Passaic Valley Regional High School - Passaic Board Of Education

Passaic Valley Regional High School is the name of both a public school district and regional high school for students from Little Falls, Totowa and Woodland Park, three communities in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States.

As of the 2013-14 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,368 students and 102.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a studentâ€"teacher ratio of 13.3:1. There were 315 students (23.0% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 84 (6.1% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.

The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "FG", the fourth highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.

The Passaic Valley Board of Education consists of nine members, with three members from each municipality. The board generally meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month during the school year and once a month during the summer.

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 225th-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 202nd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 144th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 170th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 166th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.

Schooldigger.com ranked the school 192nd out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 4 positions from the 2010 ranking) 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 (HSPA), mathematics (79.1%) and language arts literacy (92.3%).

Extracurricular activities

Passaic Valley participates in "24 Hours Around the World" in which students teleconference with other nations for 24 hours.

Passaic Valley's Drama Department is an award-winning program that has won awards in and out of state, and are also a major part of the North Jersey Metro Cappies, a student critic program that helps open kids up to the world of theater journalism. They run a summer program where kids in grades 9-12 all around the NJ/NY area can come together and work on an outstanding show with other kids in the area.

Athletics

The Passaic Valley Regional High School Hornets compete in the Independence Division of the Big North Conference, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. With 1,057 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2014-15 school year as North II, Group III for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 758 to 1,061 students in that grade range.

In the 2009-10 school year, the school competed in the North Jersey Tri-County Conference, which was established on an interim basis to facilitate the realignment. Prior to the realignment, the school had participated in the Skyline Division of the Northern Hills Conference. Passaic Valley's school colors are green and white. The school mascot, the Hornet, was derived by vote of the first class from the Green Hornet radio series popular in the 1940s.

The boys' cross country team won the state group championships in 1961 (Group III) and 1962 (Group IV). The school's Jesse Mizzone was the individual champion in Group III in both 2000 and 2001.

In 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, the girls' varsity gymnastics team won the county championships, led by Coach Jenai Agosta. No other team in the 24 years of county championships has won the championship in four consecutive seasons.

Alexis (Missy) Arena continues to hold the gymnastics all time state record for All Around (AA) scoring a 37.95 in 2009. Arena's score breaks the previous mark of 37.325 by Passaic Valley's own Jackie Friscia in 2006. The meet dates to 1986. Arena also holds the 2010 New Jersey State beam Champion title with a 9.475, she placed third on vault with a 9.575 and fifth in the all-around with a 37.25.

On March 6, 2007, the boys' basketball team won the North I, Group III state championship, defeating Wayne Valley High School by 60-48, in a game played at Passaic County Technical Institute. The win was their first ever sectional championship in school history and came in Head Coach Rob Carcich's third season. The Hornets also advanced to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association state championship Game held at the RAC at Rutgers University. The boys' basketball team returned to the sectional final in 2011, this time losing to Teaneck High School on March 8, 2011. They returned to the Sectional final again in 2008 losing once again to Teaneck who was ranked #3 in the state at the time. The team has a record of 150-85 in the past nine seasons.

On April 28, 2007, George Abyad won the Penn Relays discus championship at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

In 2006, the football team beat Wayne Valley High School during the regular season and again in the playoffs, making it to the semi-finals before losing to defending North 1 Group 3 champions, Wayne Hills High School in the semifinal round. Under first year coach Al Capello, the Hornets made it to the Group 3 Section 2 state championship at Giants Stadium on December 4, 2009, losing to West Morris Mendham High School by a score of 28-19. The football team won the North I Group IV state championships in 1975, 1979, 1980 and 1986.

In 2005 and 2006, the girls' field hockey team won back-to-back county championships led by Coach Cheryl Grande, before repeating as county champion in 2009, defeating Wayne Hills in the final game in all three championship seasons.

On February 25, 2008, the boys' ice hockey team coached by Gary Steele captured their first Nardello Cup, 3-2 against River Dell Regional High School.

In the 2009 spring season, senior Gerardo Valenzuela of the boys' tennis team won the County Championship at 2nd Singles.

On May 28, 2007, the varsity baseball team, led by Head Coach John Mazzo, won the Passaic County Championship with a 4-2 victory over Passaic County Technical Institute, the team's third title and their first since repeating in 1998 and 1999. In 2010, they advanced to the Passaic County final, losing to Wayne Valley High School by a score of 5-4.

In Fall 2009, the Marching Band won 2nd Place against six other bands in the Group 2A division at the Yamaha Cup competition that was held in Giants Stadium. In Fall 2011, the Marching Band won 1st place against four other bands in the Group 3A division at Verona High School. In Fall 2016, The Passaic Valley Marching Band placed 4th at the USBands State Championship for group 2A.

In the 2009-2010 season the Hornets Wrestling Team captured the state sectional championship by beating Roxbury in the finals. Then they captured the District 13 Tournament championship. In 2012 again they were able to get the District 13 Tournament championship.

Administration

Core members of the district's / school's administration are:

• Dr. JoAnn Cardillo, Superintendent
• Colin Monahan, Business Administrator / Board Secretary
• Ray Rotella - Principal
• Jared Fowler - Vice Principal, Humanities
• Patricia Lynch - Vice Principal, STEM
• David Settembre - Vice Principal, Discipline
• Rob Carcich - Supervisor of Athletics, Phys Ed and Health
• Joseph Benvenuti - Supervisor of Student Activities
• Mary Lou Bednarski - Supervisor of Humanities
• Michael Carlucci - Supervisor of STEM
• Chet Parlavecchio - Dean Of Students

Notable alumni

• David Blaine (born 1973, class of 1991), magician.
• Frank DeCaro (born 1962), class of 1980, writer, entertainer, and satellite radio talk show host; co-wrote and hosted Out at the Movies segments on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
• D. C. Fontana (born 1939, class of 1957), television script writer and story editor, best known for her work on the original Star Trek franchise and several western television series.
• Kyle Gurrieri (born 1998), professional soccer player with the Wilmington Hammerheads FC of the United Soccer League who transferred out of Passaic Valley after his freshman year.
• Bobby Marks (born 1972/73), former National Basketball Association assistant general manager of the Brooklyn Nets.
• Ralph J. Marra Jr. (born 1953), Acting United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey since December 2008.

References

External links

• Passaic Valley Regional High School
• Passaic Valley Regional High School's 2014â€"15 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
• Data for Passaic Valley Regional High School, National Center for Education Statistics