Perth Amboy High School (or PAHS) is a four-year comprehensive community public high school which serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Perth Amboy in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Perth Amboy Public Schools. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools since 1928.
As of the 2014-15 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,043 students and 205.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 9.9:1. There were 1,234 students (60.4% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 92 (4.5% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
The current Perth Amboy High School was built in 1971, to replace an earlier building that opened in 1881. The building was originally built to accommodate 1,600 students, resulting in overcrowding with nearly 50% students above the design capacity attending the school. Perth Amboy High School is the only public high school in the city other than the Perth Amboy campus of the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical High Schools. The school mascot is a panther.
Video Perth Amboy High School
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 322nd-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 320th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 318th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 270th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 274th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.
Maps Perth Amboy High School
Demographics
PAHS is 91% Hispanic, 5.9% Black, 2.5% White, and 0.4% Asian. Most of the students belong to working class families. 68% of the students participate in the free or reduced price lunch program. 71% of the school speaks Spanish in their homes while another 1% speaks another language that isn't English at home, mainly Portuguese, Polish, Vietnamese, or Cantonese. There are also limited English proficient (LEP) students, who compose 15% of the school. Limited English Proficient students cannot speak, read, or write in English and are placed in "bilingual" classes.
The average class size is 22 students, excluding special education. The school's ratio of students to computers is 12 to 1 meanwhile the state average is 4 to 1. The school day is longer than the state average. The instructional time is 7 hours whereas the state average is 5 hours and 52 minutes.
Student performance
On the Language Arts section of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA), 58% scored proficient and 39% scored partial. On the Math section of the test, 45% scored proficient and 48% scored partial. The average SAT score is 849 out of 1600. However, these results are offset by the high number of bilingual students resulting in lower than average test scores in the school itself. The Advanced Placement Program (AP) participation is 11%. The average attendance rate is 90%. As of the 2004-05 school year, PAHS had a suspension rate of 44%. 91% of PAHS seniors graduated. 33% of the school graduated via the SRA process and 12% graduated through the Limited English Proficiency SRA process. Roughly 54% of the graduating seniors go on to two-year colleges, particularly Middlesex County College and another 29% of the graduating seniors go on to four year colleges.
Extracurricular activities
Extracurricular activities include Gear Up and School Based Youth Services Program. Gear Up is sponsored by Kean University and the Perth Amboy Board of Education. The School Based Youth Services Program is designed to concern the social issues and health needs of students, and is sponsored by the Jewish Renaissance Foundation and the Perth Amboy Board of Education.
There are also many school clubs which students can propose or start themselves, and run if they find an advisor. The school also has a Concert and Marching Band, which plays many parades throughout the year and during football season.
Athletics
The Perth Amboy High School Panthers compete in the Greater Middlesex Conference, which includes public and private high schools located in the greater Middlesex County area and operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). With 1,610 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as North II, Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,114 to 4,800 students in that grade range.
Feeder patterns
All Perth Amboy Public Schools elementary and middle schools feed into PAHS.
Administration
Core members of the school's administration are:
- Gene Mosley, Principal
- Dr. Wachera Brown, Vice Principal - Grade 11 & S.T.E.M. Program
- Sylvia Leon, Vice Principal - 9th Grade Academy East Campus Bilingual & University Honors
- Meghan Reeves, Vice Principal - Grade 10 & VPAM Program
- Roberto Reyes, Vice Principal - Grade 12 & Liberal Arts
- Brian Rivera, Vice Principal - 9th Grade Academy South Campus General Education & Special Services
Notable alumni
Notable alumni of Perth Amboy High School include:
- Alan Cheuse (born 1940, class of 1957), writer and critic.
- Wilda Diaz (born 1964), elected Mayor of Perth Amboy in May 2008.
- Chad Kinch (1958-1994), professional basketball player.
- Steve Mizerak (1944-2006, class of 1962), champion pool player.
- Brian Taylor (born 1951), former NBA basketball player.
- Arthur J. Sills (1917-1982, class of 1934), New Jersey Attorney General from 1962 to 1970.
- Bruce Taylor (born 1948), former cornerback who played for the San Francisco 49ers.
- David T. Wilentz (1894-1988, class of 1912), New Jersey Attorney General from 1934 to 1944.
- Robert Wilentz (1927-1996), Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1979 to 1996, making him the longest-serving Chief Justice since the Supreme Court became New Jersey's highest court in 1948.
References
External links
- Perth Amboy High School
- Perth Amboy Public Schools
- Perth Amboy Public Schools's 2015-16 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
- School Data for the Perth Amboy Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics
- Perth Amboy High School Alumni Web Site
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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