West Deptford High School is a comprehensive community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from West Deptford Township, in Gloucester County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the sole secondary school of the West Deptford Public Schools.
As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 821 students and 70.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.6:1. There were 107 students (13.0% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 22 (2.7% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
History
In August 1958, the district approved a proposal for the construction of a junior/senior high school on a site covering that would cost a projected $2.5 million (equivalent to $ million in ). The school opened for ninth-grade students in 1960 and had its first graduating class four years later. Formal dedication ceremonies for the school, which could handle a maximum enrollment of nearly 1,450 students, were held in December 1960.
Awards, recognition and honors
The school was the 152nd-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 219th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 182nd in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 185th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 170th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.
Athletics
West Deptford High School Eagles compete as a member school in the Colonial Conference, which is comprised of small schools whose enrollments generally do not exceed 800 students for grades 9-12, and operates under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. With 603 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. The football team competes in the Constitution Division of the 94-team West Jersey Football League superconference and was classified by the NJSIAA as Group II South for football for 2022–2024, which included schools with 480 to 674 students. The school competes in Varsity Tier II of the South Jersey High School Ice Hockey League, a high school ice hockey league with 20 teams participating at the varsity level from South Jersey.
The boys' soccer team was Group II co-champion with Madison High School in 1982 and won the Group III title vs. Scotch Plains High School in 1985. The 1982 team was declared as Group II co-champion after a 1–1 tie in the finals with Madison. In 1999, the soccer team earned the South, Group III sectional title with a 2–0 win against Moorestown High School. In 2012, the soccer team won the South Jersey Group II sectional title with a 4–1 win in penalty kicks after a 2–2 tie in the tournament final against Cinnaminson High School.
The girls swimming team won the Division B state championship in 1984.
The field hockey team won the South Jersey Group II state sectional title in 1994, 1996, 2003, 2009, 2013–2019; the team won the Group II state championship in 1996, defeating Warren Hills Regional High School in the tournament final. The team won the South Jersey, Group II state sectional in 2003 with a 3–2 win over Camden Catholic High School in the final game, avenging a 2–1 loss the previous year against the same team.
The wrestling team won the South Jersey Group II state sectional title in 1996, 2000, 2010, 2019 and 2020; the team won the Group II state championship in 2000. The wrestling team won the 2000 Group III state championship, edging North Hunterdon High School 25–24 in the semifinal match and defeating Sparta High School 34–28 in the finals. The wrestling team took the South Jersey, Group III sectional title in 2000 with a 37–23 win in the tournament final against Oakcrest High School. In the 2009-10 wrestling season, the Eagles won a South Jersey Group II Title. Then beat 10th-ranked David Brearley High School in the state semi-finals before losing to second-ranked Long Branch High School in the finals and finished ranked 12th in the state.
The 1996 softball team finished the season with a 24–6 record after winning the Group II state championship. The team won the semifinals against Carteret High School in 14 innings and went on to win the championship with a 6-5 extra-inning victory against Arthur L. Johnson High School in the tournament final after falling behind in the ninth, tying the game and then going on to win in the bottom of the tenth inning.