Woodbury Junior-Senior High School (WHS) is a comprehensive community middle school and public high school that serves students in sixth through twelfth grades from Woodbury, in Gloucester County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, as part of the Woodbury Public Schools system. The class of 2003 was the school's 100th graduating class, making Woodbury High School one of the oldest secondary schools in South Jersey and the oldest in its athletic conference.
As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 828 students and 71.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.7:1. There were 484 students (58.5% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 49 (5.9% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Woodbury Jr-Sr High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024.
History Following a devastating fire on December 20, 1910, that burned the original high school down, it was rebuilt in 1911 with then-governor and future president, Woodrow Wilson, laying the cornerstone for the new Woodbury High School. The new school building opened in 1912.Our History Timeline, Woodbury High School. Accessed June 8, 2016.
Students from National Park, Wenonah, Westville and Woodbury Heights had attended the school until the Gateway Regional High School opened in September 1964.Shryock, Bob. "Plans are in the works for Gateway's 50th anniversary", Gloucester County Times, March 22, 2012, updated January 18, 2019. Accessed March 25, 2022. "The 50-year milestone is based on Gateway opening in the fall of 1964 when four sending districts (Woodbury Heights, Westville, National Park and Wenonah) split from Woodbury and sent seventh, eighth and ninth graders to the new school on Egg Harbor Road in Woodbury Heights.""June Balloting Sought On New Regional High In Gloucester County", The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 12, 1962. Accessed March 25, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Plans are under way for a June referendum to set up a new Gateway Regional High School District which would include Westville, Wenonah, Woodbury Heights and National Park.... The study committee was formed after Woodbury High School, which has been receiving pupils from the four districts in grades nine to 12 tor many years, gave written notice last Sept. 13 that it would be unable to accept ninth grade pupils from the four districts as of September 1963."
Awards, recognition and rankings In 2004, the school was selected as a NASA Explorer School, one of 50 in the entire country to work hand-in-hand with NASA on improving technology and science education within the school. In 2007, NASA selected Woodbury to experience a 'Weightless Wonder' flight on a C-9 aircraft so that they could test their proposed experiment examining the performance-related effects of reduced gravity on simple robotic designs.NASA Selects Woodbury School for 'Weightless Wonder' Flight, NASA press release dated February 13, 2007.
The school was the 187th-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 192nd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 199th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 24, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 203rd in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed March 21, 2011. The school was ranked 111th in the magazine's September 2006 issue."Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008. In 2006, Woodbury was the #1 ranked high school in Gloucester County by New Jersey Monthly and Philadelphia Magazine.School website, accessed June 19, 2007.
Athletics Woodbury High School Thundering HerdWoodbury High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete as the oldest member school in the Colonial Conference, which is comprised of small schools in Camden and Gloucester counties whose enrollments generally do not exceed between 850 students for grades 9–12, and operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).Schools , Colonial Conference. Accessed September 1, 2022.League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. With 325 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 Diamond Division of the 94-team West Jersey Football League superconferenceWoodbury Thundering Herd, 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 I South for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 185 to 482 students.NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
The school participates in joint cooperative cross country running, co-ed swimming and wrestling teams with Gateway Regional High School as the host school / lead agency. These co-op programs operate under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year.NJSIAA Fall Cooperative Sports Programs, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 1, 2020.NJSIAA Winter Cooperative Sports Programs, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 1, 2020.
The boys track team won the Group III spring / outdoor track state championship in 1943 and 1948, and won the Group I title in 1969, 1972-1978, 2010 and 2011. The program's 11 group titles are tied for fourth-most in the state; the program's streak of seven consecutive titles from 1972 to 1978 is tied for the second-longest streak in the state.NJSIAA Boys Spring Track Summary of Group Titles, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
The boys track team won the indoor relay championship in Group I in 1976-1979 and 1983; the program's five state group titles are tied for tenth-most in the state and the four consecutive titles from 1976 to 1979 is tied for the fifth-longest streak. The girls team won the Group III title in 1982 and 1986History of the NJSIAA Indoor Relay Championships , New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 1, 2022.
The girls team won the NJSIAA spring / outdoor track Group I state championship in 1976, 1977, 1979 and 2007.NJSIAA Spring Track Summary of Group Titles Girls, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 1, 2022.
The softball team won the Group I state championship in 1983 (defeating Wood-Ridge High School in the tournament final) and 1996 (vs. Cedar Grove High School).Softball Championship History 1972–2023, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated July 2023. Accessed April 1, 2024. The 1996 Group I state final was ended in five innings due to the mercy rule, with a 16–1 win against Cedar Grove giving the team a 23–1 record for the season.Culligan, Joey. "Woodbury is stunned by laugher; Woodbury buried Cedar Grove in the state Group 1 softball final. It wasn't supposed to be so easy.", The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 9, 1996. Accessed March 7, 2021. "The Woodbury softball team was prepared for everything yesterday. Everything except an easy game in its state Group 1 title game against North Jersey champion Cedar Grove. Which is why the Woodbury players were as shocked by their 16-1 victory at Toms River North as the Cedar Grove players themselves. The game was ended after five innings by the 10-run rule.... The Thundering Herd (23-1) also became the second Colonial Conference team to win a state title yesterday, following up on West Deptford's 6-5 win over A.L. Johnson in the Group 2 championship game."
The boys' tennis team won the 2005 South, Group I state sectional championship with a 3–2 win over Schalick High School."Boys Tennis Sectional Championships", The Daily Journal, May 25, 2005. Accessed August 2, 2007. "A hungrier, more aggressive Woodbury team won key points early en route to a 3-2 victory over Schalick in the South Jersey Group I boys tennis championship at James Atkinson Park." In 2007, the girls' track & field team won the NJSIAA Group I state championship, and the boys' track & field team came in second in the state, losing by a single point to Metuchen.NJSIAA Girls Track Group I Results, accessed June 3, 2007. NJSIAA Boys Track Group I Results, accessed June 3, 2007.