Madison Central High School (New Jersey)

Madison Central High School is a defunct public high school in Old Bridge Township, in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, that opened in 1962 and closed in June 1994.

Increasing numbers of students from Old Bridge attending Matawan High School led to double sessions in the 1960-61 school year, with the prospect of triple sessions being necessary as the growing number of students being sent from Old Bridge could swell enrollment even further beyond capacity.[1] The school opened in 1962 as Madison Township High School, serving freshman and sophomores, while those in their junior and senior years continued to attend East Brunswick High School, Keyport High School, Matawan High School or South River High School as part of sending/receiving relationships. Cedar Ridge High School opened in 1968 to help alleviate overcrowding at Madison Central.[2] Old Bridge High School opened in September 1994 and was formed from the merger of Cedar Ridge and Madison Central, which were the two existing high schools in Old Bridge Township.[3]

The school had an enrollment of 1,210 in the 1990-1991 school year, slightly larger than the student body at Cedar Ridge.[4]

  1. ^ "3 Sessions Looming in Matawan School", The New York Times, January 25, 1960. Accessed July 26, 2018.
  2. ^ Haley, John. "Presenting the 50-year history of Old Bridge football (Madison Township/Madison Central, Cedar Ridge, Old Bridge)", The Star-Ledger, November 28, 2013. Accessed July 26, 2018. "Madison Township High School opened in 1962 with freshmen and sophomores only.... In 1962, juniors and seniors living in Old Bridge attended South River, Matawan, East Brunswick and Keyport high schools... To alleviate the population problem, a second high school in town opened in 1968 - Cedar Ridge."
  3. ^ Sargeant, Keith. "7:30 p.m. – A high school sports powerhouse e-merges slowly", Home News Tribune, backed up by the Internet Archive as of December 23, 1999. Accessed July 26, 2018. "When Madison Central and Cedar Ridge merged in September 1994, most observers agreed that the Knights would rule the local sports scene."
  4. ^ Cheslow, Jerry. "If You're Thinking of Living in: Old Bridge", The New York Times, April 21, 1991. Accessed July 26, 2018. "Cedar Ridge High has 1,150 students and Madison Central High School has 1,210, allowing the schools to offer a wide variety of advanced placement courses. According to the Dr. Korshalla, the average class scores on state-mandated proficiency tests in reading and mathematics are constantly in the 90th percentile."