93% of the students are of minority races, and a majority of them speak either a non-English language at home or are very limited in English.

To join, one must have a GPA of 3.5; have a desire to go to college, be motivated and most of all respectful to teachers and fellow students, though less than 1% make it into the team.

While its membership is limited to only high achievers in terms of grades and merit, the team recruits from every academy in the school.

The John F. Kennedy High School Knights[2] compete in the Big North Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Bergen and Passaic counties, and was established following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.

[12] The football team competes in the Liberty Blue division of the North Jersey Super Football Conference, which includes 112 schools competing in 20 divisions, making it the nation's biggest football-only high school sports league.

[15] The football team won the North I Group IV state sectional championships in 1987 with a 13–7 win against Bayonne High School, finishing the season undefeated for the first time.

[16][17] Kennedy plays an annual Thanksgiving Day football game against Eastside High School.

The days leading up to the game are filled with school spirit as the Knights and Ghosts prepare to face off.

[21] The 1990 team won the Group IV title with an 80-49 win against Toms River East in the championship game[22] and advanced to the second annual Tournament of Champions as the top seed, defeated fourth-seed Sterling High School by 75-49 in the semis and went on to win the championship with a 70-47 win against second-seeded and previously unbeaten St. John Vianney High School in the finals at the Rutgers Athletic Center to finish the season with a record of 31-2.

[23][24] The team won the 2001 North I, Group IV state sectional championship with a 61–50 win over Bayonne High School in the tournament final.

[31] Accusations about mayhem at the school have come from not only its teachers and students but also representatives at the Paterson Education Association, including its former president, Peter Tirri,[31][32] On February 14, 2008, John F. Kennedy instructors and the Paterson Education Association filed a complaint against the school to the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development's Office of Public Employee Safety, citing lack of discipline on students using vulgar language towards personnel, physically assaulting teachers, urinating in non-bathroom areas, and protesting the school's schedules by pulling fire alarms.

[32] In 2014, Ted McNulty, a former metal shop teacher who retired from the school in July 2014, has expressed his testimonies through interviews by sources such as the talk show Chasing News and education reform news service Choice Media;[33] and a book he wrote and self-published on January 11, 2017 titled RUINING a NATION and Nobody Cares.