Dover High School is a four-year public high school located in Dover in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades and operating as the lone secondary school of the Dover School District.
The high school serves students from Victory Gardens, which has been consolidated into the Dover School District since 2010.Martin, Liz. "Voters have their say on the budgets", Neighbor News, April 28, 2010. Accessed May 10, 2015. "The school board goes from 11 members to 10 after this election as the temporary Board seat assigned to the Victory Gardens representative Danielle Press expired permanently on April 20. Now that Victory Gardens has merged with the Dover school district, there will no longer be a dedicated Victory Gardens seat on the Board. Any resident from either Dover or Victory Gardens will be eligible to run for any available Board seat.""Victory Gardens" , Daily Record. Accessed May 10, 2015. "Students in grades K-12 attend Dover public schools."13 Non-Operating School Districts Eliminated, New Jersey Department of Education press release dated July 1, 2009. Accessed May 10, 2015. Students from Mine Hill Township attend the high school as part of a sending/receiving relationship.Dover High School 2016 Report Card Narrative , New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed September 13, 2017. "Dover High School, located 40 miles from New York City, services approximately 950 high school students from the Town of Dover, the Borough of Victory Gardens, and the Township of Mine Hill."
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,167 students and 92.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.7:1. There were 611 students (52.4% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 81 (6.9% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Dover High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.
History Dover High School had served students from Denville Township, Hanover Township, Hopatcong, Jefferson Township, Randolph and Rockaway Township, before those districts terminated their sending/receiving relationships and either created their own high schools or established relationships with other receiving districts.Schoonmaker, Stanley; and Laurie, George. Dover, p. 39. Arcadia Publishing, 1999. . Accessed September 13, 2017. "During its long history, Dover has been a receiving district for many other Morris County communities. The towns included: Randolph (until 1964), Rockaway Township, Jefferson Township, Lake Hopatcong, Denville, Hanover, Mine Hill, and Victory Gardens. Today, only the latter two send their students to Dover."
Students from Jefferson Township and Randolph left the school after Randolph High School opened in September 1961."Randolph High School: Timeline", Daily Record, May 17, 2005. Accessed April 26, 2022, via Newspapers.com.
Awards, recognition and rankings In September 2013, the school was one of 15 in New Jersey to be recognized by the United States Department of Education as part of the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program, an award called the "most prestigious honor in the United States' education system" and which Education Secretary Arne Duncan described as schools that "represent examples of educational excellence".Rundquist, Jeanette. "15 N.J. schools named as national 'Blue Ribbon' winners", The Star-Ledger, September 24, 2013. Accessed September 25, 2013. "Five Catholic schools, six county vocational-technical schools and a Yeshiva are among the list of honored schools in New Jersey. Also named as 2013 Blue Ribbon Schools were Dover, Harrison and Wildwood high schools."2013 National Blue Ribbon Schools All Public and Private, pp. 15-17. United States Department of Education, National Blue Ribbon Schools Program. Accessed September 25, 2013.
The school was the 238th-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 223rd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 220th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed August 24, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 215th in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed April 4, 2011. The school was ranked 229th 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 172nd out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (an increase of 89 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (85.2%) and language arts literacy (88.8%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2010-2011, Schooldigger.com. Accessed March 6, 2012.
U.S. News released the 2023-2024 Rankings in which Dover High School was ranked #3,363 nationally. At the New Jersey state level, they were ranked #138 and #343 in the NYC Metro Area High Schools.
Extracurricular activities Dover High School offers many extracurricular activities after school. Below is a list of some of the activities available:
Key Club Tigers For Charity Botball History Club Dover Debate Fall Play Spring Musical Drama Club Perfect Step Latin Mix Chess Club Jazz Band Marching Band Tigers In Christ Bowling Club Student Council Interact Club
Athletics The Dover High School TigersDover High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete in the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Morris, Sussex and Warren counties, and was established following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).Home Page, Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference. Accessed August 27, 2020. "The Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference prides itself on being one of New Jersey's premier high school conferences and is comprised of 39 high schools located in Northwest New Jersey."League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. Prior to the 2010 realignment, the school had participated in the Hills division of the Iron Hills Conference, an athletic conference that included high schools located in Essex, Morris and Union counties. With 762 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group III for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 761 to 1,058 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 the Ivy White 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.Cooper, Darren. "Here's what we know about the new Super Football Conference 2020 schedule", The Record, July 23, 2020. Accessed March 22, 2021. "The Super Football Conference (SFC) is a 112-team group, the largest high school football-only conference in America, and is comprised of teams from five different counties."Cooper, Darren. "NJ football: Super Football Conference revised schedules for 2020 regular season", The Record, July 23, 2020. Accessed March 22, 2021. "The Super Football Conference has 112 teams that will play across 20 divisions." The football team is one of the 12 programs assigned to the two Ivy divisions starting in 2020, which are intended to allow weaker programs ineligible for playoff participation to compete primarily against each other.Cooper, Darren. "Super Football Conference creating 'Ivy Division' for struggling programs", The Record, May 1, 2019. Accessed March 24, 2021. "Seeking to restore participation and enthusiasm to high school football programs that have struggled to compete consistently, the Super Football Conference announced plans to start a 12-team 'Ivy Division' in the 2020 season. Teams that compete in the 'Ivy Division' will play exclusively against each other and won't participate in the NJISAA football playoffs.... Twelve schools from Bergen, Hudson, Essex and Morris counties have applied to compete in the Ivy Division: Bergen Tech, Cliffside Park, Dickinson, Fair Lawn, Ferris, Memorial, Dover, Dwight-Morrow, Fort Lee, Glen Ridge, Marist and Tenafly." The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group IV North for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 893 to 1,315 students.NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
The boys cross country team won the Group III state championship in 1946-1949.NJSIAA Boys Cross Country State Group Champions, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed January 1, 2022.
The football team won the NJSIAA North II Group II state sectional championship in 1984, 1992 and 1996.NJSIAA Football History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed January 1, 2022. Down early by a score of 14-0, the 1984 team came back with four touchdowns to defeat Warren Hills Regional High School by a score of 26-17 to win the North II Group II championship game and finish the season with a record of 8-3.Parachini, Jim. "Tigers claw past Warren Hills, 26-17, in Group II final", Daily Record, December 2, 1984. Accessed March 9, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Things were looking bleak for the Dover High School football team. Warren Hills had taken its first two possessions and cashed them in for a 14-0 lead.... Dover, 8-3 and the top seed, scored three more touchdowns for a 26-17 win, capturing the North Jersey Section 2, Group II crown. For the Tigers it was their first state title since 1970, four years before the current playoff system was put into action."
The boys' wrestling team won the North II Group II state sectional championship in 1988.NJSIAA Wrestling Team Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.