Navy Junior ROTC Magnet Program
Colts Neck High School is home to the highest-ranked Navy Junior ROTC (NJROTC) Unit in the country. That’s right, the top unit out of all others in the United States. The dedication of the young men and women in the NJROTC program is incredible and it shows.
The Freehold Regional High School District’s Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps Magnet Program is a four-year leadership and character development program housed at Colts Neck High School. The program was established in 2002. The mission of the NJROTC Magnet Program is to instill in students the values of citizenship, service to the United States, personal responsibility, and a sense of accomplishment. The hallmark of the unit is the values of citizenship and service to the community upon which students individually build a foundation of trust and leadership. The NJROTC Instructors build cadets' individual self-confidence and leadership abilities to enable them to succeed and excel, individually and collectively.
The unit was named the “Most Outstanding Unit” in the United States for the 2018-2019 school year by the United States Navy.
Colts Neck cadets achieve their educational objectives by working within the framework of a military-style organization that offers them opportunities for travel to interesting destinations, as well as participation in unique extracurricular activities and numerous community service events. Individual cadets are encouraged to seek and attain promotions to military ranks that will enable them to achieve the levels of individual responsibilities they desire.
During the 2018-2019 school year, the unit’s 191 cadets completed a total of 10,309 hours of service to communities throughout the Freehold Regional High School District footprint. That equates to approximately 54 community service hours per cadet. In addition, many of the cadets excelled at their academic studies, receiving distinguished awards and scholarship offerings. The group’s extracurricular teams have also shined while competing at the national level. At the 2019 Navy National Academic, Athletic, and Drill Championship in Pensacola, Florida in April, Colts Neck’s NJROTC finished 11th overall with a first-place ranking in athletics. At the Navy JROTC Orienteering National Championship in Los Angeles, California in February 2019, Colts Neck finished 5th in the nation.
Colts Neck’s NJROTC has been designated by the Navy as a Distinguished Unit with Academic Honors for the past eleven years consecutively. Since 2010, graduating cadets have been offered approximately $8.5 million in ROTC scholarships, and millions more in academic and athletic scholarships and grants. NJROTC Alumni are attending Ivy League Universities (such as Yale and Princeton), along with large and small colleges and universities, and our nation’s service academies.
The commitment of the NJROTC Magnet Program Students and Staff is proudly displayed in every honor the unit brings back to Colts Neck High School.