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Bergenfield High School

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Coordinates: 40°55′31″N 74°00′21″W / 40.925371°N 74.005964°W / 40.925371; -74.005964
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Bergenfield High School
Address
Map
80 South Prospect Avenue

Bergenfield
,
Bergen County
,
New Jersey
07621

United States
Coordinates40°55′31″N 74°00′21″W / 40.925371°N 74.005964°W / 40.925371; -74.005964
Information
TypePublic high school
Established1940[1]
School districtBergenfield Public Schools
CEEB code310090
NCES School ID340150000268[2]
PrincipalRobert Ragasa (acting)
Faculty106.1 FTEs[2]
Enrollment1,224 (as of 2022–23)[2]
Student to teacher ratio11.5:1[2]
Hours in school day7 hours
Color(s)Red and Black    [3]
Athletics conferenceBig North Conference (general)
North Jersey Super Football Conference (football)
Team nameBears[3]
RivalsDumont High School
AccreditationMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools
YearbookCrossroads
Websitebhs.bergenfield.org

Bergenfield High School is a four-year, comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Bergenfield, in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as part of the Bergenfield Public Schools. Bergenfield High School is accredited by the New Jersey Department of Education until July 2028 and has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools since 1945.[4]

As of the 2022–23 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,224 students and 106.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.5:1. There were 273 students (22.3% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 154 (12.6% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[2]

The school's CEEB code is 310090.

History

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The original high school building was constructed at a cost of $370,000 (equivalent to $7.7 million in 2023) as an addition to an existing school, and dedicated in ceremonies held in April 1941.[5] The current building was constructed at a cost of $3,625,000 (equivalent to $37.9 million in 2023) and opened in 1959 on South Prospect Avenue to accommodate the post war Baby Boom and replaced the combination junior/senior high school (formerly called Warren J. Harding) on the corner of Clinton and Washington Avenue, which become a middle school.[6]

Awards, recognition and rankings

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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.[7] 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.[8] The magazine ranked the school 234th in 2008 out of 316 schools and 192nd in the 2006.[9][10] Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 163rd out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (an increase of 52 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (80.5%) and language arts literacy (94.5%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).[11]

Curriculum

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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 (AP) 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 (UMDNJ). Classes include Medical Terminology, Anatomy and Physiology, Dynamics of Healthcare, Emergency and Clinical Care.

Extracurricular activities

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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

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  • The NAMM Foundation (American Music Conference) has recognized Bergenfield High School as one of the Best Communities for Music Education in America for multiple years, including 2012[12] and was a finalist for the Grammy Signature Schools Award for multiple years as well.[13]
Band performing for a movie in Manhattan
  • The music department offers marching band, three concert bands, three orchestras, three choral ensembles, a jazz ensemble, and numerous chamber ensembles with weighted honors credits on Wind Ensemble, Chamber Orchestra, and Vocal Ensemble.
  • Their three honor ensembles have performed at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. The Honors Wind Ensemble received gold ratings at the state regional festival and was named a New Jersey Honor Band in 2007 and 2009.[14]

Marching band

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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.[15] The musicians currently work under the direction of Brian P. Timmons and the color guard under Michael DeLucia.[16]

The band marched in the Super Bowl XLVIII Halftime Show and performed at the NFL Media Day festivities at the Prudential Center in Newark.[17] 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.[18] The Record placed the band's image on the front cover of the November 2007 issue of its Sports Magazine.[19]

Bergenfield hosts the annual USSBA Bergen County Invitational Band Festival, which has a roster of up to 16 bands per year.[20] 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

Athletics

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The Bergenfield High School Bears[3] 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.[25] Before the 2010 realignment, Bergenfield was one of the 12 schools participating in the North Bergen Interscholastic Athletic League (NBIL/NBIAL).[26] With 847 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group III for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 761 to 1,058 students in that grade range.[27] The football team competes in the Patriot Red 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.[28][29] The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group IV North for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 893 to 1,315 students.[30] Tom Curry is Bergenfield's athletic director.

The school participates with Dumont High School in a joint ice hockey team in which Fair Lawn High School is the host school / lead agency. The co-op program operates under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year.[31]

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.[32]

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:[3]

  • Fall sports teams: Cross Country (Boys')*, Cross Country (Girls')*, Football, Soccer (Boys'), Soccer (Girls'), Tennis (Girls'), Volleyball, & Cheerleading
  • Winter sports teams: Basketball (Boys'), Basketball (Girls'), Bowling (Boys')*, Bowling (Girls')*, Track (Boys')*, Track (Girls')*, Wrestling, & Cheerleading
  • Spring sports teams: Baseball, Softball, Golf (Boys')*, Golf (Girls')*, Tennis (Boys'), Track (Boys')* and Track (Girls')*

The boys basketball team won the Group I state championship in 1945 (defeating Hightstown High School in the tournament finals) and won the Group III state championship in 2015 (vs. Ewing High School).[33] The 1945 team finished the season with a 22-2 record after winning the Group I title with a 53-40 win against Hightstown in the championship game played at the Elizabeth Armory.[34] In 2015, the team won the North I Group III state sectional championship with a 71–69 win against Teaneck High School[35] 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.[36]

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.[37] The 1974 team finished the season with a 9-1 record after winning the first North I Group IV sectional title of the playoff era with a 36-0 victory against John F. Kennedy High School in front of 7,000 fans.[38][39] The 1976 team defeated Bayonne High School in front of a crowd of 10,000 spectators at Giants Stadium by a score of 19-8 to win the North I Group IV sectional title.[40] A 35-0 win against Vernon Township High School in the 1982 North I Group III sectional championship game gave the team an 11-0 final record.[41] The 1986 team finished the season with a record of 11-0 after winning the North I Group III state sectional title with a 52-8 win against Hoboken High School in a game that was ended early due to a brawl between the two teams.[42] With a 14-0 victory against Wayne Valley High School, the 1987 team won the program's second consecutive North I Group III state sectional title and finished the season with a 10-1 record.[43]

The boys bowling team won the overall state championship in 1978.[44]

The wrestling team won the North I Group III state sectional title in 1983.[45]

Administration

[edit]

The school's acting principal is Robert Ragasa. His administration team includes the assistant principal.[46]

Notable alumni

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See also: Category:Bergenfield High School alumni

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Baumann, Carl. "The 'Mighty Mites'", BergenfieldAlumni.com. Accessed July 19, 2012. "Home Town Bergenfield didn't have its own high school until 1940, when an addition was built onto the junior high school for that purpose. Until then the junior high graduates would be bussed to high schools in the neighboring towns of Dumont and Tenafly. My class was the first to move from the 9th grade into the new high school addition, and as such, from then on till graduation in 1943, we were always the biggest kids in school."
  2. ^ a b c d e School data for Bergenfield High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 1, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Bergenfield High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  4. ^ Bergenfield High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed December 22, 2022.
  5. ^ Staff. "To Dedicate Bergenfield School", The New York Times, March 30, 1941. Accessed October 22, 2018. "The new $370,000 Bergenfield High School, an addition to Harding School at Washington and Clinton Avenues, will be dedicated Monday at 8 P. M."
  6. ^ staff. "Bergen High School Open", The New York Times, October 15, 1959. Accessed October 21, 2018. "The $3,625,000 senior high school opened without ceremony this morning."
  7. ^ Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
  8. ^ Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 11, 2012.
  9. ^ Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed March 22, 2011.
  10. ^ "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
  11. ^ New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2010-2011[permanent dead link‍], Schooldigger.com. Accessed March 6, 2012.
  12. ^ Cesarano, Lisa. "176 Programs Earn Distinction As 'A Best Community for Music Education Archived April 29, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, NAMM Foundation, May 4, 2011. Accessed April 17, 2012.
  13. ^ 2010 Grammy Signature School Finalists Archived April 1, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, November 9, 2009. Accessed October 31, 2011.
  14. ^ Kuzmich, John. "Meet Bergenfield High School: Achieving Excellence Through Technology", School Band and Orchestra, January 1, 2010. Accessed September 26, 2015. "Their Honors Wind Ensemble has received three consecutive gold ratings at state regional festival and has been named a New Jersey Honor Band in 2007 and 2009."
  15. ^ "Music Man in Bergenfield", BergenfieldAlumni.com. Accessed January 9, 2012.
  16. ^ Music, Bergenfield High School. Accessed July 24, 2019.
  17. ^ Yorio, Kara. "Bergenfield High School marching band to play in Super Bowl halftime show", The Record, February 1, 2014. Accessed February 3, 2014. "The Bergenfield High School Marching Band has made it to the biggest of big-time — the Super Bowl halftime show.... The band also played at Super Bowl Media Day on Tuesday, welcoming the throngs to the Prudential Center in Newark."
  18. ^ 2009 Program Football - Cheerleading - Marching Band Archived February 22, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, Bergenfield High School. Accessed September 26, 2015.
  19. ^ Record Sports Magazine, Nov 2007, Front Cover Image, The Record. Accessed September 26, 2015.
  20. ^ Staff. "Sound of music fills field High school bands compete in Bergenfield", Twin-Boro News, October 21, 2011. Accessed August 22, 2011. "Marching musicians and colorful flags were all part of the competitive event sponsored by the Bergenfield Friends of Music, in conjunction with the Bergenfield High School music department and the United States Scholastic Band Association."
  21. ^ "Bergenfield's Band In Spotlight As Fair's Jersey Pavilion Opens"
  22. ^ Alvarez, Ashanti M. "Bergenfield's Marching Band Of Note", The Record, November 22, 2000. Accessed December 1, 2008.
  23. ^ Geli, Elizabeth. "Today Show Host Joins High School Band", Halftime Magazine, March / April 2011. Accessed August 22, 2011. "Ann Curry, host of NBC's Today Show, played a stint with the Bergenfield (N.J.) High School Band as part of a special 'Have You Ever' segment in which the hosts do something they've always dreamed of.... The Bergenfield band is no stranger to showbiz, recently appearing in two major motion pictures: The Bounty Hunter and Tower Heist, premiering in November."
  24. ^ Parisi, Albert J. "Bergenfield Band Helps Image", The New York Times, June 14, 1987. Accessed January 9, 2012. "The 25,500 residents of this Bergen County community have a reason to celebrate: the performance of the Bergenfield High School marching band on the annual Tony Awards program last Sunday night."
  25. ^ League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  26. ^ New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association League Memberships – 2009-2010, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, backed up by the Internet Archive as of July 24, 2011. Accessed August 14, 2017.
  27. ^ NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
  28. ^ Cooper, Darren. "Here's what we know about the new Super Football Conference 2020 schedule", The Record, July 23, 2020. Accessed March 22, 2021. "The Super Football Conference (SFC) is a 112-team group, the largest high school football-only conference in America, and is comprised of teams from five different counties."
  29. ^ Cooper, Darren. "NJ football: Super Football Conference revised schedules for 2020 regular season", The Record, July 23, 2020. Accessed March 22, 2021. "The Super Football Conference has 112 teams that will play across 20 divisions."
  30. ^ NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
  31. ^ NJSIAA Winter Cooperative Sports Programs, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 1, 2020.
  32. ^ Salvatore Peter Cascio: Lifetime Service To Wrestling - Class Of 2004[permanent dead link‍], National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. Accessed August 15, 2011.
  33. ^ History of NJSIAA Boys Basketball Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
  34. ^ "Hackensack, Bergenfield, St. Cecilia Win State Titles", The Record, March 19, 1945. Accessed December 11, 2020. "Bergenfield High School, which six short years ago was non-existent, today can claim the 1945 New Jersey State Group One basketball championship.' Coach Mike DeArmott's Mighty Mites culminated the most successful season In the school's brief history Saturday afternoon by annexing the coveted Group One crown with a 53-40 victory over Hightstown High School before a joyous throng of Bergenfield rooters at the Elizabeth Armory.... It was the twenty-second win of the season in twenty-four starts for the Mites, who were upset only by Teaneck and Bogota."
  35. ^ Idec, Keith. "H.S. boys' basketball: Bergenfield fends off Teaneck rally, wins North 1, Group 3 crown", The Record, March 11, 2015. Accessed September 26, 2015. "By then, second-seeded Bergenfield had fended off a remarkable Teaneck comeback and held on to win the North 1, Group 3 title, 71-69. Their wild win helped the Bears avenge two regular-season losses to eighth-seeded Teaneck and ended the defending champion's streak of North 1, Group 3 championships at four."
  36. ^ Baumuller, Matt. "Group 3 boys' basketball: Bergenfield tops Ewing, 80-72, in overtime", The Record, April 3, 2015. Accessed September 26, 2015. "The Bergenfield High School boys' basketball team capped off an incredible Cinderella season by defeating Ewing 80-72 in the New Jersey Group 3 state finals at Rutgers University March 15. The win gave Bergenfield its first basketball state title in 70 years.... Bergenfield was a team of destiny, however, and they finished off Ewing to win their first state title since 1945."
  37. ^ NJSIAA Football History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed January 1, 2022.
  38. ^ "Football Crown To Bergenfield", The New York Times, December 8, 1974. Accessed December 28, 2020. "Craig Nielsen, a halfback, led Bergenfield to a 36-0 victory over Paterson Kennedy and the North Jersey, Group 4, Section 1 crown by scoring three touchdowns on runs of 44, 43 and 1 yard in Clifton."
  39. ^ "It's Kennedy's Most Disappointing Hour", Paterson News, December 9, 1974. Accessed December 28, 2020, via Newspapers.com. "The charged up Bergenfield High School squad, displaying a potent ground game to go along with its awesome defense, crushed the stunned Knights. 36-0, before a crowd of about 7,000.... 'This loss certainly doesn't ruin our season, we had a great year. We ended up 9-1 and so did they.'"
  40. ^ Farber, Mike. "Group 4: Bergenfield topples Bayonne, 19-8", The Record, December 5, 1976. Accessed December 29, 2020, via Newspapers.com. "Amazing is not the only adjective Taglieri or the Bayonne players used to describe DeMarini's second-half heroics in the Bears' 19-8 New Jersey State interscholastic Athletic Association Group 4 sectional playoff victory before 10,416."
  41. ^ D'Allesandro, Dave. "Bergenfield routs Vernon", The Record, December 5, 1982. Accessed March 5, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "You need every edge you can get while traveling through Sussex County, especially if you're trying to find Vernon High School, wedged between horse farms and plush greenery atop the Pochuck Mountains.... The Vikings, at home for the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Group 3, Section 1 championship game, were being gracious hosts.... What Vernon should have done is take down that sign and hope that Bergenfield didn't show up. But the Vikings didn't, and the Bears arrived in time to rip them apart, 35-0, and capture their first State title since 1976."
  42. ^ Gramlich, Barry. "Bergenfield's happy moment ended by fight", The Record, December 7, 1986. Accessed January 25, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Ugly was the third-period ejection of Hoboken coach Joe Stinson, who resigned after the game. Ugly was a bench-clearing brawl with 1:14 left that ended the game prematurely. But a happy moment, for Bergenfield at least, was the top-seeded Bears' 52-8 thrashing of the Red Wings to win the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Group 3, North Section 1 championship.... 'It can't take away from our state championship,' said Turnamian, whose Bears (11-0) put the finishing touches on an unbeaten season."
  43. ^ Gramlich, Barry. "Bergenfield blanks Valley", The Record, December 6, 1987. Accessed February 7, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Moments after Bergenfield's 14-0 victory over Wayne Valley yesterday, Turnamian played the part of a relieved coach. Unlike last year's orderly celebration of the Bears' state final victory over Hoboken, an unrestrained Turnamian turned Bergenfield's locker room into a dance hall to toast his team's second straight New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Group 3, North Section 1 championship.... The kids were pressured to win all season and they never let it get to them." Perhaps it did once when the Bears (10-1) lost to Fair Lawn in a regular-season game."
  44. ^ History of NJSIAA Boys Bowling Championships, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed August 1, 2022.
  45. ^ NJSIAA Wrestling Team Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2021.
  46. ^ Administration, Bergenfield High School. Accessed August 29, 2024.
  47. ^ a b Beckerman, Jim. "A revolutionary stage designer", The Record, May 29, 2005. Accessed September 8, 2014. "'I guess we were just lucky,' says Charles Bogusat, festival co-founder and for 29 years teacher of the video production class (formerly called filmmaking class) at Bergenfield High School. 'Thom Fitzgerald, when he was a student, did this super-8 animated project about a bear, beautifully drawn,' Bogusat remembers. 'Harry Basil did a film called Land Shark.'"
  48. ^ Frank Eufemia, The Baseball Cube. Accessed October 19, 2019. "High School: Bergenfield (Bergenfield,NJ)"
  49. ^ Al Di Meola Archived October 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Telarc International Corporation. Accessed September 20, 2007. "'In the '60s, if you didn't play like Eric Clapton or Jimi Hendrix or Jimmy Page, you weren't accepted,' he recalls of his high school years in Bergenfield, New Jersey."
  50. ^ Bob Gaudio, VH1. Accessed November 16, 2007. "As he was entering high school, his family moved to Bergenfield, NJ, where he attended Bergenfield High School."
  51. ^ Martin, Douglas. "F. J. Thompson, 69, Longtime P.O.W., Dies", The New York Times, July 18, 2002. Accessed March 6, 2012. "Floyd James Thompson was born in Bergenfield, N.J., on July 8, 1933, the son of a bus driver. He worked in a grocery store and graduated from Bergenfield High School in 1951."
  52. ^ "Election Roundup: Bergenfield Council", Twin-Boro News, October 29, 2008. Accessed January 28, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Chris Tully... I am a lifelong resident of Bergenfield, a graduate of Bergenfield High School and a cum laude graduate of Northeastern University."
  53. ^ Dunleavy, Ryan. "Ron Villone's love of the game drives him late in career", Courier News, August 14, 2011. Accessed August 15, 2011. "A graduate of Bergenfield High School, Villone debuted in 1995 with the Seattle Mariners — the first of his record-tying 12 major-league teams. He has not spent more than two consecutive seasons with the same team — the reason for his moniker."
  54. ^ Ron Villone, Baseball Cube. Accessed November 23, 2006.
  55. ^ Staff. Jackie Zeman; Malibu, California, FabOverFifty.com. Accessed September 11, 2012. "Q. When did you start acting? In high school. A. We had a great drama department at Bergenfield High School. I got cast in all of the plays and loved it. I played Peggy Evans in Come Blow Your Horn and Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream."
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