Boonton High School is a comprehensive four-year public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Boonton, in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as part of the Boonton Public Schools. The school is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools until July 2029 and has been accredited since 1928.Boonton High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed December 18, 2024.
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 646 students and 62.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.4:1. There were 177 students (27.4% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 33 (5.1% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Boonton High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.
The high school serves students from Boonton and approximately 300 students from Lincoln Park, who attend as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Lincoln Park Public Schools.Boonton High 2016 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed November 26, 2017. "Boonton High School, located in Morris County, New Jersey serves approximately 600 students in grades 9-12 and is two municipalities; the towns of Boonton and Lincoln Park."Lincoln Park School District 2016 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed November 26, 2017. "Lincoln Park participates in a sending-receiving relationship with Boonton High School, which offers a comprehensive educational program for children in grades 9 through 12. The Lincoln Park School District sends approximately 290 students to Boonton High School. Approximately 70 high school age students attend The Academies of Morris County. " The two districts had sought to sever the more-than-50-year-old relationship, citing cost savings that could be achieved by both districts and complaints by Lincoln Park that it is granted only one seat on the Boonton Public Schools' Board of Education. In April 2006, the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education rejected the request.Commissioner of Education Decision, New Jersey Department of Education, April 25, 2006. Accessed March 21, 2011.
History The school formally opened in 1875,Hatala, Greg. "Glimpse of History: Well-dressed graduates in Boonton", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, June 22, 2015, updated March 29, 2019. Accessed February 24, 2026. "The Boonton Historical Society and Museum notes that the high school was founded in 1875, only eight years after Boonton was officially incorporated as a town." with the first class graduating the following year. The first building dedicated for use as a high school was constructed in 1897 at the site that became the location of John Hill School in 1922.Rosenthal, Peter. "Boonton High alumni picks 43 for Hall of Fame", Daily Record, November 4, 1996. Accessed February 24, 2026, via Newspapers.com. "Boonton High School began in the 1870s and graduated its first class in 1876.... In 1897, the first high school was built where the School Street School is located. That red brick building was replaced with what is now the John Hill School on Lathrop Avenue in 1922. The current high school was built later on Lathrop Avenue. Students from parts of Parsippany and Denville and Lincoln Park, Boonton Township and Montville attended the school at one time. Lincoln Park is now the lone sending district.
Starting with the 1930–31 school year, students from Lincoln Park were formally assigned by the state to attend Boonton High School, with 62 students being sent there to attend for grades 9–12, before which they could attend the high school of their choice by paying tuition."Big Enrollment Seen As School Opens Today", The Morning Call, September 3, 1930. Accessed February 24, 2026, via Newspapers.com. "Sixty-two local students will be enrolled at Boonton high school this year, which has been designated by the state board as the approved high school for the borough, making its compulsory for students now entering to attend there. Heretofore, pupils wishing to attend high schools in other counties did so by paying the extra cost of tuition."
Students from Parsippany–Troy Hills had attended the high school as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Parsippany–Troy Hills School District until Parsippany High School opened for the 1956-57 school year, leaving students attending from Boonton Township, Lincoln Park and Montville."HS for Boonton Students To Cost $620 Per Pupil", The News, December 11, 1956. Accessed May 30, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "The lower enrollment Is caused by the withdrawal of Parsippany-Troy Hills Township pupils who will attend that municipality's new high school. The enrollment from the other three sending districts -- Lincoln Park. Montville Township and Boonton Township -- has Increased, thus making the net loss smaller than the enrollment at Parsippany High School would indicate."
The relationship with Montville ended starting in 1968, with the opening of Montville Township High School for freshmen, a process that was completed in 191."Board Has Date on Hot Seat; Boonton Citizens Committee to Prove Budget", Herald News, January 23, 1968. Accessed July 18, 2026, via Newspapers.com. "The budget also might be affected -- either up or down -- the board hasn't said which -- by the Montville Township high school referendum which was passed last week and means that Montville will withdraw its freshman class from Boonton High next fall, and all of its students by 1971." Boonton Township left in 1992 after establishing a sending/receiving relationship with Mountain Lakes.
Awards, recognition and rankings The school was the 212th-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 109th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 130th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed August 23, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 112th in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed July 19, 2011. The school was ranked 128th 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 as 259th out of 376 public high schools statewide in its 2010 rankings (a decrease of 15 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)., Schooldigger.com. Accessed February 15, 2012.
Athletics The Boonton High School BombersBoonton High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete in the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC), which includes 39 public and private high schools in Morris and Sussex counties, 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. Before the 2010 realignment, the school had competed in the Colonial Hills Conference, which includes public and private high schools in Essex, Morris and Somerset counties., Colonial Hills Conference, backed up by the Internet Archive as of February 20, 2009. Accessed August 27, 2011. With 459 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.
The school participates in a joint ice hockey team with Mountain Lakes High School as the host school / lead agency. The co-op program operates 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 boys' lacrosse team won the 1976 state title by defeating Montclair High School by a score of 8–5 in the championship game, after losing to Montclair in the state finals in both 1974 (by a score of 9–2) and 1975 (by 10–3).NJSIAA Boys Lacrosse Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023. The 1998 team won the state championship with an 8-5 win against Montclair High School in the championship game."Boonton Wins State Lacrosse Crown", Daily Record, June 3, 1976. Accessed January 2, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "'Yes, I would say that this is the happiest moment of my coaching career,' declared Boonton coach Dick Rizk after his team had won the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association state lacrosse championship by defeating Montclair, 8-5, at the Fairleigh Dickinson University field yesterday.... Yesterday's game was the title game of the third annual NJSIAA tourney. The results of the past two championship contests were: Montclair 9, Boonton 2 in 1974 and Montclair 10, Boonton 3, last year."
The field hockey team won the North II Group II state sectional championships in 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1994, North II Group I in 1998, North I Group I in 2004. The team was the runner-up for the Group II state championship in 1991 and 1992, and for the Group I title in 1998.History of NJSIAA Field Hockey Championships, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.