Camden High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school that serves students between ninth grade and twelfth grade from the city of Camden, in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school is part of the Camden City School District, which is classified as an Abbott District.Abbott School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 15, 2016. The school, established in 1891, celebrated its centennial in 1991.Ott, Dwight. , The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 6, 1991. Accessed July 1, 2011. "The school, once predominantly Jewish and Italian and now largely black and Hispanic, has produced other well-known alumni: Superior Court Judges Isaiah Steinberg and Theodore Davis; former Camden Mayor Angelo J. Errichetti; record producer Leon Huff; former Camden County Prosecutor Samuel Asbell; former Supremes singer Cindy Birdsong; basketball player Billy Thompson of the Miami Heat, and physician and civic leader Charles Brimm." The school was originally known as the Camden Manual Training and High School, admitting its first class of 48 boys in 1891, with girls entering the school three years later.History, Camden High School. Accessed July 1, 1011. "Camden High School (CHS), originally known as Camden Manual Training and High School was located at 123 Federal Street in 1891. Forty-eight boys entered and were taught by the male principals of the city. In 1894, a group of girls were admitted and ordinary teachers were assigned to the school." The school had been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools from 1929Camden High School , Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed July 1, 2011. until 2011, when the accredited status was removed.Fall 2011 Accreditation Actions , The Standard; A Newsletter from the Middle States Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary School, Winter 2012. Accessed November 11, 2020. "Removal of Accreditation... Camden High School, Camden, NJ"
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 425 students and 47.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.0:1. There were 231 students (54.4% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and none eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Camden High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.
History Camden High School was established in 1891 and was known as the Camden Manual Training High School. The school was built in a similar styles of the Center Philadelphia high schools, which were known to have "cutting edge innovation." It was located on 123 Federal Street in 1891. The school was designed by architects Arthur Truscott and Pail Armon Davis III. In 1891, the school accepted 48 boys; three years later, the first group of girls was accepted. Due to the rapid increase in the population of the school, the school had to expand and relocate to Haddon and Newton Avenues.
On May 9, 1969, a group of 100 white residents marched to the home of Camden Mayor Alfred R. Pierce to insist that white students receive protection from the black students who were the majority at Camden High School. Black students were fighting for administrative and curriculum changes, wanted more courses on African American culture and history, and sought the appointment of an African American principal and athletic coaches. The mayor planned to call in the police to deal with the situation at the school but he did not let the parents know. The white parents were not going to send their children back to school until the situation was resolved. Charles V. Koppenhaver, the principal, told black students that he would retire at the end of the next month and he would do so for them.Arnold, Martin. "100 Whites March on Camden Mayor's Home; They Demand Protection for Students After Negroes Close High School", The New York Times, May 10, 1968. Accessed July 25, 2019. "About 100 white persons marched on the suburban home of Camden's Mayor Alfred R. Pierce tonight to demand protection for white students at the predominantly Negro Camden High School."
In 2003, based on reports of violence, Camden High School was identified as "persistently dangerous" by the New Jersey Department of Education, one of seven schools in the state (and one of two high schools) listed in an annual report required under the No Child Left Behind Act; under the terms of the federal act, families were notified and given the option to transfer to a different school.Newman, Maria. "Briefings: Education, Dangerous Schools", The New York Times, August 10, 2003. Accessed July 25, 2019. "The state Department of Education has named seven schools as 'persistently dangerous,' based on reports of violent incidents. The schools on the list, which is mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act and will be published annually, will be required to notify parents within 15 days that they can ask for their children to be transferred. The schools are Camden High School, East Camden Middle School and Bonsall Family School, all in Camden..."
In 2008, a cafeteria brawl led to the arrest of 18 students, a 14-year-old student was found with a gun loaded with hollow-point bullets, and the school principal was replaced.Fahim, Kareem. "Instead of Fistfights, Fashion at a Troubled High School", The New York Times, May 18, 2008. Accessed November 11, 2020. "Notable happenings at Camden High School this year included a cafeteria brawl that led to the arrest of 18 teenagers and left a police officer with a bruised face, a 14-year-old boy smuggling a gun loaded with hollow-point bullets into school in his backpack, the replacement of a principal and a hip-hop fashion show that turned the auditorium into a South Jersey version of a Bryant Park tent."
Demolition
In 2008, Governor of New Jersey Jon Corzine announced plans to renovate Camden High School at an estimated cost of $100 million for renovation. In 2011, Chris Christie cancelled the project after deciding that it was not the best way to solve the problems of the school.Steele, Allison. "'Castle on the Hill' to be torn down, new Camden school coming in 2021", The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 6, 2016. Accessed November 11, 2020. "In 2008, Gov. Jon S. Corzine approved $100 million to renovate the school, but in 2011 it became one of more than 40 projects shelved when Gov. Christie announced a restructuring of the SDA." This ultimately led to the decision to demolish and rebuild the high school because it was much more economical to rebuild a new school than to renovate the old school. On November 27, 2017, an attempt to demolish Camden High School by the school's parent association was denied by Judge Nan S. Famular. It was denied because superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard and the city's school board, as defendants, argued that it was a violation of the New Jersey Register of Historic Places Act to destroy the high school. Mo'Neke Ragsdale, a member of the Camden High PTA, believed that putting resources towards saving the school was not worth the effort but still wanted to save the school. The final decision was ruled by a state Superior Court judge allowing the demolition of the high school. The school was demolished after the end of the 2016/2017 school year.
The parts of the school that were to be demolished were the ones that were built before 1917. They would be replaced with a $133 million budget for academic buildings that would be considered state-of-the-art. Alumni of Camden High School and the group "Stop the Demolition of Camden High," led by Mo'Neke Ragsdale, fought to preserve the old Camden High School building. They sought to add Camden High School to the National Register of Historic Places. They wanted the construction to be on the back of the school because they had over 18 acres of land.
Construction As part of a $132.6 million construction project begun at the start of the 2017–18 school year at Camden High School by the New Jersey Schools Development Authority, the school's 500 students were shifted to the Hatch Middle School building. The new building will be completed for the 2021–22 school year and be able to accommodate 1,200 students when it reopens.Trethan, Phaedra. "School officials announce plan for when the High is on hiatus", Courier-Post, May 18, 2017. Accessed December 12, 2017. "Officials have a plan for the temporary placement of Camden High School's approximately 500 students as "The Castle on the Hill" is demolished and a new school is constructed. Most of Camden High's students will attend classes at the Cooper B. Hatch Middle School building when classes begin in September, said Superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard in an interview Thursday.... The new Camden High School, a $132.6 million project unanimously approved by the state Schools Development Authority in October, will include four "learning communities" in a state-of-the-art, 242,000-square-foot facility educating about 1,200 students when it's completed in time for the 2021-22 school year, Gov. Chris Christie announced in a visit to Camden last year."
As of 2019, the construction of the new Camden High School building is expected to be finished by 2021. Current students are temporarily using Cooper B. Hatch Middle school for their classes while construction continues.
Awards, recognition and rankings The school was the 339th-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 287th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 322nd and lowest in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 10, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 316th in 2008 as the lowest out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed July 1, 2011. The school was ranked 314th 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.
Performance and building condition A report issued in 2014 indicated that in the city of 80,000, only three high school students posted SAT scores deemed "college ready."Via Associated Press. "Only 3 students scored college-ready in Camden", NJ.com, December 18, 2013. Accessed August 27, 2014. "The new school superintendent in Camden says it was a 'kick-in-the-stomach moment' when he learned that only three district high school students who took the SAT this year scored as college-ready."
Athletics