Immaculate Conception High School (Montclair, New Jersey)

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Immaculate Conception High School
Immaculate Conception High School, Montclair NJ.jpg
The school building's front façade
Address
Immaculate Conception High School (Montclair, New Jersey)
33 Cottage Place

Montclair
,
(Essex County)
,
New Jersey
07042

United States
Coordinates 40°48′59″N74°12′59″W / 40.816295°N 74.216258°W / 40.816295; -74.216258
Information
Other nameImmaculate Montclair
Type Private, Coeducational
Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic
DenominationSisters of Charity
Patron saint(s) Immaculate Conception, St. Teresa of Calcutta, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
Established1925
FounderRev. Fr. Edward Farrel
StatusOpen
School boardBoard of Trustees
School district Archdiocese of Newark
CategoryHigh School
SuperintendentMargaret Dames
CEEB code 310805
NCES School ID00864005 [1]
PresidentMike Malkinski
PrincipalMichele Neves [2]
Faculty25 FTEs [1]
Grades 9–12
Enrollment246 (as of 2021–22) [1]
Student to teacher ratio9.8:1 [1]
Color(s)  Navy blue
  White and
  Silver [3]
Athletics conference Super Essex Conference (general)
North Jersey Super Football Conference (football)
MascotLion
Team nameLions [3]
Accreditation Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools [4]
YearbookImmaculata
Tuition$9,800 (2022-23) [5]
AlumniBlue Lion Booster Club
Website www.ichspride.org

Immaculate Conception High School is a Roman Catholic co-educational college preparatory high school located in Montclair, in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school operates under the supervision of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark. [6] The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1957. [4]

Contents

Immaculate Conception High School was established in 1925 as a parish school under the guidance of its founder, Rev. Edward M. Farrel. The Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth began their connection to the school with the appointment of Mother Mary Alexandrine as the school's first principal. [7] Facing financial challenges and a drop in enrollment, the school Newark archdiocese announced that the school would close at the end of the 2024–25 school year. [8]

Per its mission statement, Immaculate Conception High School "strives, within the context of family to develop the whole person: morally, intellectually, emotionally, and physically, recognizing the work and uniqueness of each individual".

As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 246 students and 25 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.8:1. The school's student body was 63.4% (156) Black, 32.5% (80) Hispanic and 4.1% (10) White. [1]

History

By 2014, the school had debts of $900,000. That year NJ.com reported that the school "is fighting to stay open." [9] Fundraisers that year generated about $500,000 helped to ensure the school's survival. [10] The necessary money was generated in approximately one month. [11]

Athletics

The Immaculate Conception High School Lions [3] compete in the Super Essex Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Essex County and operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). [12] Prior to the 2010 realignment of the NJSIAA, the school had previously participated in the Colonial Hills Conference; which included schools in Essex, Morris and Somerset counties in west Central Jersey. [13] With 170 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Non-Public B for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 37 to 366 students in that grade range (equivalent to Group I for public schools). [14] The football team competes in the United Blue 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. [15] [16]

The boys basketball team won the Non-Public Group C state championship in 1978, defeating Sacred Heart High School by a score of 53–51 in the tournament finals. [17] [18]

The boys track team won the spring / outdoor track title in Non-Public B in 1980–1984, 1986–1988, 1998 and 2005. The program's 10 state titles are tied for eighth-most in the state. [19]

The 1983 softball team finished the season with a 16–10 record after winning the Non-Public group B state championship in 1983, with a 9–6 victory against runner-up Gloucester Catholic High School in the finals. [20] [21]

The girls team won the NJSIAA spring / outdoor track state championship in Non-Public B in 1991. [22]

The football team won the Non-Public B South state sectional championship in 1994 and the Non-Public Group I title in 1998. [23] The 1994 team finished the season 11–0 after winning the Non-Public B South title against four-time defending champion St. Joseph High School by s score of 20–6 in the tournament final. [24]

Dominique Booker won the 55 meter dash at the 2009 Meet of Champions with a time of 6.92 seconds, setting a meet record that was also the fastest time in the nation for the event that year. [25] At the 2011 Meet of Champions, Mirabel Nkenke won a silver medal with a time of 56.21 in the 400 meter dash, setting a school record for the event. [26]

Notable alumni

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 School data for Immaculate Conception High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed November 1, 2023.
  2. ↑ Principal's Message, Immaculate Conception High School. Accessed February 5, 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 Immaculate Conception Montclair, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  4. 1 2 Immaculate Conception High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed February 5, 2022.
  5. ↑ Tuition 2022-2023, Immaculate Conception High School. Accessed February 5, 2022.
  6. ↑ Essex County Catholic High Schools, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark. Accessed February 17, 2025.
  7. ↑ History, Immaculate Conception High School. Accessed May 8, 2008.
  8. ↑ Connolly, John. "Immaculate Conception High School in Montclair to close its doors in June", The Record , February 12, 2025. Accessed February 17, 2025."Immaculate Conception High School in Montclair will be closing at the end of the 2024-25 school year, the Archdiocese of Newark announced on Wednesday. The Archdiocese said in a release that the decision to close the school on Cottage Place was because of 'continued decline in enrollment, ongoing financial challenges and the condition of the aging facility.' Immaculate Conception, which was founded in 1925 by the Sisters of Charity, will close for good on June 30."
  9. ↑ Haggerty, Neil (July 7, 2014). "NJ Catholic schools fight to keep doors open as future dims". The Star Ledger . Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  10. ↑ Haggerty, Neil (July 16, 2014). "Montclair's Immaculate Conception High raises almost $500K to stay open". The Star-Ledger . Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  11. ↑ Mota, Caitlin. "A troubling decade for Catholic high schools in Hudson County", The Jersey Journal , March 23, 2017, updated January 16, 2019. Accessed February 5, 2022. "Two other nearby Catholic high schools in recent years have successfully raised the money needed to keep operating. Montclair's Immaculate Conception was able to raise $500,000 in 2014 and Queen of Peace in North Arlington raised more than $1 million to stay open last year. Both schools managed to meet their fundraising goals in about a month."
  12. ↑ League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  13. ↑ Home Page, Colonial Hills Conference, backed up by the Internet Archive, as of November 19, 2010. Accessed December 15, 2014.
  14. ↑ NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
  15. ↑ 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."
  16. ↑ 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."
  17. ↑ NJSIAA Boys Basketball Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed August 10, 2023.
  18. ↑ Kerber, Fred. "Immaculate, Vianney Win", New York Daily News , March 12, 1978. Accessed December 12, 2020, via Newspapers.com. "Immaculate Conception of Montclair defeated Sacred Heart of Vineland 53-51 in the Parochial 'C' state final earlier."
  19. ↑ NJSIAA Boys Spring Track Summary of Group Titles, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  20. ↑ Softball Championship History 1972–2023, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated July 2023. Accessed April 1, 2024.
  21. ↑ Tober, Steve. "IC Softball Team Tries To Rebuild", The Montclair Times, April 4, 1991. Accessed December 12, 2020, via Newspapers.com. "It seems like almost light years ago when Immaculate Conception's Softball team surprised its enthusiastic following of IC faithful by capturing the 1983 Parochial B stale championship with a 9-6 victory over Gloucester Catholic. Coach Elaine McGrath's Lady Lions finished 16-10 after barely managing a .500 record during the regular season."
  22. ↑ NJSIAA Girls Spring Track Summary of Group Titles, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  23. ↑ NJSIAA Football History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  24. ↑ Culligan, Joey. "Immaculate Conception wins state parochial title; The Lions avenged last year's loss to St. Joseph for the championship with their 20-6 victory.", The Philadelphia Inquirer , December 4, 1994. Accessed December 12, 2020, via Newspapers.com. "Too many big plays by Immaculate Conception yesterday prevented St. Joseph from successfully defending its state Parochial 1 group championship. Immaculate Conception defeated the visiting Wildcats, 20-6, at Codey Field to avenge a 13-0 loss to coach Paul Sacco's team in last season's inaugural state parochial final. The victory also capped an 11-0 season for the Lions, their first unbeaten season since 1974, when they went 9-0."
  25. ↑ Staff. "Montclair Immaculate's Booker sprints to 55 dash M of C record", The Star-Ledger , February 11, 2009. Accessed August 30, 2011. "It has been an emotional, roller-coaster ride for the Montclair Immaculate junior this winter, but it culminated with a tight embrace with coach Haneefah Norman after Booker captured the 55-meter dash title in a meet-record 6.92 yesterday.... Booker shaved a hundredth of a second off the meet record, set by Chatham's Ogechi Nwaneri of Chatham last winter, with the No. 1 time in the country this season, surpassing the 6.96 posted by Ashton Purvis from St. Elizabeth of California on Jan. 19."
  26. ↑ Sillery, Bob. "Nkenke's shaving of seconds off time earns silver medal at Meet of Champions", The Montclair Times, June 17, 2011. Accessed August 30, 2011. "Immaculate Conception junior Mirabel Nkenke placed second in the 400-meter dash at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions last Thursday, setting a school record while knocking 2.31 off her time from the Non-Public B Championships a week earlier. "
  27. ↑ Fagan, Kevin; and Wildermuth, John. "Ammiano's Long Road From Jersey Kid to Mayoral Candidate", San Francisco Chronicle , November 13, 1999. Accessed September 9, 2019. "At the rigidly Catholic Immaculate Conception High School at the gritty end of the town of Montclair, and later at the nearby -- and equally rigid -- Seton Hall University, Ammiano always had a handy quip for not just his pals, but also the bullies who wanted to pound his teeth in."
  28. ↑ Rich Kenah Archived May 26, 2015, at the Wayback Machine , USA Track & Field. Accessed January 21, 2008.
  29. ↑ Braun, Bob. "Judge in N.J. corruption cases recalls long road from Havana to Newark", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, February 7, 2010. Accessed February 17, 2025. "The new place was Newark’s North Ward. He graduated from Immaculate Conception High School in Montclair where he played football."
  30. ↑ "Essex County Executive Divincenzo Hosts Annual Essex County Women’S History Month Celebration 2016 Althea Gibson Leadership Award Is Presented To Naturi Naughton, Singer, Songwriter And Actress", Essex County, New Jersey. Accessed December 12, 2020. "Before her transition into film and television, Naughton was a member of the Platinum selling pop trio 3LW.... She attended St. Joseph’s Catholic School and Immaculate Conception High School in Montclair."
  31. ↑ "Immaculate Star Now At Rider Chosen To Third Team All-State", The Montclair Times , March 27, 1986, p. 28. Accessed February 13, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Immaculate Conception's all-time leading scorer Ron Simpson, a 6-6 sophomore forward at Rider College, was named Sunday to the Third Team Men's Division I All-State squad as selected by the Star-Ledger."
  32. ↑ DeMentri, Nicole. "Basketball legend sees hope for Robbinsville as a hoops hub", Community News, September 16, 2017, updated January 11, 2022. Accessed February 13, 2022. "It began quite simply. Simpson grew up in Montclair, and attended Immaculate Conception High School where he was an all-state football and basketball player."
  33. ↑ Dowd, Mike. "'Big Ben' Sirmans rang Rody's chimes", The Bangor Daily News , October 16, 1990. Accessed March 13, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "A 'borderline' student at Montclair Immaculate Conception High, Sirmans grew up in a tough neighborhood in East Orange, N.J."
  34. ↑ Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee Volunteers men's basketball. Accessed February 17, 2025. "Spent the majority of the 2020-21 school year, including basketball season, at Immaculate Conception High School in Montclair, N.J., averaging 20.0 points and 4.6 assists per game as a senior."
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