St. Joseph High School (Metuchen, New Jersey)
St. Joseph High School, also known as St. Joe's, is an independent, all-boys Roman Catholic college preparatory school located on a campus in Metuchen and Edison, in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The school draws students from an area encompassing over forty school districts and over seventy grammar schools in Middlesex, Somerset, and Union counties, as well as other outlying areas. It is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary  Schools since 1968. St. Joseph is operated by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, who have been active in American education since their arrival from Lyon, France, in 1847. From 1901 to 1961, St. Joseph served as a center for training and educating Brothers prior to their apostolate. The school opened in September 1961 as a high school open to the public. The main school building was dedicated in the spring of 1963. There are both lay and religious teachers. As of the 2019–20 school year, the school had an enrollment of 507 students and 35 classroom teachers (on an  FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.5:1. The school's student body was 66.7% (338) White, 15.4% (78) Hispanic, 10.3% (52) Asian and 7.7% (39) Black. Since 2018, Anne Rivera is the principal for St. Joe's. She replaced Justin Fleetwood, who was promoted to president of the school. Student life. Athletics. The St. Joseph High School Falcons compete in the Red Division of the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC), which is comprised of public and private high schools in the Middlesex County area, and operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. With 862  students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Non-Public A for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 381 to 1,454 students in that grade range (equivalent to Group III for public schools). The football team competes in Division 5D 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 Non-Public Group IV  for football for 2018–2020. The school fields interscholastic teams from freshmen through varsity levels in various sports including football, cross country, soccer, basketball, bowling, ice hockey, swimming, winter track, baseball, golf, lacrosse, spring track, crew, tennis, volleyball, and wrestling. Football was added to sports at St. Joseph's, with varsity play beginning in the 2010 season, with the team playing independently in 2011 and beginning play in the GMC White Division in 2012. Wrestling returned to the sports offerings at St. Joseph's beginning during the 2018–2019 school year. In 1963, St Joseph's established their first varsity teams, these  being in track, basketball and baseball. A varsity soccer team was set up in the following year. The school has won state titles in basketball, cross country, curling, winter and spring track, soccer, swimming, tennis, lacrosse and volleyball. St. Joseph's soccer team has won seven NJSIAA state championships, winning the Non-Public A state title in 1964 (against runner-up St. Cecilia High School (New Jersey) in the tournament final), 1971 (vs. Notre Dame High School), 1972 (vs. Notre Dame), 1976 (vs. Bergen Catholic High School), 1978 (vs. Saint Joseph Regional High School of Montvale), 1988 (vs. Bergen Catholic ) and 1994 (vs. Don Bosco Preparatory High School). The 1971 team finished the season with a 14-3-1 record after winning the Parochial A state title with a 1-0 defeat of Notre Dame on a penalty kick with minutes left in regulation. The boys track team won the Non-Public Group A spring track state championship in 1972 (as co-champion), 1976 and 1998. The cross country team won the Non-Public Group A state championship in 1973 and 1974. The swimming team was formed in 1968. St. Joseph has won 22 state swimming championships: in 1980–1991, 1993–1997 , 1999, 2002–2004 and 2006. The program's 22 state titles are ranked second in the state. The team has won 40 consecutive Greater Middlesex Conference championships in total. The tennis team won the Non-Public A state championship in 1987, defeating runner-up Bergen Catholic High School in the finals. The ice hockey team won the Handchen Cup in 1991 and the Kolodney Cup in 2012-2017, 2019 and 2020. The varsity volleyball program has brought home three state championships: in 2002 (defeating Hunterdon Central Regional High School in the final match of the tournament), 2006 (vs. Bridgewater-Raritan High  School) and 2008 (vs. St. Peter's Preparatory School). The program's three state titles are tied for fourth-most in the state. The team has also won four sectional state championships in 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2011. The lacrosse team won the Non-Public A state championship in 2010, defeating St. Augustine Preparatory School in the tournament final. The basketball team won the Non-Public Group B state championship in 2012 (against runner-up Seton Hall Preparatory School in the playoff final), 2014 (vs. St. Peter's Preparatory School) and 2014 (vs. St Peter's). The team captured their  first Tournament of Champions title in 2014, holding on to beat Newark East Side 49–47 in the championship game, after a last second three-point shot by East Side was deflected. The bowling team won the Group II state championship in 2017. Although no longer offered, the school once had a competitive gymnastics program, winning state championships in 1992 and 1993. Water polo is also no longer played. The St. Joseph athletes are supported by their student fan section, commonly known as the "Falcon Flock." In March 2015 the school began construction on a new football stadium and track and  field facility. The field and surrounding track were completed for the start of the 2015 football season. St. Joe's announced for the 2018–2019 season, wrestling will make a return after being inactive for 24 years. Before the start of the 2022 season, the St. Joe's baseball team was ranked 7th in the state, according to NJ.com. Publications. The Falcon. The student body publishes a newspaper, "The Falcon." "The Falcon" is entirely student run. Published monthly, the newspaper seeks to inform the student body of important events transpiring in the St. Joe's community. "The Falcon "has often been  recognized by the American Scholastic Press Association for first place among high school newspapers in its national contest, including four consecutive awards from 2005 to 2008. Long considered to be a branch of the administration's marketing and recruiting plans, "The Falcon" took a significant step in Fall 2009 toward student-interest stories and articles that were occasionally critical of administrative policies. Frequent segments include "Brother Mike's Movie Review," student columns, and a sports section. Section::::"The Vignette". The school publishes a yearly literary magazine. In 1963, "The Falcon" had a literary contest and published their winners in a special  edition. This contest continued to be held under the auspices of the newspaper until it grew into the current school literary magazine, "The Vignette", which has since won various awards and received national recognition. Another product of the arts program was the Drama Club, established in 1963 with its first production, "Stalag 17". Section::::"Evergreen". The student-run yearbook is published once per year. Saint Joseph Radio Network. A student-run radio network doing live broadcasts on all athletics around campus. Extracurricular achievements. On February 29, 2012 the 2011-2012 College Bowl team traveled to Manhattan to compete in MSG Varsity 's annual show "The Challenge". "The Challenge", hosted by Jared Cotter, showcases the best and brightest high school students from 192 tri-state area high schools testing competing teams on their knowledge of history, arts and literature, current events, math, and science in front of a live studio audience. St. Joes won its first two matches against DePaul Catholic and Howell Township to advance to the state quarterfinals on March 15, 2012. On the final day of competition, St. Joseph High School defeated three teams, (Chatham High School, Torah Academy of Bergen County, and Mountain Lakes), all in close matches , to win its 2nd straight New Jersey Challenge state championship. As New Jersey champions, St. Joseph received $2,500. Although they were able to advance to the tri-state championship, St. Joseph High School did not emerge victorious. The Saint Joseph History Bowl team competed at the National History Bowl championships in Alexandria, VA in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014, finishing in 3rd, 5th, 5th, and 9th places respectively. Individually competing in the National History Bee in 2012, Senior Alex Frey of Dunellen, NJ won the national championship, going on to win the international championship as well, and Sophomore Jack  Mehr finished in the top ten of the Junior Varsity competition. The following year, Mehr and another player were semifinalists in the Varsity and Junior Varsity divisions respectively. In 1999 and 2000, the school's chess team was the New Jersey high school team champion, winning the Father Casimir J. Finley Trophy. Controversy. On June 21, 2015, a former history teacher, Brother John Spalding (74 at the time) was charged with maintaining child pornography on a computer that the school had provided to him. Spalding was charged with possessing child pornography and endangering the welfare of a child. He was  released on $75,000 bail, and subsequently transferred by the school. In 2017, the school, along with Father James De Fillips, were sued via separate lawsuits by four former employees, Thomas Scarano, Eugene Tyrrell, Jerry Smith, and Thomas Cunningham, over the termination of their employment. The lawsuits for Scarano and Tyrrell state that they were fired due to age discrimination. The case for Smith stated that he was fired due to age discrimination and over claims that he was involved in tuition payments for student-athletes, of which he denies involvement. Cunningham's suit lists that his employment was terminated  because he questioned the appropriateness of the behavior of a priest towards students and pointed administration towards photographs of the priest and students on Instagram. The suits for Scarano, Tyrrell, and Smith, all of which also listed De Fillips as a defendant, were settled out of court and as of July 2018, there has been no resolution or updates to Cunningham's case.