Central High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in Newark, in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as part of the Newark Public Schools.
As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 838 students and 73.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.4:1. There were 653 students (77.9% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 41 (4.9% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
History
Central High School was originally Central Commercial and Manual Training School, housed in what is now the Central King Building on the campus of the New Jersey Institute of Technology. It opened January 31, 1912.
The school provided vocational education, offering a forge and a foundry, a sewing room, a sheet-metal room and a wood shop, as well as an auditorium seating 1,500. The school manufactured tools for itself and the rest of the district.
A smaller school but without a forge, the East Side Commercial & Manual Training High School was built at the same time. The decade was active one for the school district. In 1911, it opened a School for the Feeble Minded and a School for Blind. The city closed its last segregated school in 1909.
The school was renamed Central High School and remained at the original address until 2008. The Central King Building at New Jersey Institute of Technology was renovated to support the university and STEM counselling.
The school moved to its current location at 246 18th Avenue in Newark after its $107 million completion in 2008. The move was completed in 2010.
Ras Baraka served as principal of Central High School from 2007 to 2013 before his election as Mayor of Newark.
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 300th-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 277th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 274th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 278th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 304th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.
Academies
Central includes three academic academies: The Dental Studies Academy, Environmental Science academy, and Teen Pep. Students choose their career track once they have enrolled and began the academic year.
The Dental Studies Academy provides students the opportunity to gain entry-level certification in the dental field. Students have the opportunity to certify in NELDA (National Entry Level Dental Assistant), AMP (Anatomy, Morphology, and Physiology), ICE (Infection Control Exam), and RHS (Radiation Health Safety). Qualifying students will also participate in internships and a variety of community service events.<refDental Academy, Newark Public Schools. Accessed August 26, 2023.</ref>
The Environmental Science Academy will empower students to acquire the necessary academic, technical, and marketable skills to enter, compete, and advance in their education and career in a global economy. The purpose of the academy is to give students hands-on experiences with a social justice approach to solving environmental issues as it relates to climate, horticulture, and environmental sustainability.
Teen PEP is a performance-based class that replaces senior health and physical education classes. 15-24 hand-picked students will be trained in leadership, sexuality issues, and basic pedagogy (teaching). Teen PEP covers advanced level sexual/sexuality education which includes but is not limited to; postponing sexual involvement, pregnancy prevention, sexually transmitted infections, dating violence, sexual assault, decision making, etc. Teen PEP also implements team-building activities during training and class in order to foster familial bonds.
Project Grad Scholarship
Central students are given the opportunity to earn a scholarship towards their college education, called the Project Grad Newark College Scholarship . The students and the students' parents read and sign a pledge stating that the student will meet minimum requirements. Some include; maintaining an average GPA of 2.5 or better, completing two college-bound summer institutes, graduating in four years. When the student completes these requirements, they are awarded $6,000 which is paid in installments over the span of four years to the college they plan to attend.