West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South (known locally as WW-P South or South) is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in the Princeton Junction section of West Windsor in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades. The school is part of the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, a regional school district serving students from West Windsor and from Plainsboro Township (in Middlesex County). It is one of two high schools in the district, the other being West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North.
Students at High School South outperform other students in New Jersey on college admissions tests, scoring an average of 1351/1600 on the SAT compared to New Jersey students' average of 1080/1600. The school determines both unweighted and weighted GPAs for students and does not rank students with the exception of the top five in every graduating class.
History Prior to the school's opening, students from West Windsor and Plainsboro townships attended Princeton High School as part of sending/receiving relationships with the Princeton Public Schools. The high school was opened in September 1973 as West Windsor-Plainsboro High School and was described by The New York Times as the state's first high school to be developed with an "open space" plan, with open areas that could be divided off for instructional space that it said "looks more like a modern airline terminal than a high school". The school, constructed at a cost of $8 million (equivalent to $ million in ), 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 graduation, with an expected enrollment of 1,300 once the partnership with Princeton was ended.Schnessel, S. Michael. "School Bell Is About to Ring Again", The New York Times, September 2, 1973. Accessed July 21, 2022. "But for 700 high school students who live almost in the shadow of Princeton University, it will mean an adventure in innovation. 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 two years, it will have 1,300 students and run through grade 12. In the meantime, juniors and seniors will attend Princeton High School." Population growth in the district throughout the 1990s necessitated an additional high school. In 1997, the school was renamed by appending "South" to the school's name concurrent with the opening of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North.District Landmarks, West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District. Accessed June 16, 2011.
Renovations and additions begun in 2006 and completed at end of the 2008–09 school year included a new gym, more parking spaces, a new cover for the pool, more classrooms, improvements on the HVAC system, and artificial turf for the football field.Forester, Greg. "WW-P projects near completion as classes resume on Thursday", Princeton Packet, September 2, 2008. Accessed September 5, 2008. The estimated cost of the projects included in the referendum was $23 million. As of January 2010, all projects had been completed including the new pool 'bubble' enclosure.
In 2018, the school worked with FVHD Architects-Planners to renovate the playhouse little theater in addition to building a new two-story science classroom and front entrance.
Demographics As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,626 students and 121.9 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.3:1. There were 78 students (4.8% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 20 (1.2% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024.
+2018-19 Racial/Ethnic Group StatisticsRacial/Ethnic Group% of total enrollment% who graduated in 4 years% enrolled in any post-secondary educationWhite12.096.381.9Hispanic3.9*90Black or African American5.387.0*Asian85.498.591.9Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander0.1*91.9American Indian or Alaska Native0.1**Two or More Races0.8**Total10096.988
Notes
53.1% of students spoke English at home, 8.9% spoke Chinese, 7.9% spoke Hindi, 6.0% spoke Telugu, 4.2% spoke Tamil, and 19.1% spoke other languages.
Awards, recognition and rankings During the 1992–93 school year, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School was awarded the National Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education,National Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982 Through 2019 (PDF), United States Department of Education. Accessed September 1, 2024. the highest award an American school can receive."CIBA cited as one of the best by Education Department", Journal Inquirer, November 16, 2006. "The Blue Ribbon award is given only to schools that reach the top 10 percent of their state's testing scores over several years or show significant gains in student achievement. It is considered the highest honor a school can achieve.""Viers Mill School Wins Blue Ribbon; School Scored High on Statewide Test" The Washington Post. September 29, 2005 "For their accomplishments, all three schools this month earned the status of Blue Ribbon School, the highest honor the U.S. Education Department can bestow upon a school."
In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 129th in the nation among participating public high schools and 8th overall (and second for non-magnet schools) among schools in New Jersey.Streib, Lauren. "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast, May 6, 2013. Accessed May 8, 2013. In 2012, US News ranked the school 11th in the nation for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). The school was ranked 132nd in the nation and seventh in New Jersey on the list of "America's Best High Schools 2012" prepared by The Daily Beast / Newsweek, with rankings based primarily on graduation rate, matriculation rate for college and number of Advanced Placement / International Baccalaureate courses taken per student, with lesser factors based on average scores on the SAT / ACT, average AP/IB scores and the number of AP/IB courses available to students.Staff. "America's Best High Schools 2012", The Daily Beast / Newsweek, May 20, 2012. Accessed May 21, 2012. In August 2011, The Star-Ledger'''s Inside Jersey ranked the school 1st among the 330 public schools in the state of New Jersey.Kaimann, Frederick. "New Jersey's Best Public High Schools", The Star-Ledger. Accessed September 17, 2011. One notable feature of High School South is that it combines both AP Physics B and C courses into a single course known as Advanced Topics in Physics Honors. This required special permission from the College Board; this was approved when AP Courses were first made. It is the only school that offers such a course.Program of Studies now included for High School information contained within packet on pg.30 http://www.west-windsor-plainsboro.k12.nj.us/Guidance/program_of_studies
In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 9th in New Jersey and 407th nationwide.Mathews, Jay. , The Washington Post. Accessed July 24, 2011.
The school was the 35th-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 62nd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 16th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed August 24, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 21st in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed March 19, 2011. The school was ranked 9th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 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. The school was ranked 5th in the 2004 issue, while West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North was ranked 1st during the same year.
Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 53rd out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 29 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (93.1%) and language arts literacy (96.5%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2010-2011, Schooldigger.com. Accessed February 26, 2012.
The school's 2010 graduating class had the second-highest SAT scores in rankings calculated by the New Jersey Department of Education, with West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South having a combined score of 1,843 on the three sections of the test, behind the 1,860 achieved by Princeton High School students.Cusido, Carmen. "Three Mercer County high schools - Princeton and both West Windsor-Plainsboro highs - are among top 5 SAT scorers in state", The Times, February 27, 2011. Accessed June 16, 2011. "Princeton High's verbal score was 611, and its writing score was 614. Princeton High students scored highest in math, with a score of 635. The school's combined score was 1,860. West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South came in second, with a combined SAT score of 1,843, and West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North was fifth with a combined score of 1,815."
In 2013, U.S. News & World Report ranked the school 8th in the state and first in New Jersey among non-magnet schools."Best High Schools 2013: West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South", U.S. News & World Report. Accessed August 28, 2013.
In 2014, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South's varsity debate team won the Colonial Valley Conference's championships, earning the team's first conference title since it became a member in 1973.HSS Debating Champs, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South, November 25, 2014. Accessed October 31, 2015. "WW-P is proud to announce that the High School South Debate Team is the Colonial Valley Conference (CVC) Division Champion. The High School South Debate Club's Varsity Team won the CVC's championships, competing against 14 schools. This is the first time High School South has won the CVC debate championships since first joining the division in 1973."
Extracurricular activities The school newspaper is called The Pirate's Eye, which won the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Medal in both 2007 and 2008. The school's radio station is WWPH 107.9 FM, shared with West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North.
Athletics