Old Bridge High School

Old Bridge High School (formed from combining the former Cedar Ridge and Madison Central High Schools) is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Old Bridge Township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Old Bridge Township Public Schools. The school is located on County Route 516 in Old Bridge Township, however, it is assigned a Matawan mailing address. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools since 1970, and was most recently re-accredited in 2008.

Through partnerships with Fairleigh Dickinson University and Middlesex County College, students can take college courses for credit in both high school and college.

As of the 2013-14 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,922 students and 230.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.7:1. There were 542 students (18.5% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 208 (7.1% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.

The school operates from 7:35 A.M. to 2:06 P.M. and runs on a 12-period schedule.

History
Old Bridge High School opened in September 1994. It was formed from the merger of Cedar Ridge High School and Madison Central High School, which were the two existing high schools in Old Bridge Township. OBHS was originally set up as a two campus system having an East Campus at the former Cedar Ridge site containing Grades 9 and 10 and a West Campus at the former Madison Central site containing Grades 11 and 12. The entire high school is now located at the former Cedar Ridge High School (East Campus) and Carl Sandburg Middle School Building after an addition was added in 2004. The former Middle School building houses the Grade Nine Center.

Dr. James Hickey was hired in 2003 and he oversaw a $26.8 million high school construction project that was completed in September 2005. The school developed a stricter but better learning environment as shown through student achievement and standardized test scores which have exceeded state standards. Out-of-school suspensions dropped more than 55% and student tardiness dropped by more than 60%, while scores on state exams rose more than 20% in mathematics and more than 10% in language arts literacy. For his work in transforming Old Bridge High School, Dr. Hickey was recognized as the New Jersey Principal of the Year in 2009. He was also recognized by the New Jersey State Board of Education. The district Superintendent of Schools also publicly recognized Dr. Hickey for his work in transforming OBHS.

In 2010, Old Bridge High School became part of the Confucius Classroom following the implementation of a comprehensive Chinese program at the high school. Delegations from the school went to China in 2009 and 2010.

In 2011 according to the New Jersey School Report Card, Old Bridge High School made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under the No Child Left Behind Act by meeting 40 out of 40 indicators, a first for Old Bridge High School.

Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 158th-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 178th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 162nd in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 211th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 197th of 316 schools in the magazine's 2006 rankings.

Schooldigger.com ranked the school 169th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 45 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (81.0%) and language arts literacy (93.6%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).

Athletics
The Old Bridge High School Knights compete in the Greater Middlesex Conference, which includes public and private high schools located in the greater Middlesex County area, operating under the supervision of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. With 2,230 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2014-15 school year as Central Jersey, Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,083 to 2,230 students in that grade range. Old Bridge High School is known primarily for its cross country and track programs, while its bowling, wrestling, and volleyball programs have also been successful.

The boys wrestling team won the Central Jersey Group IV state sectional championships in 2001 and 2002.

In 2001, the Knights football team, went on to play at High Point Solutions Stadium in the Central Jersey Group IV title game, losing to an undefeated J.P. Stevens High School team 14-7. In 2015, the Knights football team made a second appearance in the Central Jersey Group V title game, falling to an undefeated South Brunswick High School by a score of 42-0 in the tournament final.

The boys track team won the Group IV indoor relay state championship in 2002 and 2010.

In 2008, the girls softball team went to win the Red Division title for the second year in succession, the GMC Championship, and the Central Jersey Group IV sectional championship with a 2-1 win against Hunterdon Central Regional High School.

In 2010, the boys soccer team had the most successful soccer year in school history when they went on to play in the Central Jersey Group IV title game, losing to Freehold Township High School 1-0.

The Challenge
The school has been featured on the News 12/Cablevision (now MSG Varsity) game show The Challenge (2009) in which schools compete in a single-elimination trivia competition in order to advance toward a $10,000 prize. In their first round, they defeated Clifton High School at 315-240. In Round 2, they beat Leonia High School with a score of 320-240 before suffering a crushing defeat by St. Joseph's High School in Round 3 by a score of 420-240.

Old Bridge High School was chosen to compete on The Challenge 2010-11 competition. Their first competition against Eastern Christian High School aired on MSG Varsity on February 3, 2011, with Old Bridge winning 290-240. Their second competition against Randolph High School aired on April 21, 2011, with Old Bridge again winning 395-290. Their next episode against Manalapan High School aired on May 19, 2011.

Marching Knights
The Old Bridge Marching Knights, also known as the OBHSMK, has been recognized as a competitive marching band for the past several years and has gained high ranks in more-than-one marching band circuits. In 2005, the OBHSMK gained a Silver-medal finalist position in the Tournament of Bands' Group III 2005 Atlantic Coast Championship with their show Wild Knights. Their show Metamorphosis was ranked fourth place in the same competition in 2006 with a score of 95.00, making them a Gold-medal finalist.

OBHSMK transferred from TOB to USSBA in 2007.

Eventually, they were ranked fourth in the 2009 season in their USSBA circuit, with The Dark Knight. In the 2010 season, the Marching Knights placed sixth in group IV with the theme Requiem for a Knightmare. Recently in the 2011 season with the show In Motion the Marching Knights ranked sixth in group III and tied for Best Music. The Marching Knights were six-tenths of a point away from first place. In their 2012 season titled 'Into the Inferno,' the Marching Knights were undefeated in group III open. They placed first at Nationals in Metlife Stadium with a 96.375.

The Old Bridge Marching Knights participated at the D-Day Anniversary Parade in Normandy, France in June 2015 as one of five American bands participating in the ceremonies marking the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings. The band performed in the annual parade in Sainte-Mère-Église.

Administration
Core members of the school's administration are:
 * Vincent Sasso, Principal
 * Timothy Dolan, Principal of Ellen McDermott Grade Nine Center
 * Sally Fazio, Vice Principal
 * Richard Masarik, Vice Principal
 * James Oliveri, Vice Principal

Notable alumni
Notable alumni of Old Bridge High School and its predecessors include:
 * Joseph Boyce (born 1996) class of 2016), actor.
 * Junot Díaz (born 1968, class of 1987), Pulitzer Prize-Winning author
 * The Ergs!, punk rock band. [2000-2008]
 * Phil Ivey (born 1976), professional poker player.
 * Ken Leung (born 1970), actor, known for character Miles on Lost.
 * Caren Lissner (born 1972, class of 1989), novelist.
 * Brian O'Halloran (born 1969, class of 1987), actor famous for his role as Dante in the 1994 Kevin Smith movie Clerks.
 * Cameron Richardson (born 1979, class of 1997), actress, star of Alvin and the Chipmunks.
 * Anthony Seratelli, (born 1983, class of 2001), baseball player
 * Shannon Sohn (born 1974, class of 1992), traffic reporter, WABC-TV.
 * Vitamin C (born 1969, class of 1987), singer/actress, known for her "Graduation (Friends Forever)" song.
 * Chris Thatcher (born 1980, class of 1998), drummer.