West Side High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school complex in Newark, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Newark Public Schools. As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 658 students and 45.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.5:1. There were 473 students (71.9% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 33 (5.0% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch. The West Side campus has hosted two separate high school programs that operate independently but have shared a facility and athletic programs: Newark Early College High School, which prepares students in grades 7–12 to complete up to 60 college-level credits during their high school career Newark Vocational High School prepares students in grades 9-12 for college and career options. History West Side High School opened on September 14, 1925, in a building designed to provide students with classrooms, an auditorium, gyms, and other facilities, serving 520 boys and 809 girls. The school had been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools until 2011, when the school's accreditation status was removed. Awards, recognition and rankings The school was the 326th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology. The school had been ranked 268th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 319th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 313th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 313th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. The school has twice received gifts of $50,000 from Ellen DeGeneres. West Side also received a gift of $500,000 from Oprah Winfrey to be used for the school's summer initiative. Athletics The West Side High School Roughriders compete in the Super Essex Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Essex County and was established following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). Prior to the 2009 realignment, the team had been in the Skyline Division of the Northern Hills Conference, which included schools in Essex, Morris and Passaic counties. With 728 students