Toms River, New Jersey

The murder of Dolores Della Penna is an unsolved murder case dating from July 1972 in which a 17-year-old high school graduate was abducted, tortured, murdered and dismembered by an unknown number of individuals in Kensington, Philadelphia. Her dismembered torso, arms and legs were later discovered in New Jersey, although her head has never been found.Although the motive for Della Penna's abduction and murder remains unclear, investigators believe she may have been targeted by drug dealers either due to her being falsely blamed by former roommates for the theft of drugs or in an act of revenge against her boyfriend relating to an unsettled drug debt. The case itself has been described as one of Philadelphia's most gruesome and enduring unsolved murders.

Ocean County Vocational Technical School Grunin Performing Arts Academy (or PAA for short) is a specialized, public high school program which concentrates heavily on the fields of performing arts such as dance, vocal music, and theater, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from all of Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. Located in Toms River on the campus of Ocean County College, it is the sister high school of the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Sciences, another full-time program that is also part of the Ocean County Vocational Technical School district. Because the school is a full-time program, students take both their performance major and academic courses at the school. The school is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools through July 2027.As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 284 students and 31.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.1:1. There were 16 students (5.6% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 5 (1.8% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.

Ocean County College (OCC) is a public community college in Ocean County, New Jersey. Its main campus is in Toms River. Other locations include the Southern Education Center in the Manahawkin section of Stafford Township and multiple off-campus sites throughout Ocean County.

The Ocean County Mall is a super-regional mall, opened On July 20, 1976, by Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation, located in Toms River, New Jersey on Hooper Avenue (County Route 549). The mall is accessible from Exit 82 of the Garden State Parkway via Route 37 East. The mall is managed by Simon Property Group. The mall has a gross leasable area of 791,125 sq ft (73,497.9 m2).The mall is anchored by Boscov's, JCPenney, and Macy's. The center went under development in 2019 bringing a slew of national retail and restaurant tenants like ULTA Beauty, On The Border, P.F. Chang's, HomeSense and more. It also contains several eateries, and a food court. The Ocean County Mall is the only enclosed mall in Ocean County. It is a popular destination for tourists in the Toms River area during the summer season.

Toms River is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within and constituting the mainland portion of Toms River Township (formerly Dover Township), in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the CDP's population was 92,830, its highest decennial count ever and an increase of 4,039 (+4.5%) from the 88,791 recorded at the 2010 census, which in turn reflected an increase of 2,464 (+2.9%) from the 86,327 counted in the 2000 census. The Toms River CDP is the county seat of Ocean County. The area is named for Toms River, whose estuary flows through the community and empties into Barnegat Bay. Toms River Township and its fully contained census-designated place are not co-extensive. In addition to the census-designated place, which includes all of mainland Toms River Township and is home to the vast majority of the township's population, Toms River Township includes two small CDPs: Dover Beaches North (2020 Census population of 1,277) and Dover Beaches South (1,331), both of which are located on the Barnegat Peninsula. As defined by the Census Bureau based on 2010 Census data, more than 96% of Toms River Township's area and of its population of 95,438 was located in Toms River CDP.

The Seacourt Pavilion is a regional shopping center on Hooper Avenue in Toms River, New Jersey. It is right across the street from the Ocean County Mall. The mall has a gross leasable area of 253,000 sq ft (23,500 m2).The shopping center is split-level, with the parking lot on the east side higher than on the west side. Tenants include Marshalls, Pier 1 Imports (closing 2020), AMC/Loew's Cineplex (closing August 21, 2022), Ashley HomeStore, and HomeGoods. Former tenants include; Old Country Buffet, LA Fitness, (which has its own porte-cochere), Lionel Kiddie City, and Nobody Beats The Wiz.

Toms River Regional Schools is a comprehensive regional public school district primarily located in the quickly growing coastal community of Toms River, located in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States, along the state's Jersey Shore. The district includes Toms River and the adjoining boroughs of Beachwood, Pine Beach and South Toms River. It is the largest suburban school district in the state, and the fourth largest school district in New Jersey (after Newark, Jersey City and Paterson). It is also the largest school district in the state that is not an Abbott District. As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprising 18 schools, had an enrollment of 15,472 students and 1,171.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.2:1.The district has three high schools -- Toms River High School South, Toms River High School North, and Toms River High School East—as well as three middle schools—Toms River Intermediate School East, Toms River Intermediate School North (formerly Intermediate West), and Toms River Intermediate School South. With the opening of Intermediate South in 2005, all sixth grade classes were shifted from the district's 12 elementary schools to the three middle schools in order to alleviate overcrowding. Also at that time, Intermediate West was renamed Intermediate North. Intermediate East and Intermediate North are currently the two most populous middle schools in New Jersey. To raise money for the schools, the district created Toms River Fest, a major festival held during the summer in 2005, 2006 and 2008. 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.

The Ocean County Vocational Technical School is a public school district based in Toms River that provides technical and vocational education to residents of Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. The district provides a number of full-time public high school programs and also serves adult students. The district operates under the supervision of the Ocean County Board of County Commissioners and an appointed board of education. As of the 2021–22 school year, the district, comprised of seven schools, had an enrollment of 664 students and 128.9 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 5.1:1.

Toms River Fest was a major festival event held at the campus of Toms River High School North in Toms River Township, New Jersey, during the summers of 2005, 2006 and 2008. It was selected by the American Bus Association as one of the Top 100 Events in North America for Group Travel 2006. The festival, originally conceived as an annual event, has not been held since the last one in 2008.

Silverton is an unincorporated community located within the north-eastern portion of Toms River Township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The area comprises the area surrounding the Silver Bay and including Green Island. Several bay beach clubs service the surrounding neighborhoods as recreation centers. Silver Bay Elementary School, part of the Toms River Regional Schools, is located on Silver Bay Road. Silverton is bordered to the north by Brick Township. Main roads that run through Silverton include Hooper Avenue (County Route 549), Silver Bay Road, and Church Road/Kettle Creek Road (County Route 620).

The RWJBarnabas Health Arena (formerly known as the Ritacco Center, Poland Spring Arena, and Pine Belt Arena) is a 3,208-seat multi-purpose arena in Toms River, New Jersey. Opened in 2003, the facility hosts various local concerts and sporting events for the area.

Toms River High School North is a four-year comprehensive public high school, and was the second public high school established in Toms River, in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as part of the Toms River Regional Schools. Toms River High School North is the largest of all schools in the Toms River Regional School district. The TRHSN mascot is the Mariner, and the school colors are navy blue and gold. The other high schools in the district are Toms River High School East and Toms River High School South. As of 2020, the school day starts at 7:15 am and lasts six hours and 20 minutes. Toms River high schools have some of the earliest daily opening and closing high schools in New Jersey, closing at 1:35 pm every day. Parents lobbied for later high school start times in 2014, but the district found that the cost to purchase the additional buses and additional drivers necessary to accommodate the change would be prohibitive.As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,886 students and 133.9 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.1:1. There were 437 students (23.2% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 96 (5.1% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.