Middletown High School South

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Middletown High School South Middletown South
Established	1976
Type	Public high school
Principal	Mark Kelly
Students	1,450
Grades	9-12
Location	900 Nut Swamp Road Middletown Township, New Jersey USA
District	Middletown Township Public School District
Accreditation	Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
Colors	Navy and Silver
Mascot	Eagle
Yearbook	Aquiline
Newspaper	The Eagle Eye
Website	www.middletownk12.org/south

Middletown High School South is a four-year comprehensive public high school located within Middletown Township, New Jersey, and is part of the Middletown Township Public School District. The school serves 1,450 students from parts of Middletown Township. Other students from Middletown Township attend Middletown High School North.

1 Relationship to Middletown North
2 Awards and recognition
3 Athletics
4 Teacher strike
5 Drug testing
6 Administration
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Relationship to Middletown North

In the mid seventies, Middletown High School was considered overcrowded and construction on a new high school began. In 1976 the new school was opened as Middletown High School South, and the old school's name was appended with North. In general, the new school's population was to consist of students from the southern side of town. The town council, however, chose to send a small number of students from the areas north of High School North to the new High School South.

Today, the student body of South is comprised mainly of students from the districts of Lincroft, River Plaza, and Middletown, which lie on the southern end of town, as well as students from Navesink and Leonardo on the northern end of town. Students scheduled to attend one high school sometimes petition the district to attend the other (particularly to stay grouped with peers from the district's middle schools, whose geographical divisions are not the same as those for the high schools).

The two schools maintain a strong rivalry, particularly in sports. High School South's annual homecoming game, played on Thanksgiving Day, is always played against High School North.

[edit] Awards and recognition

Middletown High School South was the 85th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 316 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2006 cover story on the state's Top Public High Schools.^[1]

In June of 2006, Thomson Gale and the School Library Journal jointly awarded Middletown High School South's library the Giant Leap Award for "innovative and improved programs in service to youth; community outreach; and overall commitment to literacy and education."^[2]

[edit] Athletics

Middletown High School South competes in the Shore Conference is an athletic conference comprised of private and public high schools in Monmouth County and Ocean County. The league operates under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).

[edit] Teacher strike

Middletown South and the Middletown School District received national attention in the fall of 2001 when its teachers went on strike for the second time in three years. The strike disrupted classes for several days, and hundreds of teachers were jailed. After the strike, many members of the union leadership stepped down. There has not been a strike since 2001.

[edit] Drug testing

In October 2006, the Board of Education of the Middletown Township Public School District voted on a random drug testing procedure that would require all students in extracurricular activities or with a parking space at either High School to submit their name to a pool for random selection.^[3]