Passaic High School


Passaic High School is a four-year community public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Passaic, in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as part of the Passaic City School District. The school has been accredited by the Middle States [Association of Colleges and Schools] Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1927; the school's accreditation status extends until July 2031.
As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,580 students and 173.0 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 14.9:1. There were 2,525 students eligible for free lunch and none eligible for reduced-cost lunch.

History

Passaic High School's first graduating class, in 1873, had eight students, who attended the Acquackanonk District School. The first Passaic High School was constructed in 1886–87 at the corner of Lafayette Avenue and Bloomfield Avenue. The district's second high school was built in 1910 across the street from the original building on Lafayette Avenue. The present high school on Paulison Avenue was completed in May 1957.
The Paulison Avenue campus closed in July 2025 in order for work to begin on a new school with of space which will be constructed at a cost of $328 million and take its place beginning in 2028. While the former Passaic High is being demolished and the new school constructed, classes will be held at two former elementary schools that were closed when an educational complex was opened on Dayton Avenue.

Administration

The school's principal is Jennifer Barker. Core members of the school's administration are the two assistant principals.

Extracurricular activities

Passaic High School NJROTC
Passaic High School hosts one of the largest Navy Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps programs in the country. In 2004 the unit was awarded the Navy's Unit Achievement award, and in both the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 school years was recognized with the Distinguished Unit Award. Also in 2006 and 2007, the unit's Color Guard drill team won First Place at the National JROTC Championship in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Passaic High School Marching Band
In 2006, at the USSBA National Championships at Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland, Passaic High School was recognized with the Best Percussion National Championship title and the Best Color Guard National Championship title in Class V.
Also winning Nationals at USBANDS National Championship, 2012 and 2021 with their Performance "Bound" and "Re-Bound"

Athletics

The Passaic High School Indians compete in the Big North Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Bergen and Passaic counties, and was established following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New [Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association]. For the 2009–10 school year, the school was part of the North Jersey Tri-County Conference, a conference established on an interim basis to facilitate the realignment. Prior to the realignment in 2009, the school competed in Division B of the Northern [New Jersey Interscholastic League] which included public and private high schools located in Bergen and Passaic counties. With 2,396 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 the Liberty Blue 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 V North for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 1,317 to 5,409 students.
The boys' basketball team won the Group IV state championship in 1920-1922, 1923, 1925 and 1929 ; the four consecutive state championships won from 1920 to 1923 are tied for the most by any public school program in the state. A crowd of 3,000 watched the 1925 championship game at the Newark Armory, where the team won the Class A title with a 32–25 win against Union Hill. The 1929 team won the state title in Class A with a 34–25 win against Atlantic City in the championship game, in a match-up that was close at the half until Passaic pulled away with a third quarter in which they outscored Atlantic City by an 11-1 margin. The team won the 2001 North I, Group IV state sectional championship, edging Teaneck High School 64–62 in the tournament final.
The boys cross country running team won the All-Group Public state championship in 1924, 1925 and 1927, won the Group A state championship in 1928-1931 and won the All-Group state title in 1932-1934 and 1944. The program's eight state titles are ranked ninth in the state.
The football team won the North I Group IV state championship in 1981-1983, 1985 and 1989. The 1981 team finished the season with a record of 11–0 after winning the North I Group IV sectional title with a 29–0 win in the championship game against Bayonne High School played at Giants Stadium. Craig Heyward scored all of his team's points and took the state scoring title as the 1982 team defeated Bergen High School">Bergen County, New Jersey">Bergen High School by a score of 21–0 in the championship game to win the North I Group IV sectional title and finish the season at 9–2. Behind three touchdowns by Heyward, the 1983 team finished the season 11-0 and was ranked third in the nation by USA Today after winning the North I Group IV title with a 24–13 win against North Bergen in front of a crowd of ten thousand in the championship game. The school has maintained a rivalry with Clifton High School, which was listed by The Record as one of the best in Bergen and Passaic counties; though the schools first faced each other before then, from 1950 through the 2017 season, Clifton is ahead with a 39-20-2 record in games between the two schools.
The boys track team won the Group IV spring / outdoor track state championship in 1986.

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 317th-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 282nd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 313th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 312th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 310th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of Passaic High School include: