Shawnee High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as part of the Lenape Regional High School District. The district serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Evesham Township, Medford Lakes, Medford Township, Mount Laurel, Shamong Township, Southampton Township, Tabernacle Township and Woodland Township. The school serves students from Medford Lakes and Medford Township. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1975. Its current accreditation is valid through July 2031.
As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,418 students and 114.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.4:1. There were 64 students (4.5% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 31 (2.2% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
Contents
History
Plans for the school facility were announced in 1968 with an estimated cost of $3.5 million (equivalent to $32.4 million in 2025). The building was designed by architect Frederic P. Wiedersum Associates to accommodate 1,500 students and included 26 classrooms, a gym, a cafeteria, and a 600-seat auditorium. Shawnee High School opened its doors in 1970 as the second of the district's four high schools.
The opening of Seneca High School in September 2003 led to a decline in enrollment at Shawnee, which helped to alleviate the overcrowding the school had previously experienced.
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 48th-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 142nd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 100th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 108th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 110th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 58th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 5 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (90.7%) and language arts literacy (97.4%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).
Arts
The band program is under the direction of Nick Rotindo. Recent accomplishments include:
Marching band
2005 USSBA New Jersey State Group III Open Class Champions
2005 USSBA All-State Group III Open Class Champions
2005 Undefeated season
2006 USSBA New Jersey State Group II Open Class Champions
2006 USSBA All-State Group II Open Class Champions
2006 USSBA National Champions Group II, for its program titled "Going for Broke: a Gamer's Tale".
2007 4th Place USSBA National Championships Group III, winning General Effect and Visual Effect.
2016 USSBA New Jersey Group IV Open Class Champions
2021 TOB Group 2A Atlantic Coast Champions
Jazz Band
2005 New Jersey State Champions
2006 New Jersey State Champions
2007 3rd Place Finish at New Jersey state championships
2008 3rd Place Finish at New Jersey state championships
2009 2nd Place Finish at New Jersey state championships
In earlier years, students auditioned and were selected for honors choirs. These accomplishments include:
Athletics
The Shawnee High School Renegades participate in the Olympic Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools located in Burlington and Camden counties and operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). With 1,170 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2022-23 school year as South, Group 4 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 American Division of the 94-team West Jersey Football League superconference and was classified by the NJSIAA as Group IV South for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 890 to 1,298 students.
In addition to nationally ranked men's soccer and women's lacrosse programs, the football, basketball, and men's lacrosse teams are consistently ranked among the top teams in South Jersey. As a part of the Lenape Regional High School District, Shawnee High School participates in many sports.
Shawnee High School has a club ice hockey team that competes in Varsity Tier I as a member of the South Jersey High School Ice Hockey League.
The girls' cross country team won the Group IV state championship in 1983, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2002, and 2003. The eight group titles are the seventh most of all schools in New Jersey. The girls' cross country team won the Meet of Champions in 1991, 1997, 2002, and 2003; the program's four state team titles are tied for third-most in the state.
The girls' lacrosse team was overall state champion in 1989 (defeating Moorestown High School in the tournament final), 1992 (vs. Moorestown), 1993 (vs. Summit High School), 1994 and 1996 (vs. Lenape High School), 1997 (vs. Hunterdon Central High School) and 1998 (vs. Moorestown). The team won the Group IV state title in 2013 (vs. Ridgewood High School). The eight state titles won by the program are tied for second-most in the state. The Burlington County Times called the Moorestown-Shawnee girls lacrosse programs the "ultimate rivalry", citing the 14 straight years through 2012 in which the two teams played each other in the playoffs, and the number of group titles won by the two programs. The 1989 team finished the season with a record of 17-1-0 after winning the overall state title by a score of 7-4 in the championship game against a Moorestown team that entered the playoff finals with no losses in 54 games and having won the two previous state titles.
Extracurriculars
There are a wide variety of student-run organizations. Shawnee's Student Council is a member of the New Jersey Association of Student Councils and the National Association of Student Councils, the state and national student council associations. In addition, each grade has an executive homeroom that works to organize spirit week, prom, and an annual senior trip to Walt Disney World in Florida.
Each spring, the school also has an active extra-curricular arts program, including the All-School Musical.
Administration
The school's principal is Matthew Campbell. His core administration team includes six assistant principals.
Notable alumni
Brenden Aaronson (born 2000), professional soccer player for Leeds United
Malik Allen (born 1978, class of 1996), NBA basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks and assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons
Brian Clarhaut (born 1986), soccer coach of Nyköpings BIS in the Swedish Division 1
James Coulter (born 1959), co-founder of private equity firm TPG Capital
Jarret DeHart (born 1994), assistant hitting coach for the Seattle Mariners
Sean Doolittle (born 1986, class of 2004), Major League Baseball pitcher for the Washington Nationals
Brian Earl (born 1976), former professional basketball player who is the head men's basketball coach at The College of William & Mary
Dan Earl (born 1974), head coach for the Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball team
Calista Flockhart (born 1964), actress and wife of actor Harrison Ford
Jamie Franks (born 1986), head coach for the Denver Pioneers men's soccer team
Michael Hartmann (born 1994), professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for FC Haka in the Veikkausliiga
Shana Hiatt (born 1975), television personality/hostess, actress
Stephen King (born 1986), Major League Soccer player for the D.C. United
Notable faculty
Jay Black (born 1976), comedian, screenwriter and actor
Other schools in the district
Other schools in the district (with 2023–24 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are:
Cherokee High School - located in Evesham Township, with 2,108 students from Evesham Township
Lenape High School - located in Medford Township, with 1,922 students from Mount Laurel Township
Seneca High School - located in Tabernacle Township, with 1,018 students from Shamong, Southampton, Tabernacle and Woodland Townships