November 13, 2026

A Message from the Superintendent

Dear Ramapo Indian Hills Families,

As we enter the season of gratitude, there is so much to celebrate across our district! Our classrooms are buzzing with hands-on creativity, our student musicians and vocalists are earning top competitive honors, and our fall athletes have delivered historic postseason runs across soccer, cross-country, and football.

Thank you for your continued support of our students, staff, and schools. Best of luck to our Raiders competing in finals this weekend, and wishing all of our families a wonderful season ahead!

With gratitude,

Shauna DeMarco

Superintendent, Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District

Creative Skills Growing

District students are engaging in creative, hands-on learning across art, applied technology, and woodworking. In Ms. Batti’s art classes, students are manipulating, folding, cutting, and crumpling paper into custom visual references to capture shading and light in graphite value drawings. Meanwhile, Mr. Schilstra's Applied Tech and Design students are applying the engineering design process to build, test, and recalibrate custom-built, fully functioning catapults. Additionally, Mr. Fazio’s Wood Processing 1 class is safely operating power equipment—including table saws, miter saws, and CNC routers—to measure, assemble, and customize wooden American flags. To view photos of these and other student projects, visit the district website.

Our Soccer State Finalists

The Ramapo High School girls soccer team is having an unforgettable postseason run, charging all the way into the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 3 Tournament Final!

The Raiders have kept the momentum strong throughout their playoff campaign, dominating Wayne Valley 4–1 in the semifinals. Sophomore Lindsay Samala has been electric on offense—notching a first-round hat trick and adding two more goals in the semifinals—alongside clutch contributions from freshman Cameron McKee and seniors Eleanor Wezner, Bridget Cannon, and Amelia Ruebenacker.

As we go to press for this newsletter, we wish the Raiders the best of luck as they take on Old Tappan for the sectional championship. No matter the outcome, we congratulate the entire team and hope that Friday, November 13th will be a lucky day indeed!

What a thrilling finish for the Ramapo Boys Soccer team! On Wednesday, November 11, the fourth-seeded Raiders punched their ticket back to the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 3 sectional final with an exciting 2-1 semifinal victory over ninth-seeded NV/Old Tappan. Junior James Boothby got the Raiders rolling in the first half with a clutch penalty kick, and after Old Tappan tied things up in the second, senior Marcus Reynoso delivered the ultimate late-game heroics—ripping a feed from Jacob Preziosi off the right post and into the net with just four minutes left on the clock! Backed by four huge saves from goalkeeper Dylan Kleinschmidt, the defending state champions are officially headed to the championship match! They'll take on Tenafly on Saturday, November 14th. We congratulate the entire team on their success thus far and continue to wish them the best for Saturday's match.

Indian Hills Cross-Country's Historic 2026 Postseason

The Indian Hills High School boys cross-country team capped off their fall 2026 season with an incredible postseason surge that kicked off in dominant fashion at Garret Mountain! On October 31, the Braves captured the NJSIAA North 1, Group 2 sectional championship with an impressive 34 points and a blazing 17:01 team average, outrunning second-place Leonia by more than fifty points as seniors Ethan Gray (2nd, 16:34.00), Chris Vigeant (3rd), Frank Coppa (4th), and Lukas Kertesz (7th) all stormed into the top seven. Carrying that electric momentum into the NJSIAA Group 2 Championships at Holmdel Park on November 7, the squad fought hard to earn a strong second-place team finish with 84 points behind Haddonfield Memorial. Led by phenomenal top-five performances from Ethan Gray (2nd, 16:29.72), Frank Coppa (4th, 16:34.85), and Christopher Vigeant (5th, 16:41.11)—alongside solid efforts from Lukas Kertesz (20th, 17:24.64), Jack Stankard (64th, 18:29.86), Luke Bahadurian (66th, 18:30.40), and Kaeden Krafft (81st, 18:58.45)—Indian Hills missed a wild-card team bid to the Meet of Champions by just a single spot, making history as only the second team in New Jersey to place three runners in the top five without advancing as a full squad. Even so, Gray, Coppa, and Vigeant all punched their individual tickets to return to Holmdel Park on November 14th for the NJSIAA Meet of Champions, giving the Braves plenty to celebrate as they wrap up a remarkable campaign!

Indian Hills Football Makes Historic State Playoff Run

Congratulations to the Indian Hills High School football team on an incredible milestone season! Under head coach Dan Marangi, the Braves made a triumphant return to mainstream competition in the SFC - National White division and earned their first state playoff berth since 2015. Backed by tremendous program growth that saw the roster nearly double in size, the team battled their way to a 5–4 regular season finish and a well-deserved spot in the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 2, Group 2 Tournament. While their postseason run wrapped up in the quarterfinals against a tough Waldwick/Midland Park squad, this breakthrough campaign marks an exciting new chapter for Indian Hills football and gives the entire community plenty to cheer about!

Indian Hills Girls Soccer Earns BIT Title

in Standout Season

Congratulations to the Indian Hills High School girls varsity soccer team on an unforgettable 2026 campaign that saw the Braves finish with a stellar 14–7–1 overall record! The highlight of their incredible run came in the Bergen Invitational Tournament, where the squad battled through four straight postseason victories—culminating in a thrilling penalty-kick shootout win over Pascack Hills on October 31—to be crowned 2026 BIT County Champions! Carrying that championship energy into the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 2 state tournament, Indian Hills notched an exciting 2–1 first-round victory over High Point Regional before wrapping up their season in the quarterfinals against a powerhouse Ramsey squad. With dominant regular-season wins and trophy-winning grit along the way, this talented team gave the entire Indian Hills community plenty to celebrate!

Notable Musical Achievements

Our music department is hitting all the right notes with some incredible achievements to celebrate! The Ramapo Marching Band kicked off their competitive season in spectacular fashion at Old Tappan High School, sweeping their division to bring home First Place alongside awards for Best Music, Best Percussion, Best Color Guard, Best Visual, and Best Overall Effect.

Meanwhile, our vocalists are making beautiful moves of their own—The Bravados a cappella choir, under the direction of Susan Heerema, officially earned a coveted spot in the Varsity Vocals 2027 International Championship of High School A Cappella (ICHSA) lineup!

Congratulations to all of our talented student musicians and directors on these exciting, well-deserved honors!