Highland Park High School

Highland Park High School (HPHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from the borough of Highland Park, in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, as the lone secondary school of the Highland Park Public Schools system. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1940. As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 488 students and 44.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.1:1. There were 123 students (25.2% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 19 (3.9% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch. History The original school building was designed by architect Alexander Merchant. Opened in September 1926, the school was named Franklin Junior High School, serving students through tenth grade and constructed at a cost of $360,000 (equivalent to $ million in ). After appeals from residents, grades 11 and 12 were added and the building was renamed "Highland Park High School" in 1937, before which students from Highland Park completed their secondary school education at either New Brunswick High School or Metuchen High School. Later additions to the facility include the Science and Math wing in 1958; the English wing in 1968; the library and arts wing in the 1980s; and the cafeteria and a connected middle school (grades 6, 7, and 8) in 1996. Student population peaked in the 1960s, with a population in the 900s.