Bayonne High School (BHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in Bayonne, Hudson County, New Jersey, operated by the Bayonne Board of Education. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools.
As of the 2015-16 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,405 students and 221.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student-teacher ratio of 10.9:1. There were 1,347 students (56.0% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 224 (9.3% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch. As of the 2013-14 school year, the school's reported racial/ethnic make-up was 44% White (including Arab), 35% Hispanic, 13% Black, 7% Asian, and 1% Multiracial.
Video Bayonne High School
Awards, recognition and rankings
For the 1995-96 school year, Bayonne High School was named a "Star School" by the New Jersey Department of Education, the highest honor that a New Jersey school can achieve.
The school was the 263rd-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 317th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 242nd in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 248th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 273rd in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school 219th out of 367 public high schools statewide in its 2009-10 rankings which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the language arts literacy and mathematics components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).
Maps Bayonne High School
Academic offerings
Advanced Placement courses are offered in AP Biology, AP Calculus AB, AP English Language and Composition, AP English Literature and Composition, AP European History, AP Music Theory, AP Psychology, AP Statistics, AP Studio Art, AP United States Government and Politics and AP United States History. College credit can be earned through articulation agreements with New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, Saint Peter's University and Seton Hall University.
History
The school was created in 1936, when the Sweeney Senior High School and the Pulaski Vocational / Technical School were established. The technical school occupied what is now the vocational wing of BHS. The two schools were officially amalgamated in 1953. In 1973, the school was reorganized into six houses.
After an incident in 1997 in which two students were stabbed, one fatally wounded, the school instituted wide-ranging measures to reduce violence, from discussion groups to metal detectors. In 2000, it was reported to be known as a model of school safety.
Campus
Bayonne High School is divided into six houses and has an ice rink. Also located in the ice rink building are a gymnasium, offices, bathrooms, indoor track, and workout/ meeting rooms. The campus also has three gymnasiums, a planetarium, an in-house biological conservatory, a 600-seat auditorium, four tennis courts, a football stadium, and one baseball field. It borders the Newark Bay. The high school is sized for approximately 3,000 students.
Athletics
The Bayonne High School Bees compete in the Hudson County Interscholastic League (HCIAA), following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). With 1,895 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2015-16 school year as North II, Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,114 to 4,800 students in that grade range.
Sports offered include:
- Boys: Baseball, Football, Basketball, Volleyball, Swimming, Soccer, Tennis, Wrestling, Hockey
- Girls: Softball, Volleyball, Basketball, Swimming (11 consecutive County Championship wins), Soccer, Tennis, Cheerleading (Over 6 National Titles, 2 State Titles)
- Co-ed: Fencing, Golf, Bowling, Stepping, X Country, Hockey, Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field
The boys track and field team won the 2002-03 HCIAA and HCTCA Indoor championships. Later that year the team went on to win the HCTCA outdoor championships.
The school's football team won the 2002 North I Group IV state championship, defeating Hackensack High School 25-23 in the championship game, for the school's first and only state championship to date in football.
The boys tennis team has been in the HCIAA championship for 19 consecutive years, from 1993 to 2011. The team had won four consecutive titles from 1996 to 1999, and again from 2001 to 2004, and won their fifth consecutive county championship in 2011 with a 3-2 win over Secaucus High School in the tournament finals.
The ice hockey team won the 1999-2000 Public School state championship, with a 6-3 win over Summit High School at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey, before falling by a score of 4-2 to Hudson Catholic Regional High School for the overall championship.
The boys volleyball team has been ranked in the top 10 in the state and won four straight HCIAA championships from 2006 to 2009 over their county rival St. Peter's Preparatory School, a streak broken by St. Peter's in 2010's final. In 2007 they reached the state final four before losing in the North Sectional to St. Peter's Prep. In 2008 they lost in the elite eight of the state tournament to Vernon Township High School in three games, despite being ranked #1 in the North. In 2009 they reached the state final four once again, only to be defeated by St. Peter's Prep again in the North final, 25-15, 25-23.
In 2011, the girls' basketball team won their third Hudson County title in a row with a 48-32 win over North Bergen High School.
In popular culture
- The music videos "Waking the Demon" by the band Bullet for My Valentine, "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam, "Someday" by Mariah Carey, and "Popular" by Nada Surf were filmed on location at Bayonne High School.
- The school was used as a filming location for the 2009 film Assassination of a High School President.
- Scenes set at Flatpoint High in the 2006 film version of Strangers with Candy were shot at Bayonne High School.
- Matt Waters was a television show on CBS in 1996 that was filmed in Bayonne High School, starring Montel Williams.
- The 2002 movie Swimfan was filmed there.
Administration
Core members of the school's administration are:
- Richard Baccarella, Principal
- Karen Fiermonte, House 1 Assistant Principal
- Christopher Romano, House 2 Assistant Principal
- Eric Ryan, House 3 Assistant Principal
- Robert Pierce, House 4 Assistant Principal
- John Rickard, House 5 Assistant Principal
- Kathleen Bingham, House 6 Assistant Principal
Notable alumni
- Kenny Britt (born 1988), wide receiver for the New England Patriots and former star at Rutgers University.
- Arthur Frank Burns (1904-1987), Chairman of the Federal Reserve.
- Teresa Demjanovich (1901-1927), Roman Catholic Sister of Charity.
- Barney Frank (born 1940, class of 1957), U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013.
- Adrienne Goodson (born 1966), former professional basketball player.
- Frank Langella (born 1938), actor.
- Joseph A. LeFante (1928-1997), represented New Jersey's 14th congressional district from 1977-1978.
- Jammal Lord (born 1981), former safety for the Houston Texans.
- Gene Olaff (born 1920), early professional soccer goalkeeper inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1971.
- Nicholas Oresko (born 1917), Medal of Honor recipient.
- Steven V. Roberts (born 1943), journalist, author and political commentator.
- William N. Stape (born 1968), screenwriter and magazine writer who wrote episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
- Morris Warman (born 1918), photographer who won many awards for his extraordinary photos.
- Chuck Wepner (born 1939), heavyweight boxer.
- Elliot Willensky (1943-2010), composer, lyricist, and music producer.
- Bill Wondolowski (born 1946), former wide receiver who played for the San Francisco 49ers in the 1969 season.
References
External links
- School website
- PublicSchoolReview
- Bayonne High School's 2015-16 School Performance Report from the New Jersey Department of Education
- Bayonne High School, National Center for Education Statistics
- Bayonne High School Band
Source of article : Wikipedia