The current school building opened in 1994 and holds approximately 2,500 students. The school serves students from Atlantic City, along with those from
Brigantine,
Longport,
Margate City and
Ventnor City, who attend the school as part of
sending/receiving relationships with their respective school districts.[3]
As of the 2022–23 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,764 students and 146.8 classroom teachers (on an
FTE basis), for a
student–teacher ratio of 12.0:1. There were 1,306 students (74.0% of enrollment) eligible for
free lunch and 114 (6.5% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]
History
Atlantic City's first high school building was constructed in 1895 at Illinois and Arctic Avenues, though the building's small site did not allow much room for growth. In 1901, the high school relocated to a building at Ohio and Pacific Avenues. After the high school relocated a third time, the former building was reused as Central Junior High School for many years. The third building, located at Albany and Atlantic Avenues, opened on September 17, 1923. Constructed at a cost of over $1.75 million (equivalent to $31.3 million in 2023), it included a 1,000-seat auditorium and a 6,000-pipe organ.[4][5]
The current high school's entranceA set of donor plaques along the main entrance of the new high school, including one donated by
Donald Trump
The fourth, and current Atlantic City High School was constructed on "Great Island," opening to students in November 1994, at a cost of $83 million and had its formal dedication ceremony later that month before a gathered crowd of 4,000.[7][8] The building was designed by Blumberg Associates Architecture.[9]
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 262nd-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.[10] The school had been ranked 214th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 247th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[11] The magazine ranked the school 255th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[12] The school was ranked 270 in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[13] Schooldigger.com ranked the school 334th out of 376 public high schools statewide in its 2010 rankings (a decrease of 9 positions from the 2009 rank) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the language arts literacy and mathematics components of the
High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).[14]
Athletics
Dr. Jack Eisenstein Athletic Complex
The Atlantic City High School Vikings[2] compete in the Atlantic Division of the
Cape-Atlantic League, an athletic conference comprising public and private high schools in Atlantic,
Cape May,
Cumberland and
Gloucester counties, operating under the aegis of the
New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.[15] With 1,398 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2022–24 school years as Group IV South for most athletic competition purposes.[16] The football team competes in the United Division of the 94-team
West Jersey Football League superconference[17][18] and was classified by the NJSIAA as Group V South for football for 2022–2024, which included schools with 1,315 to 2,466 students.[19]
The boys swimming team won the state non-public championship from 1921 to 1929.[20] In 1924, the team won the state swimming championship for a fourth time, setting three meet records in the process, with the
Lawrenceville School coming in second and
The Peddie School in third.[21] The next year, at a meet held in
Philadelphia, the swim team won the national interscholastic championship, breaking the streak of four championships won by
Mercersburg Academy.[22] In March 1925, the Atlantic City swim team were the guests of President
Calvin Coolidge at the White House, in recognition of their championship.[23]
The girls' basketball team won the Group IV state championships in 1981 vs.
Eastside Paterson and repeated in 1982 vs.
Plainfield High School.[24] The 1981 team finished the season with a record of 29-1 after winning the Group IV state title with a 45-43 victory in the finals against an Eastside team that came into the game undefeated.[25]
The 1994 Boys Varsity 8 Crew had an undefeated season and took the Triple Crown, winning the Philadelphia City Championships,[26] Stotesbury Cup Regatta[27] and National Rowing Championships. The V8 went on to place second in the Princess Elizabeth Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta on the Thames River in England.[28]
The 1999 football team won the South Jersey Group IV state championship at
Rutgers Stadium with a 31–29 win over
Eastern High School of Voorhees, a victory that marked the program's first sectional title.[29][30]
The boys' basketball team won the NJSIAA Group IV state championship in 2012 (defeating
Ridgewood High School in the tournament final), 2012 (vs.
Elizabeth High School) and 2013 (vs.
Linden High School).[31] The team won the Group IV tournament in 2005, defeating
Trenton Central High School 71–70 in the semifinals, and Ridgewood High School by a score of 56–42 in the championship game at Rutgers University.[32] In 2012, the Viking's boys' basketball team won the South Jersey Group IV title and the Group IV state championship with a 53–47 win against Elizabeth High School, marking the team's second state title.[33] The Vikings repeated as Group IV state champions in basketball in 2013, defeating Linden High School in overtime by a score of 60–54 to become back-to-back champions.[34]
In 2007, Todd Busler was one of 50 recipients of the
Maxwell Football Club's Tri-State High School Award given to players from schools located in South Jersey, the five-county Philadelphia area and the
Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania.[35]
The boys' soccer team was 2008 inaugural Brigantine Cup champions.[36]
In 2009, the girls' tennis team won the South Jersey Group IV title beating
Millville Senior High School 3–2, the program's first group title.[37]
In 2010, the girls' swim team won the CAL American Conference title and defeated
Vineland High School to win the South Jersey Public A championship for the first time in the program's history, going 14-0 before falling to
West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South in the state semifinals.[38]
The principal of Atlantic City High School is Constance Days-Chapman. Her administration consists of four vice principals.[40]
Rules
Dress code
Beginning in 2007,[41] in the hopes of preventing
gang identification, Atlantic City High School required students wear a
uniform, putting it in a minority of
public schools to do so in the United States.[42] Other high schools in South Jersey, such as
Middle Township High School,
Vineland High School, and
Bridgeton High School, followed suit.[41] The change was immediately controversial, with some parents saying that it became a "distraction from education" when the school suspended 150 students in one day for violating the uniform rules.[43] For example, in the 2013–2014 school year, it was required that students wear collared shirts in only the two school colors plus black, with no logos except ACHS's own logo (or that of one of its sports teams).[44]
In August 2019, the Board of Education dropped its uniform policy for the 2019–2020 school year,[41][45] opting instead for a dress code. ACHS students are still restricted from a few garment types, such as bare midriffs, ripped jeans, leggings, and "
do rags", or garments the school deems to have "obscene" words or images on them.[46]
Chronic absenteeism, or
truancy, is a problem for ACHS; in 2015, 21% of its students were deemed chronically absent.[47] The school has established a Truancy Task Force to enforce state laws requiring school attendance.[48]
Academics
This section needs expansion. You can help by
adding to it. (May 2021)
Rosalind Cash (1938–1995),
actress whose career endured on stage, screen, and television, despite her staunch refusal to portray stereotyped "black" roles.[57]
^History,
Atlantic Cape Community College. Accessed February 22, 2023. "The site for the college was selected on November 19, 1964, and official ground breaking ceremonies for its nine-building complex in Mays Landing were held in November 1966. Atlantic Cape opened its doors to students in September 1966, using facilities rented from Atlantic City High School. In February 1968 the college moved to its present campus at 5100 Black Horse Pike (U.S. Route 322) in Mays Landing."
^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."
^"Fatigue spells end to Ghosts' unbeaten ways", The News, March 23, 1981. Accessed March 3, 2021, via
Newspapers.com. "For 27 games, the Eastside girls' basketball team built for itself an aura of Immortality. Friday night in the Group IV state title game, Barry Rosser's Ghosts proved that they were, after all, human beings. In losing, 45-43, to Atlantic City (29-1), Eastside (27-1) did things that championship teams simply do not do. The main reason : fatigue."
^Brandschain, Mayer.
"St. Joe's Prep crew is handed its first defeat", The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 25, 1994. Accessed November 9, 2020. "The Atlantic City High boys' varsity eight scored the surprise of the season's Manny Flick Cup regattas of the Philadelphia Scholastic Rowing Association yesterday by handing the St. Joseph's Prep crew its first defeat on the Schuylkill. Atlantic City held fast to a slim lead all the way on the 1,500-meter course and held off St. Joseph's by three seats in the stretch drive to the finish."
^Hildes-Heim, Morman.
"Rowing; Four U.S. Victories Send Henley Regatta Historians Scrambling", The New York Times, July 4, 1994. Accessed November 9, 2020. "Brown University's heavyweight freshmen won the Thames Challenge Cup, and the prep school boys from St. Paul's School in Concord, N.H., captured the Prince Elizabeth Cup.... The American parade began with St. Paul's leading Atlantic City High School from the first strokes of this mile-and-five-sixteenths course to win by 1 3/4 boat lengths in the time of 6 minutes 38 seconds."
^Staff.
"Atlantic City stuns Eastern", Courier-Post, December 6, 1999. Accessed July 5, 2011. "Did we mention that Atlantic City and Eastern, at the end of a wildly entertaining South Jersey Group 4 championship game, were at the exactly the same spot in exactly the same situation as Mainland and Ocean City were 2-1/2 hours earlier? 'I didn't know that,' said Weiss, whose son, Joe, stars for Mainland. Because a disgruntled soccer player by the name of Mike Lockwood made the field goal that his coach nearly didn't order, Atlantic City scored an improbable 31-29 victory over Eastern on Sunday at Rutgers University to capture the Vikings' first-ever sectional title."
^McGarry, Michael.
"Atlantic City captures 2nd state Group IV title in 7 years", The Press of Atlantic City, March 12, 2012. Accessed September 9, 2012. "In other words, things were going according to plan for Atlantic City. The Vikings — just as they had in nearly all of their previous five playoff games — rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Elizabeth 53-47 and win the state Group IV championship at the Rutgers Athletic Center.... The state title is the second in Atlantic City boys basketball history. The first came in 2005."
^Ashe, Kelly.
"Atlantic City beats Millville for South Jersey Group IV girls tennis championship", The Press of Atlantic City, October 16, 2009. Accessed January 1, 2011. "The Atlantic City High School girls tennis team made history Thursday afternoon. The Vikings swept the singles matches and beat Cape-Atlantic League rival Millville 3-2 to win the South Jersey Group IV championship at Clarion Golf and Tennis World.... Atlantic City athletic director Frank Campo has been with the school since 1985 and believes this is the school's first Group IV title in girls tennis."
^LeConey, Bill.
"ALPB Surf Baseball / Seagulls Say Goodbye To A.C. With Victory", The Press of Atlantic City, June 21, 2000. Accessed July 5, 2011. "The Seagulls desperately needed a victory on Tuesday to breathe new life into their three-time United States Basketball League championship defense. They got it, snapping a three-game losing streak by beating the Washington Congressionals 128-115 in almost certainly their last game ever at Atlantic City High School."
^Administration, Atlantic City High School. Accessed February 5, 2023.
^"ACHS School Dress Code". Atlantic City High School. Atlantic City Board of Education. 2019.
Archived from the original on September 29, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
^Knox, James E. Jr. (September 11, 2018).
"Attendance matters". Atlantic City School District.
Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
^Staff.
"Atlantic City Civilians Plan Joyful Yuletide for Warriors", Brooklyn Daily Eagle, December 6, 1942. Accessed October 27, 2015. "The first anniversary of 'Pearl Harbor Day,' Monday, will be observed here in the auditorium of the Atlantic City Senior High School with a lecture on 'The Pacific Front' by Martin Agronsky, local boy who made good as an internationally known radio war correspondent."
^Monaghan, Charles.
"Book Report", The Washington Post, June 14, 1987. Accessed August 8, 2018. "A native of Atlantic City, N.J., Beckham was president of his class at Atlantic City High School before going to Brown, where he was one of three black graduates in the class of 1966."
^Obituary of Carole ByardArchived January 10, 2018, at the
Wayback Machine, Greenidge Funeral Home. Accessed February 6, 2018. "Carole Marie Byard, 'Suggie,' was born on July 22, 1941, in Atlantic City, New Jersey to the late William Alfred Byard and Viola London-Byard. Carole graduated from Atlantic City High School, class of 1959."
^Fax, Elton C.
Black Artists of the New Generation, p. 63.
Dodd, Mead & Co., 1977.
ISBN9780396074342. Accessed February 6, 2018. "Sure enough Carole's grades did drop in the mixed junior high school. Still she clung to the notion of becoming a doctor, a general classroom teacher, or even an art teacher. Atlantic City High School became a real training ground for Carole Byard."
^Pfeifer, Ellen.
"Rosalind Cash succeeds, but her struggle goes on", Boston Globe, August 15, 1971. Accessed August 8, 2012. "After graduating as an honor student from an Atlantic City high school, Miss Cash went to New York where she took literature courses at City College and enrolled in a theatre workshop at the Harlem YMCA (where Clarence Williams III of Mod Squad got his start)."
^Tracey, Sara.
"Food, life inspired Josh Ozersky, even as Atlantic City teen", The Press of Atlantic City, May 7, 2015. Accessed November 10, 2017. "'He called it Josh Ozersky's Fat City,' said Tim Cavanaugh, Ozersky's friend and former Atlantic City High School classmate.... 'He was full of energy,' said Cavanaugh, formerly of Margate and currently news editor at the Washington Examiner."
^Weinberg, David.
"Saintly fans have Ventnor's Colman pulling for old team", The Press of Atlantic City, February 7, 2010. Accessed September 9, 2012. "Wayne Colman will wear a Wayne Colman jersey. The Ventnor native played 7½ seasons for the Saints as an outside linebacker from 1969-76.... Wayne Colman, a former standout at Atlantic City High School and Temple University, got his start in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 1968."
^Myron Henry Goldfinger, FAIA (1933-2023), US Modernist. Accessed August 4, 2023. "Goldfinger grew up in Atlantic City NJ, before the casinos came. He was inspired by the design of houses in the Marvin Gardens neighborhood, the rich part of town - and his father the mailman, who had very neat lettering. Goldfinger graduated Atlantic City HS in 1950 and from the University of Pennsylvania in 1955, studying under Louis Kahn."
^Johnson, Vaughan.
"'Barbed Wire City' movie about ECW wrestling, produced by Allentown natives, ready for debut", The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 19, 2013. Accessed April 24, 2021. "South Philadelphia native Brian Heffron, better known to the world as The Blue Meanie, soon joined him.... Heffron graduated from Atlantic City High School in 1993. While most kids were planning on getting jobs or attending college after high school, Heffron had a singular goal in mind: become a professional wrestler."
^Greenberg, Ted; and McCrone, Brian X.
"The ISIS 'Senior Commander' Who Grew Up on the Jersey Shore",
WCAU, January 17, 2018. Accessed February 3, 2018. "He graduated from Atlantic City High School in 2010. His Albanian immigrant family owned a pizza shop in Margate, New Jersey. He attended a mosque where 'he hated people,' according his mother."
^Boss Nucky Johnson, Atlantic City Experience. Accessed April 9, 2021. "Johnson graduated from Atlantic City High School in 1900."
^
abLipson, Eden Ross.
"Super‐Agent Strikes Again", The New York Times, June 26, 1977. Accessed June 5, 2023. "Although he travels a great deal, Mr. Josephson lives quietly in New York with his second wife Tina and an infant daughter, Yi‐Ling. Coincidentally, both he and Mr. Schlosser of NBC are graduates of Atlantic City High School."
^Kuperinsky, Amy.
"Atlantic City radio legend Pinky Kravitz dead at 88", NJ Advance Media for
NJ.com, November 2, 2015. Accessed August 8, 2018. "The radio man, born in West Virginia, moved to Atlantic City with his family when he was 7. In 1988, the alumnus of Atlantic City High School told the New York Times that a class bully gave him his famous nickname."
^Cronick, Scott.
"PBS documentary shows life under the makeup for Ventnor native", The Press of Atlantic City, October 27, 2010. Accessed September 7, 2017. "He was, however, always drawn to entertainment. He remembers watching Charlie Chaplin films his father showed to Atlantic City hotel guests when Lubin was a child. His time at Atlantic City High School got his creative juices flowing as he experimented with new television equipment, eventually leading Lubin to attend Emerson College in Boston, where he planned to be a TV director."
^Schwachter, Jeff. "One-Fourth of Fourplay", Atlantic City Weekly, October 14, 2004. "Rounding out the quartet is Atlantic City native Harvey Mason. The drummer, composer, programmer, arranger and Atlantic City High School grad has lived in Los Angeles for 34 years and has made a name for himself as one of the most respected studio musicians in the business."
^Fitzgerald's Legislative Manual, 1984, p. 226. Accessed October 28, 2019. "James J. (Sonny) Mccullough, Rep., Egg Harbor Twp.... The senator was born Jan. 11, 1942, in Atlantic City. He graduated from Atlantic City High School in 1960, and has completed certification courses at Rutgers University and taken classes at Rowan University and Rider College."
^Merkoski, Paul.
"For Arnold Newman...", The Press of Atlantic City, December 8, 1974. Accessed February 20, 2024, via
Newspapers.com. "Spending his summers in Atlantic City and his winters in Florida, Newman changed schools often. 'When we were here I went to the Pennsylvania Avenue School, the junior high school and Atlantic City senior high' he said"
^Davis, Eddie.
"Acclaimed Food Writer, One-time A.C. Resident, Josh Ozersky Found Dead",
WFPG, May 6, 2015. Accessed November 10, 2017. "Joshua Ozersky, who spent his teen years in Atlantic City and later turned his insatiable love of food in to an unforgettable career as a food writer, died Monday in Chicago.... He attended Atlantic City High School and Rutgers University."
^Steve Smoger, Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Accessed December 19, 2022. "Out of the ring, Smoger, a graduate of Atlantic City High School and Penn State University, was awarded his Juris Doctor from George Washington University."
^Attorney Profiles, Swift Law Firm. Accessed January 10, 2022. "Claire graduated from Atlantic City High School in 1992."
^McGarry, Michael.
"From campus to Kosovo: A.C. grad with 2 college degrees to play pro ball in Europe", The Press of Atlantic City, October 7, 2014. Accessed August 8, 2018. "Shannon has worked out this summer and fall with fellow Atlantic City graduates and standout guards Frank Turner (2006 Atlantic City graduate) and Khalif Toombs (2008 Atlantic City graduate). Turner has played professionally in Holland, while Toombs is involved in coaching South Jersey Select, a high-profile AAU team based in Atlantic County."
^Johnson, Kirk.
"James L. Usry, Atlantic City Mayor in 1980's, Dies at 79", The New York Times, January 28, 2002. Accessed August 8, 2012. "A graduate of Atlantic City High School, Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and Glassboro State College (now Rowan University), Mr. Usry devoted most of his career to education, as a teacher and school administrator, and was widely praised for his involvement with his students and with the community."
^Earl Wilson, Just Sports Stats. Accessed November 19, 2016.
^DeAngelis, Martin.
"Ode To A Code: Oh, So Grand - And Of Our Sand", The Press of Atlantic City, April 19, 1998. Accessed January 31, 2011. "The inventor of the bar code which appears so many places these days we hardly even notice it anymore grew up on Ventnor Avenue and graduated from Atlantic City High School."
The current school building opened in 1994 and holds approximately 2,500 students. The school serves students from Atlantic City, along with those from
Brigantine,
Longport,
Margate City and
Ventnor City, who attend the school as part of
sending/receiving relationships with their respective school districts.[3]
As of the 2022–23 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,764 students and 146.8 classroom teachers (on an
FTE basis), for a
student–teacher ratio of 12.0:1. There were 1,306 students (74.0% of enrollment) eligible for
free lunch and 114 (6.5% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]
History
Atlantic City's first high school building was constructed in 1895 at Illinois and Arctic Avenues, though the building's small site did not allow much room for growth. In 1901, the high school relocated to a building at Ohio and Pacific Avenues. After the high school relocated a third time, the former building was reused as Central Junior High School for many years. The third building, located at Albany and Atlantic Avenues, opened on September 17, 1923. Constructed at a cost of over $1.75 million (equivalent to $31.3 million in 2023), it included a 1,000-seat auditorium and a 6,000-pipe organ.[4][5]
The current high school's entranceA set of donor plaques along the main entrance of the new high school, including one donated by
Donald Trump
The fourth, and current Atlantic City High School was constructed on "Great Island," opening to students in November 1994, at a cost of $83 million and had its formal dedication ceremony later that month before a gathered crowd of 4,000.[7][8] The building was designed by Blumberg Associates Architecture.[9]
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 262nd-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.[10] The school had been ranked 214th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 247th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[11] The magazine ranked the school 255th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[12] The school was ranked 270 in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[13] Schooldigger.com ranked the school 334th out of 376 public high schools statewide in its 2010 rankings (a decrease of 9 positions from the 2009 rank) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the language arts literacy and mathematics components of the
High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).[14]
Athletics
Dr. Jack Eisenstein Athletic Complex
The Atlantic City High School Vikings[2] compete in the Atlantic Division of the
Cape-Atlantic League, an athletic conference comprising public and private high schools in Atlantic,
Cape May,
Cumberland and
Gloucester counties, operating under the aegis of the
New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.[15] With 1,398 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2022–24 school years as Group IV South for most athletic competition purposes.[16] The football team competes in the United Division of the 94-team
West Jersey Football League superconference[17][18] and was classified by the NJSIAA as Group V South for football for 2022–2024, which included schools with 1,315 to 2,466 students.[19]
The boys swimming team won the state non-public championship from 1921 to 1929.[20] In 1924, the team won the state swimming championship for a fourth time, setting three meet records in the process, with the
Lawrenceville School coming in second and
The Peddie School in third.[21] The next year, at a meet held in
Philadelphia, the swim team won the national interscholastic championship, breaking the streak of four championships won by
Mercersburg Academy.[22] In March 1925, the Atlantic City swim team were the guests of President
Calvin Coolidge at the White House, in recognition of their championship.[23]
The girls' basketball team won the Group IV state championships in 1981 vs.
Eastside Paterson and repeated in 1982 vs.
Plainfield High School.[24] The 1981 team finished the season with a record of 29-1 after winning the Group IV state title with a 45-43 victory in the finals against an Eastside team that came into the game undefeated.[25]
The 1994 Boys Varsity 8 Crew had an undefeated season and took the Triple Crown, winning the Philadelphia City Championships,[26] Stotesbury Cup Regatta[27] and National Rowing Championships. The V8 went on to place second in the Princess Elizabeth Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta on the Thames River in England.[28]
The 1999 football team won the South Jersey Group IV state championship at
Rutgers Stadium with a 31–29 win over
Eastern High School of Voorhees, a victory that marked the program's first sectional title.[29][30]
The boys' basketball team won the NJSIAA Group IV state championship in 2012 (defeating
Ridgewood High School in the tournament final), 2012 (vs.
Elizabeth High School) and 2013 (vs.
Linden High School).[31] The team won the Group IV tournament in 2005, defeating
Trenton Central High School 71–70 in the semifinals, and Ridgewood High School by a score of 56–42 in the championship game at Rutgers University.[32] In 2012, the Viking's boys' basketball team won the South Jersey Group IV title and the Group IV state championship with a 53–47 win against Elizabeth High School, marking the team's second state title.[33] The Vikings repeated as Group IV state champions in basketball in 2013, defeating Linden High School in overtime by a score of 60–54 to become back-to-back champions.[34]
In 2007, Todd Busler was one of 50 recipients of the
Maxwell Football Club's Tri-State High School Award given to players from schools located in South Jersey, the five-county Philadelphia area and the
Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania.[35]
The boys' soccer team was 2008 inaugural Brigantine Cup champions.[36]
In 2009, the girls' tennis team won the South Jersey Group IV title beating
Millville Senior High School 3–2, the program's first group title.[37]
In 2010, the girls' swim team won the CAL American Conference title and defeated
Vineland High School to win the South Jersey Public A championship for the first time in the program's history, going 14-0 before falling to
West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South in the state semifinals.[38]
The principal of Atlantic City High School is Constance Days-Chapman. Her administration consists of four vice principals.[40]
Rules
Dress code
Beginning in 2007,[41] in the hopes of preventing
gang identification, Atlantic City High School required students wear a
uniform, putting it in a minority of
public schools to do so in the United States.[42] Other high schools in South Jersey, such as
Middle Township High School,
Vineland High School, and
Bridgeton High School, followed suit.[41] The change was immediately controversial, with some parents saying that it became a "distraction from education" when the school suspended 150 students in one day for violating the uniform rules.[43] For example, in the 2013–2014 school year, it was required that students wear collared shirts in only the two school colors plus black, with no logos except ACHS's own logo (or that of one of its sports teams).[44]
In August 2019, the Board of Education dropped its uniform policy for the 2019–2020 school year,[41][45] opting instead for a dress code. ACHS students are still restricted from a few garment types, such as bare midriffs, ripped jeans, leggings, and "
do rags", or garments the school deems to have "obscene" words or images on them.[46]
Chronic absenteeism, or
truancy, is a problem for ACHS; in 2015, 21% of its students were deemed chronically absent.[47] The school has established a Truancy Task Force to enforce state laws requiring school attendance.[48]
Academics
This section needs expansion. You can help by
adding to it. (May 2021)
Rosalind Cash (1938–1995),
actress whose career endured on stage, screen, and television, despite her staunch refusal to portray stereotyped "black" roles.[57]
^History,
Atlantic Cape Community College. Accessed February 22, 2023. "The site for the college was selected on November 19, 1964, and official ground breaking ceremonies for its nine-building complex in Mays Landing were held in November 1966. Atlantic Cape opened its doors to students in September 1966, using facilities rented from Atlantic City High School. In February 1968 the college moved to its present campus at 5100 Black Horse Pike (U.S. Route 322) in Mays Landing."
^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."
^"Fatigue spells end to Ghosts' unbeaten ways", The News, March 23, 1981. Accessed March 3, 2021, via
Newspapers.com. "For 27 games, the Eastside girls' basketball team built for itself an aura of Immortality. Friday night in the Group IV state title game, Barry Rosser's Ghosts proved that they were, after all, human beings. In losing, 45-43, to Atlantic City (29-1), Eastside (27-1) did things that championship teams simply do not do. The main reason : fatigue."
^Brandschain, Mayer.
"St. Joe's Prep crew is handed its first defeat", The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 25, 1994. Accessed November 9, 2020. "The Atlantic City High boys' varsity eight scored the surprise of the season's Manny Flick Cup regattas of the Philadelphia Scholastic Rowing Association yesterday by handing the St. Joseph's Prep crew its first defeat on the Schuylkill. Atlantic City held fast to a slim lead all the way on the 1,500-meter course and held off St. Joseph's by three seats in the stretch drive to the finish."
^Hildes-Heim, Morman.
"Rowing; Four U.S. Victories Send Henley Regatta Historians Scrambling", The New York Times, July 4, 1994. Accessed November 9, 2020. "Brown University's heavyweight freshmen won the Thames Challenge Cup, and the prep school boys from St. Paul's School in Concord, N.H., captured the Prince Elizabeth Cup.... The American parade began with St. Paul's leading Atlantic City High School from the first strokes of this mile-and-five-sixteenths course to win by 1 3/4 boat lengths in the time of 6 minutes 38 seconds."
^Staff.
"Atlantic City stuns Eastern", Courier-Post, December 6, 1999. Accessed July 5, 2011. "Did we mention that Atlantic City and Eastern, at the end of a wildly entertaining South Jersey Group 4 championship game, were at the exactly the same spot in exactly the same situation as Mainland and Ocean City were 2-1/2 hours earlier? 'I didn't know that,' said Weiss, whose son, Joe, stars for Mainland. Because a disgruntled soccer player by the name of Mike Lockwood made the field goal that his coach nearly didn't order, Atlantic City scored an improbable 31-29 victory over Eastern on Sunday at Rutgers University to capture the Vikings' first-ever sectional title."
^McGarry, Michael.
"Atlantic City captures 2nd state Group IV title in 7 years", The Press of Atlantic City, March 12, 2012. Accessed September 9, 2012. "In other words, things were going according to plan for Atlantic City. The Vikings — just as they had in nearly all of their previous five playoff games — rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Elizabeth 53-47 and win the state Group IV championship at the Rutgers Athletic Center.... The state title is the second in Atlantic City boys basketball history. The first came in 2005."
^Ashe, Kelly.
"Atlantic City beats Millville for South Jersey Group IV girls tennis championship", The Press of Atlantic City, October 16, 2009. Accessed January 1, 2011. "The Atlantic City High School girls tennis team made history Thursday afternoon. The Vikings swept the singles matches and beat Cape-Atlantic League rival Millville 3-2 to win the South Jersey Group IV championship at Clarion Golf and Tennis World.... Atlantic City athletic director Frank Campo has been with the school since 1985 and believes this is the school's first Group IV title in girls tennis."
^LeConey, Bill.
"ALPB Surf Baseball / Seagulls Say Goodbye To A.C. With Victory", The Press of Atlantic City, June 21, 2000. Accessed July 5, 2011. "The Seagulls desperately needed a victory on Tuesday to breathe new life into their three-time United States Basketball League championship defense. They got it, snapping a three-game losing streak by beating the Washington Congressionals 128-115 in almost certainly their last game ever at Atlantic City High School."
^Administration, Atlantic City High School. Accessed February 5, 2023.
^"ACHS School Dress Code". Atlantic City High School. Atlantic City Board of Education. 2019.
Archived from the original on September 29, 2020. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
^Knox, James E. Jr. (September 11, 2018).
"Attendance matters". Atlantic City School District.
Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
^Staff.
"Atlantic City Civilians Plan Joyful Yuletide for Warriors", Brooklyn Daily Eagle, December 6, 1942. Accessed October 27, 2015. "The first anniversary of 'Pearl Harbor Day,' Monday, will be observed here in the auditorium of the Atlantic City Senior High School with a lecture on 'The Pacific Front' by Martin Agronsky, local boy who made good as an internationally known radio war correspondent."
^Monaghan, Charles.
"Book Report", The Washington Post, June 14, 1987. Accessed August 8, 2018. "A native of Atlantic City, N.J., Beckham was president of his class at Atlantic City High School before going to Brown, where he was one of three black graduates in the class of 1966."
^Obituary of Carole ByardArchived January 10, 2018, at the
Wayback Machine, Greenidge Funeral Home. Accessed February 6, 2018. "Carole Marie Byard, 'Suggie,' was born on July 22, 1941, in Atlantic City, New Jersey to the late William Alfred Byard and Viola London-Byard. Carole graduated from Atlantic City High School, class of 1959."
^Fax, Elton C.
Black Artists of the New Generation, p. 63.
Dodd, Mead & Co., 1977.
ISBN9780396074342. Accessed February 6, 2018. "Sure enough Carole's grades did drop in the mixed junior high school. Still she clung to the notion of becoming a doctor, a general classroom teacher, or even an art teacher. Atlantic City High School became a real training ground for Carole Byard."
^Pfeifer, Ellen.
"Rosalind Cash succeeds, but her struggle goes on", Boston Globe, August 15, 1971. Accessed August 8, 2012. "After graduating as an honor student from an Atlantic City high school, Miss Cash went to New York where she took literature courses at City College and enrolled in a theatre workshop at the Harlem YMCA (where Clarence Williams III of Mod Squad got his start)."
^Tracey, Sara.
"Food, life inspired Josh Ozersky, even as Atlantic City teen", The Press of Atlantic City, May 7, 2015. Accessed November 10, 2017. "'He called it Josh Ozersky's Fat City,' said Tim Cavanaugh, Ozersky's friend and former Atlantic City High School classmate.... 'He was full of energy,' said Cavanaugh, formerly of Margate and currently news editor at the Washington Examiner."
^Weinberg, David.
"Saintly fans have Ventnor's Colman pulling for old team", The Press of Atlantic City, February 7, 2010. Accessed September 9, 2012. "Wayne Colman will wear a Wayne Colman jersey. The Ventnor native played 7½ seasons for the Saints as an outside linebacker from 1969-76.... Wayne Colman, a former standout at Atlantic City High School and Temple University, got his start in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 1968."
^Myron Henry Goldfinger, FAIA (1933-2023), US Modernist. Accessed August 4, 2023. "Goldfinger grew up in Atlantic City NJ, before the casinos came. He was inspired by the design of houses in the Marvin Gardens neighborhood, the rich part of town - and his father the mailman, who had very neat lettering. Goldfinger graduated Atlantic City HS in 1950 and from the University of Pennsylvania in 1955, studying under Louis Kahn."
^Johnson, Vaughan.
"'Barbed Wire City' movie about ECW wrestling, produced by Allentown natives, ready for debut", The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 19, 2013. Accessed April 24, 2021. "South Philadelphia native Brian Heffron, better known to the world as The Blue Meanie, soon joined him.... Heffron graduated from Atlantic City High School in 1993. While most kids were planning on getting jobs or attending college after high school, Heffron had a singular goal in mind: become a professional wrestler."
^Greenberg, Ted; and McCrone, Brian X.
"The ISIS 'Senior Commander' Who Grew Up on the Jersey Shore",
WCAU, January 17, 2018. Accessed February 3, 2018. "He graduated from Atlantic City High School in 2010. His Albanian immigrant family owned a pizza shop in Margate, New Jersey. He attended a mosque where 'he hated people,' according his mother."
^Boss Nucky Johnson, Atlantic City Experience. Accessed April 9, 2021. "Johnson graduated from Atlantic City High School in 1900."
^
abLipson, Eden Ross.
"Super‐Agent Strikes Again", The New York Times, June 26, 1977. Accessed June 5, 2023. "Although he travels a great deal, Mr. Josephson lives quietly in New York with his second wife Tina and an infant daughter, Yi‐Ling. Coincidentally, both he and Mr. Schlosser of NBC are graduates of Atlantic City High School."
^Kuperinsky, Amy.
"Atlantic City radio legend Pinky Kravitz dead at 88", NJ Advance Media for
NJ.com, November 2, 2015. Accessed August 8, 2018. "The radio man, born in West Virginia, moved to Atlantic City with his family when he was 7. In 1988, the alumnus of Atlantic City High School told the New York Times that a class bully gave him his famous nickname."
^Cronick, Scott.
"PBS documentary shows life under the makeup for Ventnor native", The Press of Atlantic City, October 27, 2010. Accessed September 7, 2017. "He was, however, always drawn to entertainment. He remembers watching Charlie Chaplin films his father showed to Atlantic City hotel guests when Lubin was a child. His time at Atlantic City High School got his creative juices flowing as he experimented with new television equipment, eventually leading Lubin to attend Emerson College in Boston, where he planned to be a TV director."
^Schwachter, Jeff. "One-Fourth of Fourplay", Atlantic City Weekly, October 14, 2004. "Rounding out the quartet is Atlantic City native Harvey Mason. The drummer, composer, programmer, arranger and Atlantic City High School grad has lived in Los Angeles for 34 years and has made a name for himself as one of the most respected studio musicians in the business."
^Fitzgerald's Legislative Manual, 1984, p. 226. Accessed October 28, 2019. "James J. (Sonny) Mccullough, Rep., Egg Harbor Twp.... The senator was born Jan. 11, 1942, in Atlantic City. He graduated from Atlantic City High School in 1960, and has completed certification courses at Rutgers University and taken classes at Rowan University and Rider College."
^Merkoski, Paul.
"For Arnold Newman...", The Press of Atlantic City, December 8, 1974. Accessed February 20, 2024, via
Newspapers.com. "Spending his summers in Atlantic City and his winters in Florida, Newman changed schools often. 'When we were here I went to the Pennsylvania Avenue School, the junior high school and Atlantic City senior high' he said"
^Davis, Eddie.
"Acclaimed Food Writer, One-time A.C. Resident, Josh Ozersky Found Dead",
WFPG, May 6, 2015. Accessed November 10, 2017. "Joshua Ozersky, who spent his teen years in Atlantic City and later turned his insatiable love of food in to an unforgettable career as a food writer, died Monday in Chicago.... He attended Atlantic City High School and Rutgers University."
^Steve Smoger, Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Accessed December 19, 2022. "Out of the ring, Smoger, a graduate of Atlantic City High School and Penn State University, was awarded his Juris Doctor from George Washington University."
^Attorney Profiles, Swift Law Firm. Accessed January 10, 2022. "Claire graduated from Atlantic City High School in 1992."
^McGarry, Michael.
"From campus to Kosovo: A.C. grad with 2 college degrees to play pro ball in Europe", The Press of Atlantic City, October 7, 2014. Accessed August 8, 2018. "Shannon has worked out this summer and fall with fellow Atlantic City graduates and standout guards Frank Turner (2006 Atlantic City graduate) and Khalif Toombs (2008 Atlantic City graduate). Turner has played professionally in Holland, while Toombs is involved in coaching South Jersey Select, a high-profile AAU team based in Atlantic County."
^Johnson, Kirk.
"James L. Usry, Atlantic City Mayor in 1980's, Dies at 79", The New York Times, January 28, 2002. Accessed August 8, 2012. "A graduate of Atlantic City High School, Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and Glassboro State College (now Rowan University), Mr. Usry devoted most of his career to education, as a teacher and school administrator, and was widely praised for his involvement with his students and with the community."
^Earl Wilson, Just Sports Stats. Accessed November 19, 2016.
^DeAngelis, Martin.
"Ode To A Code: Oh, So Grand - And Of Our Sand", The Press of Atlantic City, April 19, 1998. Accessed January 31, 2011. "The inventor of the bar code which appears so many places these days we hardly even notice it anymore grew up on Ventnor Avenue and graduated from Atlantic City High School."