Hightstown High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades comprised of three communities in Mercer County and Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as part of the East Windsor Regional School District. Students come from East Windsor and Hightstown, both in Mercer County. Students from Roosevelt (a community in western Monmouth County) attend the district's high school as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Roosevelt Public School District.East Windsor Regional School District 2016 Report Card Narrative , New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed October 3, 2017. "The East Windsor Regional School District, located in central New Jersey at New Jersey Turnpike Exit 8, is a stable K-12 public school district serving the communities of the East Windsor Township and the Borough of Hightstown as well as Roosevelt Borough students' grades 7 through 12."
The school is approved by the New Jersey Department of Education and is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.About Us, Hightstown High School. Accessed December 3, 2019. "Hightstown High School is a comprehensive four-year high school serving the Borough of Hightstown, East Windsor Township and the town of Roosevelt with a student body of approximately 1300 students. The Hightstown High School building was first occupied during the 1965-1966 school year with additions being completed in 1973, 1982 and 2005. The High School is approved by the State of New Jersey and is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools."
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,616 students and 133.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.2:1. There were 604 students (37.4% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 162 (10.0% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Hightstown High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.
History The inaugural Hightstown High School opened for the 1913-14 school year, before which students in grades 11 and 12 attended Trenton Central High School. With rapid growth in the area, the second high school building opened in January 1925. The third and current school building opened during the 1965–66 school year.Pratt, Richard Harlan. Hightstown and East Windsor, pp. 29-31. Arcadia Publishing, 2014. . Accessed April 4, 2022. "The first Hightstown High School opened on the south side of Stockton Street on September 8, 1913. Up until this time, students in Hightstown had gone to school through the 10th grade and then completed their studies in Trenton.... The second Hightstown High School opened on January 12, 1925. Only 11 years after the establishment of the first Hightstown High School it became necessary to build a new school because of the growth of the community and the state mandate of compulsory education.... Hightstown High School served as a high school from January 1925 to February 1966, when the current high school located off Leshin Lane was opened."
Additions to the original structure were completed in 1973, 1982 and 2005.
Students from Plainsboro Township had attended Hightstown High School until the start of the 1979–80 school year, when they switched to Lawrence High School."Cranbury weighs 4-cent tax cut school budget", The Central New Jersey Home News, March 31, 1979. Accessed September 21, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "This school year, Plainsboro began sending its students to Lawrence Township High School. Cranbury students were asked to leave Hightstown High School because of overcrowding at that school. Cranbury had sent its students to Hightstown High for 75 years."
Awards, recognition and rankings The school was the 126th-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 161st in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 180th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed October 6, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 175th in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed February 2, 2011. The school was ranked 119th 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 225th out of 376 public high schools statewide in its 2010 rankings (an increase of 4 positions from the 2009 rank) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the language arts literacy and mathematics components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2009-2010, Schooldigger.com. Accessed January 1, 2012.
Athletics The Hightstown High School RamsHightstown High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete in the Colonial Valley Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Mercer, Middlesex and Monmouth counties, operating 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 1,218 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 the Valley Division of the 94-team West Jersey Football League superconferenceHightstown Rams, West Jersey Football League. Accessed May 1, 2023.Home Page, West Jersey Football League. Accessed May 1, 2023. "The WJFL is a 94-school super conference that stretches from Princeton to Wildwood encompassing schools from the Colonial Valley Conference, the Burlington County Scholastic League, the Olympic Conference, the Tri-County Conference, the Colonial Conference, and the Cape Atlantic League. The WJFL is made up of sixteen divisions with divisional alignments based on school size, geography and a strength-of-program component." and was classified by the NJSIAA as Group IV South for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 890 to 1,298 students.NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
Interscholastic sports include cross country, football, soccer, field hockey, cheerleading, wrestling, indoor track and field, basketball, swimming, ice hockey, baseball, softball, tennis, golf, and lacrosse.
The school participates with Ewing High School in a joint ice hockey team in which Lawrence High School is the host school / lead agency. The co-op program with Ewing High School and Lawrence High School operates under an agreement renewed through June 30, 2028.
The boys' soccer team was awarded the Group I state championship in 1946 (declared as co-champion with Chatham High School), 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951 (won vs. Harrison High School), 1956, 1957 and 1964 (won vs. Harrison), was awarded the Group II title in 1958 and 1959, and won the Group II title in 1961 (vs. Irvington Tech), 1962 (vs. West Morris Central High School) and 1963 (vs. Harrison). The streak of four consecutive titles won from 1961 to 1964 is tied for the third-longest streak in the state.NJSIAA History of Boys Soccer, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed January 1, 2022. The 1962 team won the Group II title with a 3-1 win against West Morris."West Morris Bows 3-1", Courier News, November 19, 1962. Accessed January 1, 2021. "Hightstown High School defeated West Morris, 3-1, Saturday in the finals of the Group 2 soccer tournament at Buccleuch Park, New Brunswick."
The boys track team won the indoor relay championship in Group I/II in 1971 (as co-champion).History of the NJSIAA Indoor Relay Championships , New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
The girls' field hockey team won the Central Jersey Group IV state sectional championship in 1983.Field Hockey Championship History 1971-2025, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated November 2025. Accessed December 1, 2025.
The girls' basketball team won the Group IV state championship in 1987, defeating Bloomfield High School by a score of 59-39 in the tournament final at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.Girls Basketball Championship History: 1919–2024, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated March 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.Schwartz, Paul. "Bloomfield exceeds expectations, but falls in final", The Record, March 15, 1987. Accessed December 6, 2020. "When coach Jim White's Bloomfield girls basketball team had a 1-3 record in December, his goals were comparatively modest.... 'Here' was Louis Brown Athletic Center, site of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Group 4 championship game. But the final dream of the Cinderella Bengals will have to wait until next year. Vicky Picott, perhaps the finest inside player in the state, scored 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds last night to lead Hightstown to a 59-39 victory and the Group 4 title."
The ice hockey team won the Mercer County Championship in 1987, 1989, 1994, 1999 (as co-champion with Hopewell Valley Central High School) and 2002.NJSIAA Ice Hockey State Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
The softball team finished the season with a 25-4 record in 2019, after winning the Group IV state title with a 9-4 score against runner-up Mount Olive High School in the tournament finals at Kean University.Softball Championship History 1972–2023, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated July 2023. Accessed April 1, 2024.Fortenbaugh, Rick. "Hightstown softball makes history with first state title in program history", The Trentonian, June 1, 2019. Accessed December 6, 2020. "When Hightstown beat Mount Olive by the score of 9-4 in the Group IV championship game at Kean University on Saturday, it did more than win the school's first state title in any sport since 1987. Continuing what's become a real fixture on the New Jersey softball scene, what Hightstown (25-4) also did is make it four straight years Mercer County has produced at least one softball state championship team."
Extracurricular activities
FIRST Robotics Team