Sterling High School is a comprehensive regional public high school and school district serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from five communities in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The district serves students from Magnolia, Somerdale, Stratford, along with students from Hi-Nella and Laurel Springs who attend as part of sending/receiving relationships.Sterling High School 2016 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 27, 2017. "Sterling High School District is a regional district serving Hi Nella, Laurel Springs, Magnolia, Somerdale and Stratford. Sterling is a suburban residential community, approximately 7 miles southeast of Camden, NJ and part of the Philadelphia, PA metropolitan area."Sterling Regional High Board of Education District Policy 0110 – Identification, Sterling High School. Accessed September 2, 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 Sterling Regional High School District. Composition The Sterling Regional High School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Somerdale." The school is located in Somerdale and is the only facility of the Sterling High School District.School Performance Reports for the Sterling High School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 3, 2024.New Jersey School Directory for the Sterling High School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
Sterling High School has been approved by the New Jersey Department of Education (2000) and has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1964Sterling High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed June 26, 2011. and was granted probationary accreditation by Middle States in 2012."Spring 2012 Accreditation Actions", The Standard of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools, Spring 2012. Accessed April 16, 2021. "Probationary Accreditation... Sterling High School, Somerdale, NJ"
As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 881 students and 72.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.2:1. There were 232 students (26.3% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 54 (6.1% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Sterling High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024.
History Ground was broken for the school in July 1959, with costs estimated at $950,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) for construction of a facility designed to accommodate an enrollment of 800 students."Setting an Example on School Cost", Courier-Post, July 17, 1959. Accessed April 1, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Groundbreaking ceremonies Tuesday for Camden County's newest regional high school will be of more than ordinary interest to citizens of the county and in school circles generally. The school, scheduled to be opened for the beginning of the 1960–61 school year, will be located at Somerdale and will be known as Sterling Regional High School. It will accommodate pupils from Somerdale, Magnolia and Stratford. It will have an initial capacity of 800 and be capable of expansion when the pupil load makes it necessary. What is exceptionally interesting about the new school is the fact that it will cost only $945,764 to construct, although the bond issue under which it will be financed is for $1.1 million and the original estimate of the construction cost was $1.1 million."
Opened in September 1960 as Sterling Regional High School, the new facility served students who had previously attended Haddon Heights High School."3 Counties Share Classroom Expansion", Courier-Post, September 3, 1960. Accessed April 1, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Sterling Regional High School, third of the three new Camden County high schools, is located on Warwick rd. in Somerdale. It will accommodate students from Somerdale, Magnolia and Stratford who last year attended Haddon Heights High School."
The district had been classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "CD", the third-lowest 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 1, 2024.
Awards, recognition and honors The school was the 234th-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 266th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 231st in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 11, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 225th in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed June 26, 2011. The school was ranked 228th 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 240th out of 367 public high schools statewide in its 2009–10 rankings 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 December 29, 2011.
Curriculum Advanced Placement (AP) courses are offered in AP English Literature, AP United States History, AP Calculus, and AP Biology. Honors courses are offered in Algebra I, Geometry, Pre Calculus, Spanish V, Calculus, and Physics. High School Plus credit with Camden County College is offered in History, Spanish, French, Biology, Software Systems, Latin, and World Civilizations. A variety of languages are offered including: Spanish, Latin, French, and Italian II.
Athletics The Sterling High School Silver KnightsSterling High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete as a member school in the Colonial Conference, which is comprised of small schools whose enrollments generally do not exceed between 750 and 800 students for grades 9–12 and operates under the auspices of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).Schools, Colonial Conference. Accessed September 1, 2022.League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020–2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. With 658 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 Constitution Division of the 94-team West Jersey Football League superconferenceSterling Silver Knights, West Jersey Football League. Accessed September 5, 2020.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 II South for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 514 to 685 students.NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
The football team won the NJSIAA South Jersey Group III state sectional championships in 1974, 1976 and 1977.NJSIAA Football History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 1, 2022. In 1974, Sterling won the first ever South Jersey Group III football championship determined by playoffs, defeating Woodrow Wilson High School by a score of 15–12 in a game played at the Atlantic City Convention Center.Ostrum, Gus. "S. Jersey Playoffs A Hit From The Start", The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 17, 1989. Accessed December 29, 2011. "It now is 15 years since Sterling and Brick Township won the first South Jersey sectional football championships to be decided on the playing field. Sterling topped Woodrow Wilson, 15–12, on Dec. 7, 1974, to win the South Jersey Group 3 title before 5,000 fans at Atlantic City Convention Hall and a statewide television audience."History of Football Games inside the Atlantic City Convention Hall. Accessed December 29, 2011. The 1976 team won the South Jersey Group III sectional title with a 28–13 win against a Deptford Township High School team that came into the championship game undefeated.Vogeding, John. "Sterling settles down, rolls to Group 3 crown", Courier-Post, December 6, 1976. Accessed February 21, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Sterling High School center Stan Pandza had a ready explanation for the 27 points scored in the first 13 minutes of Saturday's South Jersey Group 3 championship football game here.... For the record, Sterling regained the Group 3 title it had won in 1974 with a 28–13 triumph over previously-unbeaten Deptford High."
The boys' soccer team was the Group III co-champion in 1976, after a tie with Summit High School in the final game of the tournament.NJSIAA History of Boys Soccer, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 1, 2022.