Starting in the 2013–14 school year, the school had operated as a combined junior-senior high school.[6] In 2016–17, the middle school was split off to serve grades seven and eight, with plans to move the middle school to the A.J. Demarest building.[7]
As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 607 students and 48.3 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.6:1. There were 276 students (45.5% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 51 (8.4% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[3]
History
The current Hoboken High School was constructed with a capacity of 1,500 students and opened in September 1962 for grades 10-12.[1] Prior to that time, A. J. Demarest High School, dedicated in the autumn of 1911, served as the city's high school.[8] When the current high school was built, Demarest became a junior high school serving grades 7-9, and it is currently the site of the city's pre-K 3 and pre-K 4 program.[citation needed] Hoboken High School serves grades 9 - 12.[2]
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 274th-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 298th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 187th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[10] The magazine ranked the school 139th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[11] The school was ranked 260th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. The September 2008 issue of New Jersey Monthly magazine noted Hoboken High School as the second most improved high school in the state, having jumped from 260 in 2006 to 139 in 2008.[12] Schooldigger.com ranked the school 327th out of 367 public high schools statewide in its 2009-10 rankings which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the language arts literacy and mathematics components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).[13]
In the early 2011 Rachel Grygiel, a Social Studies teacher at HHS, was honored as an "exceptional" secondary school teacher by Princeton University. An alumnus of Georgetown University and St. Peter's Graduate School, Grygiel was recognized along with three other teachers throughout the entire state.[14]
Student body
As for the 2012–13 school year, the student body of the school was 63.7% Hispanic, 20.4% Black, 14% White and 1.9% Asian.[15]
Academics
As of the 2011–12 school year, the school began a transition from the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program to a program based on Advanced Placement courses.[16]
Students are also able to select from a variety of classes that would not otherwise be available or to complete advanced coursework beyond what is offered at the high school through the Virtual High School Collaborative.[17]
Extracurricular activities
Athletics
The Hoboken High School Redwings[4] compete in the Hudson County Interscholastic League, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Hudson County, operating under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[18] With 328 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group I for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 75 to 476 students in that grade range.[19] The football team competes in the National 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.[20][21] The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group II North for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 484 to 683 students.[22]
The school participates as the host school / lead agency in a joint girls lacrosse team with Weehawken High School. In turn, Weehawken is the host school for a joint boys lacrosse team. These co-op programs operate under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year.[23]
Hoboken High School offers over 24 athletic programs with over 30% student participation. Interscholastic sports offered at the school include:[4]
In 1924, the boys' basketball team won the Group IV (then known as Class A) state championship, defeating Trenton Central High School by a score of 24–14 in the tournament final in front of 3,000 fans at the Jersey City Armory.[24][25]
The football team won the NJSIAA state sectional championships in North I Group III in 1980, 1994–1996, 1998 and 1999, and won the sectional title in North II Group I in 2005, 2012 and 2013.[26] The team won the program's first state title in 1980 with a 10–0 win in the North I Group III championship game played at Giants Stadium against Ramsey High School.[27] In 1994, the team used a strong running game to win the North I Group III title with a 21–0 win against Ramsey in the sectional final.[28][29] The 1995 team finished the season 11-0 after winning the North I Group III state sectional title by defeating Sparta High School by a score of 37–6 in the championship game.[30] The 1996 team finished the season 11-0 and was ranked 10th in the nation by USA Today after winning their third consecutive title with a 33–12 win in the finals against Passaic Valley Regional High School.[31][32] The 1998 football team won the state sectional title over Wayne Hills High School with a 14–7 win in the tournament final at Giants Stadium; the win was the team's fourth title in five years. From 1995 to 1998, the team went 50–1, with team's only loss in that four-year span coming in 1997 in overtime against Ramapo High School in the sectional championship game.[33] The 2005 football team won the North II, Group I state sectional championship with a 21–6 win over Verona High School.[34] The football team won back-to-back North II, Group I state sectional titles, beating Roselle Park High School 39–9 in 2012[35] and edging Malcolm X Shabazz High School 13–7 in 2013.[36]
The softball team won the North II, Group I sectional title in 2007, edging Secaucus High School by a score of 8–7 in 14 innings in the tournament final.[38][39] The baseball team matched the feat, earning the North II, Group I title with a 5–4 win against Lyndhurst High School.[40][41]
Under the leadership of theater director Paula O'Haus, students in the program earned numerous Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards, STANj Governor's Awards and were profiled by The New York Times.[43]
Harvard Model Congress
Hoboken High School participates in Harvard Model Congress, an annual four-day congressional simulation conference in which students, assuming the role of specific U.S. congressmen and other government, debate and enact legislation, in order to gain the experience of how government works.[44][45]
Julio Fernández (born 1954, class of 1972), guitarist and composer best known as the current and longtime guitarist for the jazz-fusion band Spyro Gyra.[53]
^ abPalasciano, Amanda. "Flashback to 1962 Hoboken High School celebrates 50 years", The Hudson Reporter, September 30, 2012. Accessed August 11, 2017. "It's the fall of 1962.... Hoboken High School is replacing the old Demarest High School on Garden Street (which Frank Sinatra attended).... Inspired by John F. Kennedy’s inaugural call to service (hence the name of the school’s athletic stadium), Hoboken High School was erected in order to give the students a location that was modern and new. Demarest uniforms were still used for the HHS baseball team that year, so as not to waste them. To accommodate for a baby boom, Hoboken High School was equipped for 1,500 students, and that was only for three grades – 10th, 11th, and 12th."
^Baer, Marilyn. "Hoboken will welcome new middle school principal; High school lockdown explained; Board of Ed approves calendar", The Hudson Reporter, March 26, 2017. Accessed February 22, 2018. "Currently, the middle school is adjoining the high school and both are overseen by Hoboken High School Principal Robin Piccapietra. But the district has announced plans to separate the middle school from the high school next fall.... The middle school will occupy the top two floors of the AJ Demarest building located next to Church Square Park on Fourth and Garden streets."
^Fox, Ron. "Hoboken stops Ramsey cold", The Record, December 4, 1994. Accessed December 10, 2020, via Newspapers.com. "Casey took flight Saturday against a Ramsey team that usually closes down all runways. A Rams defense that had not allowed a team 100 yards in a game this year was punctured by Casey's 136 yards and two touchdowns in 18 carries as Hoboken romped to a 21-0 win and the State Group 3, Section 1 championship."
^Schwartz, Paul. "Hoboken gets going in second half", The Record, December 3, 1995. Accessed January 12, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "For most of the first half of its Group 3, Section 1 football final, Sparta had undefeated Hoboken looking like anything but the State's second-ranked team..... Before the cheering died on the Sparta side of the field, Hoboken's Ravon Anderson was racing 83 yards for a touchdown on first down after the kickoff and the Redwings were off to a 37-6 victory and a second straight sectional crown."
^Haley, John. "Franklin 'special' in win", Asbury Park Press, December 9, 1996. Accessed December 1, 2020, via Newspapers.com. "Hoboken 33, Passaic Valley 12: Junior Keon Walker carried 19 times for 164 yards and three touchdowns Sunday to lead Hoboken past Passaic Valley 33-12 to win its third straight North Jersey Section 1, Group III championship at Giants Stadium."
^Glickson, Grant "High School Football; Second Straight Title for Morristown". The New York Times, December 6, 1998. Accessed December 29, 2011. "Finally, Hoboken (12-0), appearing in its fifth straight state final, outclassed Wayne Hills (11-1) by 14-7.... With last night's triumph, the Red Wings, ranked fifth in the state, secured their fourth title in five years and their 50th victory in 51 attempts. Hoboken won its first title in 1980.... The triumph appeared to help ease the pain of Hoboken's overtime loss last season to Ramapo, the only team to beat the Red Wings in four seasons."
^Hague, Jim. "State Champs!!! Hoboken High wins NJSIAA North 2, Group I crown, defeating Roselle Park, 39-9", The Hudson Reporter, December 16, 2012. Accessed December 20, 2016. "The Red Wings, who once won five NJSIAA state crowns in a span of six years in the 1990s, claimed their second title in this millennium by defeating Roselle Park in impressive fashion, defeating Roselle Park, 39-9, to capture the North Jersey Section 2, Group I title last Friday night at MetLife Stadium. It was the first state title for Hoboken since 2005 and the eighth in the school's history, setting a new record for state championships by a Hudson County school."
^Bernstein, Jason. "Football playoffs: Hoboken beats Shabazz, 13-7, on last-minute TD for North Jersey, Section 2, Group 1 title", The Star-Ledger, December 7, 2013. Accessed December 20, 2016. "The bruising, junior fullback got that shot on the next play and his 1-yard touchdown run with 13 seconds left gave Hoboken a 13-7 victory over Shabazz in the NJSIAA/Atlantic Health North Jersey, Section 2, Group 1 final Saturday at Kean University in Union. It was the second straight title for Hoboken (9-3), which was missing six starters to injury."
^Mantzouranis, Tom "Hoboken 8 (14) Secaucus 7 NJSIAA Softball: Wings win it in 14th". The Jersey Journal. (June 1, 2007). "Yet inside the park, where third-seeded Hoboken was playing No. 4 Secaucus for the North 2, Group I championship, the only person who went home was the Red Wings' Ashley Classen. As Paige Peguero lilted a ball over second base, Classen broke for home, putting an end to a riveting 8-7 Hoboken victory that stretched 14 innings."
^Mantzouranis, Tom (June 2, 2007). "Hoboken 5 - Lyndhurst 4: NJSIAA North 2, Group I Finak. Sweet sweep for Hoboken". The Jersey Journal. "Just minutes after leading the Red Wings to a 5-4 victory over Lyndhurst in the North 2, Group I championship, a game in which Inhulsen overcame a bizarre and trying start to dominate the Lyndhurst lineup, the bleached-blonde hurler offered an opinion that many at the game would vehemently disagree with."
^Schools, Hoboken Public Schools. Accessed February 13, 2023.
^Brennan, John "All-Star Efforts Carry Nets". The Record. (January 14, 1995). Accessed August 12, 2008. "Derrick Alston, a second-round draft choice by the 76ers out of Duquesne, is a Hoboken High School graduate."
^Staff. "Jersey City native Robert Ayers, an ex-Bronco, signs with Giants", The Jersey Journal, April 3, 2014. Accessed July 15, 2019. "Ayers attended Hoboken High School as a freshman, the same season the Redwings won a state title after beating Wayne Hills at the old Giants Stadium. He transferred to Marlboro County High School in South Carolina the year after that."
^Schmidt, Margaret. "Former Hoboken Mayor Steve Cappiello dies", The Jersey Journal, April 19, 2013. Accessed July 15, 2019. "Born and raised in Hoboken, he attended local schools, graduating from the old Demarest High School, and served in the U.S. Navy."
^Concert In Sinatra Park: Julio Fernandez And Friends, City of Hoboken. Accessed July 15, 2019. "He was six years old when his family left Cuba and came to Hoboken. Fernandez picked up the guitar at 8 and by the time he was a student at Hoboken High School, he was playing in different bands around town."
^Carlevale, Joseph William. Americans of Italian Descent in New Jersey, p. 290. North Jersey Press, 1950. Accessed August 5, 2019. "Gallo, Thomas A. - Businessman. Born, Hoboken, Dec. 5. 1914.... Graduated from Demarest High School and attended Seth Boyden School of Business Administration for two years."
^"Nat Hickey Former Cage Ace Back On Hardwood", Pottsville Republican, December 29, 1944. Accessed August 2, 2022,via Newspapers.com. "Forty-year-old Nat Hickey, one-time star of the New York Celtics basketball team and now a railroad brakeman at Johnstown. Pa., is back on the floor again, this time as a spot man for the Pittsburgh Raiders of the National Professional Basketball League. Hickey entered pro basketball in 1923 with the Holly Majors of Hoboken, N. J., after playing for Hoboken High School."
^Bill Kunkel, Baseball Almanac. Accessed July 15, 2019. "High School: Demarest High School (Hoboken, NJ)"
^"Janet Paula Lupo", The Jersey Journal, November 18, 2017. Accessed February 13, 2023. "Janet Paula Lupo, 67 of Hoboken passed away peacefully at the Jersey City Medical Center on Monday, November 13th.... After graduating from Hoboken High School, Janet attended Parisian Beauty Academy where she specialized in cosmetology."
^Newville, Todd. John Romano, Society for American Baseball Research. Accessed July 15, 2019. "Romano attended Demarest High School in Hoboken, where, he says, 'My (older) brother Anthony set a record at Demarest by hitting .631 and then I broke it by hitting something like .681 my senior year. I can’t remember exactly, but I had good numbers.'"
^Schiro, Scout. "The Homes He Lived In: Hoboken", WNYC, October 31, 2015. Accessed July 15, 2019. "Sinatra attended David E. Rue Junior High, where he was popular with other students due to his impressions of film and radio personalities, much to the dismay of his teachers. By the time he enrolled in A. J. Demarest High School in 1930, he was already longing to be a singer. Much to his parents dislike, he dropped out of school to pursue his dreams."
