As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 931 students and 78.9 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.8:1. There were 172 students (18.5% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 56 (6.0% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]
To address overcrowding at Riverside High School, efforts to merge the three districts in Delanco, Delran and Riverside Townships into a combined regional K-12 system were rejected in a November 1971 referendum, with Delran Township voters in favor of the regionalization and the voters in the other two municipalities opposed.[5] The school, constructed at a cost of $6 million (equivalent to $34 million in 2023), opened for the 1975-76 school year with 864 students in grades 9-12.[6][7]
Expansions
In 2008, a referendum was passed, which included $25.8 million in spending that included construction of a new science wing to the school as well as renovations to the existing building.[8]
In 2019, a new fab lab was constructed, replacing an old auto shop building.[9]
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 169th-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 230th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 179th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[11] The magazine ranked the school 155th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[12] The school was ranked 112th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[13]
Athletics
The Delran High School Bears[2] compete in the Freedom Division of the Burlington County Scholastic League (BCSL) sports association, which is comprised of public and private high schools covering Burlington, Camden, Mercer and Ocean counties in Central Jersey and operates under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[14] With 658 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2022-23 school year as South, Group 2 for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 486 to 758 students in that grade range.[15] The football team competes in the Liberty Division of the 94-team West Jersey Football League superconference[16][17] and was classified by the NJSIAA as Group II South for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 514 to 685 students.[18] The school's mascot is the bear and school colors are brown and gold.[2]
The boys' soccer team has won the NJSIAA Group II championship in 1983 (defeating Millburn High School in the tournament final), 1986 (as co-champion with Millburn), 1988 (as co-champion with Chatham High School), 2003 (as co-champion with Kearny High School), 2004 (vs. Harrison High School), 2008 (as co-champion with Cliffside Park High School), 2009 (as co-champion with Cliffside Park) and 2013 (vs. Newton High School); the program's eight group championships is the tenth-most among high schools in the state.[19] The 1983 team finished the season with a record of 22-0-1 after defeating Millburn by a score of 2-1 on a goal scored by Peter Vermes with under a minute left in the second overtime period in the Group II finals.[20] The 1986 team finished the season with a record of 17-5-1 after being declared as co-champion with Delran following a 1–1 tie in the tournament final played at Trenton State College.[21] The 2003 team was Group I state co-champion after a 1–1 tie with Harrison High School.[22] The team moved on to win the 2004 Group II state championship with a shootout win vs. Cinnaminson High School in the semifinals and a 2–1 victory against Harrison High School in the tournament final.[23] In 2005, they lost the sectional finals with a 2–1 loss to Haddonfield Memorial High School.[24] In 2007 The team also made it to the sectional finals with a 4–1 loss to Cinnaminson High School. The team won the 2008 Central Jersey Group II sectional with a 3–1 win over Shore Regional High School.[25] Then they moved on to play Middle Township High School in the state semis and won 4–2. They drew 2–2 in the state finals to Cliffside Park High School. They recently won the 2009 Central Jersey Group II with a 2–1 over-time victory in the quarter-finals over school rival Cinnaminson High School. In the finals they defeated Raritan High School in penalty-kicks after drawing 0–0 in regulation. Then they played West Deptford High School and pulled a 1–0 victory over the South Jersey Group II champions in the state semi-finals. In the state finals they had a re-match with Cliffside Park High School, the team they tied in the state-finals the previous year, and ended up beating them, 2-0.[26] By winning the Group II state championships they finished their 2009 season with a 21-2-1 record and were ranked 5th in the state, 2nd in South Jersey and 1st in Group II by The Star-Ledger.[27] In 2013, the team defeated Newton High School in the tournament final by a score of 3-2 in overtime to win the Group II title.[28]
The wrestling team won the South Jersey Group II state sectional title in 1986 and 1992.[31] The team took third place in the Group II state championships in both 1986 and 1992.[32] Coach Dennis Smith retired in 2013 with a career coaching record of 605-196-5, making him the winningest coach in South Jersey history.[33]
The football team won the South Jersey Group II state sectional championship in 1987, 1989, 1990 and 1992.[34]
In 1990 and 1991, the Delran swimming team won back-to-back boys Division B state titles.[35] All-American and Olympic qualifier[36] Jason Rosenbaum held the fastest state 100m freestyle time from 1991 until 2014.[37][38]
The boys cross country team won the Group II state championship in 1991.[39]
The boys spring track team won the state championship in Group II in 1994.[40]
The girls basketball team won the Group II state title in 1995, with an 84-49 win against runner-up Morris Hills High School in the tournament final.[41][42]
The softball team defeated Arthur L. Johnson High School in the final of the playoffs to win the 1995 Group II state championship.[43]
The Varsity Tier II Delran Ice Hockey Club represents the school in the South Jersey High School Ice Hockey League.[44]
Administration
The school's principal is Brian Stolarick. His administration team includes two assistant principals.[45]
^Yearbook, Delran High School. Accessed March 13, 2022.
^Wolk, Mike. "State Tells Delran to Cut $7.8 Million Cost of School", Courier-Post, October 14, 1972. Accessed April 28, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Delran high school students are still being bused to Riverside High School as they have been since 1954. An agreement between the two towns allows Delran to continue busing its students to Riverside 'until the new high school opens as long as we're working on it.'"
^Andrews, Margot. "School Merger Vote Defeated in Burlco", Courier-Post, December 1, 1971. Accessed April 28, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Voters in fast-growing Delran township indicated last night they would like to join with two neighboring towns in a regional school district. But their neighbors in more-settled Riverside and Delanco scotched the idea.... Delran undoubtedly will have to build a high school on its own, they said, and the other towns will have to build new elementary classrooms. Delanco and Delran High School pupils now attend the Riverside facility, which, according to Superintendent John Bodnarik, is overcrowded."
^"Delran High to be dedicated Sunday", Courier-Post, November 12, 1975. Accessed April 28, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "The new $6 million Delran High School, which opened this fall, will be dedicated Sunday at 2 p.m.... The school, located on Hartford Road, is the township's first public high school. Previously, township teenagers attended Riverside High School."
^Curran, Karen. "High schools in Delran, Evesham ready to open", Courier-Post, August 21, 1975. Accessed March 13, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "New high schools will open in both Delran and Evesham this fall, but the concepts under which each school was built are vastly different. Delran, which had been sending high school students to Riverside, will open its own $6 million high school with 864 students in grades 9 through 12.... On the other hand, if it were entirely Delran's choice, assistant superintendent Anthony Casale thinks his district might have preferred to form a region with Riverside and Delanco. In 1971, the boards of education in the three towns approved and put to the voters a referendum for a regional school district. Delran passed the referendum, but the other two districts turned it down. Since Riverside High School, Delran's receiving district, was overcrowded, the only choice left was a new high school for Delran alone."
^"Voters Approve $106 Million in School Construction", New Jersey School Boards Association, December 10, 2008. Accessed March 7, 2023. "Delran Township – Passed Additions and renovations to the Delran High and Middle schools; renovations to elementary and intermediate school Total amount – $25,858,780 Amount eligible for state reimbursement – $5,727,695"
^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."
^Marder, Phill. "Delran wins state crown on Vermes' OT goal", Courier-Post, November 19, 1983. Accessed January 27, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "In the second overtime period, Vermes worked the ball into the right corner, faked out one defender, waltzed along the top of the box, leaving another two defenders flatfooted, then drilled a shot through the crowded crease and just inside the left post, giving Delran a 2-1 win and the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Group 2 championship.... By the time the final minute of the second overtime rolled around, it seemed Millburn, 21-2, was destined to share the trophy with the Bears, 22-0-1 and No. 1 in the Top Ten Poll."
^Carchidi, Sam. "Delran gets share of Group 2 title in tie with Millburn", The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 26, 1986. Accessed March 8, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Call Delran High's Bears something else: Group 2 state co-champions. Delran, unranked in The Inquirer's South Jersey ratings all season, earned a share of the Group 2 state championship with a 1-1 tie against heavily favored Millburn at Trenton State College last night. The Bears (17-5-1) won a piece of the crown despite being outshot by 17-2."
^Bernstein, Jason. "Boys soccer: Delran beats Newton, 3-2 in overtime, to win Group 2 crown", The Star-Ledger, November 24, 2013. Accessed September 28, 2017. "Samuel Santos' shot was stopped by goalkeeper Tanner Euston, but Denny was able to pounce on the rebound in front of the net and score the game-winning goal 1:35 into overtime to give Delran a 3-2 victory over Newton, No. 19 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, in the NJSIAA/Sports Authority Group 2 final yesterday at The College of New Jersey in Ewing. For Delran (19-6-1), it is the eighth state title in the program's history and first since 2009."
^"Six HS State Records Taken down at New Jersey Meet of Champions", Swimming World, March 8, 2014. Accessed November 4, 2017. "Zach Molloy, a senior at Toms River North, was responsible for setting two of the marks. His 44.59 in the 100 free took down Jason Rosenbaum's 1991 time of 45.76, and his 1:37.61 bettered Bobby Savulich's 2005 mark of 1:38.30."
^"Vianney top seed; CBA No. 2", Asbury Park Press, March 13, 1995. Accessed November 17, 2020. "Delran 84, Morris Hills 49: Delran (25-1) made almost 70 percent of its field goal attempts and defeated Morris Hills (25-4) in the Group II final in Elizabeth."
^Administration, Delran High School. Accessed September 1, 2024.
^"Scholarly People", Courier-Post, June 13, 1983. Accessed April 9, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Delran High School senior Raphael Bostic is the recipient of a $1,000 scholarship from the National Honor Society. He is editor of the yearbook and president of the band."
^Franko, Kyle. "Delran's Tricia Fabbri has built basketball winner at Quinnipiac", The Trentonian, February 21, 2016. Accessed November 28, 2017. "Tricia Fabbri wasn't sure she made the right decision. In fact, the Delran native thought she might have made a giant mistake when she became the women's basketball coach at Quinnipiac University in 1995.... The 1987 Delran High School graduate has created a solid program that is having its most successful year ever."
^Borzi, Pat. "Delran's Lowber learns NFL ways A college standout, he's new to football. The Vikes see a gem.", The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 13, 2007. Accessed May 22, 2016. "The intermittent rain had stopped one Wednesday morning last month when Delran High product Todd Lowber, the rawest Minnesota Vikings rookie wide receiver, lined up against third-year cornerback Ronyell Whitaker in a one-on-one drill.... Before that, Lowber couldn't precisely remember the last time he caught a football. Middle school, he thought, probably at the apartment complex where his family lived in Delran."
^Ralph, Matthew. "Union U19 leading scorer commits to Penn State Jeremy Rafanello previously verbally committed to Drexel", Brotherly Game, February 7, 2018. "Delran, N.J. native Jeremy Rafanello announced on National Signing Day Wednesday that he will play college soccer at Penn State University this fall.... He played a season of high school soccer with South Jersey power Delran High School leaving the program to play full-time in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy."
^"QB Sacca shopping for his new school", The Record, December 13, 1993. Accessed January 1, 2019. "But when John Sacca's relationship with Penn State coach Joe Paterno went sour, Sacca said goodbye. Three months later, the former Delran High School star, who was courted by several big-name universities five years ago before choosing Penn State, is knocking on the doors of Division I-AA colleges, looking for a team."
