St. Mary of the Assumption High School

St. Mary of the Assumption High School is a small Catholic high school on Broad Street in Elizabeth, in Union County, New Jersey, United States. The old high school building consists of a three-story brick building with a basement serving as additional classroom space for a total of four floors of education space. The school is affiliated with its parent parish, St. Mary's Church, and operates under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark.[5] The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1992.[3]

Saint Mary of the Assumption High School
Princeps schola Assumptionis Sanctae Mariae
Address
237 South Broad Street

Elizabeth
,
(Union County)
,
New Jersey
07202-3403

United States
Coordinates40°39′29″N 74°12′57″W
Information
TypePrivate, Coeducational
MottoCelebrating Our Past, Focused on Our Future!
Religious affiliation(s)Roman Catholic
Established1930
FounderSisters of Charity
School districtRoman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark
SuperintendentDr. Margaret Dames
NCES School ID00861456[1]
PrincipalDavid Evans
Asst. principalDaniel Kelly
PastorFather Manuel D. Rios
Faculty16.1 FTEs[1]
Grades9–12
Enrollment184 (as of 2017–18)[1]
Average class size15
Student to teacher ratio11.4:1[1]
Color(s)  Blue and
  white[2]
SongThe Bells of St. Mary's
AthleticsBasketball, Cheerleading, Bowling, Step Team, Baseball, Softball
Athletics conferenceUnion County Interscholastic Athletic Conference
Team nameHilltoppers[2]
RivalThe Patrick School
AccreditationMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools[3]
NewspaperHilltopper
YearbookAve Maria
Tuition$9,000 (2019-20)[4]
Admissions DirectorJaime de Leon
Athletic DirectorSteve Yensinko
Websitestmaryhsnj.org

As of the 2017–18 school year, the school had an enrollment of 184 students and 16.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.4:1. The school's student body was 50.5% (93) Black, 21.2% (39) Asian, 19.6% (36) two or more races, 6.5% (12) White and 1.1% (2) Hispanic.[1]

History

The school opened in 1930. In June 2019 the school received notice that it was closing that summer, something the principal believed as a surprise. The archdiocese stated that this was because the school had a lot of debt. In response the community established a GoFundme to resolve the issue.[6]

Athletics

The St. Mary of the Assumption High School Hilltoppers[2] compete in the Union County Interscholastic Athletic Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Union County and operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[7][8] Prior to the 2010 NJSIAA's realignment, the school had participated in the Mountain Valley Conference, which consisted of public and parochial high schools covering Union County and Essex County in northern New Jersey.[9]

School colors are blue and white. The school is classified as Non-Public Group B for competition purposes. Sports offered include baseball (men), basketball (men and women), bowling (men and women).[2]

The boys basketball team won the Non-Public Group A state championship in 1943 (against runner-up St. Peter's Preparatory School in the playoff final), and won the Non-Public B title in 1951 (vs. St. Mary's High School of South Amboy), 1952 (vs. St. Rose High School), 1953 (vs. St. Mary's High School of Perth Amboy), 1954 (vs. St. Joseph's High School of Camden), 1955 (vs. Gloucester Catholic) and 1960 (vs. St. Joseph's of Camden). The program's eight state titles are tied for seventh-most in the state.[10] The 1954 team repeated as champion for the fourth consecutive year after defeating St. Joseph's of Camden by a score of 54-37 in the Catholic Class B final at the Elizabeth Armory.[11]

The baseball team won the Non-Public Group B state championship in 1963 (defeating St. Mary's High School of South Amboy in the tournament final), 1965 (vs. Gloucester Catholic High School) and 1983 (vs. Gloucester Catholic).[12] The 1983 team finished the season with a 15-9 record after winning the Group B state title with a 5-1 victory against Gloucester Catholic in the championship game.[13]

Notable alumni

References
  1. School data for St Mary Of The Assumption HS, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed September 1, 2020.
  2. Saint Mary of the Assumption High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  3. Saint Mary of the Assumption High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed November 7, 2017.
  4. Tuition, Saint Mary of the Assumption High School. Accessed May 26, 2020.
  5. Union County Catholic High Schools, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark. Accessed August 13, 2017.
  6. "N.J. Catholic high school 'blindsided' by news of its closing, principal says. The fight is on to keep it open". NJ.com. June 25, 2019. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  7. League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  8. School Information, Union County Interscholastic Athletic Conference. Accessed May 26, 2020.
  9. Home Page, Mountain Valley Conference, backed up by the Internet Archive as of February 2, 2011. Accessed December 1, 2014.
  10. NJSIAA Boys Basketball Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 1, 2020.
  11. "Cella's Cagers Lose To Jeffs; Bloomfield Five Fails To Retain Crown", The Record, March 22, 1954. Accessed February 1, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "St. Mary's of Elizabeth, Weehawken, and Thomas Jefferson of Elizabeth captured championships in the 36th annual N. J. S. I. A. A. basketball tournament here at the Armory.... St. Mary's successfully defended its Catholic B title by halting St. Joseph's of Camden, Weehawken repeated as Group II titlist with a 71-60 decision over Sayreville, and Jefferson knocked out the defending Group IV champ, Bloomfield, by a 59-46 count.... St. Mary's took the Catholic B title in the first tilt of the 5-game program as Dave Mracek and Jerry Bechtle starred with 21 and 17 tallies, respectively. It was the fourth straight crown for St. Mary's."
  12. NJSIAA Baseball Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  13. Burrows, Walt. "St. Mary's takes crown with win over Gloucester Catholic", Courier-Post, June 12, 1983. Accessed January 27, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "St. Mary's High School of Elizabeth, taking advantage of some loose play and the strong four-hit pitching of Chris Wnek, cruised to a 5-1 triumph over Gloucester Catholic and to the NJSIAA Group B baseball championship yesterday on the Princeton University field. The Hilltoppers, who lost to Bishop Eustace in last year's final, won their first state championship since 1965 by breaking a 1-1 tie with three runs in the third inning on a triple by Tony Candelino, whose brother Ben is the team's head coach.... The Hilltoppers, 15-9, ended the scoring with an unearned run in the fourth inning."
  14. Staff. "Tour De Elizabeth", Hilltopper Newsletter, Spring 2015, Volume 12, Issue 1. Accessed August 6, 2015. "Ashley Bolivard ('16), Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage ('72), Nicole Fernandes ('16) and Xavier Sanchez ('15)"
  15. Staff. "Basketball Hall Of Famer Returns To Visit St. Mary's ", NJToday.net, November 16, 2011. Accessed December 1, 2014. "In October, Hubie and Claire Brown visited St. Mary of the Assumption High School in Elizabeth. Hubie, a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, former NBA coach and current TV analyst, is a 1951 graduate of St. Mary's."
  16. Greg Daye, Bloomfield Bears men's basketball. Accessed May 26, 2020. "Hometown: Newark, NJ; High School: St. Mary's (Elizabeth, NJ)"
  17. Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey, Volume 197, Part 2, p. 204. E.J. Mullin, 1977. Accessed August 30, 2019. "Thomas G. Dunn, Dem., Elizabeth Senator Dunn was born in Elizabeth on April 9, 1921. He is a graduate of St. Mary's High School, Elizabeth, and of the Vail School of Business, Newark."
  18. Haydon, Tom. "Billionaire remembers his Elizabeth high school with $250K donation", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, November 12, 2016. Accessed January 6, 2017. "On Thursday, the international foundation Feeney started, Atlantic Philanthropies, gave $250,000 to his alma mater, St. Mary of Assumption High School in Elizabeth. The donation is the largest single contribution to the high school, St. Mary officials said. Feeney graduated from the school in 1949 and his desire to donating to others was inspired from his time at the school, Christopher Oechsli the president and CEO of the Atlantic Philanthropies, told St. Mary students."
  19. Staff. "Handball Player to Represent Area in Olympics", Rahway News-Record / Clark Patriot, June 1, 1972. "Bob Sparks of Clark will play for the United States at the indoor team handball competition.... Sparks, who was a star pitcher for the St. Mary's High School baseball team of Elizabeth in 1965, as introduced to team handball in October 1970 in Fort Sam Houston, Tex., where Dr. Peter Buehning of Short Hills, coach of the United States team, operated a clinic there."
  20. Warner, Bob. "Former Police Commissioner Kevin M. Tucker dies at 71", The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 20, 2012. Accessed July 6, 2012. "He was one of six children born to Irish immigrants William and Catherine Tucker. The family moved to Rahway, N.J., and Mr. Tucker attended St. Mary High School in Elizabeth."
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