About 'georgetown academics'|... to find their way. Anoo earned her Bachelor of Arts in English from Georgetown University and Master of Architecture from the University of Washington. Born in Madras, India, Anoo...
As a resident of Moorestown for the past fourteen (long) years, I have had extensive experience with the Moorestown High School in a number of capacities: as a parent of a past and current student, as a staff reporter covering activities, sports teams and other events there, and as an officer with the school and district Home and School Association. I bring my perspective, then, from a variety of vantage points. Moorestown High School (MHS) is the 'crown jewel' on a power-driven school district, one that holds the motto of a "Tradition of Excellence" (literally). Physically, the building is only about 45 years old, but those in the first graduating class of the 'new' school would barely recognize it today. From its original footprint, the school has expanded on a significant portion of its campus. The newest additions include a wing - literally, attached to the right side of the main school building from the front - which houses the entire Guidance department, a large STAR Center intended for large group meetings, and an 'alumnae room'. (God only knows who uses or visits that room; the two most recent 'interesting' graduates of MHS are Iowa State receiver Albert Young, now in his final year of college, and Dereck Faulkner, Class of '03, who was recently signed to a three-year rookie contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. Other than that, I am hard-pressed to name another graduate who merits recognition.) Also recently completed is the MAC, the Moorestown Athletic Center, neatly tucked to the rear of the main building. This building is basically a humonguous - really, really big, folks - athletic facility, the likes of which don't grace most junior/two year colleges and some four-year schools as well. The building, boasting several gyms, training facilities, weight rooms, and, thankfully, two rooms in which trainers can attend to the needs of injured school athletes. Both of these additions were several years in the making and completion, to the tune of several million (like $10,000,000) of taxpayer money over an extended amount of time. The MAC, however, seems to be earning its keep, as it's currently a 'hot' rental facility for outside interests to host wrestling, basketball and volleyball tournaments. There's a lot of money in small-town Moorestown; apparently, we like to keep it in town by supporting the school district in a number of initiatives - which is quite a good thing. Whoops, another tangential stream-of-consciousness moment there - but I think you know where I'm going with this. The township of Moorestown is one of the wealthiest, if not the wealthiest, in all of South Jersey; its only close competition comes from the borough of Haddonfield in Camden County. The district had, for three years, a superintendent who was a business administrator by training and profession; his background in education was nearly nil. One of his more interesting legacies was that the MHS be viewed as more of a 'prep school' rather than a public high school. (This superintendent resigned in the summer of 2004.) I do have mixed emotions about MHS, tainted, perhaps, by this very viable presence of eliteism. When we first moved here, one of my first friends casually mentioned that she had no idea 'how people who make less than $100,000 a year get by in this town'. It's not just the cost of homes here, it's pretty evident that there's money, old and new, throughout the culture of the town. And the high school is by no means immune from that. When one of my older girls was in her junior year there, the twin daughters of a local orthodontist gifted each of them on their 16th birthday with matching BMW coupes. Another had a Mercedes roadster sitting in her parent's garage, waiting until she passed her driver's test. But Moorestown is no less immune to this mentality of the 'haves' and 'have nots' than any other town or city; perhaps because it's a smal town, it's just more apparent. There will always be the 'haves' and the 'have nots'. MHS is home to 1,400 students currently, in grades 9 through 12. In a town of approximately 20,000 residents overall, it was quite big news when the entire student population of the district hit 5,000 three years ago. Since that time, however, new housing starts are virtually nil, so the district's business administrator does not expect any 'surges' in the student population for the foreseeable future. The demographics are 93% caucasian, with the remaining 7% African American and Hispanic descent. The high school currently has an interim principal and three assistant principals, in addition to a Guidance Director. There are three security guards in the building during the course of the normal school day, one of whom is a Moorestown township police officer assigned to the high school as his official duty. He is a very pleasant, intelligent young African American man who is himself a graduate of MHS. While the school district was unsuccessful with its own bid for an artificial turf playing field on campus, the township has allocated funding for one turf field on a township-owned field in the northern part of town. It is expected that the field will be completed by Labor Day of this year, and plans to use it for the MHS teams - soccer, football and lacrosse in particular - are being worked out with town council. About twelve years ago, MHS was awarded the prestigious designation of a "Blue Ribbon School", after meeting a rigorous set of qualifications and standards that include, among other things, school spirit, a wide variety of school organizations and activities, academic and athletic excellence. MHS has long held the distinction of having the highest standardized test scores in all of south Jersey. Approximately 96% to 98% of its graduation class each year for the past two decades have gone on to either two or four year colleges. The current matriculation rate for the student body is 97%. The school does offer a very wide range of clubs and organizations to support a number of interests: the Environmental Club, the Latin, French and Spanish clubs, Mock Debate teams (which do extremely well at the state level), the Vegan club, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance, the Interact Club (which supports the community by its mission of providing community service opportunities for students), the Book Club, Cooking Club, Math Team, - there are literally at least two dozen more. One of the more interesting clubs is the Alternative Sports Club, which hosts events such as dodgeball tournaments and wall/rock climbing events. There is a very active Arts program at the high school, which includes the prestigious Madrigals singers who are chosen following strenuous vocal auditions, and two plays which are presented in the fall and spring. Recent choices have included "Les Miserables", which drew state-wide recogntion. At least 20% of graduating seniors head off to colleges in which to continue their training and education in the field of the arts. MHS has long been noted for its 'tradition of excellence' in both academics and athletics. The teacher to student ratio varies but hovers around the 10:1 ratio currently. A lot of work has been done to the refurbishment of the buildings' interiors; classrooms were recently completely air conditioned and lockers replaced and upgrades. The 12th period of each school day is reserved for students to go back and work on academic problems and issues with teachers at the end of the regular school day; the school also has a Peer Tutoring group as well. Grades are in the A to F range, and there are a huge number of AP and Honors classes offered in quite a few subjects. The Guidance Department has bounced back from a somewhat 'bad' reputation after an incident which took place about eight years ago: guidance counselors and secretaries sent out to colleges unweight GPA scores on behalf of seniors. Because of this error, a number of students were either denied admission or waitlisted for the colleges of their choice. Following this nasty and unfortunate scenario, a new Guidance Director is firmly in place, and there appear to be few, if any, complaints about Guidance services. Each counselor is responsible for approximately 200 students during the course of their four-year stay at MHS. Interestingly enough, the pressure to do really well academically for these kids comes not only from their families and parents, but their peers as well. To put this another way, to be 'dumb' or 'lazy' in the classroom does not carry any badge of honor amongst fellow students at all. There is a really competitive spirit to perform to the best of one's ability within the kids themselves. There is also a fairly high percentage of Special Education students, who are either attending school within the district or whose tuition is paid at out of district facilities which better fit their needs. The district itself has a very good reputation for students who are deaf or hard of hearing in particular. MHS's reputation for taking care of its special needs students is apparently so well regarded that a number of families have moved to town in order to take advantage of the district's special needs programs. In fact, MANY families in southern New Jersey either move or aspire to move to Moorestown for the overall quality of educational excellence, which is apparent first and foremost in the high school. For parents wishing to be involved with their teenagers' education, there is a very strong and well-organized Home and School Association for the high school itself. The group is always looking for new volunteers and members. (As a former Home and School officer and president at several levels, believe me: they really welcome parents who want to become involved.) Home and School hosts fundraisers and activities which provide scholarships to MHS graduates and purchases some pretty impressive equipment - including the recent purchase of several defibrillators - for use at the school itself. The goal is to purchase those items not included on the school budget but which are on the administration's 'wish list' of items to have to supplement educational instruction. A number of items have been purchased by the H&S Association for the high school's new Athletic Center: equipment for the weight room, exercise and strength training equipment, and more. As a parent, I am extremely pleased with the academics offered at MHS, as well as the club and extracurricular activities available; there really is something for every student. I would be remiss in not mentioning the athletic programs at MHS in the same breath of 'excellence'. The MHS girls' lacrosse program is nationally ranked (currently #6 in the nation; they have been ranked anywhere from #1 to #10 in the course of the past 12 years - but generally always in the top 5.) The boys' lacrosse program is not nearly as successful on a national basis, but has won their divisional titles several times. Other programs that rank state-wide for MHS student athletes include the girls' volleyball team (#1 in the state), boys' volleyball (the program is only 3 years old but gaining a lot of interest and momentum), the girls' soccer team (which has won State titles six of the last ten years), girls' and boys' tennis, both of which ended their season ranked #1, the girls and boys swim team (both of whom won their divisional titles this year), the girls field hockey team who again took home the State championship trophy, and both the boys and girls track teams, both of which consistently win their divisions and place in the state Tournament of Champions. The girls' team has a 154-0 unbeaten streak for girls' cross country. 'Feeder' programs within the township - both those sponsored by the Recreation Department and club/travel teams - provide MHS with a boatload of really talented kids at the highest level. There are also a number of individual personal and group trainers and coaches available for student athletes wishing to 'up' the level of their performance. At least 40% (and usually more) of each year's MHS graduating class receives full or partial scholarships, based on either academic or athletic achievement, and in many cases, both. MHS seniors for the class of 2007 have been accepted and will be attending the following colleges and universities: Johns Hopkins, Georgia Tech, University of North Carolina, University of Maryland, University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown, Drexel, Syracuse, Cornell, Tufts, Bucknell, Hofstra, NYU, the University of Miami, George Mason, Loyola Maryland, and Fordham, to literally name just a few. I have been extremely pleased with the education my daughters have received at Moorestown High School. Like any high school these days, it has its own little quirks, but they are minor. I honestly do feel that my daughter received the equivalent of a 'private' or 'prep school' education at Moorestown High School, and would recommend it highly to prospective parents. (The district does accept a number annually of tuition-paying out of district students.) I would also recommend that you check the school district's official web site - www.mtps.com - for more information as well. Click on the link at the upper left portion of the home page for "Moorestown High School" for a much more detailed view of life as an MHS student. |
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