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]

Athletics

The football team won the Central Jersey Group IV state sectional championship in 1973, 1987 and 1988.^[5] The team had a perfect 11-0 season in 1973, winning the Central Jersey Group IV state sectional championship.^[2] The team finished the 1988 season with an 11-0 record and was ranked 11th in the nation by USA Today after winning the Central Jersey Group IV sectional title with a 20-6 win against Middletown High School South in the championship game.^[6]^[7]

The wrestling team won the Group IV state championship in 1990.^[8]

Notable alumni

Steve Corodemus (born 1952, class of 1970), politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1992–2008, where he represented the 11th Legislative District.^[9]
Fabian Nicieza (born 1961, class of 1979), writer and co-creator of Deadpool for Marvel Comics.^[10]
Mark Schlissel (born 1957), president of the University of Michigan from 2014 to 2022.^[11]

References

^ "3 Sessions Looming in Matawan School", The New York Times, January 25, 1960. Accessed July 26, 2018.
^ ^a ^b 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."
^ 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."
^ 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."
^ NJSIAA Football History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 1, 2022.
^ "School Sports: New Jersey; Wayne Valley Routs Ramapo", The New York Times, December 4, 1988. Accessed December 17, 2020. "Ed Walsh, a senior quarterback, clinched the state scoring crown when he ran twice for touchdowns and propelled the defending champion, Madison Central (11-0), to a 20-6 victory over Middletown South (9-2) in the Central Jersey, Group 4 final in Old Bridge."
^ "Year-by-year final football rankings", USA Today, June 20, 200. Accessed January 30, 2021.
^ NJSIAA Wrestling Team Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 1, 2022.
^ Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey: 2004 Edition, p. 260. Lawyers Diary and Manual, LLC, 2004. ISBN 9781577411871. Accessed October 6, 2019. "Assemblyman Corodemus was born in Newark on Jan. 14, 1952. He graduated from Madison Township High School in 1970 and from Rutgers University in 1974."
^ O'Donnell, Chris. "Creator of weekend box office champion 'Deadpool' from NJ", Courier News, January 14, 2016. Accessed July 26, 2018. "Eventually Nicieza was buying copies of Marvel’s Fantastic Four and The Avengers when they were just 12 cents. He set his sights on being a comic book writer after the family moved to Old Bridge and he graduated from now defunct Madison Central High School in 1979."
^ Luicci, Lori. "Old Bridge names 3 to Wall of Fame", Courier News, May 25, 2017. Accessed October 6, 2019. "The three new members of the Wall of Fame are William Boland (Madison Central Class of 1988), Ted Maines (Madison Central Class of 1976) and Mark Schlissel (Madison Central, Class of 1975). Boland and Maines attended the annual ceremony. Schlissel, who was named the 14th president of the University of Michigan in 2014, was unable to attend."

40°25′52″N 74°17′47″W / 40.4311°N 74.2963°W / 40.4311; -74.2963

[1] "3 Sessions Looming in Matawan School", The New York Times, January 25, 1960. Accessed July 26, 2018.

[Football-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."

[5] NJSIAA Football History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 1, 2022.

[6] "School Sports: New Jersey; Wayne Valley Routs Ramapo", The New York Times, December 4, 1988. Accessed December 17, 2020. "Ed Walsh, a senior quarterback, clinched the state scoring crown when he ran twice for touchdowns and propelled the defending champion, Madison Central (11-0), to a 20-6 victory over Middletown South (9-2) in the Central Jersey, Group 4 final in Old Bridge."

[7] "Year-by-year final football rankings", USA Today, June 20, 200. Accessed January 30, 2021.

[8] NJSIAA Wrestling Team Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 1, 2022.

[9] Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey: 2004 Edition, p. 260. Lawyers Diary and Manual, LLC, 2004. ISBN 9781577411871. Accessed October 6, 2019. "Assemblyman Corodemus was born in Newark on Jan. 14, 1952. He graduated from Madison Township High School in 1970 and from Rutgers University in 1974."

[10] O'Donnell, Chris. "Creator of weekend box office champion 'Deadpool' from NJ", Courier News, January 14, 2016. Accessed July 26, 2018. "Eventually Nicieza was buying copies of Marvel’s Fantastic Four and The Avengers when they were just 12 cents. He set his sights on being a comic book writer after the family moved to Old Bridge and he graduated from now defunct Madison Central High School in 1979."

[11] Luicci, Lori. "Old Bridge names 3 to Wall of Fame", Courier News, May 25, 2017. Accessed October 6, 2019. "The three new members of the Wall of Fame are William Boland (Madison Central Class of 1988), Ted Maines (Madison Central Class of 1976) and Mark Schlissel (Madison Central, Class of 1975). Boland and Maines attended the annual ceremony. Schlissel, who was named the 14th president of the University of Michigan in 2014, was unable to attend."

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