Shawnee High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as part of the Lenape Regional High School District. The district serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Evesham Township, Medford Lakes, Medford Township, Mount Laurel, Shamong Township, Southampton Township, Tabernacle Township and Woodland Township. The school serves students from Medford Lakes and Medford Township. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1975 and is accredited until July 2024.
As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,500 students and 122.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.3:1. There were 55 students (3.7% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 17 (1.1% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch. For the 2021-22 school year, free school lunches have been available to every student, regardless of income.
History
Plans for the school facility were announced in 1968 with an estimated cost of $3.5 million (equivalent to $ million in ). It was designed to accommodate 1,500 students and included 26 classrooms, a gym, a cafeteria, and a 600-seat auditorium. Shawnee High School opened its doors in 1970 as the second of the district's four high schools.
The opening of Seneca High School in September 2003 led to a decline in enrollment at Shawnee, which helped to alleviate the overcrowding the school had previously experienced.
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 48th-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 142nd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 100th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 108th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 110th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 58th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 5 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (90.7%) and language arts literacy (97.4%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).
Arts
The band program is under the direction of Nick Rotindo. Recent accomplishments include: Marching band 2005 USSBA New Jersey State Group III Open Class Champions 2005 USSBA All-State Group III Open Class Champions 2005 Undefeated season 2006 USSBA New Jersey State Group II Open Class Champions 2006 USSBA All-State Group II Open Class Champions 2006 USSBA National Champions Group II, for its program titled "Going for Broke: a Gamer's Tale". 2007 4th Place USSBA National Championships Group III, winning General Effect and Visual Effect. 2016 USSBA New Jersey Group IV Open Class Champions 2021 TOB Group 2A Atlantic Coast Champions
Jazz Band
2005 New Jersey State Champions
2006 New Jersey State Champions
2007 3rd Place Finish at New Jersey state championships
2008 3rd Place Finish at New Jersey state championships
2009 2nd Place Finish at New Jersey state championships
In earlier years, students auditioned and were selected for honors choirs. These accomplishments include: Choral 1995 MENC: All-Eastern Honors Choir & Band (Choir: Kevin Scott Collins, tenor; Elise Quagliata, alto. Band: Jessica Williams)
Athletics
The Shawnee High School Renegades participate in the Olympic Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools located in Burlington and Camden counties and operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). With 1,170 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2022-23 school year as South, Group 4 for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,060 to 5,049 students in that grade range. The football team competes in the American Division of the 94-team West Jersey Football League superconference and was classified by the NJSIAA as Group IV South for football for 2022–2024, which included schools with 893 to 1,296 students.