West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North

West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North
Front of the school
Address
90 Grovers Mill Road Plainsboro Township , Middlesex County , New Jersey 08536 United States
Coordinates	40°19′21″N74°36′02″W / 40.3225°N 74.6006°W / 40.3225; -74.6006
Information
Type	Public high school
Established	1997 [1]
School district	West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District
NCES School ID	341770000191 [2]
Principal	Lamont Thomas
Faculty	121.1 FTEs [2]
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	1,486 (as of 2022–23) [2]
Student to teacher ratio	12.3:1 [2]
Campus	Suburban
Color(s)	Royal Blue and   Silver [3]
Athletics conference	Colonial Valley Conference (general)
Team name	Knights [3]
Newspaper	The Knightly News [4]
Yearbook	Excalibur
Website	https://wwphs.sharpschool.com/

West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North, also known as WW-P North or North, is a four-year public comprehensive high school located in Plainsboro Township in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school serves students in ninth through twelfth grades. The school joins West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South as the two secondary schools of the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, a school district serving students from West Windsor (in Mercer County) and Plainsboro Township (in Middlesex County).

As of the 2022–23 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,486 students and 121.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.3:1. There were 40 students (2.7% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 13 (0.9% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch. ^[2]

West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North opened in September 1997. An addition was added in 2000. The first class to graduate was the Class of 2002. The facility covers 240,000 square feet (22,000 m²) and contains all core facilities. The school is located on an 80-acre (320,000 m²) tract on Grovers Mill Road in Plainsboro, across from Community Middle School and the Millstone River Upper Elementary School.

The school mascot is the Northern Knight, and the school colors are Royal Blue and Silver. ^[3] The mascot was chosen as voted on by the original three graduating classes, the Classes of 2002, 2003, and 2004.

History

The original building, constructed on a 90-acre (36 ha) site at a cost of $30 million (equivalent to $56.9 million in 2023), opened in September 1997 as the district's second high school facility, with an inaugural class of 525 students in ninth grade. An additional $13  million was allocated to expand the building to accommodate 1,750 students in grades 9-12. ^[5]

Awards, recognition and rankings

During the 2006–07 school year, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, ^[6] the highest award an American school can receive. ^{[7] [8]}

The school was the 23rd-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. ^[9] The school had been ranked 32nd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 29th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. ^[10] The magazine ranked the school 19th in 2008 out of 316 schools. ^[11]

Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 69th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 8 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (92.9%) and language arts literacy (97.3%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA). ^[12]

In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post , the school was ranked 18th in New Jersey and 708th nationwide. ^[13]

In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 183rd in the nation among participating public high schools and 12th overall (sixth of non-magnet schools) in New Jersey. ^[14] The school was ranked 197th in the nation and 15th in New Jersey on the list of "America's Best High Schools 2012" prepared by The Daily Beast / Newsweek , with rankings based primarily on graduation rate, matriculation rate for college and number of Advanced Placement / International Baccalaureate courses taken per student, with lesser factors based on average scores on the SAT / ACT, average AP/IB scores and the number of AP/IB courses available to students. ^[15]

The school's student-run radio station is WWPH 107.9 FM, based in Princeton Junction. ^[16]

Debate League

Since the school's opening in 1999, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North's Debate League is a top competitor in regional debate tournaments and competitions, including Princeton Moot Court, New Jersey Mock Trial, and the Colonial Valley Conference. In the 2016–17 school year, High School North's Mock Trial was ranked second in Middlesex County, ending the season with a 3–1 record. They also ranked first place in the CVC Policy Debate division. Prior in 2011, High School North also won the Spring Moot Court tournament at Princeton University and since then has had its members regularly rank among the top competitors.

Fed Challenge

North's Fed Challenge team was the New York Federal Reserve District Champion in 2007, 2010, and 2014. In 2015, 2016 and 2017 the team advanced to the Finals and placed 2nd. ^[17]

Science Olympiad

North advanced to the Science Olympiad national tournament after winning the New Jersey state competition 5 times, in 2008, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2023 and placed 9th, 16th, 11th, 8th and 15th respectively. They also went to nationals in 2024 after New Jersey received a 2nd bid for the national competition. ^{[18] [19] [20] [21] [22]} North also qualified for the 2020 national tournament, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ^[23]

Distinguished teachers

In 2009, Timothy Cornell was selected as a winner of the 2009 Edyth May Sliffe Award for distinguished high school mathematics teaching, presented by the Mathematical Association of America, one of 22 teachers throughout high schools in the United States and Canada to be selected for the award. ^[24]

Athletics

The West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North Knights ^[3] participate in the Colonial Valley Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Mercer, Middlesex and Monmouth counties, and operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. ^[25] With 1,084 students in grades 10 to 12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2022-23 school year as South, Group 4 for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,060 to 5,049 students in that grade range. ^[26] The co-op football team competes in the Capitol Division of the 94-team West Jersey Football League superconference ^{[27] [28]} After suspending its football program, the district received approval from the NJSIAA to establish a co-operative North / South football team starting in the 2018-19 school year ^[29] that was classified by the NJSIAA as Group V South for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 1,333 to 2,324 students. ^[30]

The school participates in joint cooperative ice hockey and football teams with West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South as the host school / lead agency. These co-op programs operate under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year. ^{[31] [32]}

With a decline in the number of student athletes playing football at WW-P South that would be inadequate for the school to field a team of its own, the district attempted to combine the teams from the two schools to have them operate as a single co-operative football team for the 2017–18 school year based at South HS. Given that the size of the schools is larger than the threshold established by the state for co-op programs (North is classified as Group III and South as Group IV, based on the size of the enrollment of each school), the proposal was rejected by the West Jersey Football League and by the Leagues and Conferences Committee of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, before an appeal of the decision was rejected by the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education. ^[33] In August 2017, the district announced that WW-P North would cancel its program. The members of the canceled program will be eligible to play for the North junior varsity football team, but will not be able to play for the South team. ^[34] The West Windsor- Plainsboro High School South team and West Windsor Plainsboro High School North team merged for the 2018 season to create the WW-P football team. This combined football team was able to field a varsity, junior varsity and freshmen team for the 2018 and 2019 season.

In 2007, the boys' soccer team won the Central Jersey Group III state championship with a 3-0 win over Red Bank Regional High School in the tournament final. ^[35] The boys soccer team, under the direction of coach Trevor Warner, repeated as Central Jersey Group III Champions when they beat Wall Township in the sectional final, finishing the season with a 19-2 record, the best in school history. In 2008, they defeated Wall High School by a score of 2-1, becoming the first team from the Colonial Valley Conference to win back-to-back sectional finals. ^[36]

In 2008, the Ultimate Frisbee club team (a sport not officially recognized by the school) finished 2nd in the UPA NJ High School state championships while also winning the Spirit Award for best sportsmanship. In 2012, the team placed 2nd again. ^[37]

The boys track team won the indoor relay championship in Group III in 2009 (as co-champion) and 2020. The girls team was co-champion in 2012. ^[38]

The girls fencing team was the sabre team champion in 2014. ^[39] That same year, the team won the District II championship and the Santelli Tournament.

The boys track team won the Group III spring / outdoor track state championship in 2017. ^[40]

Boys cross country

The North boys' cross country team is led by coach Brian Gould. The team won the Group III state championship in the four consecutive years from 2007 to 2010. ^[41]

In 2007, the Knights won the CVC Championship, Mercer County Championship, Central Jersey Group III Championship, Group III state championship, and finished 5th at the New Jersey Meet of Champions. ^[42]

In 2008, the Knights came through with the then-greatest cross-country season in state history. The North harriers took 1st at the Shore Coaches Invite, posting the fastest team average of the day; finished 5th at the Manhattan Eastern States Championship; won the CVC championship; won their second straight Mercer County championship; won their 2nd straight Central Jersey Group III Championship; a 2nd straight Group III state championship; the team's first-ever Meet of Champions title, over Don Bosco Preparatory High School team, and set a Holmdel Park course record average; the team's first-ever NXN Northeast Regional championship. That win propelled them to a berth in the Nike Cross-Country National Championships (NXN), where they finished 5th, which was the best a New Jersey team had ever done until that time. ^[43]

In 2009, the team followed up the successful 2008 campaign, and the graduation of four top runners, by finishing 3rd in the New Jersey Meet of Champions and 4th at Nike Nationals Northeast. Preceding these championship races, the team finished 1st at Manhattan College Invitational, 3rd at Shore Coaches Invitational, 1st at Briarwood Invitational and finished the season undefeated once again (14–0). The Knights also took their 3rd straight CVC, Mercer County, Central Jersey Group III, and Group III state championships. The team had won 55 consecutive dual meets. ^[44]

In 2010, the boys cross-country team finished 3rd at Shore Coaches (Championship Race); 9th at Eastern States Championship; won its 4th consecutive NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III Sectional Championship; won its 4th straight NJSIAA Group 3 Championship; 5th place at the New Jersey Meet of Champions; and 4th place at the Nike Cross Northeast Regional team. WW-P North became just the 5th program in state history to finish top-5 at the Meet of Champions four years in a row (Haddonfield, Christian Brothers Academy, Don Bosco, and Westfield were the other teams).

Administration

The school's principal is Lamont Thomas. His administration team includes two assistant principals. ^[45]

Notable alumni

See also: Category:West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North alumni

• David Jordan Bachner (1991–2009), co-captain of the West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North baseball team whose sudden death led to the creation of a charitable foundation in his name. ^[46]
• Andrew Bynum (born 1987), basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers, who attended the school during his freshman year. ^[47]
• Matt Lalli (born 1986), professional lacrosse player for the San Francisco Dragons. ^[48]
• Mariam Nazarian (born 1983), concert pianist and producer, who made her Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 16. ^[49]
• Taktin Oey (born 1986), composer. ^[50]
• Dharun Ravi (born 1992), Rutgers student who was tried and convicted in 2012 of invasion of privacy, hindering apprehension, witness tampering, and bias intimidation in the Tyler Clementi case. ^[51]
• Rebecca Soni (born 1987), won a gold medal in 200m breaststroke and a silver medal in the 100m breaststroke at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. ^[52]

See also

• New Jersey portal
• Schools portal

• West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
• List of high schools in New Jersey

References

1. Russo, Christopher (June 30, 2017). "West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District" (PDF). p. 10. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
2. School data for West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 1, 2024.
3. West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
4. Home Page, The Knightly News. Accessed March 30, 2017.
5. Carr, Sean P. "Schools: Growing districts herald computer era", Home News Tribune , September 2, 1997. Accessed December 31, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "About 525 West Windsor-Plainsboro freshmen will be the lone students when the district's 90-acre Millstone River campus on Grovers Mill Road in Plainsboro opens tomorrow. While the $30 million school was still under construction in October, voters approved a $59.7 million referendum question that included $13 million to expand it to a 1,750-student capacity. Over four years, the campus will be transformed into a full-fledged school, equal to the main Princeton Junction campus in West Windsor."
6. U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized in 2006, United States Department of Education. Accessed April 16, 2007
7. "CIBA cited as one of the best by Education Department", Journal Inquirer , November 16, 2006. "The Blue Ribbon award is given only to schools that reach the top 10 percent of their state's testing scores over several years or show significant gains in student achievement. It is considered the highest honor a school can achieve."
8. "Viers Mill School Wins Blue Ribbon; School Scored High on Statewide Test", The Washington Post . September 29, 2005 "For their accomplishments, all three schools this month earned the status of Blue Ribbon School, the highest honor the U.S. Education Department can bestow upon a school."
9. Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly , September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
10. Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly , August 16, 2012. Accessed September 7, 2012.
11. Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly , August 16, 2010. Accessed February 1, 2011.
12. New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2010-2011, Schooldigger.com. Accessed February 26, 2012.
13. Mathews, Jay. "The High School Challenge 2011: West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North", The Washington Post . Accessed July 28, 2011.
14. Streib, Lauren. "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast , May 6, 2013. Accessed May 8, 2013.
15. Staff. "America's Best High Schools 2012", The Daily Beast / Newsweek , May 20, 2012. Accessed May 22, 2012.
16. 107.9-FM, WWPH. Accessed January 2, 2011. "107.9-FM, WWPH, Princeton Junction Home of the Pirate and the Knight....The student radio station for West Windsor--Plainsboro High Schools North and South."
17. St. Joseph High School Wins 2010 National Fed Challenge!, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Accessed July 28, 2011. "On May 18, a team of six students from Saint Joseph's High School in South Bend, Indiana, representing the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's Seventh District, took on teams representing several other Fed Districts and won the High School Fed Challenge competition national championship held in Washington D.C. Other participants in the finals were second-place winner West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North, from Plainsboro New Jersey (New York District)..."
18. "Overall_C08.pdf" (PDF). Science Olympiad. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
19. "FinalCombinedResults15.pdf" (PDF). Science Olympiad. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
20. "2016_FInal_Results_Div_C.PDF" (PDF). Science Olympiad. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
21. "2018DivCFinalResultsbyRank.pdf" (PDF). Science Olympiad. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
22. "Final_SONT_23_Division_C_Results_by_Rank.pdf" (PDF). Science Olympiad. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
23. "State Finals Tournament". New Jersey Science Olympiad. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
24. The Edyth May Sliffe Awards For Distinguished High School Mathematics Teaching, University of Minnesota Duluth. Accessed July 28, 2011.
25. League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
26. NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
27. West Windsor-Plainsboro South Pirates, West Jersey Football League. Accessed May 1, 2023.
28. Home Page, West Jersey Football League. Accessed May 1, 2023. "The WJFL is a 94-school super conference that stretches from Princeton to Wildwood encompassing schools from the Colonial Valley Conference, the Burlington County Scholastic League, the Olympic Conference, the Tri-County Conference, the Colonial Conference, and the Cape Atlantic League. The WJFL is made up of sixteen divisions with divisional alignments based on school size, geography and a strength-of-program component."
29. Evans, Bill; and Minnick, Kevin. "Team-by-team look at South Jersey football's 93-team mega conference: The WJFL", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. August 29, 2018, updated May 14, 2019. Accessed September 7, 2020. "West Windsor-Plainsboro Pirates... West Windsor-Plainsboro was denied a co-op last season but awarded one this year, though can't participate in the postseason."
30. NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
31. NJSIAA Fall Cooperative Sports Programs, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 1, 2020.
32. NJSIAA Winter Cooperative Sports Programs, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 1, 2020.
33. Miller, Sean. "State denies West Windsor-Plainsboro's appeal in football merger", The Times , July 12, 2017. Accessed September 25, 2017. "The New Jersey Commissioner of Education's office on Wednesday rejected an appeal by the West Windsor-Plainsboro school district for emergent action in its plan to merge the North and South High School football teams.... The district wanted the two school football teams, WW-P North and WW-P South, to combine into a 'co-op' for the upcoming 2017 season. But the NJSIAA denied the action, because North is classified as a Group 3 school and South as a Group 4."
34. Kahn, Lea. "West Windsor-Plainsboro North varsity football season canceled", CentralJersey.com, August 10, 2017. Accessed September 25, 2017. "West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North will not field a varsity football team this season because of a lack of players, according to West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District officials. The varsity football program at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South will continue but players from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North will not be allowed to play for that team."
35. 2007 Boys Soccer - Central, Group III, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 14, 2007.
36. 2008 Boys Soccer - Central, Group III, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed January 2, 2011.
37. 2008 UPA NJ High School Championships, Ultimate Players Association. Accessed August 1, 2008.
38. History of the NJSIAA Indoor Relay Championships, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 1, 2020.
39. NJSIAA History of Girls Fencing Championships, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 1, 2020.
40. NJSIAA Boys Spring Track Summary of Group Titles, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
41. NJSIAA Boys Cross Country State Group Champions, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
42. Wood, Charlie. "Raider boys cross country places fifth at statesMiles Schoedler qualifies for Meet of Champions with an eighth place finish", Ocean City Sentinel, November 19, 2009. Accessed April 22, 2012. "The Rosa twins, Jim and Joe, juniors at West Windsor-Plainsboro North, had little trouble defeating defending state champ Tyler Udland in last Saturday's Group III state championship meet, and Ocean City junior Miles Schoedler, the Group III sectional champ, finished eighth overall to qualify for this Saturday's Meet of Champions, also at Holmdel.... Overall West Windsor-Plainsboro North won the team championship for the third year in a row with 64 points."
43. Lubin, Gail. "Boys cross country Team of the Year: WWPN's season was among best in state history", The Star-Ledger , December 12, 2008. Accessed April 22, 2012.
44. Bloom, Marc. "In New Jersey Twins, a New Generation of Runner", The New York Times , November 20, 2009. Accessed April 22, 2012.
45. Home Page, West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District. Accessed August 15, 2023.
46. Berger, Debby. "Tearful smiles bid teen farewell", NJ.com, August 16, 2009. Accessed October 2, 2017. "Many wore blue and white ribbons, for the high school colors, etched with the number '16,' David's baseball jersey number at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North."
47. Daly, Pete. "Bye-Bynum" Archived December 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine , The Trentonian , June 29, 2005. Accessed November 11, 2007. "Andrew Bynum, a former West Windsor North High School player and powerhouse center at St. Joseph High in Metuchen, became the youngest player ever drafted in the National Basketball Association last night."
48. Matt Lalli Archived March 6, 2016, at the Wayback Machine , San Francisco Dragons. Accessed August 24, 2008.
49. Miller, Lynn. "Portrait of a Concert Pianist: Plainsboro to Carnegie Hall", Community News, January 23, 2009. Accessed October 2, 2017. "Her dream to be a concert pianist began early and by the time she was eight, she knew she would be a professional musician. Mariam Nazarian, 25, of Plainsboro was born into a family of musicians in Armenia.... Nazarian, who entered High School North with classmates in the school's first graduating class (2001), attended classes as a freshman and sophomore."
50. Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship: 2004 Winners, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed September 23, 2007.
51. DiIonno, Mark. "Exclusive interview with Dharun Ravi: 'I'm very sorry about Tyler'", the Star-Ledger , March 22,2 012. Accessed June 5, 2015. "'My high school (West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North) has all kinds of kids,' said Ravi, dressed in blue jeans and a black pullover."
52. USC Signs 7 Prep Stars: High school standouts from around the country ink with the Trojans.", CSTV , November 15, 2004. Accessed August 10, 2008.

External links

• West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North website
• West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District
• School Performance Report for West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North , New Jersey Department of Education
• Data for the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, National Center for Education Statistics