West Deptford High School

West Deptford High School serves students in West Deptford Township who are in grades nine through twelve. Our current enrollment is 1122 students with projected increases expected in each of the next several years.

Our academic program includes a full range of academic courses including an extensive array of Honors and Advanced Placement courses. All of our courses are supported by the latest in computer technology with easy access to the Internet as well as subject specific software. We presently have four computer labs and forty-eight wireless laptops for student use as well as for classroom instruction. We have also added two Smartboards for classroom use by the math and special education departments.

We continue to focus on preparing our students for the HSPA and have added a new and academically challenging math program, CORE PLUS, to our course offerings. The course is entitled Interactive Algebra/Geometry and prepares our students for the HSPA as well as for the SAT.

Our students continue to do well academically with 83% of our students going to two or four year colleges. Last year our seniors received about five million dollars in scholarships. Our student drop-out rate is less than one percent and our counselors do a great job to work with students who are at-risk. We offer individual counseling as well as small group counseling for our students. Some of the counseling groups include new student groups, anger management, academic achievement, and other contemporary issues.

In addition to our curricular programs, we offer our students a wide array of co-curricular activities through which they can develop their skills and be involved in school. These activities include service organizations, special interest clubs, and inter-scholastic athletics. The National Honor Society with the support of the Key Club sponsors Operation Blessing through the Volunteers of America. At the holiday season, needy families in Gloucester are given food baskets and their children receive new toys. Our Marching Band has grown tremendously over the past three years and this year we finished fifth at the Atlantic Coast Championships in Group 3, our highest ranking in the school’s history. Our school newspaper, The Talon, is one of the top ten high school newspapers in New Jersey and has won numerous awards at the Garden State Press competitions. Our school musical program continues to be one of the finest around with many of our students coming through our Little Theater program as well as our choral program under the direction of William Yerkes. The West Deptford High School yearbook has received many awards for its production and contents. It is one of the few all color yearbooks at the high school level. The Renaissance Program will once again sponsor a Senior citizens Prom in the spring at WDHS. Last year’s prom was a great success and should be even better this year.

The athletic program has had great success over the last few years with the football team winning three straight NJSIAA Group 2 State Sectional titles. Once again they have qualified for the playoffs this year. Our field hockey team won the Liberty Division title this year and qualified for the playoffs along with the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams.

We believe close communication with parents is important. Through our Power Parent online program, parents have access to their child’s grades and can e-mail staff if there are any questions. The Parent Organization is very active and sponsors scholarships at graduation and coordinates Project Graduation for our graduating seniors. The community has been very supportive of the high school and assists with numerous projects when help is needed. The township has donated the RiverWinds Community Center for Project Graduation and our swim team has use of the pool for its meets while our golf team uses the golf course for its matches.

The support of the residents of West Deptford and the Board of Education has helped to make WDHS a well-respected school whose graduates go on to successful lives in all fields of endeavor.