assistant principal, director of athletics and two deans of students.[39] [40]

Notable alumni

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://rpjshs.rpps.net/rpjshs/clubs_and_activities/the_scarlet_quill Scarlet Quill
  2. https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3413800&ID=341380000754 School data for Ridgefield Park Jr Sr High School
  3. James, George. "School Districts' Battle On Tuition Goes to Court", The New York Times, December 16, 1989. Accessed October 17, 2017. "School officials in the borough, Little Ferry, which sends 202 students to the 546-student high school, say a partial audit several years ago raised suspicions that Ridgefield Park has overcharged them by hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent years.... Little Ferry, a borough of 1.5 square miles and 9,900 people, has sent its high school students to this neighboring 1.92-square mile village of 12,000 people, since 1953."
  4. Miraglia, Mary K. "Little Ferry Schools Not Responsible For $1.5M Gap In Ridgefield Park", Ridgefield Park-Hasbrouck Heights Daily Voice, January 13, 2016. Accessed October 17, 2017. "Ridgefield Park Superintendent Eric Koenig reached out to Little Ferry Superintendent Frank Scarafile after his board meeting Jan. 7 to go over plans for filling the budget shortfall. Koenig assured him Ridgefield Park won't be trying to make any changes to the sending - receiving contract that would impose new tuition in the current year, according to a letter Scarafile sent to his board members."
  5. http://www.littleferry.k12.nj.us/our_district/about_us About Our District
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20120414204109/http://www.css-msa.org/search.php?MODE=VIEW%28NJ286%29&org=CSS Ridgefield Park Junior / Senior High School
  7. Staff. "Shirt Sleeves Win.; Commissioner Kendall Rules Teacher May Take Off Coat.", The New York Times, July 9, 1916, p. 16. Accessed March 18, 2011
  8. George, Jason. "From a C Student to a Celestial Traveler", The New York Times, May 16, 2004. Accessed December 24, 2011. "In 1962, with an F in trigonometry and a C average at Ridgefield Park High School in New Jersey, Gregory Olsen seemed destined for the final frontier of a steady job, evenings in front of the television and, if lucky, vacations on the Jersey Shore."
  9. http://www.state.nj.us/education/news/2005/1122gov.htm 22 Governor's Schools of Excellence Winners Recognized
  10. http://view.fdu.edu/files/206awardsprogram.doc Awards Ceremony for the 2004 - New Jersey Business Idea Competition
  11. Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
  12. Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed August 28, 2012.
  13. Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed March 18, 2011.
  14. http://njmonthly.com/articles/towns_and_schools/highschoolrankings/top-new-jersey-high-schools-by-rank.html "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank"
  15. http://www.schooldigger.com/schoolrank.aspx?Level=3&findschool=1380000754 New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2010-2011
  16. https://www.njsiaa.org/schools/ridgefield-park-jr-sr-high-school Ridgefield Park High School
  17. https://www.njsiaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/2020-10/2020-2021-lc-officers-schools.pdf League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021
  18. https://web.archive.org/web/20110724142847/http://www.njsiaa.org/NJSIAA/09leagueaffiliations.pdf New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association League Memberships – 2009-2010
  19. https://web.archive.org/web/20090304173835/http://bcsl-american.org/ School Info
  20. https://www.njsiaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/2020-11/general-classifications-2018-2020.pdf NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020
  21. Cooper, Darren. "Here's what we know about the new Super Football Conference 2020 schedule", The Record, July 23, 2020. Accessed March 22, 2021. "The Super Football Conference (SFC) is a 112-team group, the largest high school football-only conference in America, and is comprised of teams from five different counties."
  22. Cooper, Darren. "NJ football: Super Football Conference revised schedules for 2020 regular season", The Record, July 23, 2020. Accessed March 22, 2021. "The Super Football Conference has 112 teams that will play across 20 divisions."
  23. https://www.njsiaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/2022-08/Football%20%2722%20%26%20%2723.pdf NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2022–2024
  24. https://www.njsiaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/2020-12/winter-co-ops-2020-21.pdf NJSIAA Winter Cooperative Sports Programs
  25. https://www.njsiaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/2020-11/2020-basketball-history_0.pdf NJSIAA Boys Basketball Championship History
  26. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/489572021/ "Gordon Adams' Fine Playing Paves Way For Ridgefield Park Quintet To Win State Basketball Crown"
  27. https://www.nytimes.com/1926/03/21/archives/ridgefield-park-wins-jersey-title-shades-princeton-high-school-five.html "Ridgefield Park Wins Jersey Title; Shades Princeton High School Five by 23-21 in Final of Class B Tournament."
  28. https://www.nytimes.com/1927/03/20/archives/trenton-five-wins-new-jersey-title-passaic-high-loses-3930-after.html "Trenton Five Wins New Jersey Title; Passaic High Loses, 39-30, After Long Reign as State Class A Monarch. Late Spurt Unavailing; Heavy Early Scoring Decisive Factor -- Ridgefield Park Class B Champion."
  29. https://www.njsiaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/2020-11/20-baseball-history.pdf NJSIAA Baseball Championship History
  30. https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/492853277/ "Ridgefield park victor on Magro's double"
  31. Rowe, John. "Gandolfo Delivers; Ridgefield Park takes title", The Record, June 12, 1977. Accessed January 8, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Since then he has won 10 straight games, including the 2-1 victory over Rancocas Valley yesterday which gave Ridgefield Park the Group 3 championship in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association baseball tournament."
  32. https://www.njsiaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/2021-12/21-football.pdf NJSIAA Football History
  33. Farber, Mike. "Ridgefield Pk., 10-8", The Record, December 7, 1975. Accessed January 7, 2021. "The Group 3 North Jersey Section I final was a battle of Northern Highlands' Big D -- deception -- against Ridgefield Park's Big D -- defense. The Highlanders never had a chance. Ridgefield Park's 10-8 margin of victory belies the manner in which it dominated previously unbeaten and untied Northern Highlands. Until the Highlanders' touchdown drive in the closing minute, Ridgefield Park (10-0-1) had allowed them to cross midfield just once."
  34. Cooper, Darren; Farrell, Sean; and Mattura, Greg. "North Jersey football: Best public school rivalries; Read up on the top rivalries in Bergen and Passaic counties, and vote for the one you think is best in the poll at the bottom of this page", The Record, July 17, 2018. Accessed May 13, 2021. "Cliffside Park vs. Ridgefield Park... First meeting: Unknown; Series history: Since 1950, Ridgefield Park leads series 38-20 with two ties."
  35. https://www.njsiaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/2020-12/20-girls-fencing.pdf NJSIAA History of Girls Fencing Championships
  36. Schwartz, Paul. "Ridgefield Park captures school's first boys cross-country invitational title", The Record, October 1, 2011. Accessed August 28, 2012. "Ridgefield Park's boys have won one major championship in the past 50 years of cross-country, the 1981 BCSL American championship. Friday the Scarlets won their first ever invitational title by routing the field at the Group 1-2 Maroon Invitational at Garret Mountain."
  37. Janley, Robert. "'Scared Straight!' Film a Part of Life for Many Students in One Town; Officials Are Pleased Arrest Rate Drops Only Volunteers Go Father Fears Future Effect", The New York Times, May 6, 1979, p. 37. Accessed March 18, 2011.
  38. Decicco, Robin. "Ridgefield Park students to test their cooking skills.", Ridgefield Park Patriot, January 22, 2010. Accessed November 25, 2015. "The Food Network came to the high school because of a connection high school Principal Eric Koenig has with a freelance producer. The same freelance producer who produced TruTv's The Principal's Office, in which Koenig appeared on last year, said he was looking to feature football players on a cooking show."
  39. https://rpjshs.rpps.net/rpjshs/administration/principal Principal
  40. https://rpjshs.rpps.net/cms/one.aspx?pageId=93734269 Staff Directory
  41. Nowlin, Bill. Alex Gaston, Society for American Baseball Research. Accessed November 29, 2017. "The family lived most of the time in New Jersey, though Alex said he attended elementary school in New York City. His high school was Ridgefield Park in New Jersey, the community where Milt was born."
  42. Calderone, Joe; and Zambito, Thomas. "Farewell To FBI Bomb Expert And Father of 4", New York Daily News, October 1, 2001. Accessed November 15, 2017. "Son of a cop, Hatton starred as halfback on the Ridgefield Park football team, married his high school sweetheart and took the only job he'd ever wanted, as an agent with the FBI. His work took him to New Orleans for years, but, after being assigned to the Joint Bank Robbery Task Force in New York, he returned to Ridgefield Park.... On Saturday, as strains of an Elton John song filtered through the church, Hatton's Ridgefield Park class, members of the Class of '75, wiped away tears."
  43. https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxyaWRnZWZpZWxkcGFya2FsdW1uaXxneDo2OTdkNGFiNGIyYTk1N2Q Dr. John P. Huchra, Class of 1966
  44. Ung, Elisa. "Little Ferry native Mike Isabella takes on the 'Top Chef' finale", The Record, March 16, 2011. Accessed March 18, 2011. "Isabella, 36, spent most of his childhood in Little Ferry and later graduated from Ridgefield Park High School and the New York Restaurant School (now known as the Art Institute of New York City)."
  45. https://books.google.com/books?id=uHgkAQAAIAAJ&q=louis+kosco+%22ridgefield+park%22+paramus+hackensack Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey, 2000
  46. https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxyaWRnZWZpZWxkcGFya2FsdW1uaXxneDo0MzU5NTE5NjYxOTVjOTNm Louis Kosco Class of 1950
  47. Fosdick, George. History of Ridgefield Park High School, Ridgefield Park Jr. / Sr. High School Alumni Association. Accessed February 12, 2008. "Bud Lewis '37 was the co-pilot of the Enola Gay Aircraft which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, leading to the end of World War II, a war in which over 1,000 RPHS graduates served. Many years later, when questioned about his role in WWII, Lewis commented, 'I would rather be remembered for being a member of RPHS Championship Football Team than for being the co-pilot of that plane.'"
  48. http://www.fdu.edu/newspubs/pressrel/candidateforum.html "Candidates for 9th Congressional District to Appear at Forum"
  49. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113992893/bandleader-dick-messner-of-ridgefield/ "Messner's Band Here for Dance"
  50. https://sites.google.com/site/ridgefieldparkalumni/Homecoming/wall-of-achievement Wall of Achievement Members
  51. https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxyaWRnZWZpZWxkcGFya2FsdW1uaXxneDo3NDg0Zjk1YjE5ODRmNGEx "Johnny Messner Class of 1928"
  52. https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxyaWRnZWZpZWxkcGFya2FsdW1uaXxneDo3NmZhZjgwYmU1YzRiN2E4 Peter Michels Class of 1983
  53. http://ridgefieldpark.qscend.com/content/125/283.aspx History
  54. Gavin, John A. "Harrison 'Hatch' Rosdahl, ex-pro football player, at 62", The Record, June 18, 2004. Accessed July 31, 2014. "Ridgefield Park - Harrison 'Hatch' Rosdahl, a professional football player for seven years, died from injuries suffered in a fall at his home Tuesday.... He graduated in 1959 from Ridgefield Park Junior-Senior High School, where he starred in football and track."
  55. https://web.archive.org/web/20110807054643/http://www.odusports.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/ruch_dan00.html Dan Ruch
  56. https://web.archive.org/web/20000531141530/http://www.turner2000.org/Bio.htm Harold "Hal" Turner
  57. Kerwick, Mike. "Behind the scenes with Cake Boss Buddy Valastro", The Record, October 11, 2010. Accessed March 18, 2011. "Case in point: The day Valastro turned 17, he learned his father was dying of cancer. A few weeks later, his father was dead. Valastro dropped out of Ridgefield Park High School to take over the bakery."
  58. https://www.ble-t.org/pr/news/headline.asp?id=20573 "Former rail boss George Warrington dead at 55"

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