St. Joseph High School is a four-year co-educational Catholic high school located in Hammonton, New Jersey, United States, serving students in grades 9-12, under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools since 1990. After being established in 1935 as a combination preparatory school and seminary in 1935, the high school was opened to all attendees in 1942. As of the 2013-14 school year, the school had an enrollment of 371 students and 23.9 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 15.5:1. The school's student body was 81.4% White, 8.6% Black, 5.7% Asian, 2.4% Hispanic, 0.3% American Indian / Alaska Native and 1.6% two or more races. On April 17, 2020, the Diocese of Camden announced that despite its status as a football powerhouse, St. Joseph was one of five Catholic schools in New Jersey which would close permanently at the end of the school year on June 30, 2020 due to financial problems caused by lack of enrollment in recent years and lack of community fundraising, which the school reliant on less significant diocesan and parish fundraising.
Athletics
The St. Joseph High School Wildcats compete in the National Division of the Cape-Atlantic League, an athletic conference consisting of both parochial and private and public high schools located in Atlantic County, Cape May County, Cumberland County, and Gloucester County, that operates under the aegis of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. The football team competes in the Independence Division of the 95-team West Jersey Football League superconference and was classified by the NJSIAA as Non-Public Group II for football for 2017-18. St. Joseph's football team has won 27 state championships in the playoff era that started in 1974, including in 1977, 1983, 1985, 1989–93, 1996–97, 1999-2006, 2009-15 and 2017. The team won its seventh consecutive sectional title in 2015 with a 19-6 win against Hudson Catholic Regional High School in the Non-Public Group II playoff championship game. In 2017, the team finished the season with a 12-0 record and won the Non-Public Group II state championship with a 30-14 win against third-seeded Mater Dei High School in the tournament final; the victory was the program's eighth in nine seasons, the only exception being in 2016, when Mater Dei won its first state championship with a 26-0 win against St. Joseph. The wrestling team won the Non-Public, South B sectional title in 2006 with a 45-31 win over Sacred Heart High School in the tournament final. The softball team won the 2007 Non-Public South B state sectional championship with a string of shutout victories over Timothy Christian School in the first round, St. Rose High School n the semifinals and Gloucester Catholic High School in the tournament final. The boys' track team won the South Jersey Non-Public B sectional title in 2011 for the first time in school history, edging the Pingry School by a single point after winning the 4x400-meter relay, the final event held at the meet. One week later, the boys won the state championship for the first time ever at South Plainfield High School. In 2014 both the varsity baseball and softball teams won the South Jersey Non-Public B title.
Teacher controversy
In June 2005, religion teacher and athletics coach Michael McColgan was arrested on charges brought against him in relation to child pornography traced back to his online account. Upon searching his home, authorities discovered dozens more images on his personal computer and also copied onto disk. McColgan pleaded guilty and was sentenced in a federal court in May 2006 to 48 months in prison for possession of child pornography.
