Bound Brook High School
Bound Brook High School is a comprehensive community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Bound Brook, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Bound Brook School District. Students from South Bound Brook attend the district's high school as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the South Bound Brook School District.
As of the 2018–19 school year, the school had an enrollment of 597 students and 47.0 classroom teachers, for a student–teacher ratio of 12.7:1. There were 314 students eligible for free lunch and 60 eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
Bound Brook High School is the only high school in Somerset County with the "School Choice" designation. Students outside of Bound Brook can apply to attend one of Bound Brook's two academies: Bio-medical Sciences or Engineering. The school began a 1:1 iPad initiative program in the 2012-13 school year. Since then, the school has gone wireless providing each student and teacher with an iPad and equipping every classroom with smart boards and projectors.
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 290th-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 290th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 288th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 243rd in the magazine's September 2008 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.The school has improved drastically over the past few years, with the average SAT score improving from 2008 to 2012 by 14.9%, the highest percentage increase during that time period among the 11 community public high schools in Somerset County and the 27th-highest percentage increase in SAT scores among the schools included in the survey.
Curriculum
Honors placement
Students may be recommended for Honors placement if they have an average grade of 92 or above, if they have completed summer assignments/projects that are assigned. Honors placement also requires teacher's recommendation. If at any time during the school year, a student from an Honors placement course grade point drops below an expected range, he/she will be dismissed from the course and be placed into an academic level course.Advanced Placement offerings
Bound Brook High School offers few Advanced Placement courses, due to its small student population and limited resources. AP courses rotate yearly.The following AP programs are offered by Bound Brook High School:
- AP Calculus AB
- AP English Language and Composition
- AP English Literature and Composition
- AP United States History
- AP Statistics
Extracurricular activities
Athletics
The Bound Brook High School Crusaders compete in the Skyland Conference, which consists of public and parochial high schools covering Somerset County, Union County and Warren County in northern New Jersey and operates under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. With 426 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as Central Jersey, Group I for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 12 to 467 students in that grade range. For football, the school was classified by the NJSIAA as North Jersey Group I for 2018-20.The boys soccer team won the 2004 Central, Group I state sectional championship with a string of three shutout wins, defeating Jonathan Dayton High School 3-0 in the first round, Highland Park High School 2-0 in the semifinals, and edging Metuchen High School 1-0 in the finals to take the title.
In March 2011, Andrew Campolattano became just the second four-time New Jersey state champion, when he pinned Cherokee's Mike Zeuli in just 47 seconds in the state final, finishing his high school wrestling career with a 175-1 record. Craig DeLaCruz won the 2013 state championship in dramatic fashion, becoming Bound Brook's 19th state champion, the most of any in Somerset County.
The 2012 boys wrestling team, guided by head coach Kyle Franey, the Courier News Coach of the year, won its first Group I state championship, defeating Hanover Park High School in the final. The 2013 team, led by head coach Shaun Cleary, won its second consecutive Group I state championship, again defeating Hanover Park.
The 2013 Spring track and Field team were the Somerset County champion in 100m, 200m and 400m races and also state finalist.
The girls' basketball team won the 2016 Central Jersey Group I championship, their first sectional title since 1989, defeating Middlesex High School by a score of 67-52 in the tournament final. They made it all the way to the Group 1 State final, the furthest the program has ever reached.
Sports offered
Interscholastic sports offered at the school include:- Boys and Girls Cross County
- Boys and Girls Soccer
- Boys and Girls Tennis
- Football
- Cheerleading
- Wrestling
- Boys and Girls Basketball
- Spring Track and Field
- Softball
- Baseball
Active clubs
- Academic League
- Student Advisory Council
- Chess Club
- Book Club
- Mock trial
- Year Book Committee
- Drama
- National Honor Society
- Spanish National Honor Society
- National Art Honor Society
- Interact Club
- French Club
- Spanish Club
- Peer Leadership
- Art Club
National Honor Society
Team 56-Robbe Xtreme
Team 56 is the result of a 17-year partnership between Bound Brook High School and Ethicon. Team 56 was the first team created by Johnson & Johnson, and one of the very first FIRST Robotics teams in the state of New Jersey. '56 was part of the four teams that organized a competition at Drexel University in Pennsylvania, which led to the establishment of the Philadelphia Regional Competition for FIRST. Bound Brook' and Ethicon have had a long history of FIRST spirit.Robotics has led to the high school's involvement with programs Project Lead the Way like the engineering and Biomedical Program, where students practically have firsthand experience as to what professionals do in their respective fields, Bound Brook High School Robotics has also brought about the start of robotics in the Smalley Middle and elementary schools, so students can begin an interest with STEM at an even younger age.
The team has won numerous awards and made many improvements over the years and brought great publicity to the town:
- 1997: 3rd place, J&J Mid-Atlantic regional, and J&J Mid-Atlantic regional Chrysler spirit award
- 1998: AutoDesk Animation finalist, Philadelphia invitational finalist,and 3rd place J&J Mid-Atlantic regional
- 1999: 1st place national AutoDesk animation contest, 4th place Philadelphia Alliance Regional, and Best Offensive at Philadelphia Alliance Regional
- 2000: J&J Mid-Atlantic regional Chrysler spirit award, Made scholarships available to BBHS students, 1st place "Havoc at the hill" invitational,4th place Philadelphia Regional,and AutoDesk animation finalist
- 2001: 1st place at J&J Mid-Atlantic regional, Philadelphia Regional, Mt.olive invitational, Leadership in control at Philadelphia Regional, and Divisional semi-finalist, nationals at Epcot
- 2002: SBPL regional imagery award, FIT FIRST scholarship,3rd place Long Island regional and a feature in Design News
- 2003: J&J Mid-Atlantic regional sportsmanship Award, semi-finalist at Philadelphia regional
- 2004: 1st place, J&J Mid-Atlantic regional, 2nd seed finish Philadelphia regional and featured in Discovery Channels " first Robotics"
- 2005: 1st place, Philadelphia regional, New Jersey regional finalist,General Motors Industrial Design Award,4th-place finish Sacramento regional,finalist at J&J Mid-Atlantic regional,Motorola Quality Award at J&J Mid-Atlantic regional,National Galileo Divisional champions,and National Championship Finalist
- 2006: General Motors Industrial Design Award,Chesapeake Regional,and NJ regional judges award
- 2007: Finalist and Rockwell automation innovation in control award at Florida regional Finalist and Rockwell automation innovation in control award at New York City regional
- 2008: Chief Delphi technology Award and Xerox creativity award
- 2009: New York City regional winner,Philadelphia Regional winner,and National Galileo Divisional Finalist
- 2010: Philadelphia Regional Winner
- 2011: Philadelphia Regional semi- finalist and Xerox creativity award
- 2012: RU district Champions
Administration
- Edward Smith, Principal
- Christine Larson, Assistant Principal
- Jeffrey Steele, Assistant Principal / Athletic Director
Notable alumni
- Jeffrey Chiesa, 59th Attorney General of New Jersey and former United States Senator from New Jersey.
- Patrick X. Gallagher, mathematician and Columbia University professor.
- Luigi Jannuzzi, playwright.
- James W. Kelly Jr., politician who was Mayor of East Orange, New Jersey from 1958 to 1970.
- William E. Ozzard, New Jersey Senate President, 1963.
- Mike Sandusky, NFL football player who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1957-1965.