Lenape Valley Regional High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school and school district in serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from two municipalities in Sussex County and one in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The communities served by the high school are Byram Township and Stanhope Borough in Sussex County and Netcong Borough in Morris County. The school is located in Stanhope.Lenape Valley Regional Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Lenape Valley Regional High School. Accessed May 11, 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 Lenape Valley Regional High School District. Composition: The Lenape Valley Regional High School District is comprised of pupils from Netcong, Stanhope and Byram and the high school is located in Stanhope in the County of Sussex."Lenape Valley Regional High School 2013 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 7, 2016. "Lenape Valley Regional High School is a comprehensive academic high school serving approximately 825 students in grade 9-12 from Byram Township and Stanhope Borough in Sussex County and from Netcong Borough in Morris County."About Our School, Lenape Valley Regional High School. Accessed March 15, 2025. "Lenape Valley Regional High School is a four-year regional public high school and school district in New Jersey serving approximately 850 students from two municipalities in Sussex County and one in Morris County. The communities served by the high school are Byram Township and Stanhope Borough in Sussex and Netcong Borough in Morris County. The school is located in Stanhope, New Jersey." It is the lone school of the Lenape Valley Regional High School District.Public School Directory 2025–2026, Sussex County, New Jersey. Accessed March 1, 2026.School Performance Reports for the Lenape Valley Regional High School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed September 1, 2025.New Jersey School Directory for the Lenape Valley 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 667 students and 58.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.5:1. There were 93 students (13.9% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 25 (3.7% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Lenape Valley Regional High School, 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.Lenape Valley Regional High School District Choice Profile for 2026-27 School Year, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed March 1, 2026.
Lenape Valley had been the only high school in Sussex County with a planetarium.Stewart, Amy. "Lenape looks towards the stars and aims for beyond" , The Township Journal, April 4, 2008. Accessed January 25, 2011. In February 2016, the board of education voted to eliminate the planetarium and use the space for science labs.Danzis, David. "Lenape Valley H.S. closing planetarium for lab space", New Jersey Herald, February 18, 2016. Accessed March 5, 2026. "The Lenape Valley Regional High School Board of Education is going forward with plans to repurpose the school's planetarium."
History Netcong High School closed in 1974 and Lenape Valley began serving students from Netcong and those from Byram Township and Stanhope. Byram Township had sent their students to Sparta High School, but was told they had to leave due to increasing enrollment at Sparta.Aun, Fred J. "First Superintendent of Lenape to Retire", The Star-Ledger, May 4, 1994. Accessed June 4, 2026, via Newspapers.com. "The impetus for the creation of Lenape Valley was provided by Sparta...Byram was sending students to Sparta, and it was told by Sparta that they had to leave...Sparta was growing and could no longer take Byram Township students."
The school opened in September 1974 with an enrollment of 737 students."Rural Sussex Enrollment Jumps", The News, September 10, 1974. Accessed March 22, 2022. "The new Lenape Valley Regional High School opens Monday with a projected 737 students upping the increase to 1,599 pupils since last fall, according to Willard D. Newton, acting county superintendent of schools."
The district had been classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "GH", the third-highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 20, 2024.
During an outbreak that hit the area on May 28, 2019, the school suffered minor damage from an EF1 tornado that touched down in trees behind the school."Rare Tornado Confirmed in New Jersey", The Weather Channel, May 29, 2019. Accessed April 10, 2023. "The National Weather Service confirmed Wednesday that a tornado touched down in Stanhope, New Jersey, Tuesday night. The storm brought down trees and power lines in the Sussex County town, and Lenape Valley Regional High School was closed Wednesday due to sustained damage, WFMZ-TV reported."
Awards, recognition and rankings The school was the 180th-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 120th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 108th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 3, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 105th out of 316 schools statewide in its September 2008 cover story. The school was ranked 139th 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 tied for 145th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (an increase of 2 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (82.9%) and language arts literacy (95.1%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2010–11, Schooldigger.com. Accessed March 5, 2012.
In the 2013-14 school year, Lenape Valley Regional High School ranked seventh in SAT scores in Sussex County out of nine other public high schools.Lenape Valley Regional High School 2013-14 School Performance Report, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 14, 2015.
Extracurricular activities Lenape Valley Regional High School offers a selection of sports, including football, soccer, cross country, tennis, wrestling, field hockey, swimming, basketball, and cheerleading.Coaches Directory, Lenape Valley Regional High School. Accessed March 15, 2025. The school also has a weight room available. The school also offers business activities, creative writing-based courses and music courses, including choirs and bands.Clubs and Activities, Lenape Valley Regional High School. Accessed March 15, 2025.
Athletics The Lenape Valley Regional High School PatriotsLenape Valley Regional High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. participate in the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools from Morris, Sussex and Warren counties and was established following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).Home Page, Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference. Accessed August 27, 2020. "The Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference prides itself on being one of New Jersey's premier high school conferences and is comprised of 39 high schools located in Northwest New Jersey."League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. Until the NJSIAA's 2009 realignment, the school had participated in the Sussex County Interscholastic League, which included public and private high schools located in Sussex County and northern Morris County.Home page, Sussex County Interscholastic League, backed up by the Internet Archive as of May 9, 2009. Accessed December 16, 2014. With 534 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group II for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 486 to 758 students in that grade range.NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020. The football team competes in the American White division of the North Jersey Super Football Conference, which includes 112 schools competing in 20 divisions, making it the nation's biggest football-only high school sports league.Cooper, Darren. "Here's what we know about the new Super Football Conference 2020 schedule", The Record, July 23, 2020. Accessed March 22, 2021. "The Super Football Conference (SFC) is a 112-team group, the largest high school football-only conference in America, and is comprised of teams from five different counties."Cooper, Darren. "NJ football: Super Football Conference revised schedules for 2020 regular season", The Record, July 23, 2020. Accessed March 22, 2021. "The Super Football Conference has 112 teams that will play across 20 divisions." The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group I North for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 254 to 474 students.NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
The school participates as the host school / lead agency for joint cooperative boys / girls swimming teams with Newton High School and for wrestling with Hopatcong High School, while Newton is the host school for a co-op ice hockey program. These co-op programs operate under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2027–28 school year.NJSIAA Cooperative Sports Winter Program List, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed March 1, 2025.