The constituent municipalities—the Chester School District (Chester Borough / Township), Mendham Borough / Township, Mount Olive and Washington Township—approved a referendum in 1956 by a better than 7–1 margin for the construction of a high school to cost $1,961,000 (equivalent to $22 million in 2023).[6]
The school opened in September 1958, with 531 students in grades 9–11 in a building with 39 classrooms designed to accommodate 1200 people.[7][8] The school's first hire was a biology teacher named Maria Young.[9]
Academics
Programs
The school is accredited by the New Jersey Department of Education.[10] The school has offered the IB Diploma Programme, as part of the International Baccalaureate Organization, since January 1998[11] The school was one of 17 high schools in New Jersey to offer the IB diploma program in 2021; along with its sister school West Morris Mendham, it is one of the two high schools in New Jersey to offer both the IB Diploma and Career Programs.[12]
Awards
History Teacher Rosanne Lichatin, was named the 2005 Preserve America History Teacher of the Year, and was recognized with the honor by First Lady Laura Bush.[13]
The school's mascots are either the Highlanders or the Wolfpack depending on the team. School colors are Columbia blue, navy blue and gray.[2][3][15]
Teams compete in the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference, an athletic conference comprised of high schools located in Morris, Sussex and Warren counties, which was established following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[16][17] Prior to the NJSIAA's 2009 realignment, the school had been a member of the Iron Hills Conference.[18] With 919 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.[19] The football team competes in the Freedom Blue division of the North Jersey Super Football Conference, which includes 112 schools competing in 20 divisions, making it the nation's biggest football-only high school sports league.[20][21] The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group III North for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 700 to 884 students.[22]
Football
The football team has won ten sectional championships. The team won the North II Group III state sectional championship in 1982, 1991, 1995, 2001, 2004, 2009, 2021, 2022 and 2023,[23] and won a North II Group IV title in 2012.[24][25]
Ice hockey
The ice hockey team won the Halvorsen Cup in 2009, 2013 and 2014, and won the Haas Cup in 2010, 2022[26] and 2023.[27]
The clubs at West Morris Central have included: three a capella singing groups, Academy of Science, Archery Club, Art/Photography Club, Astronomy Club, Band Front[clarification needed], Book Club, Bowling Club, Volleyball Club, Chess Club, Chinese Club, Choral Club, Debate Club, Diversity Club, Fall Cheerleader, Fashion Design Club, FBLA, Film Club, Future Educators, Fishing Club, Gardening Club, Highlanders for Humanity, International/Cultural Arts Club[citation needed], Intramurals, Investment Club, Jam Club, Kick Boxing, Literary Magazine, Marching Band, Math League, National History Club, National Honor Society, Newspaper, Project Peace Anti-Bullying Club,[28] Reach (Peer Leadership), Red Cross, Relay for Life, School Store,[29] Science League, Self-Defense Club, Service Learning Club, Ski Club, Sound/Lighting, Spikeball, Stage Craft, STARS[citation needed], STEM (Technology Club), Student Council, Technology Club, Unified Sports Club, World Language Honor Society and Yearbook.[30]
^ abAbout, West Morris Central High School. Accessed August 14, 2019. "Originally known as the Highlanders, many West Morris Central teams have taken on the name Wolf Pack."
^About West Morris, West Morris Central High School. Accessed February 12, 2020. "The West Morris Regional High School District consists of two high schools: West Morris Central High School, serving residents of Washington Township West Morris Mendham High School, serving residents of Mendham Borough, Mendham Towhship, Chester Borough, and Chester Township."
^"Voters Approve $2 Million School", Courier News, December 13, 1956. Accessed March 6, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "The five municipal school districts in the West Morris Regional High School District last night approved spending $1,961,000 for a school. The total vote was 1,332 to 189."
^"531 to Enter New School", Courier News, September 9, 1958. Accessed March 6, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "An estimated 531 ninth, tenth and eleventh grade students will begin classes tomorrow at the partially completed $2,000,000 West Morris Regional High School, Morris County's third regional school. James H. M. Darvie, principal, said construction would not be completed until Dec. 1, but that most of the new building's 39 classrooms were ready. The school serves Chester Township, Mendham Borough, Mount Olive Township and Washington Township..... The brick and glass building has a capacity of 1,200."
^WMRHSD Now and Then, West Morris Regional High School District. Accessed November 17, 2021. "West Morris Central (WMC), built in 1958, is located in, and serves, Washington Township."
^Team Pages, West Morris Central High School. Accessed June 1, 2024.
^"Athletics Home". West Morris Central High School. Retrieved June 1, 2024. HOME OF THE WOLFPACK!
^Home Page, Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference. Accessed August 27, 2020. "The Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference prides itself on being one of New Jersey's premier high school conferences and is comprised of 39 high schools located in Northwest New Jersey."
^Bobal, Brian. "The beat goes on for West Morris after 8-0 win over Gill St. Bernard's", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, January 14, 2024. Accessed February 10, 2024. "The offensive weaponry was on full display on Saturday, as Rhone Armijo notched his first hat trick and nine different players had at least a point in an 8-0 win over Gill St. Bernard's at Mennen Arena in Morristown."
^Shwalb, Bob. "Back where they belong", Daily Record, February 25, 1996. Accessed July 6, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Tashy Bohm backstrokes the length of the pool, 50 yards, in exactly 13 strokes.... At next month's New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Meet of Champions, the West Morris junior will try to win a third consecutive title in the 100-yard backstroke."
^Howell Jr., Tom. "News Teen fights for safer roads after friend's death", New Jersey Herald, November 22, 2008. Accessed August 13, 2018. "Kyleigh, a star athlete at West Morris Central High School, died when an Audi TT driven by a 17-year-old boy careened into a tree on Fairview Avenue in Long Valley."
^Garber, Phil. "Mendhams, Long Valley heavy into top ranks of Trump campaign ", Observer-Tribune, August 31, 2016. Accessed November 22, 2016. "And last week, Trump's campaign hired Bill Stepien, 38, of Long Valley, a graduate of West Morris Central High School and Rutgers."
^West Morris Regional High School District 2015 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 4, 2016. "Established in 1958, the West Morris Regional High School District operates two schools, West Morris Central High School and West Morris Mendham High School. The regional district serves the students of five Morris County communities: Chester Borough, Chester Township, Mendham Borough, Mendham Township and Washington Township. Students from Washington Township attend West Morris Central High School, and students from the Chesters and the Mendhams attend West Morris Mendham High School."
