Vineland High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Vineland, in Cumberland County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as part of the Vineland Public Schools. The now reunified school operates from a south campus that had been Vineland Senior High School South (which opened in 1963) and a north campus that was formerly Vineland Senior High School North (opened in 1976). The original high school in Vineland dates back to 1870, and the 1927 Vineland High School structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 3, 1995, and is now used as district offices.Vineland High School South, Vineland Public Schools. Accessed April 6, 2011. The school is accredited until July 2026 and has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1936;Vineland High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed February 12, 2022. The school's accreditation status was extended for seven years in Fall 2018.MSA-CESS Fall 2018 Accreditation Actions, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools, Fall 2018. Accessed December 22, 2024.
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,736 students and 187.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.6:1. There were 1,506 students (55.0% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 181 (6.6% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Vineland Senior High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026. Based on 2021–22 data from the New Jersey Department of Education, it was the ninth-largest high school in the state and one of 29 schools with more than 2,000 students.Kausch, Katie. "N.J.’s biggest high school has 3,350 students. See how your school compares.", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, August 31, 2023. Accessed August 31, 2023. "Another 28 New Jersey schools have at least 2,000 students, according to 2021-2022 enrollment data released by the state Department of Education.... 9. Vineland Senior High School Number of students: 2,585"
History Vineland High School had served students from neighboring communities, as part of sending/receiving relationships with the Buena Regional School District (comprised of Buena and Buena Vista Township for grades 10-12), and from Newfield, Pittsgrove Township and Weymouth Township for grades 9-12. With significant overcrowding at the high school and substantial growth in enrollment from students residing in Vineland, the sending districts were informed in November 1968 that they would no longer be accommodated in Vineland and that all sending students would be phased out by the end of the 1973-74 school year.Laning, Pete. "Areas Facing Cutoff Ponder School Merger", The Daily Journal, November 14, 1968. Accessed February 18, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "At least two area school districts are considering some form of regionalization in response to a planned 'phase-out' of tuition students by Vineland schools to relieve overcrowding. Notice of the proposed dropping of sending students was sent out today to officials of the Buena Regional, Weymouth Township, Newfield and Pittsgrove Township school districts following approval last night of a time table by the Vineland Board of Education.... Plans call for the phase-out to begin in less than two years, with all sending students eliminated by September, 1973. The time table calls for the elimination of ninth grade students from Weymouth, Newfield and Pittsgrove in September 1970. (The Buena District sends ninth grade students to the Cleary Junior High in Minotola). In September 1971, tenth grade students from all districts, with eleventh grade students phased out in September 1972, and twelfth grade students in September 1973. Vineland School Superintendent Dr. Victor J. Podesta 'warned' officials in the four districts of the impending move in March of this year after studies indicated continued boosts in enrollment."
Buena Regional High School was constructed to serve an estimated 900 students from the Buena Regional, Estell Manor and Weymouth Township districts, with plans to open for the 1972-73 school year."Buena to Break Ground for High School", The Daily Journal, October 27, 1971. Accessed February 17, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Ground breaking ceremonies for the $4.5 million Buena Regional High School will be conducted Sunday, at 2 p.m. The new facility, which will be constructed on an 84-acre tract, will have a capacity for over 1,200 students and can be expanded to serve 1,500.... Approximately 700 students from the Buena area along with 200 others from the sending districts of Estell Manor and Weymouth are expected to attend during the first year." The Pittsgrove Township School District constructed Arthur P. Schalick High School, which opened in September 1976 for 800 township students who had previously been sent to either Bridgeton High School or Vineland High School.Pray, Rusty. "Turning weeds and stones into turf and clay is Lisa's job at Schalick", Courier-Post, August 17, 1976. Accessed February 17, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "The sign in front of Woodstown High School reads: 'The Woodies Welcome Schalick High School.' Woodstown is not only welcoming a future Tri-County Conference and Group 1 rival, it is welcoming South Jersey's newest high school.... The school will open its doors for the first time in September for 650 students in grades seven through 11, drawing its student body primarily from overcrowded Bridgeton and Vineland high schools."Janson, Donald. "Use of Salinger's Catcher in the Rye In Salem County School Stirs a Dispute", The New York Times, October 31, 1977. Accessed February 17, 2022. "The Rausers demanded that the board ban the book at the Arthur P. Schalick High School, which draws 800 students from rural Pittsgrove Township's 47 square miles and from surrounding areas in this section of South Jersey.... Before the $4 million school opened last year, Pittsgrove Township children attended school in Vineland and Bridgeton."
A proposed dress code, that had been slated to take effect for the 2006–07 school year, gave way to controversy and debate among students and parents.Students label new dress code as racist The Daily Journal, June 21, 2006.
Awards, recognition and rankings The school was the 264th-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 297th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 275th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 20, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 222nd in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed April 6, 2011. The school was ranked 194th 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.
Curriculum Due to its large student body Vineland High is able to offer a wide range of elective classes topics include arts and design, computers, media, automobile repair, woodworking, as well as a wide range of Advanced Placement courses. Courses such as English, mathematics, history, and science are tracked into college preparatory, advanced college preparatory, and honors. Students are tracked into honors mathematics and science from middle school.
Requirements for graduation Courses required to be taken in order to graduate are four years of English, three years of Mathematics, two years of United States History, one year of World History, three years of Science, one year of Fine, Practical and/or Performing arts, one year of a Vocational course, and one year of a World Language, and four years of Physical Education/Health. It is also required to do 40 hours of service learning. However, a student may do 100 hours of service learning to receive a cord for their graduation ceremony.
Athletics The Vineland High School Fighting ClanVineland High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete in the Atlantic Division of the Cape-Atlantic League, an athletic conference comprised of public and private high schools in Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Gloucester counties, and operates under the aegis 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. With 1,916 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,060 to 5,049 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 Continental Division of the 94-team West Jersey Football League superconferenceVineland Fighting Clan, West Jersey Football League. Accessed May 1, 2023.Home Page, West Jersey Football League. Accessed May 1, 2023. "The WJFL is a 94-school super conference that stretches from Princeton to Wildwood encompassing schools from the Colonial Valley Conference, the Burlington County Scholastic League, the Olympic Conference, the Tri-County Conference, the Colonial Conference, and the Cape Atlantic League. The WJFL is made up of sixteen divisions with divisional alignments based on school size, geography and a strength-of-program component." and was classified by the NJSIAA as Group V South for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 1,333 to 2,324 students.NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.