Columbia High School

School history

Beginnings

Since the days of the Revolution, a one-room stone schoolhouse had stood on a grassy area known as the Common, located close to the present intersection of South Orange Avenue and Academy Street in South Orange. In 1814, this building blocked the construction of a new toll highway from Newark to Morristown. The 73 "Proprietors and Associates" of the school met on August 3 of that year and resolved to erect a new school building near the site of the old one, naming seven trustees to thereafter oversee the education of local children. The resolution reflected "the desire of the meeting that the said school should in the future have the name of Columbian School of South Orange."

The new schoolhouse was a two-story wood structure, topped by a thin steeple and a lofty weather vane. It was completed before the fall term of 1815. The trustees decided "That the price of tuition in this school be fixed at $1.75 per quarter for spelling, reading and writing; for Arithmetic in addition to the above branches the sum of $0.25 cts and for Grammar or Geography the further sum of twenty-five cents." The cost of firewood was to be "divided equally among the scholars." On May 10, 1816, the trustees adopted a seal for the school in the form of "a spread eagle standing on a globe with the word Excelsior underneath in Roman Capitals."

In the early years, students at the Columbia School were not separated according to grade. All were subject to the same rules, among them the following adopted by the trustees on May 2, 1827:

"Every scholar must be made to name every silent letter in his spelling when he spells a word with one in and mention every figure which is placed over a letter and be taught to know their uses and for every mistake or omission in such letter or figure shall be considered the same as spelling a word wrong and subject to the same usage.

"Every scholar that spells a word wrong or omits a silent letter or figure shall step in the rear of the class and there stand until the class shall have spelled through, then those that have spelled right are to move up in a solid body and those who are in the rear to move down and take their places at the foot."

For decades, the school was supported by tuition payments. But gradually the State began to assume a share of the financial responsibility. In 1820, a law authorized townships to levy a tax to pay the tuition of poor students. By 1828, townships had the power to tax for general school purposes. The State itself began to contribute money in 1830, and in 1846 every township was required to raise as much money each year for schools as the State itself contributed. The last tuition assessment for residents occurred in 1861, and thereafter the Columbia School was entirely supported by public taxation.

Post-Civil War

After the Civil War, improvements on the railroad contributed to a decided growth of population in the old Township of South Orange. The general character of the citizenry underwent a significant change and residents known as "commuters" began to emerge in numbers. In 1867, a state law required that Columbia become a graded school. By 1877, the old two-story wooden building erected in 1815 was found to be woefully inadequate for the growing community. One resident complained that "in very cold weather, with stoves at red heat, it is impossible to raise the temperature in the room above 55 degrees, and in such a place are sown the seeds of suffering, disease and death."

The trustees responded in 1879 by resolving to erect a new brick building, of two stories, to accommodate between 220 and 240 pupils. The new structure was opened in 1880. The final cost of construction was $17,094.49. The building later became the northeast wing of the old South Orange Junior High School, demolished when the present middle school was built.

The separate existence of the high school began in 1885, when the trustees decided "that in order to increase the efficiency of the Columbia School a new class of a higher grade shall be formed at the commencement of the coming term to be taught by the Principal." Lower grades continued to be housed at Columbia. The trustees' minutes of May 31, 1888, reflect the principal's request "that a diploma be voted to Miss Etta A. Kilburn" and that, "on motion, a diploma was voted to Miss Kilburn, the first graduate of the high school.

20th century

The close of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th brought significant changes in high school curriculum and school management. The Board of Education had by now replaced the old board of trustees. In 1890, "manual training" was offered in school. By 1891, sciences had been added to the course of study. A tradition of excellence was beginning to evolve, and in 1892 two Columbia graduates were admitted to Cornell University. Musical enrichment was added in 1894 with the hiring of a singing teacher from New York City. Early in the 1900s the value of athletics was recognized and encouraged at Columbia by the organization of boys' and girls' teams. The student council was formed in 1912, and The Columbian student newspaper followed in 1915.

There was a reaction to these changes. Complaints arose over so-called "fads and frills"-inessentials said to be leading to the neglect of reading, writing, spelling and arithmetic. New York papers read by local commuters campaigned for a return to the efficiency of the "little old red schoolhouse." But the changes were here to stay.

At the same time, pupil behavior was becoming less inhibited, much to the distress of the adult population. Henry W. Foster, superintendent of the district from 1900 to 1927, described the conditions in 1913: "Long before prohibition was adopted, venturesome boys were surreptitiously now and then bringing liquor to dances to add to the excitement. There was a decided reversion to animalistic excitement. Musical rhythm from the wilds of barbarism stirred the pulse. The dance abandoned the restraint and refinement of waltz and polka; Bunny Hug, Turkey Trot, Fox Trot, and Shimmey began to reign."

The Board of Education reacted by banning all but "polite dances" on school premises. However, the proscribed behavior persisted, and the Board then stopped all school dances. That continued until it became apparent that students were going to outside dances anyway and the efforts at control were abandoned.

Many students and teachers were enlisted during World War I, which had a significant effect on life at Columbia. Pupils in assembly regularly delivered patriotic "four-minute speeches." Every room in the school had a full complement of war posters.

Epidemics raged during the same period of time. Polio spread around the country in 1916 and, at Columbia, resulted in the deaths of one teacher and several children. In 1918, the global influenza epidemic closed all of the schools in the district for three weeks and one teacher died.

Awards, recognition and ranking

For the 1992–93 school year, Columbia High School received the National Blue Ribbon Award of Excellence from the United States Department of Education, the highest honor that an American school can achieve.

Columbia was ranked the 36th best high school in New Jersey in 2012 by U.S. News & World Report.

In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 43rd in New Jersey and 1,358th nationwide. In Newsweek's May 22, 2007, issue, ranking the country's top high schools, Columbia High School was listed in 1192nd place, the 39th-highest ranked school in New Jersey. Currently they are ranked 53rd within New Jersey.

The school was the 96th-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 47th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 75th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 89th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was also ranked 79th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school 150th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (an increase of 29 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (82.5%) and language arts literacy (94.6%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).

The Columbia High School Student Council was named an "NJASC Honor School" for the 3rd consecutive year in January 2008. It also won a "Top 10 Projects" award for their event, 'School in Action Night'. They won the same honor the year before for their 'How to Start a Gay-Straight Alliance' presentation.

Campus

The campus was listed by Architectural Digest on its 2017 list of the "Most Beautiful Public High School in Every State in America".

Main Building

The 1927 James Betelle designed building includes a six story clock tower with an observatory on top. The clock was originally mechanical; tunnels for the counterweights, which were wound up the tower weekly, can still be seen on the façade. It originally also housed the first radio station licensed to a high school in the United States. Major additions were made in 1958 that are now known as C wing, with the original structure referred to as A wing. B and D wings were completed in 1971.

Computer Room

In 1968, CHS added a computer room and started teaching programming classes. The first machine was an IBM 1620, replaced by 1970 with an IBM 1130 The last punchcard computer, an IBM 1401, was retired in 1982.

Television Studio

A television studio was added in 1983 and used for classes and as the broadcast center for South Orange and Maplewood's public access television stations (the two towns, while sharing a school district, were each assigned a public access channel by their respective cable television providers). The joint station was named SOMAtv in 1996. SOMAtv halted operations April 30, 2024.

Theatre Renovations

The school contains a theatre with proscenium stage, Skinner pipe organ, and a balcony with a projection booth. The seats were renovated and the stage resurfaced (removing the footlights) in a 1984 renovation. A $1.4 million major renovation was completed in 2014, replacing the original 1927 lighting control panel and seats, adding a sound control station on the balcony in front of the projection booth, repairing the pipe organ, and replacing the ceiling lighting.

Auto Shop

The school's auto repair shop was disassembled in the 1990s for construction of a black box theatre. As of 2010, this area had become a mixed-use area called The Loft.

Natatorium

The high school's natatorium, a 1920s swimming pool facility with overlooking balcony, was closed in 2013 as the school district faced high costs for maintenance. In 2025 the renovated space was unveiled as a new student commons that maintained the original Guastavino-vaulted ceiling

Extracurricular activities

In 1956 (tied with Cranford High School), 1982 and again in 1990 (tied with Cherry Hill High School East), the school's chess team was the New Jersey high school team champion, winning the Father Casimir J. Finley Trophy.

The FIRST Tech Challenge robotics team 4102, founded in 2011, placed first in the New Jersey FTC state championships during its rookie year in 2011 and again in 2013, qualifying for the FIRST Championship both times and placing as a finalist both years. The team returned to the World Championship in 2017.

Columbia High School has won multiple Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards for their musical program. Bethany Pettigrew and Tricia Benn won for Best Director in 2015 for Ragtime as well as for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography and Staging for the 2022 production of Newsies. "The Silly Girls" won Outstanding Featured Ensemble Group in 2016 for Beauty and The Beast. Louis J. Medrano won for Outstanding Scenic Achievement in 2022 for Newsies

Columbia High School has a series of clubs. The Columbian is a club where students write a newspaper for students and staff of Columbia High School that includes topics from in the school itself, but also includes current events from around the world. The paper was recognized by the American Scholastic Press Association in 2014–2019 with first place in its Scholastic Newspaper Awards. In addition, the Columbia Politics Club debates present and past political issues.

Columbia High School was the first school in the nation to observe Earth Day.

Athletics

The Columbia High School Cougars compete in the Super Essex Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Essex County and was established following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). Prior to the NJSIAA's 2010 realignment, the school had competed as part of the Iron Hills Conference, which included public and private high schools in Essex and Union counties. Prior to 1972, the school competed in New Jersey's Big Ten Conference. With 1,514 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,060 to 5,049 students in that grade range. The football team competes in the Freedom White division of the North Jersey Super Football Conference, which includes 112 schools competing in 20 divisions, making it the nation's biggest football-only high school sports league. The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group V North for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 1,317 to 5,409 students.

The school participates with Bloomfield High School in a joint ice hockey team in which Nutley High School is the host school / lead agency. The co-op program operates under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year.

Ultimate Frisbee was invented at Columbia High School in 1968. The ultimate team has won the state championship 11 times in the tournament's 13-year history. The team has won the championship every year since 2001 giving it a 12-year winning streak. The team has attended the Paideia cup tournament in Atlanta, Georgia, a nationally competitive tournament, every year since its inception in 2006, as well as the Amherst Invitational in Massachusetts. The men's team was recognized in town hall meetings and Board of Education meetings after winning the 2008 High school eastern championship. The women's team has won the state championship every year that it has been contested, beginning in 2007. However, the team is not recognized as a sport by the school and does not receive funding by the district.

After the passage of Title IX, federal requirements called for more women's sports. As part of the school district's response, CHS soccer coach Eugene Chyzowych began coaching a new girls volleyball team in 1976. The team went on to win 247 consecutive regular season games from 1977 to 1988, being undefeated for more than 10 years, a state record at the time for any high school sporting team, and as of 2025 still the second longest winning streak in US high school girls volleyball history.

Athletic titles

Trailing by eight points in the final three minutes of the championship game at the Newark Armory, the 1925 boys basketball team came back to win the Class B (since recategorized as Group III) state title with a 24-21 victory against Princeton High School.

The boys swimming team won the Public state championship in 1942, 1949, 1955 and 1956, and won the Division A title in 1960.

The boys spring / outdoor track team won the Group IV state championship in 1948.

The boys cross-country team won the Group IV boys' title in 1960.

The boys' tennis team won the Group IV state championship in 1969, defeating Teaneck High School in the semifinals and Ridgewood High School 2-1 in the tournament final.

The boys' soccer team won the Group IV state championship in 1978 (defeating Brick Township High School in the finals), 1979 (vs. Neptune High School), 1989 (vs. East Brunswick High School) and 1998 (vs. Bridgewater-Raritan High School). The team was coached for 50 years by Gene Chyzowych, who had 757 career wins in his coaching career that ended in 2013, making him one of the most successful scholastic soccer coaches in the nation's history. The 2007 boys' soccer team won the North II, Group IV state sectional championship with a 1–0 win over Westfield High School in the tournament final.

The baseball team won the Greater Newark Tournament in 1978, 1979, 1986 and 1995. The program's four titles are tied for fifth-most in tournament history through 2019. The team won the 1995 Greater Newark Tournament title, defeating Belleville High School 1-0 in the finals.

The girls basketball team won the Group IV state title in 1979 (defeating Atlantic City High School in the tournament final), 1998 (vs. Piscataway High School) and 2001 (vs. Marlboro High School).

The boys' lacrosse team won the overall state championship in 1979 (defeating Montclair High School in the final game of the tournament) and 1982 (vs. West Morris Central High School). The 1979 team finished the season with a 17-0 record after winning the state title against defending-champion Montclair. The 1982 team won the state title with a 10-6 win against Summit in the championship game.

Controversy

In the mid-1970s the school district was sued for teaching Transcendental Meditation and its Science of Creative Intelligence course for credit. The U.S. District Court ruled in the case called, Malnak v. Yogi (1979), that TM was "religious in nature" and that its use in public schools was in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution which requires "separation of church and state."

In June 2000, writer Tamar Lewin of The New York Times wrote "Growing Up, Growing Apart", a lengthy feature highlighting how an ethnically diverse trio struggled to maintain friendships and cope with teen life at Columbia. The story trailed Aqeelah Mateen, an African-American Muslim, Kelly Regan, an Irish Catholic, and Johanna Perez-Fox, a Puerto Rican Jew; the group quickly became ambassadors for the school, and for their respective ethnic groups. The article wasn't controversial, per se, but directed national attention to the school district and to Columbia specifically.

In 2004, Columbia High School made national headlines when the administration amended a policy regarding religiously themed holiday songs putting more strict guidelines in place. Many people believed the new rules to be too strict. Radio personality Don Imus produced a song on his radio program entitled "Oh, Little Town of Maplewood", mocking the new rules of Columbia High School. The new guidelines were also mentioned on The O'Reilly Factor.

In the school year 2018–2019, 35% of the students were African American and 52% were White. Within this black-and-white composition are found a variety of ethnic backgrounds including Jamaican, Nigerian, Haitian, African-American, English, French, Jewish, Polish, Italian, and Irish. There has been much discussion regarding the Racial Academic Achievement Gap in the school district, and the tracking is often cited as the most glaring example of a racial disparity.

Columbia High School has also had many student-led walkouts. In late March 2006 hundreds of students walked out after tensions with the principal regarding censorship issues and racial comments. The students were calling for her resignation. The next year a new acting principal was instated and the following school year she became the official principal. On April 27, 2010, hundreds of students participated in a statewide walkout of high school students protesting the budget cuts put in place by Chris Christie. On January 20, 2017, in protest of the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, hundreds of CHS students participated in a school walk-out and marched to the Maplewood Town Hall building. In January 2026, there was a student-led walk out protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following the deaths of Renee Good, Keith Porter Jr., and many others, as well as the presence of ICE within South Orange and Maplewood. Headed by the Students For Justice club, students gathered outside the school and spoke out and protested against the actions of ICE.

Administration

The school's principal is Frank Sanchez, whose administrative team includes four assistant principals. Ann Bodnar, an assistant district superintendent, was named as interim principal in January 2024 after Frank Sanchez was placed on administrative leave. In March 2024, Sanchez was charged with second-degree assault and endangering the welfare of child, related to an incident that took place a year before with a school student; Sanchez pleaded not guilty. Ricardo Pedro was named in April 2024 as interim principal and served in the position through June; Bodnar returned to her position as an assistant superintendent. Sanchez was returned to his position after being acquitted.

Notable alumni

The school has a hall of fame listing many notable alumni. They include:

Paul Auster (born 1947, class of 1965), PEN Literary Award-winning author

Tom Auth (born 1968, class of 1986), rower who competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics and the 2000 Summer Olympics

Ahmed Best (born 1973, class of 1991), actor most widely known for playing Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars movie series

Mark Blum (born 1950, class of 1968), actor

Zach Braff (born 1975, class of 1993), actor, producer, writer, director; leading actor on the television series Scrubs

Julie Brill (born 1959, class of 1977), Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission from 2010 to 2016

Marques Brownlee (born 1993, class of 2011), video blogger, best known for his technology-based YouTube channel

Mark Bryant (born 1965, class of 1984), former NBA basketball player

Hazel Clark (born 1977, class of 1995), three time US Olympic runner and seven-time national champion

Peter S. Connor (1932–1966, class of 1950), Marine posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor

Matthew Cooper (born 1963, class of 1980), reporter for Time magazine; Political Editor for Time.com

Orrin Devinsky (born 1957, class of 1974), neurologist; director of the NYU Comprehensive Epilepsy Center

In popular culture

Lauryn Hill, for her 1998 release The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, was photographed in one of the school's bathrooms.

Garden State (2004): The school is both shown and referenced in this Zach Braff film, which was partly filmed in neighboring South Orange and Millburn.

Gracie (2007): Columbia, its varsity soccer team, and its marching band were featured in Gracie, a film loosely based on the lives of alumni Elisabeth Shue and Andrew Shue; the film was directed by Elisabeth Shue's husband, Davis Guggenheim, and produced by the Shues, who also acted in it.

A Good Person (2023): The film, written and directed by CHS alumnus Zach Braff includes scenes shot at Columbia's athletic fields, as well as the South Orange train station.