Asbury Park High School is a comprehensive, community public high school serving students in seventh through twelfth grades. It is in a landmark building in Asbury Park, in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, that was constructed as a model high school campus. It is part of the Asbury Park Public Schools, an Abbott DistrictAbbott School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 15, 2016. serving children in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. The current school building opened to students in September 1926.
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 379 students and 32.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.7:1. There were 241 students (63.6% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 15 (4.0% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Asbury Park High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.
As part of a reconfiguration of district schools announced in July 2019, students in grades 7 and 8 began attending classes in the high school in September 2020.Strupp, Joe. "Asbury Park Schools shake-up would close one school, expand high school grades", Asbury Park Press, July 8, 2019. Accessed July 9, 2020. "A major school shake-up is being proposed by the Asbury Park School District that would mean fewer elementary schools and more grades in the high school, officials announced. The move is aimed at offsetting a sharp state aid reduction and expected future cutbacks from Trenton, along with ongoing enrollment declines.... Martin Luther King Middle School would switch from sixth grade to eighth grade and become fourth grade to sixth grade. Asbury Park High School would then become seventh grade to 12th Grade 12th grade.""Message from the Superintendent’s Office", Blue Bishops Bulletin, Spring 2020.Accessed July 11, 2020. "Effective September 2020, we will undergo a building realignment where all Pre-K to 3 students will attend Bradley and Thurgood Marshall Elementary Schools; the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School will house grades 4 to 6, and be reclassified as an upper elementary school; and the Asbury Park High School will be home to grades 7 to 12."
Students from Deal attend the high school as part of a sending/receiving relationship. Students from Belmar attend either Asbury Park High School or Manasquan High School.Cheslow, Jerry. "Living In/Belmar, N.J.; Pushing Back on a Rowdy Reputation", The New York Times, June 20, 2004. Accessed June 12, 2012. "From Belmar Elementary, students are slotted to go to either Manasquan High School or Asbury Park High School, according to a 56-44 percent formula worked out with the New Jersey Department of Education in the late 1940s."
History Constructed at a cost of $1 million (equivalent to $ million in ), the school building opened in September 1926 for 800 students, though the auditorium had not yet been completed when the building opened for the year.Staff. "$1,000,000 High School Opens.", The New York Times, September 14, 1926. Accessed September 3, 2015. "Asbury Park, N. J., Sept. 13. - The doors of the new million dollar high school here, which has been under construction for two years, were thrown open this morning to 800 students."
Students from Ocean Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey had been sent to Asbury Park and by 1962 accounted for a majority of students in an increasingly overcrowded high school. Ocean Township voters approved a referendum to cover the cost of construction of Ocean Township High School, which opened in September 1965 for students through 11th grade, with 12th graders completing their education in Asbury Park.New Exhibit - Ocean Township High School at 50, Ocean Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey. Accessed December 13, 2021. "Early September 1965, the doors of Ocean Township High School (OTHS) opened for the first time. It was a momentous day—the culmination of an impassioned campaign and a turning point for both Ocean Township and Asbury Park, the district that up to then had educated most of the township’s teens.... Graduating eighth graders had a choice: Asbury Park or Long Branch. Most chose Asbury. By 1962 Ocean students at Asbury High outnumbered city students 713 to 558. Ocean was booming and more than 1,000 high school-age students were projected by 1966. Asbury High, on split session since 1959, was already overcrowded. Something had to be done.... Ocean High opened in 1965 without a senior class. Ocean seniors had returned to Asbury to graduate with their class."
Students from Allenhurst and Interlaken had attended the district's schools as part of sending/receiving relationships that have since been terminated. Interlaken received permission of the Commissioner New Jersey Department of Education in July 2014 to terminate its sending agreement with Asbury Park, which was replaced with a new relationship with the West Long Branch Public Schools for grades K-8 and with Shore Regional High School for grades 9-12.Oglesby, Amanda. "Interlaken breaks from Asbury schools", Asbury Park Press, July 31, 2014. Accessed February 5, 2020. "Borough students have attended West Long Branch schools and Shore Regional High School for a number of years, but finally received formal approval of the three districts’ agreement two weeks ago. Despite attending both schools for years, Interlaken students were still in a send-receive relationship with Asbury Park School District, an agreement that has existed for decades, according to Jennifer Osborne, an attorney who represents Interlaken’s Board of Education. But that changed two weeks ago, when acting state Education Commissioner David Hespe approved an end to Interlaken’s agreement with Asbury Park and the creation of a new send-receive relationship with West Long Branch and Shore Regional." In July 2017, the DoE's Acting Commissioner approved a plan by Allenhurst to end its sending relationship with Asbury Park and join Interlaken in sending to West Long Branch and Shore Regional.In The Matter Of The Petition Of The Board Of Education Of The Borough Of Allenhurst, Monmouth County, For Authorization To Sever A Sending-Receiving Relationship With The Board Of Education Of The City Of Asbury Park, Monmouth County, And To Enter Into A Sending-Receiving Relationship With The Board Of Education Of The Borough Of West Long Branch, Monmouth County, And The Board Of Education Of The Shore Regional High School District, Monmouth County., New Jersey Department of Education, July 20, 2017. "It Is Ordered on this 20th day of July, 2017 that – pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:38-13 and N.J.A.C. 6A:3-6.1 – Allenhurst’s application for authorization to sever its sending-receiving relationship with Asbury Park, and enter into sending-receiving relationships with West Long Branch and Shore Regional, as set forth in its petition of appeal, is Approved, thereby terminating the sending-receiving relationship between Allenhurst and Asbury Park, and establishing sending-receiving relationships with West Long Branch and Shore Regional, which will permit Allenhurst students to attend school in these two districts." The nearly 40 public school students from Allenhurst would start transitioning to the new sending districts as the relationship with Asbury Park is severed.Stine, Don. "Allenhurst Ends Sending-Receiving Relationship with Asbury Park School District", The Coaster, August 7, 2017. "Allenhurst is following in the footsteps of its two neighboring towns and will begin to send its students to West Long Branch Elementary School and to Shore Regional High School on a per-pupil tuition basis. Board of Education President Larry O’Rourke said that Allenhurst school board officials saw Interlaken and Loch Arbour recently make the same move with permission of state Acting-Commissioner of Education Kimberly Harrington.... O’Rourke said Allenhurst has about 38 school-age children and that some may be able to start attending their new schools this September but he added that no contracts with the two schools have yet been signed."
Awards, recognition and rankings The school was the 313th-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 177th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 280th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed November 20, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 281st in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed April 1, 2011. The school was ranked 296th 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 379th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 12 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (16.7%) and language arts literacy (46.6%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).School Overview; Click on "Rankings" for 2010-11 HSPA results, Schooldigger.com. Accessed June 12, 2012.
Athletics The Asbury Park High School BishopsAsbury Park High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete in Division B Central 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 324 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 school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group I South for football for 2022–2024, 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.