Jackson Memorial High School

Jackson Memorial High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in Jackson Township, in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States, opened in 1964 as part of the Jackson School District. It is the sister high school of Jackson Liberty High School, which opened in the late summer of 2006.

As of the 2015-16 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,599 students and 116.9 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.7:1. There were 159 students (9.9% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 65 (4.1% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.

History
Jackson Memorial High School first opened in 1964 as Jackson Junior-Senior High School. Before then, students living in Jackson attended Lakewood High School. The school was originally a single, one story building with three wings. Around 1970, a second story was added to one wing. In the 1980s, it was expanded to include the nearby middle school which became known as the Clayton building. The original high school building was known as the memorial building in the early 1990s; later it was renamed the Bernie Reider Hall, for a longtime wrestling coach and former principal. The Fine Arts building, added ca. 1993, connects the once separate Clayton building, previously a middle school, and the two-story Bernie Reider Hall.

Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 115th-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 188th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 181st in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 216th in the magazine's September 2008 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school 166th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 22 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (80.8%) and language arts literacy (94.1%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).

Athletics
The Jackson Memorial High School Jaguars compete in the Shore Conference, an athletic conference made up of private and public high schools centered at the Northern Jersey Shore. All schools in this conference are located within Monmouth County and Ocean County, and the league operates under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). With 1,194 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as South Jersey, Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,082 to 1,934 students in that grade range.

Jackson is a powerhouse in many sports and its key rivals are Southern Regional, Toms River South, Toms River North, Toms River East, Brick Memorial and Brick Township.


 * Football
 * Team championships
 * Central Jersey Group IV sectional champions - 2005, 2014, and 2015
 * South Jersey Group IV sectional champions - 2000, and 2001


 * Baseball
 * Team championships
 * Ocean County Tournament Champions - 1972, 2012, 2015
 * Shore Conference Tournament Champions - 1984, 2012
 * South Jersey Group IV sectional champions - 2002, 2010, 2014
 * Group III state champions - 1972
 * Group IV state champions - 2014


 * Wrestling
 * Team championships
 * Group IV state champions - 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011.


 * Boys soccer
 * Team championships
 * South Jersey Group IV sectional champions - 1990
 * New Jersey Group IV state champions - 1990


 * Cross country
 * Team championships
 * State sectional champions - 2006-07
 * Meet of Champions winners - 2006-07


 * Boys cross country
 * Team championships
 * 2006-2007 New Jersey state champions
 * Central Jersey Group IV Champions - 2006, 2007


 * Boys winter track
 * Team championships
 * 2009-2010 Group III state champions
 * 2009-2010 Central Jersey Group III sectional champions


 * Boys outdoor track
 * Team championships
 * 2009-2010 Ocean County champions


 * Boys bowling
 * Team championships
 * 1975-1976 Group IV state champions
 * 2010-2011 South Jersey Group IV sectional champions
 * 2010-2011 Group IV state champions
 * 2011-2012 South Jersey Group IV sectional champions
 * 2011-2012 Group IV state champions
 * 2012-2013 South Jersey Group IV sectional champions
 * 2012-2013 Group IV state champions
 * Individual champions
 * Mike Ormsby - 2013 individual state champion
 * Donald Kane - 2013 South Jersey individual state sectional champion
 * Mike Ormsby - 2011 South Jersey individual state sectional champion


 * Girls cross country
 * Team championships
 * Central Jersey Group IV Champions - 2004, 2005

Marching band
The school's marching band is directed by Jason Diaz and helped by assistant director Eric Ficarra. The band most recently won the US Bands State and National Championships in 2017, and traveled down to Orlando, Florida to march down Main Street in Disney's Magic Kingdom in the spring of 2017. Their current show is entitled "On A Cold Winter Night".

The Jackson Memorial Jaguar Band has performed at many events including:

2013 New Year's Day (Tournament of Roses Parade) in Pasadena Presidential Inaugural Parade for George W. Bush, Cherry Blossom Parade: Washington DC, Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade, NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade, D-Day Invasion Ceremony: Normandy-France, Hula Bowl Halftime and pregame: Waikiki-Hawaii, 4 Ticker Tape parades for the New York Yankees, 2 Ticker Tape parades for the New York Giants (NFL), Opening Night performance for "42nd Street": Ford Theater-NYC, Opening Night performance for "The Music Man" NYC, Performance at the Funeral of Levon Helm: Woodstock-NY, Conan O'Brien: 10th Anniversary Special, Radio City Music Hall: Performance for Dolly Parton

The Jackson Jaguar Marching Band won the USBands Group 6A National Championship Title in 2013 with a score of 96.3, their first national championship. They won first place in the percussion and music category then second in colorguard, general effect, and marching.

Administration
Core members of the school's administration are:
 * Kevin DiEugenio, Principal
 * Kyle Brunson, Vice Principal
 * Daniel A. McDevitt, Assistant Principal
 * Heather Novak, Assistant Principal
 * Michael Walsh, Assistant Principal

Notable alumni

 * Scotty Cranmer (born 1987), professional BMX rider, including nine X Games medals (2015).
 * Kris Lewis (born 1978, class of 1997), painter.
 * Anthony Stolarz (born 1994, class of 2012), professional ice hockey goaltender for the Philadelphia Flyers.
 * Tom Tarver, quarterback who played for the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights, after leading Jackson Memorial to a 32-7 record during his high school career.
 * Matt Thaiss (born 1995, class of 2013), first round pick in the 2016 MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Angels.
 * Zakk Wylde (born 1967), guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne and Black Label Society (1985).