Hoboken High School (HHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, located in Hoboken, in Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the Hoboken Public Schools. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1928.
Starting in the 2013–14 school year, the school had operated as a combined junior-senior high school. In 2016–17, the middle school was split off to serve grades seven and eight, with plans to move the middle school to the A.J. Demarest building.
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 652 students and 46.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.0:1. There were 340 students (52.1% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and none eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
Contents
History
The current Hoboken High School was constructed with a capacity of 1,500 students and opened in September 1962 for grades 10-12. Prior to that time, A. J. Demarest High School, dedicated in the autumn of 1911, served as the city's high school. When the current high school was built, Demarest became a junior high school serving grades 7-9, and it is currently the site of the city's pre-K 3 and pre-K 4 program. Hoboken High School serves grades 9 - 12.
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 274th-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 298th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 187th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 139th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 260th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. The September 2008 issue of New Jersey Monthly magazine noted Hoboken High School as the second most improved high school in the state, having jumped from 260 in 2006 to 139 in 2008. Schooldigger.com ranked the school 327th out of 367 public high schools statewide in its 2009-10 rankings which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the language arts literacy and mathematics components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).
Rachel Grygiel, a Social Studies teacher at HHS, was honored by Princeton University in 2011 as an "exceptional" secondary school teacher, as one of three other teachers honored throughout the entire state.
Student body
As for the 2012–13 school year, the student body of the school was 63.7% Hispanic, 20.4% Black, 14% White and 1.9% Asian.
Academics
As of the 2011–12 school year, the school began a transition from the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program to a program based on Advanced Placement courses.
Students are also able to select from a variety of classes that would not otherwise be available or to complete advanced coursework beyond what is offered at the high school through the Virtual High School Collaborative.
Extracurricular activities
Athletics
The Hoboken High School Redwings compete in the Hudson County Interscholastic League, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Hudson County, operating under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). With 328 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group I for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 75 to 476 students in that grade range. The football team competes in the National Red 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 II North for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 484 to 683 students.
The school participates as the host school / lead agency in a joint girls lacrosse team with Weehawken High School. In turn, Weehawken is the host school for a joint boys lacrosse team. These co-op programs operate under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year.
Hoboken High School offers over 24 athletic programs with over 30% student participation. Interscholastic sports offered at the school include:
Fall:
Football: Varsity, Junior Varsity, Freshman
Boys' Soccer: Varsity, Junior Varsity
Girls' Soccer: Varsity, Junior Varsity
Girls' Tennis: Varsity, Junior Varsity
Girls' Volleyball: Varsity, Junior Varsity
Boys' and Girls' Cross Country Track: Varsity
Cheerleading: Varsity
Strutters: Varsity
Winter:
Theater and drama
Hoboken High School's Musical Theatre and Drama program began in 1997 with the school's production of The Wiz (which was later revived by the high school in 2007) and has since produced popular shows such as Fiddler On The Roof, Mean Girls, School of Rock, Once On This Island, West Side Story, Aida and Hairspray.
Under the leadership of theater director Paula O'Haus, students in the program earned numerous Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards, STANj Governor's Awards and were profiled by The New York Times.
Harvard Model Congress
Hoboken High School participates in Harvard Model Congress, an annual four-day congressional simulation conference in which students, assuming the role of specific U.S. congressmen and other government, debate and enact legislation, in order to gain the experience of how government works.
Clubs
African American Club
Agape Club
Computer Club
Drama Club
Emergency Response Team
Environmental Science Club
French Club
Gay Straight Alliance Club
Harvard Model Congress
Hispanic Culture Club
Italian Club
CREATE literary magazine
Math Club
Model United Nations
National Honor Society
Rebel Club
Science Fair
School Newspaper
Outdoor/Sierra Club
Student Council
Yearbook
Senior Class Club
Junior Class Club
Sophomore Class Club
Freshman Class Club
Administration
The school's principal is Robin Piccapietra. Her core administration team includes the two vice principals.
Notable alumni
Note that alumni include those students who attended A. J. Demarest High School from 1911 to 1962.
Derrick Alston (born 1972), professional basketball player
Robert Ayers (born 1985), defensive end who has played in the NFL for the Denver Broncos, New York Giants and Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Steve Cappiello (1923–2013), police officer and politician who served from 1973 until 1985 as the Mayor of Hoboken
Annette Chaparro (born 1967), politician who has represented the 33rd Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly since 2016
Ronald Dario (1937–2004), politician who represented the 33rd Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1984 to 1986
Julio Fernández (born 1954, class of 1972), guitarist and composer best known as the current and longtime guitarist for the jazz-fusion band Spyro Gyra
Thomas Gallo (1914–1994), politician who served 11 years in the New Jersey General Assembly, including five full terms representing the 33rd Legislative District
Nat Hickey (1902–1979), oldest person to play an NBA game
Bill Kunkel (1936–1985), former MLB relief pitcher who went on to become a major league umpire from 1968 to 1984
Janet Lupo (1950–2017), model who was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for its November 1975 issue
Johnny Romano (1934–2019), former MLB catcher who was selected four times as an All Star