William L. Dickinson High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school located in Jersey City, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as part of the Jersey City Public Schools. Dickinson occupies a prominent location on Bergen Hill overlooking lower Jersey City and the New York Harbor. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1929.
As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,046 students and 122.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 16.7:1. There were 1,268 students (62.0% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 88 (4.3% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 304th-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. The school had been ranked 302nd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 308th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 295th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 291st in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.
In 1999, student Samir Kapadia placed fourth at the Annual Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his project "Identification and Targeting Multiple Myeloma Cancerous Tumors."
In 2002–03, students Juliet R. Girard and Roshan D. Prabhu won the team competition of the Siemens Westinghouse Competition for "Identification and High Resolution Mapping of Flowering Time Genes in Rice." The duo shared a $100,000 scholarship with their victory.
In 2007, Abdullah Anwar, a student was recognized as a semi-finalist in the 2007 New Jersey Business Idea Competition conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University.
History
Originally named Jersey City High School, the property was purchased in 1904 and the new building opened on September 6, 1906, in an attempt to relieve overcrowding in the city's public schools. It was the first public secondary school in the city. When the school opened, it housed a 2,000-seat auditorium that saw extensive public use, and hosted such events as a lecture by Helen Keller and political rallies for United States Presidents Taft, Wilson, and Roosevelt. The original school was expanded with the construction of a second building in 1912 to further industrial skills education. This building contained a foundry, print shop, and vocational classrooms.
In 1913, the school was renamed William L. Dickinson High School for the superintendent who had advocated for creation of the school during his term from 1872 to 1883. The school was expanded again in 1933 with the addition of an annex containing a swimming pool, cafeteria, and gymnasium. That same year, Lincoln High School was opened as the second high school in the district, as part of an effort to provide additional capacity outside of Dickinson.
The rear of the building is the site of a late 1800s-era cannon mount built to protect the Hudson River shoreline from early invaders. Given the location of the cannon and the associated technology of the time, it is doubtful that the cannon would have ever been effective as a defensive emplacement. While the cannon has since been removed, the original mounting was reused as the site of a black-granite monument to the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
In 1946, students went on strike to protest a proposal by the city's board of education to extend the end of the school day from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, with striking students arguing that the longer school day would interfere with their part-time jobs.