Bristol Eastern High School
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| 'We Are Committed to Excellence' | |
| Established | 1959 |
|---|---|
| School type | Public |
| Principal | Vincent E Lyons |
| Faculty | about 100 |
| Students | approx. 1,354 |
| Colors Mascot |
Blue and Grey Lancer |
| Location | 632 King Street Bristol, CT 06010 |
| Information | (860) 584-7876 |
| Website | http://www.bristol.k12.ct.us/page.cfm?p=235/ |
Bristol Eastern High School is a public high school, part of the Bristol Public School System, in Bristol, Connecticut, USA which was opened in 1959. It has an enrollment of 1,354 students in grades 9-12. The main head (principal) of the school, as of 2006, is Vincent E Lyons.
Bristol Eastern High School Prides itself in being recoginized by the Deparment of Education as a Nationally Accredited Blue Ribbon School. BEHS has many clubs and activities to partake in, and is always competitive with its cross-town rival Bristol Central High School.
The School year in the Bristol Public School system usually runs from, on or around August 31 until the middle of June (which all depends on how many emergency snow/ice days are used), but usually its anywhere from June 14-20. The Bristol Public Schools closes for all major holidays including: Labor Day, Columbus Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Martin Luther King Jr Day, Good Friday, and Memorial Day. As for vacations, Thanksgiving Recess begins with an Early Release on the Wednesday, and Thursday and Friday off. Christmas Break runs from Dec 23 (or the closest school day) until Jan 2 (or the closest school day). Winter Break runs the week of President's Day in February. April Vacation (spring break) runs usually the 2nd to last week in April.
All information was taken from the Bristol Public School's Website [1]
[edit] Controversy
[edit] 1970s
While generally speaking the school has been praised, as with the Blue Ribbon award, it has been fixated locally as a center of controversy since the 1970s. From 1971 to 1984 no valedictorian at the school was named. The current statement from the school about this gap of time was that the records were not kept. However, c. 1972-78, there was turmoil at Bristol Eastern as there was in many high schools across the country; a large movement of teenage insubordination was sweeping the nation. It seems, though, that Bristol Eastern was unusually overrun and surprisingly unmanned during this period. A major central issue of the time was smoking on the grounds, whose eventual solution would lead to many other problems. The problem was rampant and the school lacked the proper authority to stop it. Several methods were tried unsuccessfully such as allowing smoking at the entrance ways, or in the courtyards. But when these designated areas became swamped, this colliding with several other problems such as excessive intimate contact, drug usage, violence, and protest, the administration decided to experiment with open campus. The period of time under which this took place is c. 1974-1977. The experiment was a catastrophic failure. The idea was that the students would feel more respected as adults and choose the "right" behavior. However, it turned out the problem was that students were apathetic to having or not having a teacher's respect; the general philosophy was that school was just a burden to be avoided, this coupled with the movements nationwide sweeping high schools about not submitting to authority. The students were utterly out of the control of the teachers and the only participation occurred by those students who wanted to. Such reports broke out like open use of drugs in the classroom, frequent sexual activity in the classroom and bathrooms, and possibly worst, bad tutoring. Many teachers were reported to have simply stopped teaching, some involved in sexual allegations, drug use, and other behavior typical of the students. One report speaks of a teacher lighting another child's shoes on fire. Since the open campus status left few records, many events live on in only memory, but the level which the unruliness leapt vastly outdid many and most high schools the same size or style. The proceedings were unprecedented.
[edit] 2000s
Until recently, the school has ben able to maintain a level of little to no criminal activity, and has even reached Blue Ribbon Accreditation. But now, new reports are once again tarnishing the school's reputation. Most controversial is the installation of security cameras around the school. They cover every corridor and main entrance way, and thusly the problem is not what isn't being seen. The cameras have prevented nearly no events, nor helped catch a wrongdoer, nor do anything security cameras are expected to do. One incident led to the expulsion of a student, caught entirely on camera, but solved completely without its aid. And the level of bad behavior in the school has not ceased. Also is a corner near the school the students have aptly nicknamed "Smoker's Corner", where underage students smoke right off campus. The school has authority to stop this but refuses to do so. The reasons are speculated. The most popular belief among students is that arresting these kids adds another scar to the resume of the school.
This section contains many seemingly unsourced statements. However, as the school refuses to release any numbers for these and other pertinent matters, this information is based off independent unbiased studies and research, and since this is the only official source of contrarian information, it is urgent it is posted.
