New Brunswick High School (NBHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in New Brunswick, in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the main secondary school of the New Brunswick Public Schools.
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,443 students and 172.9 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.1:1. There were 1,875 students (76.7% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 278 (11.4% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for New Brunswick High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.
History
The first dedicated high school facility in New Brunswick, known as Livingston Avenue High School, was built in 1875 on the Livingston Avenue property where Roosevelt Elementary School currently stands. Previously, the "high school department" took up the second and third floors of the Bayard Street School, and the New Brunswick's first graduating high school class was in July 1869.
The second high school facility was completed in 1916, and contained 30 classrooms and an 800-seat auditorium. A new gymnasium was built as part of an addition in 1941, and another addition was built in 1945. This facility was repurposed as A. Chester Redshaw Elementary School following the construction of the current high school facility. Redshaw Elementary was closed in 2005 and demolished in 2006, and a new elementary school is planned for the site.
The next facility was located on Livingston Avenue, near the North Brunswick Township border, and was completed in 1964. The facility contains 67 classrooms (including dedicated classrooms for music and industrial arts classes), a gymnasium, a cafeteria, an auditorium, a library, and office space. The school was originally built to hold 1,200 students, and overcrowding necessitated the use of modular classrooms.
The North Brunswick Township Public Schools had sent students to New Brunswick High School until North Brunswick Township High School was completed in 1973 at a cost of $10 million and had been opened to the district's students in grades seven through nine. The New Brunswick Public Schools sought to prevent the shift of 280 students who would have attended high school in New Brunswick from attending the new facility, arguing that the withdrawal of the almost entirely white students from North Brunswick and Milltown would leave the New Brunswick school with an disproportionately minority enrollment.Johnston, Richard J. H. "School Showdown Looms In New Brunswick Dispute", The New York Times, September 17, 1973. Accessed July 27, 2026. "A showdown was expected this week over whether 280 10th-graders from predominantly white North Brunswick should continue to attend New Brunswick's racially troubled, overcrowded high school."
The current high school building opened in January 2010. The facility, constructed at a cost of $185 million, is located on Route 27.Keller, Karen. "High school in New Brunswick opens without stoplight, crosswalk", The Star-Ledger, January 20, 2010. Accessed July 19, 2011. "The brand-new, $185 million public high school in New Brunswick will have energy-providing solar panels on the roof, state-of-the-art lighting for its athletic fields and touch-sensitive, internet-connected 'Smart Boards' instead of traditional blackboards. But when it opened last week, it didn't have a couple of comparatively low-tech necessities — a crosswalk and a stoplight.... Devco designed and managed construction of the school, which replaces the old high school on Livingston Avenue that was built in 1964." The previous high school building was converted into a middle school for grades 6 through 8, to open in September 2010.Kaltwasser, Jared. "Work Nearly complete on new high school in New Brunswick", Home News Tribune, August 30, 2009. Accessed July 19, 2011. "When students do leave the current high school at 1125 Livingston Ave it won't be the end for that building. Officials plan to give the building a facelift, then move the middle school into the facility."
Awards, recognition, and rankings The school was the 287th-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 293rd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 282nd in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 7, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 303rd in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed February 10, 2011. The school was ranked 302nd 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.
Student body The Class of 2014 had a 63% graduation rate.New Brunswick High School 2013–14 School Performance Report, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed November 2, 2015.
As of 2013–14 school year, the school's population was 82.6% Hispanic, 15.9% African-American, 0.7% were Asian / Pacific Islander, 0.7% were White. Among students, 51.5% speak English as their first language at home, while 48.1% speak Spanish; 17.0% of students had a disability, 86.2% were economically disadvantaged and 10.6% of students had limited English proficiency.
The school has a Student Exchange Program, with various nations. Some neighboring countries went through with the program and students from NBHS went to China, India, and Japan.
Athletics The New Brunswick High School ZebrasNew Brunswick High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete in 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 (NJSIAA).League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020–2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. With 1,704 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,060 to 5,049 students in that grade range.NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020. 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.Kinney, Mike. "Big Central revises 2020 football schedule for its shortened inaugural season", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, August 12, 2020. Accessed April 18, 2021. "The newly formed Big Central Football Conference has released a revised 2020 schedule for its inaugural season.... the BCFC is comprised of schools from Middlesex, Union, Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren counties." The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group V South for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 1,333 to 2,324 students.NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
Interscholastic athletic programs offered by NBHS include football, baseball, basketball, softball, soccer, cross country, tennis, golf, bowling, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling. The school's mascot is the zebra. The school's athletic facilities include a gymnasium, a football stadium (Memorial Stadium), baseball diamonds and a running track.
The boys' basketball team won the Group IV state championship in 1930 (against runner-up Union Hill High School in the tournament finals), 1938 (vs. West New York Memorial) and 1944 (vs. Camden High School), and won the Group I title in 1984 (vs. Mahwah High School).Boys Basketball Championship History: 1919–2024, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated March 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024. The 1930 team won the Class A (since reclassified as Group IV) title with a 26–18 win against Union Hill in the championship game played in front of a crowd of 5,000 at the 144th Regiment Armory in Elizabeth."Jersey Title Won By New Brunswick; Gains Class A Championship First Time, Beating Union Hill Five, 26–18. Rahway Class B Victor Triumphs Over Woodrow Wilson by 24–16—St. Benedict's Retains Prep Crown.", The New York Times, March 23, 1930. Accessed January 25, 2021. "For the first time since the inception of the title play eleven years ago New Brunswick has won the New Jersey Class A high school basketball crown and Rahway the Class B championship. They emerged victors in the finals of their respective divisions tonight at the 114th Regiment Armory before 5,000. New Brunswick defeated Union Hill, 26–18, in a closely contested game and Rahway downed Woodrow Wilson of Weehaken by a score of 24–16."
The boys' track team won the indoor track all-group state championship in 1951.Boys Winter Track and Field Championship History: 1922-2023, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated November 2023. Accessed February 1, 2024.
The boys' cross country running team won the Group IV state championship in 1958.NJSIAA Boys Cross Country State Group Champions, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
The football team won the Central Jersey Group II state sectional title in 2003 and the North II Group III title in 2006.NJSIAA Football History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023. The team finished the season with a 12–0 record after winning the Central Jersey Group IV state sectional title by a 21–14 score against Long Branch High School in the championship game; the 2003 team earned consideration from the Courier News as one of "the best in GMC history".Tufaro, Greg. "Which football team is the best in GMC history?", Courier News, August 15, 2018. Accessed November 20, 2020. "New Brunswick 2003 (Central Group II)... The Zebras allowed 9.3 points per game on the way to a 12–0 season that culminated with a 21–14 win over Long Branch for the sectional title."
Electives and extracurricular activities NBHS currently offers a significant variety of extracurricular activities for students, including over 40 clubs, and nearly 20 student organizations. There are clubs devoted to languages and cultures, academic fields, sports, fitness, music, art, computers, and other interests and skills. Student organizations include chapters of the National Honor Society, the Key Club, and the International Thespian Society, as well as a student council, a school newspaper, and groups that design the school's yearbook and Spectrum Literary & Art Magazine. NBHS also offers the U.S. Army JROTC program as an elective.
Theatre program