Pinelands Regional High School (PRHS) is a four-year regional public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Eagleswood Township, Little Egg Harbor Township and Tuckerton in Ocean County and from Bass River Township, in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as part of the Pinelands Regional School District.Pinelands Regional School District 2016 Report Card Narrative , New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed October 16, 2017. "The Pinelands Regional School District is a regional school district located in southern Ocean County. The District consists of a Junior High School for grades 7-9 and a High School for grades 10-12. The communities of Bass River, Eagleswood, Little Egg Harbor, and Tuckerton are served by the District with approximately 1,700 students in grades 7-12."Staff. "Regional School Districts", Burlington County Times, March 14, 2012. Accessed March 1, 2026. "Pinelands Regional - Serves: Bass River in Burlington County; Eagleswood, Little Egg Harbor and Tuckerton in Ocean County"Greenfield, Dr. Bruce. "Ocean County Report On Consolidation and Regionalization", Report of the Executive County Superintendent, March 15, 2010. Accessed April 21, 2011. "Pinelands Regional - Eagleswood, Tuckerton, Bass River, Little Egg Harbor". The school is overseen by the New Jersey Department of Education and has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1986.Pinelands High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed March 25, 2020.
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,063 students and 79.7 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.4:1. There were 446 students (42.0% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 82 (7.7% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Pinelands Regional High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.
History Prior to the opening of the school, students from those towns had attended Southern Regional School District in Manahawkin.The History of SRHS, Southern Regional School District. Accessed June 1, 2016. "That problem was finally solved in 1979 with the opening of Pinelands Regional High School in Tuckerton. All mainland students south of Manahawkin would no longer be attending Southern Regional." Constructed on a site covering at a cost of $9.7 million (equivalent to $ million in ), Pinelands Regional High School officially opened on September 5, 1979, as a Junior-Senior High School, originally housing grades 7–11 from Tuckerton, Little Egg Harbor, Bass River, and Eagleswood, while seniors finished their education at Southern Regional."Pinelands District Asks Public Aid To Set Goals for New High School", Asbury Park Press, March 25, 1979. Accessed June 1, 2022, via Newspapers.com. Little Egg Harbor and Eagleswood townships. Tuckerton and Bass River Township (Burlington County) make up the district. The high school, a $9.7 million building under construction on a 79-acre site on Nugentown Road, Little Egg Harbor Township, is expected to serve 1,075 students from grades seven through 11 when it opens this fall."
The building originally housed grades 7–8 on the third floor, 9–10 on the second, and 11–12 on the first. During the first school year (1979-1980) there was no senior class, as those students were allowed finish the year at Southern Regional High School. The building featured an experimental "open classroom" design, where a large group of students of varying skill levels would be in a single, large classroom with several teachers overseeing them; and contained no interior walls. However, this format didn't last long, and in the 1980s, the rooms were walled off, and separated by floor-to-ceiling folding partitions.
In 1991, Pinelands Middle School opened across the street for students in grades 7–8. Also in the 90s, a new building was completed next to the high school, which houses a daycare center called "Rainbow Express". Students taking Child Care classes go to class in this building to help with the daycare kids. In 2002, the Middle School was expanded and the 9th grade was moved there. When the expansion was completed at the Middle School, it was renamed "Pinelands Regional Junior High School" while the High School was renamed the "Senior High School", although this name is rarely used.
After rejecting all three referendum questions the previous November, voters approved all three bond questions in January 2017 to cover the costs of a $53.6 million renovation and upgrade job to address structural issues in the high school and junior high school.D'Amico, Diane. "Voters approve all three questions for Pinelands Regional school repairs", Press of Atlantic City, January 25, 2017. Accessed October 16, 2017. By October, the school was closed indefinitely due to complications in the construction process, with classes temporarily moved to available locations at the junior high school.Jackson, Vincent. "Pinelands Regional High School will be closed indefinitely", Press of Atlantic City, October 14, 2017. Accessed October 16, 2017. In September 2019, the high school re-opened, housing grades 9–12 for the first time since 2002.Lowe, Claire. "Wildcats come home as Pinelands reopens high school for 2019", The Press of Atlantic City, September 1, 2019. Accessed June 2, 2021. "About 1,000 students will return Thursday for their first day of high school and for almost all of the students, it will be the first time they’ve ever attended school in the building — the senior class were 10th graders when the building closed. Unlike previous years, the high school will house ninth graders, as well. They previously attended the junior high school with seventh- and eighth-grade students."
Awards, recognition and rankings The school was the 185th-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 173rd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 262nd in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed August 22, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 241st in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed June 22, 2011. The school was ranked 254th 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 254th out of 376 public high schools statewide in its 2010 rankings (a decrease of 2 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 15, 2012.
Athletics The Pinelands Regional High School WildcatsPinelands Regional High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete in Division B South of the Shore Conference, an athletic conference comprised of public and private high schools in Monmouth and Ocean counties along the Jersey Shore.Shore Conference Realignment for 2018-2019 and 2019-2020, Shore Conference. Accessed November 15, 2020.Member Schools, Shore Conference. Accessed November 15, 2020. The league operates under the jurisdiction 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 796 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group III for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 761 to 1,058 students in that grade range.NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020. The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group III South for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 695 to 882 students.NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
The school's Amy Beykrich was the individual cross country champion in Group II in 1995.Girls Cross Country Championship History: 1973–2025, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated November 2025. Accessed March 1, 2026.
The school's cheerleading team was state champions in 2012, the team's fifth state championship, after winning four consecutive titles from 2004 through 2007.Christopher, Chris. "Pinelands cheerleading wins state championship", Daily Record, March 15, 2011. Accessed November 29, 2015. "The Pinelands Regional High School varsity cheerleading squad won the New Jersey Cheerleading and Dance Coaches Association Medium Division state title at the Sun National Arena in Trenton.... Pinelands also captured the championship in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007." The team finished third in the nation in the years of 2010, 2011 and 2012 at the UCA National Cheerleading Championship.Staff. "Everyone Has A Story: Pinelands cheerleaders going to national competition for eighth time", The Press of Atlantic City, February 5, 2012. Accessed November 29, 2015. "The Pinelands Regional High School Varsity Cheerleaders are headed for their eighth UCA National High School Cheerleading Championships, to be held Saturday and Sunday in Orlando, Fla. For the past five years their performance has been televised by ESPN, and for the last three years they have placed third in their division, said Coach Marybeth Sundermann, of Manahawkin in Stafford Township.... The girls are five-time state champions, and train year-round."2011 National High School Cheerleading Championship: Medium Varsity Division II Results, Varsity.com. Accessed November 29, 2015.
Drama department Pinelands Regional's drama and theater program has been highly successful, especially in the past several years. In 2010, the team won 19 awards at the annual Speech and Theatre Association of New Jersey competition at Rutgers University, including 8 Governor's awards, which are the highest honors in the state to be given for education.Staff. "Pinelands High School theater team wins 19 awards at state competition", The Press of Atlantic City, February 8, 2010. Accessed June 22, 2011. In 2017, the school had been honored with the Governor's Awards in Arts Theatre Competition for the 12th year in a row."Pinelands takes gold at state arts theater competition", Asbury Park Press, February 8, 2017. Accessed June 1, 2022. "For the 12th consecutive year, the students at Pinelands Regional High School brought home gold – and 20 awards overall – from the annual Speech and Theatre Association of New Jersey's (STANJ) Governor's Awards in Arts Theatre Competition."
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