Teaneck High School, 1928

Queen Anne Road and Cranford Place

The 1920s expansion of public infrastructure in Teaneck matched the growth of suburban communities throughout northern New Jersey, as population spread outward from major cities. Teaneck's public school system, like those of nearby Ridgewood, Montclair, Englewood, Westfield and the Oranges, developed to meet the demands of a growing middle class. The distinguished architecture of American schools of this period was a reflection of the innovations in elementary and secondary education which blossomed during this great period of civic-minded beneficence. Teaneck High School is an excellent example of the ordered and imposing Collegiate Gothic or Tudorbethan style which predominated in educational facilities during the early part of this century.

Designed by the noted New Jersey firm of Hacker & Hacker, the school occupies a 13.5 acre green campus adjoining the Route 4 parkway, and facing an expansive set of athletic fields to the west. The building is linear, rising two stories and punctuated by three gatelike masses reminding one of the country houses of the Tudor period. The central tower uses a double turret motif taken by way of England from such influential American campus ensembles as Cope & Stewardson's Freshman Quadrangle at the University of Pennsylvania. Fine English bond brickwork interwoven with limestone belt courses, quoins, crenelations and gargoyles lend an air of elegant correctness to the style. The building was constructed at a cost of $ 726,000 by E. & C. Haerter and dedicated on January 1, 1929. 650 pupils were enrolled that year.