New Providence High School was first opened on September 8th, 1958, and the first graduation was held on June 23rd, 1960. It is safe to say that NPHS has been around for a number of years with many graduates. Some of these graduates continued to work here. 

Mr. Cattano and Mr. Brodeur are both prime examples. Mr. Cattano is a middle school gym teacher along with the boys varsity basketball coach. Mr. Brodeur is a history teacher and the boys varsity baseball coach. While these alumni have stayed at home in our hearts, there are many who have left and let their dreams become a reality. 

Among the successful athlete alumni is Syd Kitson, who graduated from NPHS in the 1970s and went on to play in the NFL. He played college football at Wake Forest University, then transitioned to play football for the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys as a guard. He was drafted in 1980 and was picked in round 3. He was the overall 61st pick.

NPHS alumni have succeeded in the arts as well as athletics.  Overkill was a thrash metal band that formed in 1980. They have made 19 studio albums, sold over 16 million records worldwide and continue to perform today.  THe founding members of Overkill were NPHS graduates:  Rat Skates was the original drummer, while his classmate D.D. Verni was a bassist. Before forming Overkill, Skates and Verni had their own punk group. Skates ended up leaving the band because of dissatisfaction with the road and the music business while Verni continued his career with the band. 

New Providence High School has classes such as financial literacy and foods that offer real life examples of how you could better yourself. Some people, such as Andrew Fastow, excelled in more business based classes.

Andrew Fastow was a former Pioneer who was an executive for a company called Enron. Fastow was the former financier and chief financial officer of the Enron Corporation. The company declared bankruptcy on December 2nd, 2001. 

“Enron was an energy company in the early 2000s that was the subject of a major scandal that involved corporate fraud. He (Fastow) eventually went to jail for the crimes,” Mr. Brodeur said. 

Although it is disappointing to see a former Pioneer go to prison, at least the crime went down in history.  According to the FBI website, it was “the most complex white-collar crime investigation in the FBI’s history.”

NPHS also offers classes for the more technological and artistic students, such as Media Design and Broadcast Journalism. Some students have taken these courses and found an interest that eventually transitioned into a job. 

Tom McCarthy is film director, screenwriter, and actor who graduated from NPHS. He has appeared in films such as Meet the Parents and Good Night, and Good Luck, and tv shows such as The Wire, Boston Public, and Law & Order. He has been nominated for multiple awards including Best Directing and Best Original Screenplay for his film Spotlight. In 2011 he wrote and directed Win Win, a movie based on his days as a wrestler at NPHS with his co-producer Joseph Tiboni.  The movie was set in New Providence and even shot partially here in the High School. 

There have been successful, and a few notorious, graduates who have come from New Providence High School. In the next few years we could see authors, engineers, even astronauts. All it takes is the right education, dedication, and ambition.