The Morris Hills Regional District is a comprehensive regional public school district that consists of two four-year public high schools serving four suburban communities in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The district serves the residential communities of Denville Township (Denville Township School District), Rockaway Borough (Rockaway Borough Public Schools), Rockaway Township (Rockaway Township Public Schools) and Wharton (Wharton Borough School District). As of the 2021–22 school year, the district, comprising two schools, had an enrollment of 2,606 students and 251.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.3:1. The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "GH", the third-highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.

History

The four constituent communities voted in 1949 to create the regional high school district, which would allow 750 students then served by Boonton High School, Dover High School and Rockaway High School, with a goal of serving a total enrollment of 1,500. Students from Wharton, New Jersey attended Wharton High School, which opened in 1922 and closed when Morris Hills High School was opened in 1953.

Awards and recognition

For the 1996–97 school year, both Morris Hills High School and Morris Knolls High School were named as "Star Schools" by the New Jersey Department of Education, the highest honor that a New Jersey school can achieve.

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2021–22 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics ) are:

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are: Nicholas Norcia, who had been the chief administrator of the Fair Lawn Public Schools, was selected as the district's superintendent in April 2023, with plans to take office the following July in Morris Hills.

Board of education

The district's board of education, comprised of nine members, sets policy and oversees the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration. As a Type II school district, the board's trustees are elected directly by voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with three seats up for election each year held (since 2012) as part of the November general election. The board appoints a superintendent to oversee the district's day-to-day operations and a business administrator to supervise the business functions of the district. Seats on the board of education are allocated based on the populations of the constituent municipalities, with four seats assigned to Rockaway Township, three to Denville Township, one to Rockaway Borough and one to Wharton.