Watchung Hills Regional High School is a regional comprehensive public high school and school district serving students in portions of Somerset and Morris Counties in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Students from Warren Township and from the neighboring communities of Watchung, and Green Brook (through sending/receiving relationship) in Somerset County and Long Hill Township in Morris County attend the school.Watchung Hills Regional Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Watchung Hills Regional High School, adopted October 20, 2003. Accessed December 18, 2024. "Purpose: The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades nine through twelve in the Watchung Hills Regional High School School District. Composition: The Watchung Hills Regional High School District is comprised of all the area within the Township of Passaic in Morris County and the Township of Warren and the Borough of Watchung in Somerset County."Watchung Hills Regional High School 2015 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 4, 2016. "Close to 2150 students from Green Brook, Long Hill, Warren, and Watchung meet high academic standards and broaden their worldviews as they explore and take risks, discover their passions, and find individual pathways to success."Somerset County School Districts-Sending/Receiving/Regional, Somerset County Superintendent of Schools. Accessed December 27, 2024. "Watchung Hills ** 9-12 Receives 9-12 From Green Brook, Warren, Watchung, Long Hill" The high school is located in Warren Township on Stirling Road and is the only facility of the Watchung Hills Regional High School District.Public Schools Directory 2023–2024, Somerset County, New Jersey. Accessed March 1, 2024.School Performance Reports for the Watchung Hills Regional High School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 3, 2024.New Jersey School Directory for the Watchung Hills Regional High School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,653 students and 142.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.6:1. There were 46 students (2.8% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 10 (0.6% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Watchung Hills Regional High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.
History Constructed using $1,650,000 in bond funding (equivalent to $ million in ), the school included 38 classrooms designed to handle an enrollment of 750 students on a site in Warren Township covering . The school opened in September 1957 with 615 students in attendance."New Watchung Hills High School Opens Without a Hitch; 615 Pupils Report on First Day", Plainfield Courier-News, September 13, 1957. Accessed December 21, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "The structure includes 38 classrooms and is geared to accommodate 750 students when ready for maximum use. Located on a 39-acre site, the school offers library, gymnasium, cafeteria and auditorium facilities to its student body. The Watchung Hills school was financed by a $1,650,000 bond issue of three member districts Passaic Township, Watchung and Warren Townships." Prior to the opening of the regional school, students from Warren Township and Watchung had attended an increasingly overcrowded North Plainfield High School, while students from Long Hill Township attended Bernards High School in Bernardsville on an interim basis, after a previous relationship with Morristown High School had been ended."Schools Status Remains Same", Courier News, August 12, 1953. Accessed December 21, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Watchung and Warren Township pupils will continue to go to North Plainfield schools through 1956, but then due to overcrowded conditions the agreement will be terminated by the North Plainfield Board of Education. Passaic Township will send pupils to Bernardsville for the next three years after recently being eased out of the Morristown system."
Green Brook started a sending/receiving relationship with Watchung Hills Regional High School in 1990 after the town decided to close its high school due to declining enrollment.
In 2016, an episode of Dance Moms, Season 5, Episode 3 entitled "JoJo with a Bow Bow", was filmed at the school. The school hosted the In10sity Dance Invitational on October 25, 2014, which was the subject of the episode.
On November 5, 2019, the school's superintendent announced the condemnation of a photograph involving two students in blackface during an off-campus Halloween party, declaring that "hate has no place on our campus".
In 2020, it was revealed that students from the school's special education program had been omitted from the 2020 yearbook.Remo, Jessica. "High school apologizes after special needs student wasn’t included in yearbook", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, June 18, 2020. Accessed July 20, 2020. "When a special needs student wasn’t included in Watchung Hills Regional High School’s 2020 yearbook, her sisters set off a firestorm on social media, posting that all special needs students were omitted. The school’s superintendent, however, says that information is 'simply incorrect,' but apologized to the student and her family for the omission. The district is investigating if any other students were left out, but says special needs students are included in the 2020 yearbook."
In 2021, the school announced that it would retain its Warriors team name, but updated its logo and branding to remove any images of Native American symbols and to help represent unity in the district.Ceva, Claudia. "Helmet chosen as new logo to represent Watchung Hills Warriors", Echoes-Sentinel, March 22, 2021. Accessed December 21, 2021. "The students have spoken: the new mascot logo to represent the Watchung Hills Regional High School Warriors will be a helmet, with a design to be chosen later."Apparel & Branding Guidelines, Watchung Hills Regional High School. Accessed December 21, 2021. The retired logo had featured a Native American headdress.Knego, Lauren. "Watchung Hills to review Warriors logo; no changes planned for Piscataway", Courier News, July 17, 2020. Accessed December 21, 2021. "The Watchung Hills Regional High School Board of Education has decided to retire the school’s Warriors logo. A petition supporting the removal of the logo, which is a depiction of a Native American in headdress, mascot and name, has circulated online."
In 2022, the day after the Robb Elementary School shooting, the school entered a lockdown after a false active shooter threat was made.
The district had been classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "I", the second-highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 1, 2024.
Awards, recognition and rankings Watchung Hills Regional High School received the National Blue Ribbon Award of Excellence from the United States Department of Education in 1994-95, the highest honor that an American school can achieve.Cheslow, Jerry. "If You're Thinking. of Living In/ Watchung, N.J.; Stunning Vistas, but Entry Is Not Cheap And there is the matter of dealing with 80 deer per acre.", The New York Times, March 11, 2001. Accessed April 11, 2012.Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982-1983 through 1999-2002 (PDF), United States Department of Education. Accessed March 28, 2011.
In 2021, Watchung Hills Regional High School was awarded the New Jersey Lighthouse award for its work towards Equity - specifically efforts toward recruiting and retaining a diverse staff.
In its listing of "America's Best High Schools 2016", the school was ranked 131st out of 500 best high schools in the country; it was ranked 24th among all high schools in New Jersey and 11th among the state's non-magnet schools.Staff. "America's Best High Schools 2016", Newsweek. Accessed November 11, 2016.
In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 514th in the nation among participating public high schools and 42nd among schools in New Jersey.Streib, Lauren. "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast, May 6, 2013. Accessed May 9, 2013.
In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 34th in New Jersey and 1,160th nationwide.Mathews, Jay. , The Washington Post. Accessed August 15, 2011. In 2008, Newsweek ranked the school as 919th in the nation.The Complete List of the 1,000 Top U.S. Schools (2008), Newsweek, June 23, 2008. In Newsweek's May 22, 2007 issue, ranking the country's top high schools, Watchung Hills High School was listed in 999th place, the 31st-highest ranked school in New Jersey."The Top of the Class: The complete list of the 1,200 top U.S. schools" , Newsweek, May 22, 2007. Accessed May 24, 2007. In the magazine's 2006 survey, the school was ranked as 745th nationwide., Newsweek, May 23, 2006. In their 2004 survey, Newsweek ranked WHRHS as the 583rd best high school in the nation., Newsweek, May 16, 2004.
The school was the 50th-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.Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014. The school had been ranked 44th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 48th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed August 27, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 49th in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed February 8, 2011. The school was ranked 38th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state."Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008. Schooldigger.com ranked the school 96th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 276 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (86.0%) and language arts literacy (97.6%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA)., Schooldigger.com. Accessed March 2, 2012.
In 2022, U.S. News & World Report ranked the school 107th of the 445 high schools in New Jersey and 2,643rd in the country, with 54% of students participating in Advanced Placement exams.Watchung Hills Regional High School, U.S. News & World Report. Accessed June 7, 2022.
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