East Brunswick High School is a comprehensive public high school serving students in grades ten through twelve in East Brunswick township, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It operates as part of East Brunswick Public Schools. The school motto is "Excellence with Honor and Integrity."

The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1965; the school's accreditation expires in July 2030.East Brunswick High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed December 18, 2024.

As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,124 students and 162.9 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.0:1. There were 402 students (18.9% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 111 (5.2% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for East Brunswick High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.

History East Brunswick High School opened for the 1958–59 school year. Previously, students living in the Township had attended South River High School in neighboring South River. In that first year, the school housed grades six, seven, eight and nine. Those four classes occupied the school until June 1962, when the original 9th graders became its first graduating class and the school contained grades nine through twelve. Because the school exceeded its intended capacity of 1,700 students, freshmen were dropped into the town's two junior high schools in 1967, later one junior high school. Enrollment reached a peak of about 2,600 in 1973. By 1990, the school had fewer than 2,000 students, falling to around 1,700 by 1997.

Additions to the school were built in 1965, 1970 and 2001, in efforts to ease overcrowding. The 2001 expansion included a second level of classrooms, over the administrative offices; a corridor connecting three "buildings" that had previously been connected only by a covered outdoor walkway; and expanded facilities for the cafeteria, library, arts and athletic departments.

The school day at East Brunswick High School used to begin at 7:26 am and ended at 2:12 pm. Initiated in the 2022-23 school year, school now begins at 8:00 am and ends at 2:45pm. It operates its daily bell schedule on an 8-period "block schedule" system (4 83-minute periods per day), with an additional homeroom period occurring between the 2nd, and 3rd class period of each day.Bell Schedule, East Brunswick High School. Accessed May 21, 2026.

At the beginning of the 2005–06 school year, the school instituted an ID system where the students must wear their IDs at all times as part of security measures. In 2018, following a series of incidents at schools nationwide led the district to add armed police officers to patrol the school.Chen, David W.; and Sterenfled, Ethan. "Armed Officers Will Patrol New Jersey Town’s Schools", The New York Times, February 20, 2018. Accessed November 18, 2025. "When classes were dismissed Tuesday at East Brunswick High School, students could be seen yelling and laughing as they exited the building, just as they would on any other day.... Students who normally did not wear their IDs on a lanyard were required to because of tightened security. And everywhere, students said, people were talking about the school board’s decision last week to place armed police officers inside the schools."

Awards, recognition and rankings

East Brunswick High School was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive, during the 1990–91 school year.National Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982 Through 2019 (PDF), United States Department of Education. Accessed September 1, 2024.

In the 2014 "America's Top High School", Newsweek ranked the school 130th overall in the nation."America's Top High School", Newsweek. Accessed September 16, 2014

In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 484th among participating public high schools and 41st among schools in New Jersey.Streib, Lauren. "America's Best High Schools" , The Daily Beast, May 6, 2013. Accessed May 9, 2013.

In the 2012 "Ranking America's High Schools" issue by The Washington Post, the school was ranked 45th in New Jersey, after being ranked 48th statewide in 2011.Mathews, Jay. , The Washington Post. Accessed January 15, 2013. In the May 22, 2007, issue of Newsweek, ranking the country's top high schools, East Brunswick High School was listed in 997th place, the 30th-highest ranked school in New Jersey."The Top of the Class: The complete list of the 1,200 top U.S. schools" , Newsweek, May 22, 2007. Accessed May 24, 2007. The school was ranked 886th in the May 8, 2006, issue of Newsweek, listing the "Top 1,200 High Schools in The United States". Top 1,200 High Schools in The United States, Newsweek, May 8, 2006.

For the 1996–97 school year, East Brunswick High School was named a "Star School" by the New Jersey Department of Education, the highest honor that a New Jersey school can achieve.New Jersey Department of Education Star School Award recipient detail 1996-97 school year, East Brunswick High School, accessed May 26, 2006.

In the April 1996 issue, the high school was cited as best in the state by Redbook magazine.A Message from the Principal , accessed January 13, 2007."Public Hearing before Senate Education Committee and Assembly Education Committee Senate Bill No. 40 and Assembly Bill No. 20" , New Jersey Legislature, July 25, 1996. Accessed November 19, 2020. "East Brunswick High School was named the best high school in New Jersey and one of the best 51 in the nation in the April 1996 issue of Redbook magazine."

During the 2001–02 school year, East Brunswick High School's Intergenerational Program was honored by the Best Practices Program in the state of New Jersey.Intergenerational Studies: Linking Senior Citizens and High School Students, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed January 13, 2007.

The school was the 47th-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.Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014. The school had been ranked 121st in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 71st in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 7, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 76th in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed February 7, 2011. The school was ranked 60th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which included 316 schools across the state."Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.

The Schooldigger.com website ranked the school tied for 109th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 35 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (87.9%) and language arts literacy (94.4%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA)., Schooldigger.com. Accessed March 4, 2012.

Curriculum and grading In addition to regular, honors, and Advanced Placement classes, the curriculum includes numerous electives in humanities, business, visual arts, music, drama, family and consumer science, and technology education. Two Cooperative Education programs are available, as well as a shared time program at the East Brunswick campus of the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical High Schools.

The Board of Education changed the grading system to a "quality point" type of system where grades are equal to a number (GPA) and the GPA from the four quarters plus midterms (and/or finals) are averaged as well. Grade Point Average calculations are weighted three different ways: Standard scale, Honors Scale and AP scale. The Honors Scale transposes GPA values to their respective letter grades by a factor of 1.15, while the AP scale transposes by a factor of 1.25.EBHS Student Handbook 2007-2008 . Accessed October 9, 2007.

Extracurricular activities East Brunswick High School offers a full range of clubs and events. The school has achieved success in the national We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution competition, for which it won the national title in 1998, and then again three years in a row from 2004 to 2006."East Brunswick High School Captures the We the People National Title", Center Correspondent, Spring / Summer 2004. Accessed November 19, 2020. "Students representing East Brunswick High School in East Brunswick, New Jersey, placed first in the 17th annual We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution national finals held in Washington, D.C., May 1–3, 2004.""East Brunswick High School Places First in the We the People National Finals", Center Correspondent, Spring / Summer 2005. Accessed November 19, 2020. "Students from East Brunswick High School in East Brunswick, New Jersey, placed first in the 18th annual We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution national finals held in Washington, D.C., April 30–May 3, 2005.""East Brunswick High School Wins We the People National Finals", Center Correspondent, Fall 2006. Accessed November 19, 2020. "Students from New Jersey's East Brunswick High School demonstrated their mastery of the Constitution with their first-place finish at the 19th Annual We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution National Finals, held April 29–May 1, 2006, in Washington, D.C." The team was the state champion in 2019–20.We The People, New Jersey Center For Civic Education. Accessed November 19, 2020. "At the 2019-20 annual New Jersey State We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution competition for high schools, East Brunswick High School placed first and represented New Jersey at the National We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution Competition in April." Through 2005, the team won the We The People state competition in 17 of the program's first 18 years."Constitution champs on roll; 17th state win by E. Brunswick teams", Central New Jersey Home News, February 10, 2005. Accessed November 19, 2020. "For the 17th time, a team from East Brunswick High School has captured the statewide title in the We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution competition. The 29-member high school senior class from the Institute for Political and Legal Education program competed in Trenton yesterday to defend the school's state title against seven high school teams. The competition tests students' applied knowledge of the U.S. Constitution. East Brunswick has taken the state honors every year, except for 2002, in the 18-year history of the civics competition."

Athletics