Westfield High School

History

The first high school in Westfield was the old brick academy on Mountain Avenue opposite the Presbyterian Church, a town landmark. The minister of the church was the supervisor of it and all the schools in Westfield.

The history of the high school began in 1869 with the opening of the old Prospect School which, at that time, had a staff of five teachers. For the few students who were preparing for college, the school principal taught Latin, Greek, higher mathematics and science. The other teachers taught the elementary subjects. On March 2, 1880, the Board of Education, in its formal minutes, made the first direct reference to a high school in Westfield. When the Lincoln School on Academy Place was erected in 1890, classes of high school level were transferred to it.

In 1900, the high school department was transferred to the newly opened Washington School on Elm Street. Shortly afterward, a regular full four-year high school program, which received state approval, was organized. The high school became an independent unit in January 1916, when it moved to the Elm Street building. The program, chiefly college preparatory, was offered to 306 students by eleven teachers. In 1916, there were 39 students in the graduating class.

In 1923 when the present Roosevelt Intermediate School was opened, Westfield adopted the 6-3-3 plan and designated the Elm Street building, now containing grades 10, 11 and 12, as Westfield High School. Frank N. Neubauer was designated principal, and he remained in that office until his death in 1947. During that time a library was established, a program in athletics and physical education was developed, and opportunities for outstanding experiences in art, industrial arts, music, speech, and dramatics were expanded. It was in this period that guidance services became an integral part of the program, and pupil activities grew to include publications, clubs, social events and student government. In 1947 Robert L. Foose became the second principal of the high school.

By the late 1940s the Elm Street building had become much too small for the ever-growing student body. Students were being housed in the Elm Street building, the old Washington School as an annex, and two temporary structures on Walnut Street. A new high school building became imperative to maintain and expand Westfiel's high educational standards and experiences. The building on Dorian Road was opened on February 4, 1952. The staff, consisting of 42 teachers, taught 725 students in three curricula: business education, college preparatory, and general. In the first commencement from the new building, 203 students were graduated.

Awards, recognition, and rankings

In 1928, Westfield High School was accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools in the first group of high schools to be accredited by this association. At the time, it was established as a center for the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB). Westfield High School is one of the few schools in the nation to hold over 80 consecutive years of accreditation by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. For the 1994–95 school year, Westfield High School was named as a "Star School" by the New Jersey Department of Education, the highest honor that a New Jersey school can achieve.

The school was the 21st-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 49th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being the 49th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 328 schools statewide in New Jersey Monthly's 2012 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", after being ranked 41st in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 27th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 22nd in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state.

Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 55th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (an increase of 12 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (91.9%) and language arts literacy (96.9%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA). In its listing of "America's Best High Schools 2016", the school was ranked 67th out of 500 best high schools in the country; it was ranked 14th among all high schools in New Jersey and second among the state's non-magnet schools. In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 356th in the nation among participating public high schools and 30th among schools in New Jersey. In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 25th in New Jersey and 865th nationwide.

Westfield was listed in 29th place nationwide in Newsweek's 2014 listing of the Top High Schools in America, after finishing in 691st place nationwide in Newsweek's May 8, 2006, issue, listing the Top 1,200 High Schools in the U.S. The school has a theater department.

Courses

Westfield High School offers a comprehensive program of some 165 different courses and 18 Advanced Placement (AP) classes. Some of these classes include business, fine arts, music, and practical arts. Advanced Placement classes are available in AP English Literature and Composition, AP English Language and Composition, AP Spanish Literature, AP French Language, AP Latin Literature, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Computer Science AB, AP Statistics, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Physics I, AP United States History, AP United States Government and Politics, AP European History, AP Environmental Science and AP Psychology.

Extracurricular activities

80% of the students participate in co-curricular activities, including 60 different co-curricular activities and 27 varsity athletic teams. The school's marching band won the USBands Group V A national championship in 2015 with their program The Caged Bird Sings.

The band finished second at the 2021 New Jersey Marching Band Directors Association State Championships with the program "Swipe Up". The band finished second at the 2023 New Jersey Marching Band Directors Association State Championships with the program "Unstoppable". The band placed fourth at the 2024 New Jersey Marching Band Directors Association State Championships with the program "Chasing Dreams".

Student publications

The Westfield High School students produce a number of different publications, including the weekly Hi's Eye student newspaper which is run by four editors, and the Iris magazine. The newspaper maintains its independence through subscriptions, community sponsors, independent fundraising and advertising. Since 1983, Westfield High School students have operated a public-access television cable TV station producing live and single-camera productions. In addition, the literary magazine Folio, the Weather Vane yearbook, and original theatre scripts are also produced by the students.

Hi's Eye is the student-run weekly newspaper at Westfield High School and is New Jersey's only weekly uncensored student newspaper, and one of the few uncensored school publications in the entire country. Hi's Eye has an editorial staff of Print Journalism seniors and is free from administrative prior review. The paper was established in 1935. It publishes 30 issues per year with four sections: news, opinion, features, and arts and entertainment. Historically, the arts and entertainment section was a special monthly edition but in 2022 became a part of the regular production when the sports section was removed and became a separate, online-only, publication Hi's Eye is unique among many student run newspapers in that it is weekly, and that it is completely self-funded.

In September 2011, Hi's Eye unveiled a new online version. Hi's Eye aims to use the website to reach readers more often, and with more news that perhaps cannot always fit in the print version. The blog, which consists of weekly opinion articles, was created in May 2014. In September 2014, Hi's Eye created a Facebook Page, Twitter account, and Instagram account in hopes to reach a broader audience.

Hi's Eye has won numerous national awards and recognitions from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, American Scholastic Press Association, National Scholastic Press Association, and the New Jersey American Civil Liberties Union. Hi's Eye received First Place with Special Merit from the ASPA for the 2011-2012 school year, a Pacemaker Award from NSPA for 2013, the Gold Medal by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association for 2013-2014 and an All-American honor rating by the National Scholastic Press Association.

Varsity sports

The Westfield High School Blue Devils compete in the Union County Interscholastic Athletic Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Union 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 participated in the Watchung Conference, a high school sports association which included public high schools in Essex, Hudson and Union counties. With 1,398 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 Division 5A of the Big Central Football Conference, which includes 60 public and private high schools in Hunterdon, Middlesex, Somerset, Union, and Warren counties, which are broken down into 10 divisions by size and location. The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group IV North for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 893 to 1,315 students.

Westfield High School has 28 varsity interscholastic athletic teams, including baseball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls cross-country, field hockey, football, gymnastics, golf, boys and girls ice hockey, boys and girls lacrosse, boys and girls soccer, boys and girls swimming, boys and girls tennis, softball, spring track and field, boys and girls volleyball, wrestling, cheerleading and winter track, among others. Their main rival in sports are the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School Raiders, while Cranford and Plainfield both consider Westfield its biggest rival as well. Westfield's football rivalry with Plainfield dates back to 1900, making it one of the oldest active public high school football rivalry in the state. The rivalry with Plainfield was listed at 17th on NJ.com's 2017 list "Ranking the 31 fiercest rivalries in N.J. HS football". The teams have played each other 118 times, with Westfield leading the rivalry with a 66–45–7 overall record, having won their 11th consecutive game in 2023.

The school was recognized by the NJSIAA as the Group IV winner of the Seventh Annual ShopRite Cup in 2009–10, based on the overall performances of the school's athletic teams which included first-place finishes in girls' tennis, boys' cross country, girls' swimming and boys' tennis; second place in girls' soccer and tied for third in football, plus bonus points for having no disqualifications for the winter and spring seasons.

Blue Devil Television

Beginning in 2021, Blue Devil Television broadcasts 5 days a week Monday-Friday. The morning show consists of morning announcements, news packages, and other spotlights on all of the aspects that make up WHS. BDTV also broadcasts school wide assemblies and the yearly graduation.

Administration

The school's principal is Mary Asfendis, who was named to the position in June 2019. Core members of her administration team are the school's three assistant principals.

Notable alumni

Marc Acito (born 1966), playwright, novelist and humorist

Charles Addams (1912–1988), cartoonist for The New Yorker magazine, most famous for his cartoons of The Addams Family

Virginia Apgar (1909–1974), physician who created the Apgar score for assessing the health of newborns

Richard Bagger (born 1960, class of 1978), New Jersey Governor Chief of Staff

Cheryl Barnes (born 1951), singer and actress best known for her role in Miloš Forman's 1979 film adaptation of Hair, where she played the mother of Hud's little son

Matt Bernstein (born 1998, class of 2017), internet personality and political commentator

Dave Brown (born 1970), NFL quarterback from 1992–2000 who played for the New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals

Devin Caherly (born 2001, class of 2019), social media personality

Chris Campbell (born 1954), wrestler who was a bronze medalist in Freestyle wrestling at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona

Steve Cheek (born 1977), NFL punter who played for the San Francisco 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs and Carolina Panthers

John Chironna (1928–2010), college football player and coach

Robert "Bob" Clotworthy (1931–2018), Olympic springboard diver who won a bronze medal the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki and a gold medal in Melbourne at the 1956 games

Notable faculty

Jean Griswold (1930–2017), entrepreneur