South Plainfield High School
South Plainfield High School is a four-year, co-ed comprehensive community public high school located in South Plainfield in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades and operating as the sole secondary school in the South Plainfield Public Schools. The school offers numerous clubs, activities, and athletics.
As of the 2017–18 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,029 students and 76.1 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 13.5:1. There were 211 students eligible for free lunch and 88 eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
Awards, recognition and rankings
In 1996, the New Jersey Department of Education recognized the school with the "Best Practices Award" for its Respect All Races Everywhere Program in which administrators, staff, and students work together to make cultural and ethnic diversity an instructional theme.The school was the 157th-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 227th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 148th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 158th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 160th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school 183rd 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. And in 2019, U.S. News ranked the school #96 in New Jersey high schools.
Extracurricular activities
Music
Three music teachers are currently employed at South Plainfield High School: William Haughwout, Donna Kregler, and Diane Lee. As of 2018, William Haughwout is the permanent band director, succeeding Ryan Dore.Ensembles
- Marching Band
- Concert Band
- Wind Ensemble
- Jazz Band
- Lab Jazz Band
- Orchestra
- Chamber Orchestra
- Concert Choir
- Chamber Choir
- Pit orchestra
Model United Nations / Model Congress
- At the Rutgers Model Congress 2000 conference, the school earned the Best Small Delegation Award, with four students earning individual awards.
- At the Boston Invitational Model UN 2015 conference, the school earned the Outstanding Small Delegation Award, with five delegates winning individual awards.
- At the Rutgers Model Congress 2015 conference, the school earned the Best Small Delegation Award, with several students winning individual awards.
- At the Philadelphia Model UN 2016 conference, the school earned the Best Small Delegation Award, with 8 out of 17 students winning individual awards.
- At the Rutgers Model Congress 2016 conference, the school earned the Outstanding Small Delegation Award, with two delegates winning individual awards.
Robotics
- At the Mid Atlantic District event 'Bridgewater-Raritan' in 2015, Tiger Tech earned both Rookie All Star and Highest Rookie Seed awards.
- At the Mid Atlantic District event 'North Brunswick' in 2015, Tiger Tech was an Alliance Captain as well as earning the Highest Rookie Seed award.
- At the Mid Atlantic District Championship in 2015, Tiger Tech was awarded the Rookie Inspiration award.
- At the Mid Atlantic District event 'Mount Olive' in 2016, Tiger Tech claimed a first-place victory as well as the Judges' award.
- At the Mid Atlantic District event 'Bridgewater-Raritan', Tiger Tech earned a first-place victory for the second time in its 2016 season.
- The team went on in 2016 to compete at the St. Louis FRC World Championship and earned a ranking of 31st out of 75 in the Archimedes Division.
Athletics
Wrestling
The wrestling team has won Group III state titles in 2001, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2012 and 2013 and won Group II state titles in 2000 and 2007. The eight group titles won by the program are tied for the sixth most of all teams in the state. In 2007, the wrestling team took Central Group II with a 48-16 win over Raritan. The team then moved on to win a Group II state title that year with a 58-6 semifinal win against Point Boro and a 42-9 in the finals against Hackettstown. In 2008, the wrestling team lost to David Brearley High School in the North 2 Group II sectional final.In 2013, Anthony Ashnault became the first wrestler in state history to win four consecutive state championships while being undefeated in his high school wrestling career, finishing with an overall record of 170-0 during his four years at South Plainfield.
Baseball
In 2015, the baseball team won the NJSIAA Group III state baseball title, the program's first state championship, defeating Northern Burlington County Regional High School by a score of 8-4 in the tournament final.Field hockey
The team won the North II Group III state sectional title in 2004.Softball
The softball team won the Central Jersey state championship in 1975, won the Group II title in 2000, and won the Group III titles in both 2005 and 2017.The 2005 softball team captured a North II Group III title with a 2-0 victory over Voorhees High School in the sectional final. They then defeated North I, Group III sectional champion Sparta High School to advance to the Group III final, where they defeated Northern Burlington in the final to capture the Group III state championship. The team had won state titles in Group II in both 1989 and 2000.
The team won the Group III state championship in 2017, defeating Steinert High School by a score of 3-2 in the tournament final on a walk-off run scored on a ground out. The team advanced to the inaugural New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association softball Tournament of Champions as the fourth seed, losing to fifth-seeded Non-Public B champion Immaculate Conception High School by a score of 4-3 in the first round.
Basketball
The boys' basketball team won the Group III state championship in 1964, defeating Summit High School in the tournament final.In 2007, the girls' basketball team was the Group III runner-up, falling to Willingboro 53-46 in the tournament final.
Soccer
In 2014, the boys soccer team captured a NJSIAA Group III state championship title, the program's first, with a 4-3 victory over Princeton High School in the tournament final.Administration
Members of high school administration are:- Robert Diehl, Interim Principal
- Tamekia Grier-DuPiche, Assistant Principal
- John Foscolo, Assistant Principal
- Robert Richkus, Assistant Principal
Notable alumni
- Anthony Ashnault freestyle wrestler.
- Patrick J. Diegnan, politician who has represented the 18th Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate since 2016.
- Dennis Madalone, stunt-coordinator-turned-musician best known for his work on three of the Star Trek spin-offs — ', ' and .