Princeton High School (PHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school in Princeton, New Jersey, operating as part of the Princeton Public Schools district. Students from Cranbury Township attend PHS as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Cranbury School District.Princeton Public Schools 2016 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed August 13, 2017. "As we strive to serve the more than 3700 students from the Princeton and Cranbury communities, we do so knowing that our work with them in the classroom, on the athletic field, and on the stage matters deeply to each one and to the larger society into which they will graduate."Staff. "Cranbury trims 23 jobs in wake of aid reduction", The Times, March 25, 2010. Accessed July 14, 2011. "Cranbury public schools serve about 600 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. The district's high school students attend Princeton High School." The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1932 and is accredited through January 2026.Princeton High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed December 22, 2024.

As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,532 students and 130.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.8:1. There were 123 students (8.0% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 32 (2.1% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Princeton High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024.

Overview

Princeton High School is located between Moore Street and Walnut Lane. Princeton Middle School is located across from the high school athletic fields on Walnut Lane.

The school offers 200 courses in many subjects and levels, including most of the courses in the Advanced Placement Program. More than 70% of students take at least one AP or accelerated course. Additionally, the High School Program at Princeton University permits qualified juniors and seniors to take free courses at Princeton University if they have exhausted all high school course alternatives within a discipline, receiving only high school credit for any university courses successfully completed.2006 Students Handbook: High School Program at Princeton University , Princeton High School, p. 52. Accessed November 1, 2007.

The school contains over 250 classrooms, several equipped science labs, two gymnasia, a performing arts center, a fitness center, a garden, athletic turf and tennis courts. Some of this came from significant reconstruction from 2003 to 2007 as part of an $86 million project to renovate the district's school buildings, also including a new mathematics wing and renovated library."Construction Over, District Prepares to Track Performance", September 5, 2007. Accessed March 21, 2010.

History

Nassau Street campus (1898–1929) Princeton High School started in 1898 as a branch of the Princeton Model School on Nassau Street, with an initial class of only four 9th grade students. Enrollment increased to eighty students by 1912, but only 40% successfully completed the school curriculum that year.

In 1916, Princeton High School admitted its first Black student, and integrated enrollment increased in the 1920s. Black students had previously attended school in Trenton or the Manual Training and Industrial School in Bordentown. Black students, however, were automatically placed in the non-honors General Program, and were awarded “certificates of completion” instead of official high school diplomas.

By the 1920s, the school's curriculum included Latin, French, "household," and fine arts in addition to core subjects such as mathematics, history, English, physical education, and science. In 1911, Princeton High School's first school newspaper, P.H.S. Observer, was established, later changing its to the Blue and White upon the adoption of the school colors in 1921. Rising interest in student sports led to the growth of basketball, tennis, football, baseball, track, field sports, and hockey teams for both boys and girls. By 1927, a student council had drafted its first constitution.

Moore Street campus (1929–present) As the original school building in Princeton was pushed beyond capacity due to increasing junior high enrollment, plans were made to begin work on a new "Junior and Seniors High School" building at 151 Moore Street. Architect Ernest Sibley, a New Jersey architect and school specialist, was hired to design a state-of-the-art facility. Princeton residents debated whether the school should be built in the Collegiate Gothic style favored by Princeton University or the more Colonial style of downtown Princeton. Voters eventually favored the former, a style visible in the school's arched entrances and prominent tower.

In 1926, 7 acres off Moore Street were bought, and the cornerstone of the school was laid in 1928. The new building opened its doors to 578 students in September 1929, with an opening ceremony, featuring a speech from the United States Commissioner of Education and the presentation of a commemorative flag by the original graduating class of 1898, following in November.

Prior to the opening of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School in September 1973, students from West Windsor and Plainsboro Township had attended Princeton High School as part of sending/receiving relationships. The school initially served 700 students in grades 7 to 10, while the remaining students in grades 11 and 12 finished their schooling at Princeton High School through their graduationSchnessel, S. Michael. "School Bell Is About to Ring Again", The New York Times, September 2, 1973. Accessed July 23, 2022. "The students will be attending the new West Windsor Plainsboro High School, which is said to be the state's first total open space' secondary institution.... For the first year, the $8‐million school, which was designed by the Shaver Partnership of Michigan City, Ind., will accommodate only grades 7 through 10.... In the meantime, juniors and seniors will attend Princeton High School."

Awards, recognition, and rankings Nationally, Niche ranked Princeton High School as the 47th best public high school in America in its "2021 Best Public High Schools in America" rankings and gave it an "A+" Overall Niche Grade.2021 Best Public High Schools in America: Princeton High School, Niche. Accessed April 15, 2021. PHS ranked in Newsweeks top high school list in 2004 (113), 2005 (212), 2006 (113), 2007 (208), 2008 (142), and 2009 (210).Staff. "The Top of the Class: The complete list of the 1,500 top U.S. high schools", Newsweek, June 8, 2009. Accessed June 10, 2009. In U.S. News & World Report, PHS was ranked in 2009 (94), 2010 (113), and 2014 (216).Best High Schools: Princeton High School, U.S. News & World Report. Accessed April 15, 2021. In The Washington Posts "Most Challenging High Schools" list, PHS ranked in 2011 (370), 2012 (330), 2013 (322), and 2014 (467)."Princeton High School - Most Challenging High School", The Washington Post. Accessed April 15, 2021.

In 2007, The Wall Street Journal, ranking the country's high schools based on a percentage of 2007 high school seniors sent to eight selective colleges (Harvard, Princeton, MIT, Pomona, University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins, Swarthmore, and Williams), placed PHS at #27. PHS was the second-highest ranked publicly funded school, with a total of 31 students matriculating to those schools."How the Schools Stacked Up", "Wall Street Journal", November 30, 2007. Accessed December 3, 2007.

Statewide, New Jersey Monthlys "Top Public High Schools" has ranked PHS in 2006 (13), 2008 (6), 2010 (44), 2012 (59), 2014 (67), 2016 (15), and 2018 (20).Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014. Schooldigger ranked the school in 2011 (75), 2013 (50), and 2014 (44).New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2010-2011, Schooldigger.com. Accessed February 27, 2012. In 2009, USNWR ranked PHS as the highest ranked open-enrollment high school in New Jersey."America's Best High Schools", U.S. News & World Report, December 9, 2009. Accessed March 21, 2010. In 2019, USNWR ranked PHS as the second-best open-enrollment public high school in the state and the twelfth-best high school in the state overall.Davis, Tom. "US News Best High Schools 2019: Here's How 350 NJ Schools Ranked", Point Pleasant, NJ Patch, April 30, 2019. Accessed April 15, 2021. "12. Princeton High School, Princeton Public Schools, Princeton 332"

School policy

Schedule School is held Monday through Friday from 8:20 a.m.–3:21 p.m. for 180 days per year. The daily schedule consists of eight academic periods (44 minutes), though 2 block-day periods with classes of 82 minutes are held on Tuesday and Wednesday. There are four minutes between each class period for the students to get to their next class."Princeton High School Parent/Student Handbook 2009-10"

Before the 2018–2019 school year, on every Wednesday, (termed "short Wednesdays" or "one-forty-nine days") and on days when special events are planned, the school day was shortened and ended at 1:49 p.m. Students attended 35 minute class periods, and homeroom and break periods are not shortened. Short Wednesdays existed to permit the operation of the mandatory freshmen Peer Group program between 1:49 and 2:51. This period of time was also used for community service group meetings for sophomores, other extracurricular activities, and school-wide events such as pep rallies, the Fall Festival, and Spring Fling. For the 2020-2021 school year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the school temporarily switched to a hybrid program, where students are split into cohorts "A" and "B", with each going to school for alternating weeks, while another cohort, "Cohort C", continues remote learning.Hybrid Learning FAQ, Princeton High School. Accessed March 13, 2022.

Graduation requirements In order to receive a diploma from Princeton High School, students must successfully complete a minimum of 120 credits from grade 9 to grade 12. Additionally, each student must have completed 50 hours of community service.

In addition, students must show proficiency in the PARCC assessment. Previously, the school used the HSPA 11 - the class of 2015 is the last class to rely on this. Students must also pass the Biology State Assessment the year they are enrolled in a Biology course.

PHS has a policy of revoking credit for a student's course if a certain amount of absences in a class are reached. More than 18 absences from a year-long course or 9 absences for a semester course will lead to credit revocation. Tardiness counts as one-third of an absence for the purposes of revoking credit.

Extracurricular activities

Athletics