Ocean City High School (OCHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Ocean City, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone secondary school of the Ocean City School District. Students from the Corbin City, Longport, Sea Isle City and Upper Township school districts attend Ocean City High School as part of sending/receiving relationships.Ocean City High School 2016 Report Card Narrative , New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed August 6, 2017. "Ocean City High School is a comprehensive high school serving the communities of Ocean City, Upper Township, Sea Isle City, Corbin City and Longport, with an enrollment of over 1,250 students."
As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,190 students and 126.4 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.4:1. There were 135 students (11.3% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 17 (1.4% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Ocean City High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024.
about 60% of students in Ocean City High School were from Upper Township."Upper Township school board members frustrated OCHS not accepting School Choice students" , The Gazette of Upper Township, March 18, 2015. Accessed January 10, 2017. "Upper Township pays around $10 million in tuition for more than 600 students to attend Ocean City High School. Upper Township students make up around 60 percent of the student body, Palmieri said."
The school is fully accredited by the New Jersey Department of Education.
History In 1883, the first school in Ocean City was built in 1883 between 8th and 9th Streets on Central Avenue, serving Kindergarten to High School. The first graduating class of six students was in 1904. A separate elementary school was built in 1913, causing the original Central Avenue to become the sole building for the high school. In 1923, a new high school was built between 5th and 6th Streets on Atlantic and Ocean Avenue, and the original facility became the city's police department and municipal court. The high school on Atlantic Avenue expanded in 1967, and again in 1983. By 1995, the Ocean City School Board decided that the 1923 facility was outdated and failed to meet state efficiency standards. After two failed referendums on expanding the school, a referendum in 2001 passed to build a new high school, having secured $11.5 million in state funding (equivalent to $ million in ). The new facility opened in 2004, and the original high school from 1923 was demolished in 2005 apart from the main entrance. The main entrance of the original building can still be seen on Atlantic Avenue.
In September 1959, the three sending districts of Linwood, Northfield and Somers Point were notified by the Ocean City School District that overcrowding would mean that it would no longer be able to continue accepting students from the communities at Ocean City High School starting in the 1959-60 school year."Ramblin' Round", Millville Daily Republican, September 21, 1957. Accessed April 25, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "The board had already notified Somers Point, Linwood and Northfield to establish a regional high school as Ocean City will cease admitting students from those communities to Ocean City High School in 1959. Residents or these places have accepted plans for such a school and the next move is to hold a special election on the question." When Mainland Regional High School opened for the 1961-62 school year, rising seniors from the communities were given the option to complete their schooling at Ocean City High School.Castaldi, Skip. "Mainland Memories", Tom William Sports, July 21, 2021. Accessed April 25, 2022. "It is late August of 1961 and Mainland Regional High School is about to open as a new school. As a result, Somers Point and Linwood students will no longer attend Ocean City High School. Northfield students will no longer attend Pleasantville High School.... Incoming seniors were giving a choice, they could stay at Ocean City High, Pleasantville High or attend Mainland Regional. The vast majority choose Mainland."
An observatory was built at the school in 2012, with a telescope capable of 700x magnification.
Awards, recognition, and rankings In the 2011 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 67th in New Jersey and 1,938th nationwide.Mathews, Jay. , The Washington Post. Accessed September 11, 2011. In Newsweek's May 22, 2007 issue, ranking the country's top high schools, Ocean City High School was listed in 1210th place, the 41st-highest ranked school in New Jersey."The Top of the Class: The complete list of the 1,200 top U.S. schools" , Newsweek, May 22, 2007. Accessed May 24, 2007.
In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 872nd in the nation among participating public high schools and 65th among schools in New Jersey.Streib, Lauren. "America's Best High Schools" , The Daily Beast, May 6, 2013. Accessed May 9, 2013.
The school was the 118th-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.Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014. The school had been ranked 63rd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 99th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 20, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 110th in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed June 13, 2011. The school was ranked 93rd in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state."Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008. Schooldigger.com ranked the school 154th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 53 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (83.2%) and language arts literacy (93.5%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA)., Schooldigger.com. Accessed March 5, 2012.
Facility Ocean City High School's first graduating class, in 1904, consisted of six students, who attended a school building located at Central Avenue between 8th and 9th streets. A new building was constructed at the site that served as the high school until 1924. The second OCHS building was constructed between 5th and 6th Streets and Atlantic and Ocean Avenues, by Vivian B. Smith, an architect and OCHS alumnus, and was expanded in 1963 with north and south wings added. After 1961, students from Somers Point and Linwood no longer attended the high school. A 1982 renovation project replaced and renovated the front portion of the old building.About the School, Ocean City High School. Accessed June 13, 2011.
In December 2001, voters approved construction of the current facility on Atlantic Avenue between 5th and 6th streets. Construction began in 2004 and the new building was finished for the 2004–05 school year. The old building was gradually torn down and replaced by parking and tennis courts. A Neo-Gothic entrance arch is the only remnant of the previous structure.
Athletics The Ocean City High School Red RaidersOcean City High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete in the Atlantic Division of the Cape-Atlantic League, an athletic conference comprised of public and private high schools located in Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Gloucester counties, operating under the aegis of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. With 932 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.NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020. The football team competes in the Independence Division of the 94-team West Jersey Football League superconferenceOcean City Raiders, West Jersey Football League. Accessed May 1, 2023.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." and was classified by the NJSIAA as Group III South for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 695 to 882 students.NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
The school has many athletic teams and extracurricular activities. Carey Stadium is used for Ocean City High School's football team. Soccer and lacrosse are played at the Tennessee Avenue fields. The school also has baseball, wrestling, tennis, field hockey, swimming, crew, cross country, track and many other teams.
The boys' basketball team won the Group I state championship in 1955 (defeating runner-up North Arlington High School in the finals of the playoff) and won the Group II title in 1964 (also against North Arlington).NJSIAA Girls Basketball Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020. In the first appearance in the finals in program history, the 1955 team came back from eight points behind in the fourth quarter of the Group I finals at the Elizabeth Armory to take the game into overtime and win 58-56 against North Arlington.Burke, Phil. "North Arlington Drops Group I Final to Ocean City; Vikings Overtime Losers To South Jersey Quintet; Bergen Club Blows 8-Point Lead In Final Period Of 58-56 Tilt", The Record, March 21, 1955. Accessed January 28, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "With these disheartened words Wilbur Ruckel summed up his North Arlington High School basketball team's 58-56 overtime defeat at the hands of Ocean City Saturday afternoon for the Group I title in the thirty-seventh annual N. J. S. I. A. A. tournament.... The Ocean City team turned in a strong game. It never gave up, even when the Vikings held an 8-point advantage in the fourth period. The Cape May County combine, making its first appearance in the championship round of the State Tournament, hustled and did a great deal of driving." In March 1964, under coach Fred "Dixie" Howell at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, the OCHS basketball team won the Group II state championship with a 76–51 against North Arlington in the tournament final.Ocean City: 1954 through 1987 , Ocean City Historical Museum. Accessed June 21, 2007. "1964: On March 21, the OCHS basketball team won the Group II state championship defeating North Arlington 76-51. The coach was Fred "Dixie" Howell ..." During their championship run they won every game by 20 points or more.