Oakcrest High School is a comprehensive four-year public high school located in Hamilton Township, in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school is part of the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District, which includes three secondary schools that serve students from Egg Harbor City, Galloway Township, Hamilton Township and Mullica Township, together with students from Port Republic and Washington Township (in Burlington County) who attend as part of sending/receiving relationships.Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District 2016 Report Card Narrative , New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 6, 2017. "The Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District serves the communities of Galloway Township, Hamilton Township, Egg Harbor City, Mullica Township and participates in receiving relationships with Port Republic and Washington Township. The geographic area of the district is the largest in the state, covering 324 square miles. The student body of each of the district's three comprehensive high schools, Absegami High School, Cedar Creek High School, and Oakcrest High School, reflects the socioeconomic and ethnic diversity of this geographic area."Oakcrest High School Class of 2018 Profile, Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District. Accessed January 26, 2020. "The Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District is comprised of Egg Harbor City, Galloway, Hamilton and Mullica Townships. It is the largest school district, in area, in the state of New Jersey. It also serves students from Green Bank and Port Republic. The district operates three comprehensive high schools: Absegami, Cedar Creek and Oakcrest."
The school serves students from Hamilton Township, though students from elsewhere in the district are eligible to apply to attend magnet programs hosted at Oakcrest.Oakcrest High School 2016-17 Report Card Narrative , New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 18, 2018. "We are the home school for students who reside in Hamilton Township and students who reside in Egg Harbor City, Mullica Township, and Port Republic and Galloway Township are eligible to apply for either of our two magnet programs (Biomedical Sciences and Air Force JROTC in Aerospace Science and Leadership)." With the opening of Cedar Creek High School in Egg Harbor City in 2010, students from Mullica Township, Port Republic and Washington Township no longer attend Oakcrest High School.Policy 5120 Assignment of Pupils , Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District. Accessed October 27, 2014. "Pupils shall attend the school located in the attendance area of their residence. The attendance areas for the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District shall be as follows: 1. Pupils who reside in Egg Harbor City shall attend Cedar Creek High School. 2. Pupils who reside in Galloway Township shall attend Absegami High School. 3. Pupils who reside in Hamilton Township shall attend Oakcrest High School 4. Pupils who reside in Mullica Township shall attend Cedar Creek High School 5. Pupils who reside in Port Republic and Washington Township shall attend Cedar Creek High School.", New Jersey Department of Education, backed up by the Internet Archive as of June 14, 2012. Accessed October 30, 2014. "Oakcrest is a comprehensive high school located in Mays Landing that provides a secondary school education to four sending districts including Greenbank, Hamilton Township, Mullica Township, and Port Republic."
As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 936 students and 85.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.9:1. There were 433 students (46.3% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 139 (14.9% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Oakcrest High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024.
History The district was established with the passage of a referendum in January 1957 by the five constituent municipalities of Egg Harbor City, Egg Harbor Township, Galloway Township, Hamilton Township and Mullica Township by a 5-1 margin that allocated $1.7 million (equivalent to $ million in ) for the construction of what would become Oakcrest High School."Regional High Approved in Egg Harbor", Courier-Post, January 31, 1957. Accessed March 8, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Formation of a Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School was approved by five communities in the area last night, 2,603 to 529 in a public referendum.... Approval of the referendum clears the way for construction of a proposed 30-room school to be built at an approximate cost of $1,700,000." The school, initially named Egg Harbor Regional High School opened in September 1960, with 150 students from Hamilton Township shifted out of Vineland High School."6900 Pupils Start Here Tomorrow", The Daily Journal, September 6, 1960. Accessed March 8, 2022. "Cumberland County schools will officially begin the 1960-61 academic year tomorrow, with an estimated 6900 pupils anticipated for the Vineland system. Overlapping sessions at Memorial Junior High School and Vineland High will continue this year because of overcrowded conditions, A. L. Donley, superintendent of schools, announced. Donley predicted a total enrollment increase of 183 students despite the loss of 150 pupils from Hamilton Township, who will enter the new Egg Harbor Regional High School."
The school was renamed as Oakcrest High School."NJSIAA Adds 22 New Schools, Regroup 39", Asbury Park Press, October 31, 1960. Accessed March 8, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "The following two schools have submitted a change of name: Egg Harbor becomes Oakcrest High School (Egg Harbor)." The school name was chosen based on its site on the crest of a hill amid oak trees., Oakcrest High School, backed up by the Internet Archive as of June 18, 2009. Accessed March 8, 2022.
Awards, recognition and rankings The school was the 197th-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 247th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 244th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 12, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 254th in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed February 1, 2011. The school was ranked 232nd 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 254th out of 376 public high schools statewide in its 2010 rankings (an increase of 5 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).New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2009-2010, Schooldigger.com. Accessed February 16, 2012.
The school has a variety of programs, including Special Needs, a "High School-to-Work" program, College Preparatory, Advanced Placement (AP), and Performing Arts training.
For the 2005-06 school year, Oakcrest High School was recognized with the "Best Practices Award" by the New Jersey Department of Education for its "A Proactive Approach to Guidance and Career Services" Career Education program.Best Practices Award recipient for 2005-06, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed October 23, 2006.
Oakcrest's Academic Challenge Team was successful at the Buena Regional High School and Egg Harbor Township High School competitions in spring 2006, the team finished first overall at the Gateway Toyota Academic Challenge at Monsignor Donovan High School in Toms River by defeating perennial competitor East Brunswick High School in the final round.
In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 66th in New Jersey and 1,918th nationwide.Mathews, Jay. , The Washington Post. Accessed September 11, 2011.
Athletics The Oakcrest High School FalconsOakcrest High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete in the Atlantic Division of the Cape-Atlantic League, an athletic conference that includes public and private high schools located in Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Gloucester counties, operating under the aegis 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 577 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2022–24 school years as Group II South for most athletic competition purposes.NJSIAA General Classifications - Public Schools 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 1, 2022. The football team competes in the United Division of the 94-team West Jersey Football League superconferenceOakcrest Falcons, West Jersey Football League. Accessed May 1, 2023.Home Page, West Jersey Football League. Accessed May 1, 2023. "The WJFL is a 94-school super conference that stretches from Princeton to Wildwood encompassing schools from the Colonial Valley Conference, the Burlington County Scholastic League, the Olympic Conference, the Tri-County Conference, the Colonial Conference, and the Cape Atlantic League. The WJFL is made up of sixteen divisions with divisional alignments based on school size, geography and a strength-of-program component." and was classified by the NJSIAA as Group III South for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 695 to 882 students.NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024. School colors are royal blue and gray to represent the location in Pine Barrens.About, Oakcrest High School. Accessed December 20, 2022. "School colors are Royal Blue and Grey which were selected to represent our location in the Pine Barrens. Our mascot is the Falcon."
The school offers many sports to its students including football, fall cheerleading, field hockey, soccer, tennis, basketball, winter cheerleading, lacrosse, wrestling, crew, track and field, cross country running, track indoor, powerlifting, volleyball, softball, golf, swim, and baseball.
The boys' wrestling team won the South Jersey Group III state sectional championship in 1992 and 1993.Boys Wrestling Championship History: 1934–2025, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated February 2026. Accessed March 1, 2026.
The girls' outdoor track and field team won the Group III state championships in 1997.NJSIAA Spring Track Summary of Group Titles Girls, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 1, 2022.
The boys' track team won the Group III indoor relay championships in 2011, 2012 and 2013History of the NJSIAA Indoor Relay Championships , New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 1, 2022.
The boys' outdoor track and field team won the Group IV state championships in 2011 and the Group III title in 2012.NJSIAA Spring Track Summary of Group Titles Boys, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 1, 2022.
Administration