John F. Kennedy High School is a defunct public high school in Willingboro Township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States that operated from 1962[citation needed] to 1989,[1] as part of the Willingboro Township Public Schools. It operated first as Levittown High School, and was renamed in 1964 following the president's death.
| John F. Kennedy High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
United States | |
| Coordinates | 40°01′53″N 74°52′57″W / 40.0314°N 74.8824°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Public high school |
| Opened | 1960 |
| Closed | 1989 |
| School district | Willingboro Township Public Schools |
History
editLevittown Junior-Senior High School opened for the 1960-61 school year with approximately 1,000 students in grades 7-12, including students who had been attending either Burlington City High School or Rancocas Valley Regional High School.[2] The plan was for the Junior-Senior High School to become a junior high school once the district opened a standalone high school.[3]
Willingboro High School, located 1.5 miles (2.4 km) away on Kennedy Way, was opened in 1975 as a response to the overcrowded student population at John F. Kennedy High School, which had just graduated nearly 1000 in a single class. For a short time, residents were having a difficult time in deciding what to call the new Willingboro high school; some sought to name the new high school "J.F. Kennedy High School - East" while others debated on naming the school, "Robert F. Kennedy" after the recently deceased Attorney General and senator from New York and President Kennedy's brother. A vote was taken and it was decided that the only appropriate name would be what the school is called today "Willingboro High School".
The two schools were merged at the start of the 1989-90 school year, with all students transferred to Willingboro High School. John F. Kennedy High School was closed and re-purposed as a junior high school.[4] The school was renamed the John F. Kennedy Junior High School and served as a junior high school from 1989 to 1991. After the 1991 school year, the junior high school was moved to the newly re-opened Memorial Junior High School. The building was again re-purposed and utilized as a recreation center and rented space to various organizations.
Willingboro Township purchased the site of the defunct high school in late 1998, with plans to turn it into a community center that could include a conference center, theater, indoor tennis courts and other athletic facilities.[5] A new renovation to the Kennedy Center began in 2014.[6]
The defunct school is kept alive in a Facebook page and in active reunions and former-student associations.
Recent controversy
editIn August 2014, a referendum was inserted into the township meeting's agenda to change the name of the Kennedy High School building to the "Barack Obama Center". Graduates and longtime residents turned up in impressive numbers to protest the change at a special meeting of township council on 2 September.[7] A petition was presented with 1200 names rejecting the proposal. At the meeting, two council members admitted they "didn't know the history" behind the choice of Kennedy's name for the school (Kennedy had campaigned in then-new Willingboro in 1960) and mayor Eddie Campbell willingly conceded that the late addition to the referendum deserved to be dropped.
Councilman Chris Walker who proposed the last minute referendum, acknowledged that it is unusual to name a building after a sitting President, and conceded that based on his personal opinion of President Obama, that "he served the honor. Councilman Darvis Holley echoed Councilman Walker personal opinion by stating "I idolize Barack Obama".[8] Both Councilman's personal opinions were found to not be representative of their constituents or the alumni of the school bearing President Kennedy's name. After much public outcry in the form of petitions, news coverage, and negative comments on social media, the referendum was pulled.
Notable alumni
edit- Tony Bellinger (born 1957, class of 1977), retired American soccer defender who played both in the North American Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League[9]
- Jeff Gammage (born 1960, class of 1978), reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer who won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2012[10]
- Anthony Griggs (born 1960), former NFL linebacker who played for the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns[11]
- David Grimaldi (born 1954), former professional soccer defender who served as Commissioner of the National Indoor Soccer League[12]
- Charles W. Hooper (class of 1975), Lieutenant General in the United States Army who has held the position of Director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency since 2017[13]
- Cleveland Lewis (born 1955), first African American North American Soccer League player and brother of Olympic track athletes Carl and Carol Lewis[14]
- Patrick McFarland (born 1951), former professional basketball player who played in the American Basketball Association for the Denver Rockets, Denver Nuggets, and San Diego Sails[15]
References
edit- ^ Kase, Lori Miller. "Saying Goodbye To A School", The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 25, 1989, backed up by the Internet Archive as of March 4, 2016. Accessed February 2, 2022. "Year after year, seniors from John F. Kennedy High School migrate to Willingboro High School's stadium to graduate. Given the intense - and longstanding - rivalry between the two schools, Willingboro is an unlikely site for Kennedy's convocation. For the Class of 1989, which on Thursday became the last class to graduate"
- ^ "3 Counties Share Classroom Expansion", Courier-Post, September 3, 1960. Accessed April 1, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "This new Levittown Junior-Senior High School, located near the municipal building, was built by Levitt & Sons Inc. at an undisclosed price. Between 700 and 750 students arc expected for the first year. The facility has 3 classroom win'j;s with 10 rooms each. Last year Levittown students in the 9th and 12th grades attended Burlington High while those in the 10th and 11th grades attended Lenape Regional."
- ^ Still Jr., James M. "Levittown School Untested Football Team to Compete With Top-Ranking Players in Fall", Courier-Post, June 10, 1960. Accessed February 2, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Levittown Junior-Senior High School will open at five-sixths of capacity and will have pupils in all six classes, grades seventh through twelfth, it is designed accommodate....Levittown Junior-Senior High School is being built to accommodate 1200 pupils... The high school pupils attend either Burlington High School or Rancocas Regional High School, in Mt. Holly.... Plans call for the Junior-Senior High School to become a junior high school in 1962 or 1963. At that time Levittown's high school will open if the township's expansion continues at its present rate."
- ^ Quinn, Laura. "Willingboro Girds for School Merger", The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 28, 1989. Accessed October 8, 2008.
- ^ Mayk, Lauren. "Willingboro Nudges Jfk Center Plans Along Council Members Met With A Developer To Talk About Transforming The Former School. Details Are Due Nov. 23.", The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 25, 1999. Accessed October 8, 2008.
- ^ Comegno, Carol (September 28, 2015). "Kennedy Center in Willingboro gets makeover". Courier-Post.
- ^ Riordan, Kevin. "Landmark becomes a center of contention", The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 18, 2014. Accessed June 24, 2015.
- ^ Krebs, Rose. "Willingboro Kennedy Center will be renamed after President Obama", Archived August 3, 2020, at the Wayback Machine Burlington County Times, August 6, 2014. Accessed June 17, 2023. "The Kennedy Center, which is undergoing a major overhaul, will be renamed in honor of President Barack Obama."
- ^ O'Reilly, David. "Willingboro's years as soccer hotbed to be played again", The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 17, 2014. Accessed October 31, 2015. "Another star was Tony Bellinger, drafted by the Dallas Tornado immediately after graduating from Kennedy in 1977."
- ^ Bernstein, Josh. Legendary Locals of Willingboro, p. 85. Arcadia Publishing, 2013. ISBN 9781467100908. Accessed January 27, 2022. "Jeff Gammage is a staff writer at The Philadelphia Inquirer, where he was part of a five-reporter team that won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, awarded for an investigation into violence in the city public schools.... He is a 1978 graduate of John F. Kennedy High School and grew up in Buckingham Park."
- ^ Staff. "Willingboro hosting college planning workshop", Burlington County Times, September 24, 2014. Accessed October 31, 2015. "Kennedy High School graduate Anthony Griggs, a former NFL standout, will be a guest speaker talking about the college recruiting process and Taryn Gall, Lehigh University's assistant athletic director, will discuss NCAA compliance and college rules and regulations."
- ^ Cuneo, Ed. "Duccilli, Lewis, Grimaldi relive time when Kennedy was king", Courier-Post, March 17, 1990. Accessed January 27, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Yes, the Kennedy High School boys' soccer team in the mid-1970s was something special. And last night three members of that team relived that time when, from 1972 to 1974, Kennedy had no peer in South Jersey and few in the state. Former Kennedy coach Charlie Duccilli, forward Cleve Lewis and midfielder David Grimaldi were inducted last night along with former Cinnaminson coach Jay Phillips, former Willingboro youth coach Al Caseiro, Pine Hill youth coach Charlie Kellogg, former Millville goalie Trey Beck, former Sterling forward Dave Rauer and South Jersey Amateur Men's Soccer League commissioner Jim Moyer."
- ^ Krebs, Rose. "Two-star Army general from Willingboro has enjoyed long military career", Burlington County Times, June 11, 2012. Accessed December 1, 2019. "U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Charles Wayne Hooper, a native of Willingboro, has traveled all over the world during his 33-year military career, but he remains a Jersey boy at heart.... It was those roots that helped lead the 1975 graduate of John F. Kennedy High School to the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y."
- ^ Lanni, Patrick. "Ed Grant, track and field authority and former Star-Ledger reporter, dies at 94", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, May 4, 2021. Accessed January 27, 2022. "At the time in 1973, Grant was on an assignment writing about Cleveland Lewis, the oldest Lewis sibling, 100-goal scorer at Willingboro's Kennedy High."
- ^ Patrick McFarland, Basketball-Reference.com. Accessed October 31, 2015.