Hunterdon Central Regional High School is a comprehensive, four-year public high school, and regional school district that serves students from five municipalities in east central Hunterdon County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Students from Delaware Township, East Amwell Township, Flemington, Raritan Township and Readington Township attend the school.Hunterdon Central Regional Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Hunterdon Central Regional High School. Accessed April 17, 2020. "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 Hunterdon Central Regional High School District. Composition: The Hunterdon Central Regional High School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of, Delaware Township, East Amwell, Flemington Boro, Raritan Township, and Readington Township."Hunterdon Central Regional High School District 2016 Report Card Narrative , New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 17, 2020. "Located in beautiful, historic Hunterdon County in central New Jersey, Hunterdon Central Regional High School serves the five municipalities of Delaware Township, East Amwell Township, Flemington Borough, Raritan Township and Readington Township. The District is comprised of 152.5 square miles and has a population of approximately 51,468 residents."About HC, Hunterdon Central Regional High School. Accessed December 20, 2025. "Located in beautiful, historic Hunterdon County in central New Jersey, Hunterdon Central Regional High School serves the five municipalities of Delaware Township, East Amwell Township, Flemington Borough, Raritan Township and Readington Township. The District is comprised of 152.5 square miles and has a population of approximately 48,680 residents. Student enrollment for the 2018-2019 school year is approximately 2,935." It is the district's only school.2025-2026 Public School Directory, Hunterdon County Department of Education. Accessed December 1, 2025.School Performance Reports for the Hunterdon County Regional High School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed September 1, 2025.New Jersey School Directory for the Hunterdon County Regional High School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,238 students and 217.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.3:1. There were 347 students (15.5% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 82 (3.7% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Hunterdon Central Regional High School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.
The district participates in the Interdistrict Public School Choice Program, which allows non-resident students to attend school in the district at no cost to their parents, with tuition covered by the resident district.List of Choice Districts: Choice Program Profiles for 2025-2026 School Year, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed January 1, 2025. Available slots are announced annually by grade.Hunterdon Central Regional High School Choice Profile for 2025-26 School Year, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed January 1, 2025.
District and school history The Hunterdon Central Regional High School School District was created by referendum on April 4, 1954, and the high school opened in the former Route 69 Elementary School in September 1956.Fernekes, William R. Ed. D and Harlene Z. Rosenberg, editors. Hunterdon Central Regional High School: 50th Anniversary Souvenir Yearbook 1956-2006. pp. 3-4 There were a few impetuses that led to the creation of the district. Before 1956, public school students of the school districts of Delaware, East Amwell and Readington Townships were sent to Flemington High School as tuition students, but these districts had no voice on the Flemington-Raritan Board of Education, which administered the school. Additionally, Flemington High's facilities could no longer support the growing student population, nor could its plant support the offering of a more broad-based curriculum that was becoming standard among American high schools in the post-WWII era.Fernekes, William R. Ed. D and Harlene Z. Rosenberg, editors. Hunterdon Central Regional High School: 50th Anniversary Souvenir Yearbook 1956-2006. pp. 6-7 A statute passed by the New Jersey Legislature in 1931 permitted two or more municipalities to create regionalized school districts so that all member municipalities had representation and authority as members of a regional board of education, as well as the benefit of being able to pool tax resources and share the cost of running a school district.Bole, Robert D. and Laurence R. Johnson. The New Jersey High School: A History. Princeton: D. Van Nostrand, 1964. qtd. in Fernekes, William R. Ed. D and Harlene Z. Rosenberg, editors. Hunterdon Central Regional High School: 50th Anniversary Souvenir Yearbook 1956-2006. pp. 3-4
When the new HCRHS Board of Education purchased the Route 69 elementary school, its facilities were expanded to accommodate 1,000 students with the passage of a bond act in December 1954. The Board selected Robert Shoff to be the district's first superintendent. When the school opened in 1956 most of the program and faculty from the former Flemington High School was transported to the new school and district.
Throughout the 1960s, HCRHS expanded its curriculum to offer vocational training, work force and college education. The new facilities allowed for a more varied curriculum including an expanded world languages program, agricultural education programs, a music and performing arts program (curricular, co-curricular and extra-curricular) and continuing expansion of the Red Devils athletic program.Fernekes, William R. Ed. D and Harlene Z. Rosenberg, editors. Hunterdon Central Regional High School: 50th Anniversary Souvenir Yearbook 1956-2006. Additionally, the physical plant was expanded in 1962 and then again in a massive expansion begun in 1969. By 1970 the campus consisted of the 9/10 building, the 11/12 building, a separate Instructional Media Center (library), a fieldhouse and separate fine arts building. Connecting all of these buildings to one another was a covered walkway to shield students from the elements when passing from class to class.
In 1974, radio station WCVH-FM 90.5 began broadcasting from the campus of Hunterdon Central, and it was the first NJ radio station to be part of the National Public Radio network. WCVH still features student programming as well as programs of local interest.Fernekes, William R. Ed. D and Harlene Z. Rosenberg, editors. Hunterdon Central Regional High School: 50th Anniversary Souvenir Yearbook 1956-2006. p. 33
Since 1987, Hunterdon Central has had the word "Regional" as an official part of its name. Prior to that it was known as Hunterdon Central High School. Other plant renovations occurred in the 1980s, and in 1984 lights were installed on the football field.Fernekes, William R. Ed. D and Harlene Z. Rosenberg, editors. Hunterdon Central Regional High School: 50th Anniversary Souvenir Yearbook 1956-2006. p. 51.
In the 1990s Hunterdon Central embarked upon massive upgrades to the facility and infrastructure. Former superintendent Raymond Farley committed the district to embracing educational technology, and to this day the high school is known for embracing the use of technology as a tool of learning and education. In the late 1990s, the 11/12 building was expanded with the addition of 34 classrooms and the Commons. Elevators were also added to the 9/10 campus as the result of a lawsuit filed against the district by student who used a wheelchair and was unable to navigate all parts of that campus. In this decade WCVH moved to its present location in the newly renovated and expanded Communications Building (formerly the Fine Arts Building), and HCTV, Hunterdon Central's own cable television station, began broadcasting.
The 2000s saw the most recent expansion of the Hunterdon Central facilities with the addition of 23 new classrooms, a gymnasium and the complete renovation of all 47 classrooms in the 9/10 building. Air conditioning was also installed in the 9/10 building and athletic fields received upgrades.Fernekes, William R. Ed. D and Harlene Z. Rosenberg, editors. Hunterdon Central Regional High School: 50th Anniversary Souvenir Yearbook 1956-2006. p. 81. HCRHS also began random drug testing of students participating in athletics, co-curricular activities, extra-curricular activities and parking on campus. This was in response to indications that there was a dangerous level of drug use among students at HCRHS, including more than 30% who had indicated in surveys that they had used drugs in the previous year and 27 students who had tested positive after undergoing drug tests that had been performed based on reasonable suspicion that the students had been using drugs. Through this program the district attempts to get help and assistance to students who test positive for illegal drugs, as well as to further its commitment to anti-drug education. Some students and parent accepted the testing as a reasonable way to deter students from using drugs and participating in unhealthy lifestyles. The policy was challenged by members of the community and students who believed that it was unjustified and invaded student privacy, eventually taking the case to the Supreme Court of New Jersey. In Joye, et al. v Hunterdon Central HCRHS was found not to be in violation of a student's right to be free from search and seizure, but the court did not comment on the merits of the random drug testing policy. All HCRHS students wishing to participate in any of these activities, or to park on campus, must submit their names to the random drug testing pool. Other schools in the state and region have adopted policies similar to Hunterdon Central's.Joye, et al. v. Hunterdon Central Regional High School Board of Education, Supreme Court of New Jersey, 2003., Caselaw. Accessed June 28, 2013.
Technology plays an important role in instruction at Hunterdon Central and its use in the classroom continues to grow. Teachers are required to use services such as Moodle, Wikispaces or Google Sites to maintain resources and materials for the courses that they teach. In March 2012 the district fully opened its bring your own device (BYOD) program to students, faculty and staff.Technology Memo, Hunterdon Central Regional High School, July 2018. Accessed December 20, 2025. In Spring 2013, work was completed on a second pedestrian bridge over the creek that separates the 11/12 campus from the rest of the buildings at Hunterdon Central, which alleviated congestion on the existing pedestrian bridge during passing times.Kiriluk-Hill, Renee. "Hunterdon Central orders second walkway bridge, starting inner roadway repairs", Hunterdon County Democrat, July 13, 2012. Accessed March 25, 2013.