As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,100 students and 86.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.8:1. There were 282 students (25.6% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 84 (7.6% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]
History
In 1956, the school district approved construction on a 65-acre (26 ha) site of a $700,000 junior high school (equivalent to $7.8 million in 2023) with 23 classrooms that would ultimately be transitioned for use as the district's high school, in lieu of sending students to attend Woodbury High School.[6][7] The school opened in 1957.[8]
The first classes taught at Gloucester County College (now Rowan College of South Jersey) when it opened in September 1968 were held at Deptford Township High School and Monongahela Junior High School.[9]
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 259th-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 242nd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 255th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[11] The magazine ranked the school 252nd in 2008 out of 316 schools.[12] The school was ranked 226th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[13] Schooldigger.com ranked the school 229th out of 376 public high schools statewide in its 2010 rankings (an increase of 26 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]
Academics
A typical school day at Deptford High School is 7 hours with around 6 hours of classroom instruction. Average class sizes for 9, 10, 11, and 12 grades are 17.3, 18.7, 15.3, and 13.1, respectively. An average class size at Deptford is about 16.1 students as compared to the state average of 18.9 students. The student-computer ratio is 2.5 students for 1 computer, compared to a state average of 3.3:1. Of the 462 computers in the building, all 462 are connected to the internet.
Extracurricular activities
Athletics
The Deptford High School Spartans[2] compete as one of the member schools in the Tri-County Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools located in Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties.[3] The conference is overseen by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[15] With 829 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group III for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 761 to 1,058 students in that grade range.[16] The football team competes in the Colonial Division of the 94-team West Jersey Football League superconference[17][18] and was classified by the NJSIAA as Group III South for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 695 to 882 students.[19]
The boys track team won the indoor state championship in Group III in 1970.[20] The girls team was Group II co-champion in 1998.[21]
The football team won the NJSIAA South Jersey Group III state sectional championship in 1978 and the South Jersey Group II titles in 1998, 2003 and 2004.[22] A crowd of 3,500 watched as the 1978 team defeated Collingswood High School by a score of 14-0 to win the South Jersey Group III sectional title and finish the season with a record of 11-0.[23] The team won the 2004 title with a 28–21 win over Moorestown High School.[24]
The boys track team won the indoor relay championship in Group II in 2019.[25]
The boys track team won the spring / outdoor track state championship in Group III in 2019.[26]
Other activities at Deptford High School include Chess Club, All-School Musical (which usually takes place in the Spring), Culture Club, Debate Club, ERASE, the Fall Play, FBLA, Future Teachers of America, Freshman Transition, Gay-Straight Alliance, Girls' Athletic Association, Healthcare Careers Club, Mock Trial,[29]National Art Honor Society, National Honor Society, Peer Mediation, Peer Tutors, Project Graduation, RAP (Respect All People), Robotics Club, Rotary Interact, Students Against Destructive Decisions, Science Club, Spartan Spirit Newspaper, Strength and Conditioning, Student Athletic Trainers, and SGA.[30]
Administration
The school's principal is Jason Strouse. The administration team includes four vice principals.[31]
Notable alumni
Dave Rowe (born 1945, class of 1963), former football player, who played in the NFL from 1967 to 1978.[32][33]
Shaun T (born 1978), motivational speaker, fitness trainer and choreographer best known for his home fitness programs T25, Insanity and Hip-Hop Abs.[34]
Patti Smith (born 1946), singer-songwriter and 2007 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.[35][36]
^"Deptford Twp. OKs Contract For School", Courier-Post, September 19, 1956. Accessed April 11, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Deptford Township Board of Education has awarded contracts totaling $622,764 for construction of a 23-classroom junior high school on Fox Run Rd. Township voters approved a $900,000 bond issue last Dec. 13 to construct a nine-classroom elementary school not to exceed $200,000 and the junior high school at a cost of $700,000.... The board, at a special meeting, voted to name the new school 'Deptford Township High School.'"
^"Break Ground For Deptford High School", Courier-Post, October 6, 1956. Accessed March 21, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Ground was broken today for the 23-classroom, $700,000 Deptford Township High School, on Fox Run rd., here.... The school will be located on 65-acre plot and work on the foundation will begin next week, Selby said. He said the building should be completed for the 1957-53 school year, but that it will be used initially for junior high grades. When these grades reach high school level, he said, they will remain in their own high school, instead of attending Woodbury High School, as at present."
^School Profile, Deptford Township High School. Accessed April 11, 2021. "Established in 1957, Deptford Township High School is a comprehensive senior high school of approximately 1,250 students in grades 9-12. It is approved by the New Jersey Department of Education."
^College Background, Rowan College at Gloucester County. Accessed September 9, 2017. "Some 600 charter students were enrolled in September 1968, attending classes at Deptford High School and Monongahela Junior High School."
^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."
^Carchidi, Sam. "Deptford captures Group 3 crown; Shuts out Colts for 11-0 year", The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 3, 1978. Accessed March 9, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "A beaming coach Joe Corbi looked like an over-inflated basketball, bouncing up and down atop the shoulders of his joyous Deptford football players, as they danced off the Sterling High field yesterday after finally securing the South Jersey Group 3 football championship before 3,500 spectators. The Spartans (11-0), The Inquirer's No. 1 South Jersey football team for every week this season, had just worn down a stubborn Collingswood squad (9-2), 14-0, to capture their first sectional title after three unsuccessful attempts."
^Staff, Deptford High School.Accessed April 28, 2023.
^Narducci, Marc. "Rowe grateful for Deptford induction", The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 15, 2009. Accessed April 28, 2023, via Newspapers.com. "Dave Rowe has had lunch with a president and played 12 years in the NFL, earning one Super Bowl ring and two Pro Bowl selections, and yet he can't stop talking about his coming induction into the Deptford Athletic Hall of Fame. Rowe, Class of '63, is among seven members and one team to be inducted in the inaugural Hall class on April 27 at Auletto Caterers in Deptford."
^Kuperinsky, Amy. "How celebrity trainer Shaun T went from Camden survivor to fitness superstar", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, August 8, 2016, updated July 21, 2017. Accessed September 27, 2018. "Shaun Thompson was born in Camden and spent his early years with his mother and brother in Philadelphia. Feeling trapped by what he describes as four years of sexual abuse by a family member, he took refuge with his grandparents in Deptford.... At Deptford High School, Blokker was a natural at track and field, but he really wanted to be the next Anderson Cooper."
