Hopatcong High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Hopatcong, in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the Hopatcong Public Schools.
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 506 students and 43.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.6:1. There were 126 students (24.9% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 52 (10.3% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Hopatcong High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.
History During the 1960–61 school year, there were 200 students from Hopatcong attending Sparta High School, with an expectation that the number of students from Hopatcong sent to high school in Sparta would increase by about 10% annually in subsequent years.Bagby, Scott. Master Plan Study for the Township of Sparta, p. 43. Accessed November 5, 2025. "As of October 31, 1960 there were a total of 206 Hopatcong high school students and 92 Byram students... The Hopatcong school board has estimated that its high school enrollment will increase 11 percent each year."
The school opened for the 1969–70 school year, with approximately 625 students in grades 7–12. The loss of students from Hopatcong at Sparta High School caused a drop of almost half of the enrollment in the prior year."Expect Enrollment Up 7½% In Sussex County Schools", The News, August 18, 1969. Accessed November 5, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "The county will have a new high school in Hopatcong Borough. Hopatcong High School will probably figure 625 to 650 students, according to John Auwenda, the school principal. It will be a six-year school, 7 through 12.... Tuition enrollment in Sparta High School is down 45 per cent, of 379 total, due to the withdrawal of 9th, 10th and 11th grade students from Hopatcong Borough."
Awards, recognition and rankings The school was ranked 235th 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 289th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 200th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 3, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 174th in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed March 25, 2011. The school was ranked 158th 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.
In the 2013–2014 school year, Hopatcong High School ranked eighth in Sussex County out of nine other public high schools in SAT scores.New Jersey School Performance Reports for 2013-14 for Hopatcong High School. New Jersey Department of Education, backed up by the Internet Archive as of April 2, 2015. Accessed March 17, 2022.
Extracurricular activities The Hopatcong High School ChiefsHopatcong High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 12, 2015. compete in the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Morris, Sussex and Warren counties, and was established following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).Home Page, Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference. Accessed August 27, 2020. "The Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference prides itself on being one of New Jersey's premier high school conferences and is comprised of 39 high schools located in Northwest New Jersey."League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. Prior to the 2010 realignment, the school participated in the Sussex County Interscholastic League until the SCIL was dissolved in 2009.Home Page, Sussex County Interscholastic League, backed up by the Internet Archive, as of February 4, 2012. Accessed November 19, 2014. With 312 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group I for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 75 to 476 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 the National Blue division of the North Jersey Super Football Conference, which includes 112 schools competing in 20 divisions, making it the nation's biggest football-only high school sports league.Cooper, Darren. "Here's what we know about the new Super Football Conference 2020 schedule", The Record, July 23, 2020. Accessed March 22, 2021. "The Super Football Conference (SFC) is a 112-team group, the largest high school football-only conference in America, and is comprised of teams from five different counties."Cooper, Darren. "NJ football: Super Football Conference revised schedules for 2020 regular season", The Record, July 23, 2020. Accessed March 22, 2021. "The Super Football Conference has 112 teams that will play across 20 divisions." The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group I North for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 254 to 474 students.NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
Hopatcong High School maintains a variety of boys' and girls' interscholastic sports teams including cross country, soccer, cheerleading, wrestling, basketball, bowling, golf, track and field, softball, baseball and tennis.
The school participates as the host school / lead agency for joint cooperative boys / girls bowling teams with Mount Olive High School, while Mount Olive is the host school for a co-op ice hockey team that also includes Hackettstown High School. These co-op programs operate under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year.NJSIAA Winter Cooperative Sports Programs, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 1, 2020. The ice hockey partnership with Mount Olive started in the 2014-15 school year and plays under the Mount Olive name.Corbett, Kayla. "Hopatcong's New Hockey Team" , Hopatcong Arrow, January 2015. Accessed December 12, 2015. "This year HHS did something new—we collaborated with Mount Olive HS to bring a sport to Hopatcong students. Beginning with this winter season, Hopatcong High School now has a hockey team."
The boys' wrestling team won the 1997 North I Group II state sectional championship.Boys Wrestling Championship History 1934–2024, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated October 2024. Accessed November 1, 2025.
The football team was the North I Group II state sectional champion in 2001 and 2005.NJSIAA Football History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed January 1, 2022. The 2001 team finished the season with a 10-2 record, coming back from a 21-point deficit to defeat Mahwah High School in the North I Group II championship game by a score of 36-35 on a field goal scored with seconds left on the clock.Costello, Brian. "Hopatcong roars back to defeat Mahwah", The Record December 2, 2001. Accessed December 7, 2020, via Newspapers.com. "A Mahwah masterpiece became a horror story in a matter of minutes Saturday. The Thunderbirds watched a 21-point lead evaporate in a 36-35 loss to Hopatcong in the Group 2, North 1 championship game. Dan McNamara's 36-yard field goal with seven seconds left gave the Chiefs the victory.... The Chiefs (10-2) began their drive at their own 35 and drove to the Mahwah 34 before Moloughney picked off his second pass of the day." In 2005, the team beat Sparta High School 20-14 in overtime in the final game of the tournament.2005 Football - North I, Group II, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 31, 2008.
In 2004, the boys' varsity cross-country team became the North I, Group II state champions. In 2005, the boys' cross country team finished 15th in the state at the New Jersey Meet of Champions.New Jersey Meet of Champions 2005 , DyeStat. Accessed March 11, 2008. The same year, the team successfully defended its state sectional title and was second in Group II
The boys' track team had three consecutive undefeated seasons, from 2010 to 2012.Staff. "3rd Perfect Season for Hopatcong Track; Capwell, Olugbenga lead Chiefs to another flawless season.", Hopatcong-SpartaPatch, May 8, 2012. Accessed October 7, 2012. "The Chiefs finished their third straight undefeated season Thursday with a road win over formidable Newton. The victory gave Hopatcong a 6-0 finish and its third consecutive Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference Freedom Division crown."
Administration The school's principals are Christian Jensen (Academic Affairs) and Stephanie Martinez (Student Affairs and Athletics).High School Staff, Hopatcong High School. Accessed January 27, 2026.
Notable alumni
Joe Hewitt (born 1978)f, software programmer best known for his work on the Mozilla Firefox web browserStaff. "5 Hopatcong Grads You Need to Know: The borough has seen its share of stars, from athletes to brainiacs." , Hopatcong Patch.com, June 22, 2011. Accessed October 12, 2011. "You Need to Know About Joe Hewitt: Chances are you've seen his work without knowing it. Best known for helping create Firefox, Hewitt also played a key role in developing Facebook's iPhone app." Joe Martinek (born 1989), New Jersey high school football's all-time leading rusher with 7,589 total yardsFaces in the Crowd. Sports Illustrated. January 8, 2007. Accessed March 25, 2010. Zach Rey (born 1989), former wrestler who represented the United States at the 2015 World Wrestling ChampionshipsSpaulding, Anthony. "Hopatcong's Zach Rey gets his shot at Olympic dream", New Jersey Herald, April 8, 2016. Accessed October 29, 2023. "Zach Rey has achieved a lot of huge feats in a ton of big spots as a wrestler.... Rey, a former two-time state champion for Hopatcong High School and a former NCAA Division I champion for Lehigh University, will be looking to win the U.S. Olympic Trials at 125 kilograms (275 pounds) when the tournament takes place at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa." Dave Yovanovits (born 1981), former NFL offensive lineman, who played for the New Orleans SaintsDave Yovanovits Stats, Pro-Football-Reference.com. Accessed March 11, 2018.
References
External links Hopatcong High School Hopatcong Public Schools
Data for Hopatcong Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics