Morris Catholic High School is a four-year comprehensive Roman Catholic regional high school located in Denville Township, in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was founded in 1957 and is part of the Diocese of Paterson. Morris Catholic High School has been recognized by the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program, the highest award an American school can receive.
As of the 2019–20 school year, the school had an enrollment of 428 students and 33.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.9:1. The school's student body was 74.1% (317) White, 10.0% (43) Hispanic, 9.8% (42) Black, 5.1% (22) Asian, 0.7% (3) two or more races and 0.2% (1) Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander.
The school has been accredited by AdvancED.
Assumption College for Sisters
Assumption College for Sisters is a two-year Roman Catholic women's college. Founded in 1953 through an affiliation with Seton Hall University, Assumption is run by the Sisters of Christian Charity. Primarily designed to prepare women for work in religious vocations, Assumption specializes in theological studies and the liberal arts. It is the last remaining sisters' college, or college primarily designed to educate nuns, in the United States. In 2014, the school relocated to a convent on the Morris Catholic High School campus.
Awards, recognition and rankings
During the 1984–85 school year, Morris Catholic High School was awarded the National Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education.
During the 2012–13 school year, students from Morris Catholic drama classes won first place at the New Jersey Thespian Festival. It was the school's second win after taking the top prize for the main stage category the previous year.
Athletics
The Morris Catholic High School Crusaders compete in the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference, which is comprised of 39 public and private high schools in Morris, Sussex and Warren counties, and was established by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey. Prior to the NJSIAA's 2010 realignment, the school had participated in the Colonial Hills Conference which included schools in Essex, Morris and Somerset counties in west Central Jersey. With 328 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Non-Public B for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 37 to 366 students in that grade range (equivalent to Group I for public schools). The interscholastic sports that Morris Catholic offers are men's and women's soccer, football, women's volleyball, men's and women's basketball, wrestling, ice hockey, winter and spring track and field, men's and women's lacrosse, baseball, softball, fencing, and golf. The football team competes in the United Blue division of the North Jersey Super Football Conference, which includes 112 schools competing in 20 divisions, making it the nation's biggest football-only high school sports league. The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Non-Public Group B (equivalent to Group I for public schools) for football for 2022–2024, which included schools with 64 to 223 students.
The school participates as the host school / lead agency for joint cooperative cross country running and ice hockey teams with the Academy of Saint Elizabeth, while the Academy of St. Elizabeth is the host school for a joint field hockey team. DePaul Catholic High School is the host school for a joint skiing team. All of these co-op programs operate under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year.
The 1971 baseball team won the Parochial B state title with a 3–0 win against Gloucester Catholic High School in the playoff finals.
The 1974 and 1975 boys cross country team won the New Jersey Meet of Champions and finished the season ranked #1 in the state becoming the first team to win back-to-back titles. They were Parochial B champions in the five consecutive years from 1974 to 1978.
The softball team won the Non-Public A state championship in 1982 (defeating Camden Catholic High School in the finals) and won the Non-Public B title in 1986 (vs. Gloucester Catholic High School), 2021 (vs. St. Joseph Academy) and 2022 (vs. Gill St. Bernard's School). The 1982 team ended their season at 17–7 after winning the Parochial A state title with a 2–1 walk-off win against Camden Catholic in the championship game.