Monroe Township High School is a comprehensive four-year public high school located in Monroe Township, in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades part of the Monroe Township School District. The school serves students from Monroe Township and approximately 300 from Jamesburg who attend Monroe Township High School as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Jamesburg Public Schools that has been in place since 1980.Monroe Township High School 2016-17 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 14, 2018. "Monroe Township High School continues to welcome roughly 300 high school students from the nearby sending district of Jamesburg since 1980."Cheslow, Jerry. "A Townful of Empty Nesters", The New York Times, October 14, 2007. Accessed August 8, 2008. "In addition to the four elementary schools, the Applegarth Middle School teaches Grades 7 and 8, and the 1,400-student Monroe Township High School covers Grades 9 through 12. It is shared with the borough of Jamesburg, the 'hole in the doughnut' municipality in the center of the township." The school's mascot is a falcon and the school colors are purple and Vegas gold. The motto is "Excellence is Our Expectation".

As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,620 students and 186.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.1:1. There were 198 students (7.6% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 72 (2.7% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Monroe Township High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024. Based on 2021-22 data from the New Jersey Department of Education, it was the tenth-largest high school in the state and one of 29 schools with more than 2,000 students.Kausch, Katie. "N.J.’s biggest high school has 3,350 students. See how your school compares.", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, August 31, 2023. Accessed August 31, 2023. "Another 28 New Jersey schools have at least 2,000 students, according to 2021-2022 enrollment data released by the state Department of Education.... 10. Monroe Township High School Number of students: 2,502"

History The school's original building, designed to serve 1,100 students, was constructed at a cost of $4.7 million (equivalent to $ million in ). Groundbreaking for the new facility was held in July 1971 after a bond issue to cover the costs of the building was approved by voters in May 1971, and students started using the building in January 1974.Ellis, Linda. "Contrasting Jersey Schools Show Dollar's Almightiness", The New York Times, February 3, 1974. Accessed August 28, 2012.

The New Jersey Board of Education voted in May 1979 to shutdown Jamesburg High School, which with an enrollment of 182 students was the smallest in the state. Starting with the 1979-80 school year, Jamesburg began sending students to Monroe Township High School.Waldron, Martin. "New Jersey Journal", The New York Times, May 13, 1979. Accessed November 26, 2017. "The state's smallest high school, at Jamesburg in Middlesex County, is being closed. The 40-year-old school has 182 students this year. The State Board of Education voted to send the school's students to nearby Monroe after July 1."Reports of cases argued and determined in the Superior Court, Appellate Division, Chancery Division, Law Division, and in the County Courts of the State of New Jersey, Volume 169, p. 332. New Jersey Superior Court. Accessed November 26, 2017. "In a prior related appeal, Docket No. A-3257-78, we upheld a determination of the state board ordering the closing of Jamesburg High School, effective June 30, 1979, and designating pupils of Jamesburg in the 9th through the 12th grades as tuition pupils at Monroe Township High School, effective July 1, 1979."

The Marasco Center for the Performing Arts, named for a former superintendent, was added to that building in the mid-1990s, which added an auditorium of 1,000 seats. More classrooms were added in the early 2000s.Luby, Tami. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-central-new-jersey-home-news-marasco/166325489/ "Monroe gets bids for $2.5M school auditorium wing", Home News Tribune, March 27, 1994. Accessed February 21, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "Bids for the newly named Richard P. Marasco Center for the Performing Arts were received Friday and officials expect to award the bid for the high school addition soon. More than 30 contractors were expected to vie for the $2.5 million project, said project manager Jerry Tague. Tague said he expects construction to begin on the high school addition by mid-April and be finished by September 1996. The center will have a 1,000-seat auditorium and several office spaces.... Jay Ellis Brown, president of the board, announced the decision to name the center after Marasco, the outgoing superintendent who presided over the district for 18 years, at Wednesday's board meeting."

Growth in the population of Monroe Township led to a proposal for relocation of the high school onto what was then part of the soccer fields of Thompson Park, a county-operated park located across the road from the previous high school building. Opponents of the site of the proposed high school claim that historical records show that the proposed location was the 18th century site of Bethel Indian Town. An archaeological study found mostly European artifacts in portions of the of the proposed site, with only about eight or so Native American artifacts among them. The new Monroe Township High School building was completed in time for the 2011-12 school year, despite discovery of an old farmstead on the site.Racz, Gene. "Farm remnants at Monroe site won't halt H.S. construction", Courier News, June 13, 2008. Accessed October 28, 2008. With the completion of the $125 million project to create a new building for the new high school, the previous high school building (across the street from the current one) was turned into the township's middle school, and what was called "Applegarth Middle School" was converted into an elementary school building.Sparta, Christine. "Monroe school on time, on budget", Home News Tribune, August 31, 2009. Accessed February 21, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "The new Monroe Township High School expected to open in 2011 is now more than half built, according to a school official. "Everything is on schedule in terms of budget and time," said Board Secretary and School Business Administrator Wayne Holliday on Friday. He said the three-story school, with a price tag of just under $125 million, will encompass about 365,000 square feet....Tentative plans are for the old high school building to become a middle school for grades 6 to 8, alleviating overcrowding at Applegarth Middle School and the elementary schools."Petersen, Tara. "Officials detail costs of high school project", Sentinel, November 13, 2003. Accessed December 7, 2019. "Three other components are part of the plan, but would not be funded as part of it. The current high school would be converted to a middle school, Applegarth would become the district's fifth elementary school, and the Brookside and Woodland schools would also need some alterations as part of a grade reconfiguration. The middle school would take the sixth grade along with the seventh and eighth grades, thus opening up more space in the elementary schools."

Awards, recognition and rankings The school was the 82nd-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 124th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 118th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed November 29, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 113th in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed March 26, 2011. The school was ranked 106th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 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 178th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 17 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (78.0%) and language arts literacy (95.0%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).School Overview; Click on "Rankings" for 2003-11 HSPA results, Schooldigger.com. Accessed March 6, 2012.

The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary SchoolsMonroe Township High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed February 8, 2022. and by the New Jersey Department of Education.

Graduation requirements In order to graduate from Monroe Township High School, a student must obtain a minimum of 120 credits in grades 9-12. In addition, the successful completion of certain subjects is required as follows: Language Arts - 20 credits Mathematics - 15 credits Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics) - 15 credits Social Studies - 10 credits World Language - 10 credits Performing or Visual Arts - 5 credits 21st Century Life & Careers (CTE) - 5 credits Health and Physical Education - 5 credits (for each year enrolled) Financial Literacy - 5 credits https://sites.google.com/monroe.k12.nj.us/mths2026-2027programofstudies/graduation-requirements?authuser=0

Student activities Extracurricular activities Extracurricular activities provide an opportunity for MTHS students to explore their interests, learn, and help the community. Most "clubs" meet after school when additional buses are available for after school transportation. Some clubs meet at night, in which cases the students are responsible for their own transportation.

Clubs offered include:

Academic Team The African American Club Mission Statement American Legion Oratorical Competition Animation Club Art Club Marching Band Jazz Ensemble Chess Club Men's Chorus Coach's Club The Computer Club DECA Ex-Animo International Thespian Society Winter Color Guard Environmental Action Club FLY Cap FBLA - Future Business Leaders of America FCCLA Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America Société Honoraire de Français - French National Honor Society Newspaper Club Fellowship of Christian Athletes Gay Straight Alliance History Club Italian Honors Society Jazz Dance Team Key Club ”Lights, Camera, Action!” Video Production Club Literary Magazine Club Mathletes Mock Trial Club Model UN Multicultural Club National Honor Society Peace Ambassadors Poetry Club The Photography Club Project Graduation Science/Robotics Club New Jersey Science League Spanish Honor Society Student Council Table Tennis Federation Technology Club Tri-M Music Honor Society Yearbook Club The Young Science Achiever's Club Youth and Government

Marching Falcons