Bergenfield High School


Bergenfield High School is a four-year, comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Bergenfield, in Bergen County, New Jersey, operating as part of the Bergenfield Public Schools. Bergenfield High School is accredited by the New Jersey Department of Education and has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools since 1945.
As of the 2018–19 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,162 students and 104.2 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 11.2:1. There were 330 students eligible for free lunch and 109 eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
The school's CEEB code is 310090.

History

The original high school building was constructed at a cost of $370,000 as an addition to an existing school, and dedicated in ceremonies held in April 1941. The current building was constructed at a cost of $3,625,000 and opened in 1959 on South Prospect Avenue to accommodate the post war Baby Boom and replaced the combination junior/senior high school on the corner of Clinton and Washington Avenue, which become a middle school.

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 122nd-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology. The school had been ranked 139th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 136th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 234th in 2008 out of 316 schools and 192nd in the 2006. Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 163rd out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics and language arts literacy components of the High School Proficiency Assessment.

Curriculum

Bergenfield High School offers a wide range of courses in the areas of art, business and marketing, English, health and physical education, industrial and technological education, mathematics, music, science, social studies, and world language. Class levels range from modified to Advanced Placement. Full- and half-year electives are also offered, and health classes are offered as a quarter-year elective within all gym classes.
Advanced Placement courses include AP Studio Art, AP Art History, AP English Language and Composition, AP English Literature and Composition, AP Calculus, AP Computer Science, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics, AP United States History, AP United States Government and Politics, AP Music Theory, AP Psychology AP Spanish Language and AP European History.
Bergenfield High School offers medical-field based classes where the students have an opportunity to receive college credits from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Classes include Medical Terminology, Anatomy and Physiology, Dynamics of Healthcare, Emergency and Clinical Care.

Extracurricular activities

The school is producing its own television station called Bears On Air that is available to all Cablevision customers. This channel will feature special events, such as college fairs and other events at BHS; InTune, a special program that will showcase the Bergenfield Music Department; Bears Den, a program showcasing rich athletic programs at Bergenfield; and In Reel Time, which will offer movie reviews. The channel is available for Cablevision customers on channel 77.

Music

Bergenfield is well known for its now over 190-member marching band, whose uniforms loosely resemble those of the British Foot Guard Regiments. Bernard T. Baggs took direction in 1950, and the band has since worked with other notable names, such as Donald Angelica, Frank Levy, Bobby Thompson, Fred Sanford, Jack Meehan, and Dennis Delucia. The musicians currently work under the direction of Brian P. Timmons and the color guard under Michael DeLucia.
The band marched in the Super Bowl XLVIII Halftime Show and performed at the NFL Media Day festivities at the Prudential Center in Newark. Some of the many locations the band has performed includeDisney World, Yankee Stadium, New Meadowlands Stadium, Jets and Giants football games, Foxboro Stadium, Devils game at Prudential Center, United Nations, Broadway on Broadway, and the Annual North Jersey Marching Band Festival 65 times. The Record placed the band's image on the front cover of the November 2007 issue of its Sports Magazine.
Bergenfield hosts the annual USSBA Bergen County Invitational Band Festival, which has a roster of up to 16 bands per year. Although the band doesn't formally compete, they have received consistent gold and superior ratings at festivals such as the NJMEA State Marching Band Festival.
TV and film appearances
The Bergenfield High School Bears compete in the Big North Conference, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Before the 2010 realignment, it was one of the 12 schools participating in the North Bergen Interscholastic Athletic League. With 916 students in grades 10-12, the school is classified by the NJSIAA for most sports as North I, Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 786 to 1,074. Tom Curry is Bergenfield's Athletic Director.
The school's wrestling program has been successful over the last 40 years. Former coach Sal Cascio is in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Most sports have Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Freshman teams, but some only have the top one or two tiers. Note: Sports marked with an asterisk usually practice and compete with each other, but they are two separate teams and officially compete and are scored separately. Interscholastic sports offered by the school include:
The football team won the North I Group IV state championship in 1974 and 1976, and won state titles in North I Group III in 1982, 1986 and 1987.
In 2015, the boys' basketball team won the North I Group III state sectional championship with a 71-69 win against Teaneck High School and went on to win the Group III state title with an 80-72 win in overtime against Ewing High School to earn their first state championship since 1945 and their first appearance to the Tournament of Champions in school history.

Administration

The school's principal is Jim Fasano. His administration team includes the assistant principal.

Notable alumni