Schools in Middletown: A Brief History
According to Franklin Ellis’ History of Monmouth County (1885), the first English-language school in all of New Jersey was established in Middletown between 1665 and 1678, with its teacher being John Smith, one of Middletown’s original European landowners. Other schools also appeared over the following centuries, with the first publicly-funded ones starting around 1829. These small schools were governed by local districts, until the township-unified public school system as we know it today formed in 1894.

Until 1911, students had to travel to other towns for their high school education. In that year, Middletown Township High School was established in the Andrews Hotel in Navesink, and moved the following year into its own building in Leonardo, where Bayshore Middle School is today (the school was often referred to as Leonardo High School at this time). As population continued to increase, more schools were added.    

Yearbooks and Student Publications: A Brief History
The first significant publications by or for students may have come from Middletown Township High School (MTHS). The first publication was called The Interlude and it debuted in 1914. It was published twice annually, and featured varied works of the students. In 1915, a magazine-style student-run publication replaced The Interlude, titled The Reflector. The Reflector was published about four times annually, and also featured a variety of student works, though some end-of-year issues contained some elements common to standard yearbooks. In 1922, the first official edition of the MTHS yearbook appeared, which was titled The Odranoel the following year. It took its distinctive name from the backwards spelling of the school's location. Its title remained unchanged even after the high school's move to Tindall Road, when it was no longer located in Leonardo. When MTHS split into North and South, Middletown North eventually changed the title to Polaris. Middletown South titled their yearbook Aquiline. Other student publications at the public high schools have appeared over the years, including literary magazines and newspapers. Yearbooks have also been published by Middletown's public elementary and middle schools, as well as all levels of the private schools.

Digital Access to Middletown Township High School Yearbooks 
We are proud to present the following yearbooks and student publications of Middletown Township High School for personal, non-commercial use. Funding for the project was provided in part by the Investors Bank Foundation and through volunteer work by students of the Social Studies Honor Society at Middletown North. The books were provided by the archive of the Middletown Township Historical Society (which were donated to us by the community) or by the library at Middletown North. We are thankful for everyone's help. If you would like to show your appreciation for this resource, a membership or donation would be greatly welcomed. As more books and funding become available, we will be adding to this digital collection.

Directions for Use:
  • The books are best viewed on a computer or tablet
  • Place your mouse over the images of the books to see the year of publication and title. Click on a book image and it will open into a new browser/tab as a PDF. Some files may take a few seconds to load.
  • Once you have clicked on a book, you may browse it page by page, or you can search the text by using CTRL-F on a PC or CMD-F on a Mac​

Reflectors & Other Student Publications

Yearbooks

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PO Box 180 Middletown, NJ 07748