Rahway High School


Rahway High School is a four-year public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Rahway, in Union County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Rahway Public Schools. The high school's present location was built in 1941. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools since 1931.
As of the 2018–19 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,066 students and 107.1 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 10.0:1. There were 502 students eligible for free lunch and 124 eligible for reduced-cost lunch.

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 215th-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. The school had been ranked 191st in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 261st in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 249th in 2008 out of 316 schools. Schooldigger.com ranked the school as 316th out of 376 public high schools statewide in its 2010 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.

Advanced Placement courses

Rahway High School offers Advanced Placement courses in AP English Language and Composition, AP English Literature and Composition, AP United States History, AP United States Government and Politics, AP Comparative Government & Politics, AP Calculus, AP Statistics, AP Chemistry, AP Biology, and AP Physics.

Advanced Placement Incentive Program (APIP)

Beginning in 2007 with support from Rahway alumnus and former Merck & Co. CEO Dr. P. Roy Vagelos, President of The Marianthi Foundation, the new Advanced Placement Incentive Program was introduced. The APIP Program involves naming teachers as AP Teacher, Pre-AP Placement Teacher, Lead Teacher, and AP Advisor, providing financial incentives for students and teachers based upon AP enrollment and AP exam results.

Vagelos Scholars Program

Rahway High School seniors who are admitted to and attend a U.S. News & World Report ranked Top 25 National University or Liberal Arts College will receive a scholarship from the Marianthi Foundation. The Vagelos Scholarship is funded by retired Merck and Co. CEO Dr. P. Roy Vagelos.

Athletics

The Rahway High School Indians compete in the Union County Interscholastic Athletic Conference, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. With 820 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as North II, Group III for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 778 to 1,062 students in that grade range. Prior to the NJSIAA's 2009 realignment, the school had participated in the Mountain Valley Conference, which included public and private high schools in Essex County, Somerset County and Union County.
The boys' basketball team won the Group III state championship in 1930, defeating Weehawken High School in the tournament final.
The boys' track team won the indoor relay state championships in Group IV in 1970, and in Group III in 1972 and 1981, and in Group II in 2007 and 2009. The five state championships are the seventh-most of any public high school in the state.
The football team won the North II Group III state sectional championships in 1978, 1979 and 1984.
The boys' wrestling team won the North II Group II state sectional championships in 1989, 1999 and 2001.

Extracurricular activities

Allegarooter, the Rahway High School yearbook received statewide recognition for earning the 2007 and 2008 Garden State Scholastic Press Association Yearbook 1st Place Gold Award in Content and Design.
Rahway High School also has the Marine Corps JROTC Drill Team, the Devil Pups. This team competes in the National High School Drill Team Championships, held annually at Daytona Beach, Florida. In May 2008, the Devil Pups earned the title of Overall National Champions at NHSDTC. In addition to the overall title, the team also brought home several more first- and second-place trophies in each section at the event: Inspection, Regulation, Color Guard, and Exhibition. In the area of Armed Dual Exhibition, the team claimed both first and second place in that event, a feat never before seen at NHSDTC.
The Devil Pups were featured in the Disney Channel made-for cable movie Cadet Kelly after earning a National Runner-Up trophy in Platoon Exhibition the previous year.
Rahway High School has been involved in U.S. FIRST Robotics since 2003 and has won their first ever District event during the 2014-2015 FRC season.

Fine and performing arts

Rahway High School's fine & performing arts department serves more than half of the school population, who are involved in at least one aspect of the department's offerings. Fine Art, Drama, Chorus, Madrigals, Piano, Music Theory, Musical Theater, Dance, Band, and Orchestra curriculum coursework are available to the student body.
The Musical Theater program has been largely recognized by the Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star program as one of the finest in the state, with awards won in 2003 for "Outstanding Achievement in Choreography" for the production of Crazy for You, and in 2004 for "Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design" for the production of 42nd Street along with a final nomination for Outstanding Overall Production that year, Several final nominations were awarded in 2006 and 2007 for the productions of Me and My Girl and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat respectively.
The Paper Mill Playhouse nominated Rahway High School's Spring 2009 production of The Will Rogers Follies in 13 categories, and was awarded four Rising Star Awards for "Outstanding Costuming Achievement", "Outstanding Achievement by a Teacher or an Outside Director", "Outstanding Achievement by a Chorus", and "Outstanding Overall Production".
In 2011, Rahway High School was awarded the Educational Impact Award by the Paper Mill Playhouse for its production of West Side Story.

Marching Indians

In 2003 and 2005, the Rahway High School Marching Band took first place in the USSBA state championship. In 2008, they finished in second place.

Administration

The school' principal is John Farinella His administration team includes three vice principals.

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of Rahway High School include: