As of the 2022–23 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,251 students and 146.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 15.4:1. There were 1,524 students (67.7% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 281 (12.5% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]
Memorial High School was established in September 1926.[5]
In 2005, the New Jersey Schools Development Authority determined that the Memorial High School building was equipped to hold 918 students, making the school 882 students over capacity. In January 2012, the NJSDA forwarded the West New York Board of Education's application for the purchase of St. Joseph of the Palisades Elementary School to Vatican City, with which West New York hopes to turn into a "freshman/sophomore academy" to house between 700 and 800 of the high school's students. Upon the anticipated papal approval of the purchase of the school, which belongs to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, the SDA will make a final decision on development plans.[6]
In March 2012, the portion of 56th Street in front of the school was dedicated as Rebeka Verea Way, in tribute to Rebeka Verea, who died in a car accident[7] in North Bergen the night of her graduation in 2005. Though she graduated from Cliffside Park High School, her father runs a medical practice based in West New York, and is the chief medical officer at North Hudson Community Action Corporation, which is also based in West New York.[8]
In 2011, the College Board recognized Memorial High School as the 2011 winner of its "AP District of the Year Award" in the small schools category, in recognition of the district's efforts to expand the scope of Advanced Placement courses offered in the school and the improved results of those taking AP exams, with the school offering about 10 different AP courses after it started its first AP class in the 1980s.[9][10]
The school was the 280th-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.[11] The school had been ranked 307th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 273rd in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[12] The magazine ranked the school 282nd in 2008 out of 316 schools.[13] The school was ranked 261st in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[14] Schooldigger.com ranked the school 204th out of 376 public high schools statewide in its 2010 rankings (a decrease of 42 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).[15]
Students using the athletic field at Memorial Park
The Memorial High School Tigers[2] compete in the Hudson County Interscholastic League (HCIAA), which is comprised of public and private high schools in Hudson County, and was established following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.[16] With 1,502 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.[17] The football team competes in the Ivy Red 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.[18][19] 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.[20] The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group V North for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 1,317 to 5,409 students.[21]
The boys' basketball team won the Group IV state championship in 1939 (defeating Bloomfield High School in the tournament final) and 1942 (vs. Asbury Park High School), and won the Group III title in 1966 (vs. Sterling High School).[22] The 1933 team won the Group IV state title with a 50–33 win against Bloomfield in the championship game played before a crowd of 4,000.[23] In 2002, the team won the North I Group IV state title, defeating Hackensack High School 65–62.[24]
The boys track team won the Group IV spring / outdoor track state championship in 1957.[25]
The boys' track team won the Group III indoor relay state championship in 1974.[26]
The boys cross country running team won the Group IV state championship in 1978.[27]
The boys' baseball team won the Group IV state title in 1988 against Madison Central High School in the title game.[28] In 2001, the team made it to the finals of the North I Group IV state tournament, falling to rival North Bergen High School by a score of 4–3 in the final game.[29]
School Profile 2021-2022, Memorial High School. Accessed April 27, 2022. "The school opened in 1926 and is educationally committed to maximizing all students’ potential for success in an ever-changing world."
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."
Rosero, Jessica. "WNY celebrates national Red Ribbon Week", The Hudson Reporter, November 1, 2005. Accessed February 13, 2013. "TIGers are members of the nationwide Together In Greatness (TIGs) Program, which was brought to Memorial High School about seven years ago. The program now boasts about 50 members from the high school working on community service projects throughout the year." Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey, Volume 202, Part 2, E. J. Mullin, 1987. Accessed January 26, 2024. "Jose O. Arango, Rep., West New York - Mr. Arango is one of the few immigrants who have ever won seats in the New Jersey Legislature. He was born in Havana, Cuba, on Oct. 11, 1957. He attended grade school in Oviedo, Spain, and is a graduate of Memorial High School, West New York."
Cullen, Deanna. "A lifetime of secure investments". The Union City Reporter. December 12, 2010, page 3. Accessed June 23, 2011. "Boroson grew up on Boulevard East in West New York, back when the town comprised embroidery factories and Irish Catholic, German, and Italian residents. He first attended P.S. No. 6 and then Memorial High School. At that time, he said, there were two graduations, January and June, and he graduated in January of 1952."
Cumiskey, Frank. "Gymnastics History; A Personal Review", p. 40. USGF Gymnastics, September / October 1981. Accessed January 26, 2024. "Frank J. Cumiskey, a native of West New York, New Jersey, became interested in gymnastics while in grammar school. By the time he was in high school, Cumiskey had won numerous state championships for Memorial High School."
Gregory, George. "Friends reflect on Bishop-elect Nelson Perez before his ordination July 25", CatholicPhilly.com, July 18, 2012. Accessed April 27, 2022. "The bishop-elect attended P.S. Number 4 Elementary School and Memorial High School, both in West New York, N.J., and graduated from Montclair State College in Montclair, N.J., in 1984 with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology with a minor in philosophy."
Leir, Ronald. "Lou Romano WNY educator served 8 years in Assembly", The Jersey Journal, December 1, 2000. Accessed July 6, 2023, via Newspapers.com. "Born in Jersey City Romano spent virtually all his life in West New York, attending School 4 and Memorial High School and eventually completing a doctoral degree in education at New York University."
Senator Nicholas J. Sacco, New Jersey Senate Democrats. Accessed August 29, 2019. "The senator was born in Jersey City Nov. 17, 1946. He attended public schools in Hudson County and graduated from Memorial High School in West New York."
Sampson, Peter J. "John M. Skevin, 66; a force in N.J. politics", The Record, October 23, 1993. Accessed December 15, 2022. "Born June 14, 1927, to immigrant Croatian parents in West New York, Mr. Skevin was a two-sport, All-Hudson performer at Memorial High School, where he is a member of the school's Hall of Fame."
Moquin, Patrick. "Jack Stephans, ‘The Transparent Coach,’ Passes Away at 81", Fordham Observer, December 3, 2020. Accessed January 19, 2021. "Born in 1939 in Hoboken, New Jersey, Stephans grew up playing football and was known for his talent. He attended Memorial High School in West New York, New Jersey, where he was a Group IV All-State player and member of multiple undefeated teams across his four years."
Hague, Jim. "Weehawken coach welcomed Stephans inducted into Hudson Sports Hall of Fame", The Hudson Reporter, April 11, 2006. Accessed January 19, 2021. "Stephans was born in Hoboken and raised in West New York and attended Memorial High School (1953 through 1957).... After graduating from Memorial in 1957, Stephans first went to the University of South Carolina on a scholarship, but then transferred to Boston University, where he enjoyed a brilliant three-year career as a two-way performer as a center and linebacker."
Akkad, Nour. "Isabel Toledo: Michelle Obama's Inauguration Dress Designer", Huffington Post, February 20, 2009. Accessed August 29, 2019. "Born Isabel Izquierdo in Cuba where she lived until the age of 8, Toledo grew up in West New York and attended Memorial High School, where she met her husband, the artist Rubén Toledo."
Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey, Volume 201, Part 2, p. 274. J.A. Fitzgerald., 1985. Accessed April 26, 2020. "Anthony P. Vainieri, Dem., North Bergen - Mr. Vainieri was born in McKees Rocks, Pa., on Feb. 15, 1928. After graduation from Memorial High School, West New York, he enlisted in the Navy."
Hirsch, Corin. "Lunch Box Diaries; Vermonters recall their school cafeteria cuisine", Seven Days, August 31, 2011. Accessed August 2, 2012. "Armando Vilaseca - Vermont education commissioner; I came from Cuba in 1964 and moved to West New York, N.J., an immigrant area that from the 1960s until the 1980s had a huge Cuban immigrant population. My high school, Memorial High School, was probably 70 percent Cuban American..."
Fitzgerald's Legislative Manual, 1984, p. 251. Accessed November 18, 2017. "Jacqueline Walker, Dem., Matawan Assemblywoman Walker was born in Jersey City Nov. 7, 1941. She attended elementary school and Memorial High School in West New York."
