Stafford Township, New Jersey

The Southern Regional School District is a regional public school district in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in seventh grade through twelfth grade. The district serves the five municipalities in the Long Beach Island Consolidated School District – Barnegat Light, Harvey Cedars, Long Beach Township, Ship Bottom and Surf City – along with students from Beach Haven and Stafford Township. Also attending the district are students from Ocean Township, who attend the school on a tuition basis as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Ocean Township School District. The student body has grown in recent years in line with population growth in the area. The high school was forced to add a large addition in the mid-1990s due to overcrowding. As of the 2017-18 school year, the district and its two schools had an enrollment of 2,900 students and 221.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.1:1.The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "FG", the fourth-highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.

Manahawkin Baptist Church, also known as the Free Church of Manahawkin, is a historic church in the Manahawkin section of Stafford Township in Ocean County, New Jersey. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 3, 1973, for its significance in education, military history, and religion.

Southern Regional High School is a regional comprehensive public high school located in the Manahawkin section of Stafford Township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in the ninth through twelfth grades and operating as part of the Southern Regional School District. The school is located on a 550-acre (220 ha) wooded campus. The district serves the five municipalities in the Long Beach Island Consolidated School District — Barnegat Light, Harvey Cedars, Long Beach Township, Ship Bottom, and Surf City — along with students from Beach Haven and Stafford Township, and additionally the sending district of Ocean Township (including its Waretown section).As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,947 students and 150.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.0:1. There were 235 students (12.1% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 57 (2.9% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.

The Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science (MATES) is a comprehensive, selective magnet public high school with a focus on marine and environmental science that is part of the Ocean County Vocational School District. The school is located in the Manahawkin section of Stafford Township, in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States directly behind the buildings of the Southern Regional School District and a joint parking lot with Ocean County College's Southern Education Center. As a public school, students attend the school at no charge. Prospective students must complete the application process which includes an entrance exam. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 2005.As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 274 students and 22.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.5:1. There were 10 students (3.6% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 2 (0.7% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.The school's stated mission is to provide an opportunity to students in Ocean County to become intimate thinkers and problem solvers. Students of the academy participate in a rigorous curriculum with a focus on marine and environmental science. MATES emphasizes skills important to post-secondary study and employment in a global community. The school focuses on students who wish to concentrate in the areas of math and science. The academic course of study offered satisfies all of the state requirements necessary for high school graduation. Eligible students may also take college level courses throughout their course of study; credit received for a completed course varies.

The Eagleswood Township School District is a community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade from Eagleswood Township in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprising one school, had an enrollment of 134 students and 16.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 8.1:1. In the 2016–17 school year, Eagleswood had the 20th smallest enrollment of any school district in the state, with 141 students.The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "B", the second-lowest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From highest socioeconomic status to lowest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.Public school students in seventh through twelfth grades attend the schools of the Pinelands Regional School District, which also serves students from Bass River Township, Little Egg Harbor Township and Tuckerton Borough. Schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Pinelands Regional Junior High School with 811 students in grades 7-9 and Pinelands Regional High School with 744 students in grades 10-12. The district's board of education includes nine members directly elected by the residents of the constituent municipalities to three-year terms on a staggered basis, with three seats up for election each year. Eagleswood Township is allocated one of the nine seats.

Manahawkin is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Stafford Township, in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the CDP's population was 2,413, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 110 (+4.8%) from the 2,303 recorded at the 2010 census, which in turn had reflected an increase of 299 (+14.9%) from the 2,004 counted at the 2000 census. Manahawkin has been thought to be a Lenape word meaning "land of good corn", although this has been disputed by recent scholars claiming that it translates to "fertile land sloping into the water."Manahawkin is the gateway to the resort communities on Long Beach Island, with Route 72 providing the sole road access, ending in Ship Bottom as it crosses Manahawkin Bay via the Manahawkin Bay Bridge (formally known as the Dorland J. Henderson Memorial Bridge).

WCHR-FM (105.7 MHz), known as "105.7 The Hawk", is a radio station in Manahawkin, New Jersey, with a classic rock format. It is owned by Townsquare Media.

The Stafford Township Arts Center is a theater located in the Manahawkin section of Stafford Township, New Jersey. The Stafford Township Board Of Education now programs and manages the Stafford Township Arts Center (STAC.) STAC has offered performances by legends such as Rita Moreno, Joy Behar, the Garden State Philharmonic, and Anthony Rapp. The Stafford Township Arts Center is no longer managed by the Education Foundation. The Arts Center is now operated by the Stafford Township School District Board of Education. The venue is managed by Marybeth Weidenhof (STBOE). The Current Technical Director on Staff is Taylor Brennan (STBOE). The Stafford Township Arts Center was formed to serve as a cultural center for the arts, and to act as a resource for children, adults and artists who seek to improve their lives thourhg arts education and programming. The Stafford Township Arts Center is both a live theater facility and a performing arts conservatory. As a live theater facility, the STAC provides opportunity for local artists as well as featuring top rate national acts.

Cedar Creek is an 18.9-mile-long (30.4 km) tributary of Barnegat Bay in Ocean County in the southern New Jersey Pine Barrens in the United States.

The Stafford Township School District is a community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade from Stafford Township, in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States.As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprising five schools, had an enrollment of 2,198 students and 190.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.6:1.The district participates in the Interdistrict Public School Choice Program, having been approved in July 2002 to participate in the program. Seats in the program for non-resident students are specified by the district and are allocated by lottery, with tuition paid for participating students by the New Jersey Department of Education.The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "DE", the fifth-highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.For seventh through twelfth grades, public school students are served by the Southern Regional School District, which serves the five municipalities in the Long Beach Island Consolidated School District — Barnegat Light, Harvey Cedars, Long Beach Township, Ship Bottom and Surf City — along with students from Beach Haven and Stafford Township, together with students from Ocean Township who attend as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Ocean Township School District. Schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Southern Regional Middle School with 934 students in grades 7–8 and Southern Regional High School with 1,952 students in grades 9–12. Both schools are in the Manahawkin section of Stafford Township. At the time of its founding in 1957, the Southern Regional School District had a roughly equal number of students from Long Beach Island and Stafford Township. By 2016, the overwhelming majority of students were from Stafford Township, accounting for nearly 90% of enrollment. These demographic changes have led to significant discrepancies in the cost per pupil sent to the district from each community, with Harvey Cedars and Long Beach Township paying more than $200,000 per pupil, while Stafford Township's costs are $3,600 for each student. These widely different costs result from a formula that uses the taxable property value in each municipality to apportion costs, which means that municipalities with relatively high property values and small numbers of students pay a higher share of total district costs. Some residents of Long Beach Island communities are seeking to amend the formula to take advantage of a 1993 law that allows districts to use both property value and enrollment to allocate property taxes, though that would require passage of referendums in each municipality.

Ocean Acres is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) split between Barnegat Township and Stafford Township, in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the CDP's population was 16,142, of which 925 were in Barnegat Township and 15,217 were in Stafford Township. Ocean Acres is located in the northwestern end of Stafford Township and part of Barnegat Township, and is the newest and biggest part of both communities, with approximately 5,500 lots in an area of 6 square miles (16 km2).

Manahawkin Wildlife Management Area (Manahawkin Bottomland Hardwood Forest) is a 1,642-acre (664 ha) wildlife management area near Manahawkin, Stafford Township, Ocean County, New Jersey. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in January 1976. It is known for its mature bottomland hardwood forest which contains examples of American sweetgum, red maple and black gum trees.