As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,364 students and 99.5 classroom teachers (on anFTE basis), for astudent–teacher ratio of 13.7:1. There were 936 students (68.6% of enrollment) eligible forfree lunch and 48 (3.5% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]
Ferris offers specialized learning centers focusing on Finance, Hospitality & Tourism, Management / Office Procedures, Marketing and International Studies. The magnet offers courses in Accounting, Economics, Banking, Financial Planning, Intro to Finance, Computers Business Applications 1&2. During their senior year, students have an opportunity to take a paid internship co-op program[4] at Merrill Lynch, Hyatt, Pershing, Bank of Tokyo, or the Board of Education.[citation needed]
The school occupies a single building at 35 Colgate Street. The building next to it, former Junior Academy building—previously the Kennedy School annex—has been sold and is now no longer part of Ferris High School. Beginning with the 2025–26 school year, Infinity Institute relocated into that annex building next door, leaving its leased site at 193 Old Bergen Road and becoming a separate magnet school within the Ferris campus area. Ferris has a grass soccer field adjacent to the school that is used for physical activities and home soccer games.
The school was the 299th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide inNew Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology.[5] The school had been ranked 270th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 320th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[6] The magazine ranked the school 280th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[7] The school was ranked 284th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[8] Schooldigger.com ranked the school 341st out of 367 public high schools statewide in its 2009-10 rankings which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the language arts literacy and mathematics components of theHigh School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).[9]
Ferris high school also has a program for young girls to become involved with technology and pursue the careers associated with the field.
The James J. Ferris High School Bulldogs[2] compete in theHudson County Interscholastic League, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Hudson County and operates under the supervision of theNew Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[10] With 1,009 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group III for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 761 to 1,058 students in that grade range.[11] The football team competes in the Ivy Red division of theNorth Jersey Super Football Conference, which includes 112 schools competing in 20 divisions, making it the nation's biggest football-only high school sports league.[12][13] The football team is one of the 12 programs assigned to the two Ivy divisions starting in 2020, which are intended to allow weaker programs ineligible for playoff participation to compete primarily against each other.[14] The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group IV North for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 893 to 1,315 students.[15]
The James J. Ferris High School Bulldogs offers fall sports, winter sports, and spring sports including:
Fall - Football, Boys Soccer, Girls Soccer, Cross Country, Girls Tennis and Girls Volleyball
Winter - Boys Basketball, Girls Basketball, Boys Swimming, Girls Swimming, Fencing, Indoor Track and Bowling
Spring - Outdoor Track, Baseball, Softball, Boys Volleyball and Boys Tennis
The boys' track team won the Group III state indoor relay championships in 1973.[16]
The baseball team won NJSIAA North I Group III sectional titles in 1943, 1947 and 1952.[17] The team won the Hudson County Interscholastic Association League and won the Hudson County Tournament championship with a 5-4 win againstHudson Catholic Regional High School in the finals, ending the program's 69-year wait after most recently winning the title in 1952.[18]
In 1985, Coach Charles Wilkinson led the boys' basketball team to the state Group IV semifinal, falling toElizabeth High School by a score of 45-44 to end their season.[19]
^Cooper, Darren."Super Football Conference creating 'Ivy Division' for struggling programs",The Record, May 1, 2019. Accessed March 24, 2021. "Seeking to restore participation and enthusiasm to high school football programs that have struggled to compete consistently, the Super Football Conference announced plans to start a 12-team 'Ivy Division' in the 2020 season. Teams that compete in the 'Ivy Division' will play exclusively against each other and won't participate in the NJISAA football playoffs.... Twelve schools from Bergen, Hudson, Essex and Morris counties have applied to compete in the Ivy Division: Bergen Tech, Cliffside Park, Dickinson, Fair Lawn, Ferris, Memorial, Dover, Dwight-Morrow, Fort Lee, Glen Ridge, Marist and Tenafly."
^Bevensee, Rich."Ferris ends 69-year wait, rallies past Hudson Catholic in Hudson County Tourney final", NJ Advance Media forNJ.com, May 27, 2021. Accessed February 17, 2022. "Ponce’s third hit of the game drove home the winning run from third base and propelled second-seeded Ferris to a wild 5-4 walk-off victory over fourth-seeded Hudson Catholic in the Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic League championship game on Thursday evening at Don Ahearn Veterans Memorial Stadium in Bayonne.... By twice coming from behind in the final two innings, Ferris nailed down the program’s first Hudson County championship since 1952."
^"Elizabeth advances in Group 4",The Record, March 14, 1985. Accessed February 17, 2022, viaNewspapers.com. "Mike Goodson's free throw with 27 seconds remaining proved to be the deciding point as Elizabeth edged Ferris of Jersey City, 45-44, last night in a NJSIAA Group 4 semifinal boys basketball game at Rutgers University. The Minutemen play Camden Saturday for the Group 4 championship."
^Our School, James J. Ferris High School. Accessed January 28, 2026.
^"One of three surviving Tuskegee Airmen in Arizona dies at 95",KPNX, March 9, 2021. Accessed February 6, 2022. "At 17 years old, Ashby enlisted in the Army Air Corps Aviation Cadet program and was called to active duty in August 1944 after graduating from Ferris High School in Jersey City, N.J."
^Adams, Vincent."Modeling, Teaching, Acting, Keep June of Bay Ridge Busy",New York Daily News, November 23, 1948. Accessed March 19, 2023, viaNewspapers.com. "One of the busiest girls in Brooklyn is lovely June Kirby of Bay Ridge, who scarcely has time to say 'good morning' before plunging into her daily routine.... In the class book at Ferris High School in Jersey City June is listed as the prettiest member of her class and the girl with the most glamorous hair."
^Samuel Claesson (March 31, 2023).Top Models. Sequoia Press. p. 18.ISBN9798889921806.
^Aaron Manning,Pro Football Reference. Accessed February 17, 2025. "Born: August 26, 1961 in Jersey City, NJ (Age: 63-175d)... High School: Ferris (NJ)"
^Hague, Jim."Scoreboard: Remembering the man they called 'Tiger'",The Hudson Reporter, January 18, 2005. Accessed January 3, 2018. "He was one of the greatest high school basketball players to ever come out of Ferris High School, becoming the school's all-time leading scorer in an era when scoring in basketball was as rare as the Hope Diamond. In the 1950s, during Nicodemo's heyday, he was the first Hudson County hoopster to employ the use of a jump shot."
^Staff."Ralph Peduto",Santa Cruz Sentinel viaLegacy.com, May 31, 2014. Accessed January 3, 2018. "As a child Ralph was part of a rich and textured life in Jersey City. He attended both Ferris High School and Dickinson High School where in 2000 he was inducted into Dickinson's Hall of Fame for achievement in performing arts."
