Arthur L. Johnson High School is a four-year public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Clark and Garwood in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the Clark Public School District. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1963 and is accredited until January 2030.Arthur L. Johnson High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed December 18, 2024.
Students from Garwood attend the high school as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Garwood Public Schools.Clark Township Public Schools 2015 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 5, 2016. "The school district educates more than 2,350 students in five buildings and enjoys a very positive and collaborative send/receive relationship with the Garwood Public Schools. Students from Garwood are educated in their local K-8 district. They subsequently attend grades 9-12 at our Arthur L. Johnson High School here in Clark."About Us, Garwood Public Schools. Accessed June 5, 2016. "High school students attend ALJ High School in Clark, NJ"
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 785 students and 62.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.7:1. There were 66 students (8.4% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 13 (1.7% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Arthur L. Johnson High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.
The school's campus abuts the planned Clark Reservoir Recreation Area, an area of woodland surrounding the decommissioned Robinson's Branch Reservoir (also known as the Clark Reservoir), which is currently being rehabilitated for water recreation.Union County’s Clark Reservoir Slated for Restoration, , press release dated December 3, 2021. Accessed July 28, 2022. "The Union County Board of County Commissioners is pleased to announce that work is moving forward on the restoration of the Clark Reservoir. Located along Robinson’s Branch of the Rahway River in the Township of Clark, the reservoir was built in 1907."
History By the early 1950s, Jonathan Dayton Regional High School in Springfield, the sole school of the Union County Regional High School District, had become overcrowded. In November 1953, voters approved a $1.95 million bond referendum to purchase two sites in Clark and Berkeley Heights and construct a high school on the Clark site. Constructed on a site covering and including of space for classes and other facilities, the school opened in September 1956 and was named for a longtime county superintendent who was a leading advocate for the establishment of a regional school district."1,000 Attend Dedication Of Johnson High School Clark", Courier News, December 8, 1956. Accessed March 3, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "More than 1,000 persons turned out last night for the dedication ceremonies of the newly-completed Arthur L. Johnson Regional High School here. Notables in the field of education from state, county and local levels appeared to pay tribute to the late Dr. Arthur L. Johnson, who as county superintendent of schools for 40 years, first conceived the idea of a regional school district.... The building contains 94,000 square feet of floor space with 22 classrooms, and 12 laboratory and arts and crafts rooms which surround the auditorium. The rear wing contains a cafeteria, gymnasium and two shops. Costing $2,000,000, the school building is located on the east corner of the 25-acre tract." In April 1957, voters approved a $3.8 million bond referendum that included funds for an addition at Johnson. The addition opened in September 1959 and contained 14 classrooms as well as a boys' gymnasium and special classrooms. On May 4, 1971, voters approved a $4.7 million bond referendum to expand and renovate each school in the district. At Johnson, the addition of an instructional media center, two general education classrooms, and several special classrooms, and various renovations and expansions were completed by September 1973.
Amid conflict between the constituent municipalities about financing a district described as "the highest-spending regional high school in the state" and anger from residents impacted by the closure of David Brearley High School, a referendum was held in May 1996 in which voters approved a proposal to break up the regional district. With the district's dissolution at the end of the 1996-97 school year, Arthur L. Johnson High School was turned over to the Clark Public School District, which became a K-12 district. Garwood, one of the two municipalities without a high school, established a sending/receiving relationship to send its high school students to Arthur L. Johnson.Hanley, Robert. "Schools Weigh Impact Of District Breakup", The New York Times, May 16, 1996. Accessed April 28, 2021. "They are Springfield, with Dayton High; Berkeley Heights, with Governor Livingston High; Clark, with Arthur Johnson High, and Kenilworth, with Brearley High, which closed three years ago but will reopen after Commissioner Klagholz sets a date for the formal dissolution. Many expect it will be June 30, 1997. The district's two towns without high school buildings -- Garwood and Mountainside -- will remain kindergarten-to-eighth-grade districts and ship out their high school students."Paglia, Bernice. "Stakes high in vote on deregionalization", Courier News, May 13, 1996. Accessed April 28, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "In 1992 the Union County Regional High School District 1 board voted to close one of its four high schools, a move aimed at saving $4 million. That move may come full circle on Tuesday, when voters from six municipalities will decide whether to dissolve the district itself, which state Education Commissioner Leo Klagholz has called 'the highest-spending regional high school in the state.'"
Awards, recognition and rankings In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 47th in New Jersey and 1,493rd nationwide.Mathews, Jay. , The Washington Post. Accessed September 9, 2011. The school was ranked 1609th, the 62nd-highest in New Jersey, in Newsweek magazine's 2010 rankings of America's Best High Schools.Staff. "America's Best High Schools: The List", Newsweek, June 13, 2010. Accessed March 26, 2011.
In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 898th in the nation among participating public high schools and 67th among schools in New Jersey.Streib, Lauren. "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast, May 6, 2013. Accessed May 9, 2013.
The school was the 86th-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.Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014. The school had been ranked 40th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 101st in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 11, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 95th in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed March 26, 2011. The school was ranked 91st in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state."Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008. Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 115th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (an increase of 29 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (84.1%) and language arts literacy (97.5%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).School Overview; Click on "Rankings" for 2003-11 HSPA results, Schooldigger.com. Accessed March 10, 2012.
In 2019, the school was ranked 241st out of 438 high schools in New Jersey in rankings by U.S. News & World Report.Arthur L. Johnson High School, U.S. News & World Report. Accessed January 29, 2020.
Athletics The Arthur L. Johnson High School CrusadersArthur L. Johnson High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete in the Union County Interscholastic Athletic Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Union County, and was established following a reorganization of spots leagues in Northern New Jersey under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. Before the 2010 realignment, the school had participated in the Mountain Valley Conference, which consisted of public and private high schools in Essex County and Union County., Mountain Valley Conference, backed up by the Internet Archive as of February 2, 2011. Accessed December 15, 2014. With 520 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group II for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 486 to 758 students in that grade range.NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020. The football team competes in Division 2B of the Big Central Football Conference, which includes 60 public and private high schools in Middlesex, Hunterdon, Somerset, Union and Warren counties, which are broken down into 10 divisions by size and location.Kinney, Mike. "Big Central revises 2020 football schedule for its shortened inaugural season", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, August 12, 2020. Accessed April 18, 2021. "The newly formed Big Central Football Conference has released a revised 2020 schedule for its inaugural season.... the BCFC is comprised of schools from Middlesex, Union, Somerset, Hunterdon, and Warren counties." The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group II South for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 514 to 685 students.NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
The boys' bowling team won the overall state championship in 1985 and the Group I state championship in 2013.History of NJSIAA Boys Bowling Championships, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed August 1, 2022.
The football team won the North II Group II state sectional titles in 1995 and 2002.NJSIAA Football History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed January 1, 2022. The 1995 team finished the season with a record of 11-0 after winning the North II Group II sectional championship game with a 21-6 victory against a Summit High School team that came into the tournament as the number-one seed.De Martini, Tom. "Simply Perfect; Unbeaten Johnson tops Summit for title", Home News Tribune, December 3, 1995. Accessed March 3, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Is a sectional championship game a good time to throw a new wrinkle into your offensive scheme? Only if it works. Johnson Regional High School capped off its first unbeaten football season yesterday behind the rushing of senior Joe Aleffi, who carried 23 times for 124 yards and one touchdown, as the third-seeded Crusaders downed top-seeded Summit 21-6 to take the North Jersey, Section 2, Group II crown at Tatlock Field."