Sayreville War Memorial High School


Sayreville War Memorial High School is a four-year public high school located in the Parlin section of Sayreville, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone secondary school of the Sayreville Public Schools district. The school is home to the Sayreville Bombers, who are best known for their varsity football and track program. Sayreville's colors are blue and grey. The name "War Memorial" comes from the World War II veterans who reside in the borough. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools since 1946.
As of the 2017-18 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,739 students and 128.2 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 13.6:1. There were 471 students eligible for free lunch and 141 eligible for reduced-cost lunch.

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 163rd-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 241st in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 232nd in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 213th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 217th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.
Schooldigger.com ranked the school 222nd 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.

Athletics

The Sayreville War Memorial High School Bombers compete in the Greater Middlesex Conference, made up of public and private high schools located in the greater Middlesex County area and operating under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Sports consist of tennis, bowling, softball, field hockey, soccer, basketball, swimming, football, cross country, track and field, baseball and wrestling. With 1,248 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015–16 school year as Central Jersey, Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,082 to 2,349 students in that grade range. The football team was reclassified into Central Jersey, Group V for the 2013 and 2014 seasons, and then into North Jersey II, Group IV starting with the 2015 season.

Championships

The boys' basketball team won the Group I state championship in 1951 and 1952.
The boys' track team won the Group IV state indoor relay championship in 1968.
The field hockey team won the Central Jersey Group IV state sectional championship in 1975.
The football team won the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III state sectional championship in 1997, the Central Jersey Group IV title in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and the North Jersey II Group IV title in 2016. Prior to the creation of the playoff system, the team had unbeaten seasons in 1941, 1946 and 1949.
The boys' bowling team won the Group III state championship in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2013, and 2016; the six group title are the second most of any school in the state. The team won the Tournament of Champions in 2008, 2009 and 2013, and 2016, making the program the only one to win the ToC more than twice.
The wrestling team won the North II Group III state sectional championship in 2008.

Hazing

On October 6, 2014, in the wake of a criminal investigation into allegations of repeated serious hazing among members of the football team, Sayreville's school superintendent Richard Labbe, himself a former assistant football coach at SWMHS, announced the cancellation of the remainder of the high school's 2014 football season for its varsity, junior varsity and freshman teams. The school suspended seven students after county prosecutors charged them with crimes including sexual assault of their younger teammates, in a case that received widespread media coverage and "focused national attention on hazing". The athletic director resigned; the head coach was transferred to an elementary school; and the seven students remained suspended for the duration of the 2014–2015 school year. By August 2015, six of them were sentenced to probation and community service for lesser crimes ranging from hazing to simple assault. The seventh criminal case was settled in February 2016. According to junior varsity players, "the same thing had been done to them by upperclassmen when they were freshmen. It's been going on for a long time."

Clubs and activities

Core members of the school's administration are: