Constructed at a cost of $1,300,000, the school opened on September 10, 1962, with a dedication ceremony conducted on November 5 of that year. The districts first superintendent was Henry Schiable, who served in the position until 1969.
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 147th-ranked publichigh 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. The school had been ranked 101st in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 121st in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 176th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 159th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 190th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the two components of the High School Proficiency Assessment, mathematics and language arts literacy.
Athletics
The Henry Hudson Regional High School Admirals compete in the Shore Conference, an athletic conference made up of private and public high schools centered at the Northern Jersey Shore. All schools in this conference are located within Monmouth County and Ocean County, which operates under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. With 140 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as Central Jersey, Group I for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 12 to 467 students in that grade range. The school operates as the host school / lead agency for joint boys' and girls' cross country, boys' and girls' tennis and boys' and girls' indoor track program with Keyport High School, under an agreement that expires at the end of the 2018-18 school year; Keyport is the host school / lead agency for joint programs with Henry Hudson in boys' and girls' volleyball, football, girls' soccer and wrestling, all expiring at the end of the -20 school year.
The district's board of education, with nine members, sets policy and oversees the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration. As a Type II school district, the board's trustees are elected directly by voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with three seats up for election each year held as part of the November general election. Seats on the board are allocated based on the population of the constituent municipalities, with five seats assigned to Highlands and four to Atlantic Highlands.