This weekend, the very first graduating class from will celebrate its 50th class reunion. These people were the first to graduate from the school, even before it was split into east and west. So in honor of the reunion, and our week of coverage of the class, we present five quick facts to know about the origins of the high school.
Information from Wikipedia.
- Originally Somerville—Before Bridgewater-Raritan High School even opened, students in the district attended Somerville High School. That lasted until the 1950s.
- Late 1950s—At that point, the first high school was constructed, with Norman Gathany hired as the first principal.
- Two Schools—Increasing enrollment in the 1960s led to the building of a second high school, and the new one was named Bridgewater-Raritan High School East, while the original school was changed to Bridgewater-Raritan High School West.
- 1990s—The school remained separate until the 1990s, when decreasing enrollment caused the district to decide to combine them again. The high school east became the middle school when they officially consolidated.
- Today's Mascot—The mascot for the high school is the Panther, and the colors are black and red in a school with a nice-sized enrollment that people often refer to as looking like a college campus.
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