The Lenape Regional High School District (LRHSD) is a comprehensive regional public high school district that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from eight municipalities in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The communities in the district are Evesham Township, Medford Lakes, Medford, Mount Laurel, Shamong Township, Southampton Township, Tabernacle Township and Woodland Township.Lenape Regional Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Name, Composition & Classification, Lenape Regional High School District, revised July 15, 2009. Accessed March 14, 2026. "Purpose: The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades nine through twelve in the Lenape Regional High School District. Section 3 – Composition: The Lenape Regional High School District shall be organized in the territory comprised of the municipalities of: Evesham, Medford, Medford Lakes, Mount Laurel, Shamong, Southampton, Tabernacle and Woodland for the limited purpose of providing and operating a high school district (9-12)."Lenape Regional High School District 2016 Report Card Narrative , New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 7, 2020. "The Lenape Regional High School District (LRHSD) serves the eight municipalities of Evesham, Medford, Mount Laurel, Shamong, Southampton, Tabernacle and Woodland Townships and Medford Lakes Borough. Encompassing an area of 350 square miles the Lenape District is the largest school district in Burlington County.""2005 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book", Rutgers University Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, April 2006.Staff. "Regional School Districts", Burlington County Times, April 26, 2015. Accessed March 14, 2026. "Lenape Regional Serves: Evesham, Medford, Medford Lakes, Mount Laurel, Shamong, Southampton, Tabernacle, Woodland" The eight municipalities cover a combined area of which represents roughly one-third of the entire area of Burlington County, the largest county in New Jersey. Each of the eight communities served by the Lenape District has its own elementary school district for pre-kindergarten / kindergarten through eighth grade, which is governed by its own independent board of education which oversees the school budget and the education of students.Sending Schools, Lenape Regional High School District. Accessed March 14, 2026.
As of the 2024–25 school year, the district, comprised of four schools, had an enrollment of 6,535 students and 521.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.5:1.District information for Lenape Regional High School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.
History The regional district was formed after 93% of voters approved the passage of a referendum in September 1955 by residents of the original seven constituent municipalities—Evesham, Medford, Mount Laurel, Shamong, Southampton and Tabernacle Townships, along with Medford Lakes—to cover the cost of a $2 million (equivalent to $ million in ) facility that would serve 1,000 students."7 Burlington Towns Vote to Build $2 Million Regional High School", Courier-Post, September 21, 1955. Accessed March 13, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Residents of seven municipalities in the southern part of Burlington County gave a resounding 'yes' Tuesday to a proposal to create a new regional high school. At a special school election, the vote was 'yes' 1413 to 'no' on a plan to build a school to cost an approximate $2 million and which would accommodate 1000 pupils.""People Back New Schools; School Cost Discrepancies", Courier-Post, September 24, 1955. Accessed March 13, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "The same night saw another special school election in seven municipalities in southern Burlington County. The question to be voted on was creation of a regional high school district and building of a regional high school. Municipalities involved were Mt. Laurel, Medford, Shamong, Medford Lakes, Tabernacle, Evesham and Southampton, none of which have high schools of their own. All of them gave one-sided majorities in favor of the proposition, the total vote being 1413 to 97 for it. Tentative plans for the new regional school call for a building to accommodate 1000 pupils, costing about $2,000,000." Delaware Township (since renamed as Cherry Hill), Maple Shade Township and Woodland Township townships had considered—and turned down—the opportunity to join the nascent regional district.
A plot covering in Medford was selected in June 1956 as a site for the district's first high school facility.New Site Is Picked For Regional High", Courier-Post, June 2, 1956. Accessed May 20, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "A new site has been chosen for the Lenape Regional High School, according to James Brown, Board of Education president. Brown said a 50-acre tract on the northwest corner of Hartford and Church rds., Medford Township, was chosen after test borings disclosed a former proposed site at Green Tree and Sharp Run rds. to be unsuitable.... The Lenape region was formed after a favorable vote last year by residents in Mt. Laurel, Southampton, Medford, Medford Lakes, Shamong and Tabernacle Townships. Plans are being formed for construction of a proposed $2 million high school." Lenape High School opened in September 1958 with 548 students in 9th and 10th grades only, before which students from Medford, Medford Lakes and Tabernacle Township had attended Rancocas Valley Regional High School."Rancocas Regional Completes Opening", Courier-Post, September 10, 1958. Accessed May 20, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Rancocas Valley Regional High School, Jackonville rd., opens its new school year Thursday for freshman and sophomore students.... Harry Wenrich, school principal, anticipates the total enrollment this year will be 1170 students compared with 1260 last year. Students from Tabernacle, Medford and Medford Lakes who have previously attended classes here will be enrolled in the new Lenape Regional High School at Medford." By the 1961–62 school year, Lenape was on double sessions with approximately 1,500 students. In July 1961, an addition to the original building was started, with a second addition dedicated on January 17, 1965.
A second high school, announced in 1968 with an estimated cost of $3.5 million (equivalent to $ million in ), was designed to accommodate a student body of 1,500 and include 26 classrooms, a gym, cafeteria, and a 600-seat auditorium.Staff. "High School's Design Reflects Modern Era", The New York Times, June 16, 1968. Accessed January 19, 2020. "The $3.5-million building is actually two buildings--a round, two-story building attached to a one-story crescent-shaped wing by two enclosed passageways resembling spokes in a wheel. Shawnee High School will serve the communities of Medford, Medford Lakes, Mount Laurel, Shamong, Evesham, Southampton and Tabernacle in Burlington County." Shawnee High School opened in 1970 as the second of the district's four high schools."Lenape Regional Schools Take New Discipline Tack", Courier-Post, August 20, 1970. Accessed March 12, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "New Shawnee High School in Medford township, a $4.5 million complex, will open Sept. 8. The round center building houses the 33 regular classrooms; the outer wings include the auditorium, gym and cafeteria. In background are the football and baseball fields."Staff. "Hall of Fame to honor Lenape High School student-athletes", Burlington County Times, July 6, 2017. Accessed January 19, 2020. "The schools of the Lenape Regional School District have produced thousands of graduates who have distinguished themselves as stellar athletes over the nearly 60 years since Lenape High School opened in 1958, Shawnee High School in 1970, Cherokee High School in 1975 and Seneca High School in 2003."
With overcrowding at both Lenape (with 2,400 students) and Shawnee (1,600) high schools requiring split sessions, voters approved a December 1972 referendum to construct a third high school that would have a capacity of 1,500 students and be constructed on the same model as Shawnee. The ballot item was approved by a 55-45% margin, with voters in favor in Evesham, Medford and Mount Laurel Townships, while it was rejected in Medford Lakes and Shamong, Southampton and Tabernacle Townships.Ross, Adele. "Lenape School; $7.6 million Bond OKd By Voters", Courier-Post, December 6, 1972. Accessed March 13, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Voters in the Lenape Regional School District last night approved by a slim margin a $7,695,000 bond issue to give the district the funds to build a third high school. Voting returns showed a count of 1,623 to 1,329 in favor of the bond issue, which means the regional school board can plan on breaking ground in the spring. Although the issue passed by a 293-vote plurality, it was defeated in four of the seven municipalities served by the district.... The facility is expected to open for the 1975-76 school year. The new high school will be built on a 71-acre tract between the Marlton and Kresson sections of Evesham Township, the district's most populous area, to relieve overcrowded conditions in the district's two existing facilities. The 1,500-student school will be built on a tract off Tomlinson Mill Road and will be constructed from the same plans as was the Shawnee High School in Medford.... Overcrowded conditions at both Shawnee and Lenape high schools will necessitate split sessions at the two facilities in the next two years, the superintendent said. Lenape's rolls now top 2,400 students with 2,600 expected next year. There are more than 1,600 students at Shawnee, where an increase of 200 is anticipated in September 1973." Cherokee High School opened in September 1975 with 750 students in grades 9 and 10, by which time district enrollment had grown to nearly 5,000. The school was constructed at a cost of $7 million (equivalent to $ million in ) on a site in Evesham Township covering .Curran, Karen. "High schools in Delran, Evesham ready to open", Courier-Post, August 21, 1975. Accessed March 13, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "It is for students from Evesham, but it's also for students from the six other towns which make up the Lenape Regional High School District. The local share of the $7 million cost of Cherokee High School, the third school in the Lenape district, will be shared by the seven municipalities according to the percentage of tax ratables they have within the district as a whole. Of the district's 4,950 high school students, 750 ninth and tenth graders will go to Cherokee in the fall."Profile, Lenape Regional High School District. Accessed March 13, 2022. "By September 1975, a third high school, Cherokee, had been built on a 71 – acre tract at Tomlinson Mill and Willow Bend roads in Evesham Township."