Woodbury Junior-Senior High School


Woodbury Junior-Senior High School is a comprehensive community middle school and public high school that serves students in sixth through twelfth grades from Woodbury, in Gloucester County, New Jersey, United States, as part of the Woodbury Public Schools system. The class of 2003 was the school's 100th graduating class, making Woodbury High School one of the oldest secondary schools in South Jersey and the oldest in its athletic conference.
As of the 2018–19 school year, the school had an enrollment of 680 students and 65.3 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 10.4:1. There were 391 students eligible for free lunch and 41 eligible for reduced-cost lunch.

History

Following a devastating fire in 1910 that burned the original high school down, it was rebuilt in 1911 with then-governor and future president, Woodrow Wilson, laying the cornerstone for the new Woodbury High School. The new school building opened in 1912.
Students from National Park, Wenonah, Westville and Woodbury Heights had attended the school until the Gateway Regional High School opened in September 1964.

Awards, recognition and rankings

In 2004, the school was selected as a NASA Explorer School, one of 50 in the entire country to work hand-in-hand with NASA on improving technology and science education within the school. In 2007, NASA selected Woodbury to experience a 'Weightless Wonder' flight on a C-9 aircraft so that they could test their proposed experiment examining the performance-related effects of reduced gravity on simple robotic designs.
The school was the 187th-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 192nd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 199th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 203rd in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 111th in the magazine's September 2006 issue. In 2006, Woodbury was the #1 ranked high school in Gloucester County by New Jersey Monthly and Philadelphia Magazine.

Athletics

Woodbury High School Thundering Herd compete as the oldest member school in the Colonial Conference, which is composed of small schools whose enrollments generally do not exceed between 850 students for grades 9–12, and operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. With 363 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as South Jersey, Group I for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 78 to 478 students in that grade range. The football team competes in the Memorial Division of the 95-team West Jersey Football League superconference and was classified by the NJSIAA as South Jersey Group I for football for 2017-18.
The school participates in cooperative programs for girls' and boys' cross country, boys' and girls' swimming and for wrestling with Gateway Regional High School as the host school / lead agency, under an agreement that expires at the end of the 2016-17 school year.
The boys' tennis team won the 2005 South, Group I state sectional championship with a 3-2 win over Schalick High School. In 2007, the girls' track & field team won the NJSIAA Group I state championship, and the boys' track & field team came in second in the state, losing by 1 point to Metuchen. The annual Thanksgiving Day rivalry football game is against Gateway High School.

Sports offered

Boys – soccer, football, cross country, basketball, indoor track, swimming, track & field, baseball, wrestling
Girls – soccer, cross country, field hockey, cheerleading, basketball, indoor track, swimming, track & field, softball

1952–53: Year of Champions

Woodbury High School had one of the most historic school years for a sports program in United States history in 1952–53. Every single athletic team, boys or girls, either tied for or outright won titles. At no other high school in the country has this type of success ever occurred, before or since. All sports teams combined produced an overall record of 75–13–1 with 10 championships. At the time, Woodbury was classified as a Group III regional high school and was much bigger than its small Group I classification today. The championships won during 1952–53 are:
The boys' soccer team has earned the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's for seven consecutive seasons. To qualify for the award, the team must have a minimum grade point average of 3.25 for the entire academic year. The team GPA is determined by adding every player's GPA, then dividing by the number of players. Woodbury is one of only two boys' soccer teams in all of New Jersey to be recognized in each of the past seven years. For the 2006–07 award, Woodbury was one of only 61 schools in the nation to receive this honor for both its boys' and girls' teams.

Snapping 'the streak'

Woodbury High School is responsible for halting the longest winning streak in New Jersey football history. Longtime rival Paulsboro High School had recorded 63 consecutive wins over the span of six years, but on September 26, 1998, Paulsboro lost to Woodbury, 14–13. The 63 wins still holds as the record to this day.

Administration

The school's principal is Dr. Jason Vivadelli. His administration team includes three assistant principals.

Popular culture

Super Bowl connection

When former Thundering Herd head football coach Jim Boyd stepped down after the 2000 season, then-assistant coach Zack Valentine was promoted to become the newest head coach. Valentine is a Super Bowl-winning linebacker who played for the National Football League's Pittsburgh Steelers from 1979–1981 as a member of the "Steel Curtain" defense. He began his career in the Woodbury school system in 1995 as a substitute teacher, and then in 1998 became a full-time physical education teacher. Valentine also played for the Philadelphia Eagles briefly before an injury prematurely ended his career.

1987 Philadelphia Eagles training camp

The high school's football stadium was used by the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles in 1987 as the home of their training camp. The school district had given permission to the Eagles to utilize their field. All-time NFL greats Seth Joyner and Reggie White were among those on the 1987 roster who practiced at Woodbury High School.

Filming location

In October 2000, an independent mockumentary movie, , filmed scenes in front of the high school's main entrance for a presidential candidate's speech. Local residents and students were used as the rallying crowd who supported the candidate.

Notable people

Alumni

Extracurricular activities that are offered at Woodbury Junior-Senior High School include, but are not limited to, the , Junior & Senior High School Yearbooks, National Honor Society, Theater Club, Video Tape/A.V. Club, White & Gold newsletter, Choir, Orchestra Band, Marching Band, Jazz Band, Key Club, Interact Club, Bowling Club, Ladybug Club, Math and Science Leagues, Academic Bowl, French Club, Outdoor Club, peer mentoring program, Boys/Girls State, Governor's School, Gay and Lesbian Alliance, and a Student Council.