| Brighton High School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
| 1150 Winton Road Rochester, New York, 14618 United States |
|
| Information | |
| School district | Brighton Central School District |
| Principal | Nancy Hackett |
| Grades | 9-12 |
| Enrollment | 1176 (2009-2010[1]) |
| Average class size | 21 |
| School Color(s) | Blue, White, and Yellow |
| Mascot | Barons |
| Publication | Galaxy |
| Newspaper | Trapezoid |
| Yearbook | Crossroads |
| Graduates | 93% |
| Website | http://www.bcsd.org/bhs.cfm |
Brighton High School, commonly abbreviated BHS, is a public high school located in Rochester, New York, in the suburb of Brighton. It offers a comprehensive curriculum for students in grades 9-12.
The current principal is Dr. Nancy Hackett.[2]
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As of 2007, Brighton offers Advanced Placement (AP) classes in numerous subjects, including Calculus, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Economics, Government and Politics, United States History, World History, European History, Music Theory, Statistics, English Literature, English Language, Spanish, French, Computer Science, and German.[3]
Brighton is a suburb of the city of Rochester. The high school has an urban-suburban program that allows inner city students to attend Brighton High School.
The school has appeared on Newsweek Magazine's Top 100 Public High Schools list. In 1998, Brighton achieved its highest ranking on the Newsweek list, taking the 5th spot. In 2006, it placed 96th. In 2007, it placed 79th one ahead of Pittsford Mendon High School. In 2008 it was ranked 158, fifth among schools in the Rochester area behind Pittsford Sutherland, Pittsford Mendon, Greece Odyssey and Wilson Magnet. Rankings fluctuate heavily based upon AP exams administered relative to the graduating senior class. In 2010, Brighton placed 126th.
In 2007, U.S. News & World Report magazine ranked Brighton High School 57th out of 18,790 public high schools. It was the only Monroe County school on the list.[4]
The class of 2005 graduated 311 students. There were 6 National Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalists and 14 National Merit Scholarship commended students. Mean SAT scores were 614 verbal and 640 math. 80% of those taking AP examinations received a grade of 3 or higher.
About 90% of graduates continue their education, including attendance at prestigious universities. Recent graduates are attending Princeton University, Harvard University, Yale University, Duke University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cornell University, Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, Boston College, University of Richmond, University of Pittsburgh, The University of Virginia, Hampshire College, Johns Hopkins University, Amherst College, Colgate University, Dartmouth College, Arizona State University, Columbia University, University of Chicago, Brown University, Williams College, Bentley University, Brandeis University, Syracuse University, Middlebury College, Tufts University, Marquette University, University of Rochester, University of Vermont, Wellesley College, University of Michigan, University of Southern California, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Scottsdale Community College, Case Western Reserve University, Washington University in St. Louis, Colby College, Northwestern University, Gannon University, SUNY College at Geneseo, SUNY Potsdam University of North Carolina.
Brighton is one of the only schools in the Rochester area that allows its publications to hold permanent office spaces.
The Trapezoid is the name of Brighton High School's monthly school newspaper. Sections include News, Feature, Opinion, In Depth, and Sports. [5] The Trapezoid has risen to prominence in recent years. The newspaper has received a number of awards, including First Place in the Bertram Freed Memorial Award Competition and New York's Best Newspaper and Best Online Publication from the Empire State School Press Association.[6]
Brighton High School's yearbook, Crossroads, has been in existence since 1933. It is distributed at BHS's annual Spring Fest every year.[7]
Brighton's art and literary magazine, Galaxy, was created in 1954.. Galaxy continues its tradition of holding meetings at students' homes on Sunday evenings. Galaxy is entirely student-created, with the help of advisor and art teacher Debra Burger and is printed locally. In 2009, the magazine received a First Place with Special Merit award from the American Scholastic Press Association. Several members also receive honors at the annual ESSPA (Empire State Scholastic Press Association) Conference.[8]
Brighton students are offered a wide array of courses in languages other than English, including:
In March 2007, Brighton High School students acted in a one-night only shadow production of Our Town at Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, New York. Directed by BHS's own Judy Shomper, 11th grade English teacher, the play provided an opportunity for the students to make new bonds with professional actors after viewing several rehearsals and the professional final product.
The musicals at BHS have been directed by Larry Dugan since 1986.
In fall of 2007 Senior Kyle Glickman, one of Judy Shomper's students, won a Rochester youth literature contest held by Geva Theater with his short play Brighton's Finest.
Brighton High School has over 20 different musical groups, ranging from Jazz Band to Crazy Pitches, a coed a capella group. The Crazy Pitches are a favorite group of students at the school, and their annual show, "Pitch Black", is a highly anticipated event each year.
Teachers of the arts at Brighton High School include:
In 1991, "The Morning Show" was created at BHS by producers Bennett Killmer and Joe Nussbaum, with the help of teacher, Richard Tschorke. Nussbaum went on to direct the short film George Lucas in Love, and the feature films Sleepover and Sydney White starring Amanda Bynes. Tschorke was the adviser of the club for twenty years. The show originally only had a few small cameras. Since then, the show has grown to include 2 professional cameras, a graphics machine, audio board, and a switch board. The Morning Show continues to be a professional and quality program with the supervision of the new adviser Mr. Chris French. In the 1986-1987 school year, "Brighton Beat," a precursor to The Morning Show, was produced. This show included one news and one interview show each week.
In 2009, Brighton's Jazz Appreciation Club founded Bagelfest, an early-morning festival dedicated to the appreciation of jazz music while enjoying hundreds of bagels. More than 150 students, along with an assortment of BHS faculty, gathered in the band room on May 29 for the event. Bagelfest even featured a live broadcast on Brighton's student-run Morning Show. "I've never felt so proud," declared Jonah Smith, president of Jazz Appreciation Club, "everyone had a great time, and their donations really showed their enthusiasm." Bagelfest attendees donated enough money to fully cover the cost of the festival; in the years to come, the Jazz Appreciation Club hopes to raise enough money to donate all proceeds to various charitable organizations that expand jazz literacy in younger generations.
The 1971 Boys Soccer team under coach Clarence Mepham won the sectionals, beating rival Pittsford in the final match. Notable about that team is the semi-final match against Spencerport. The first game ended in a 1-1 tie, after four sudden-death five-minute overtimes. The next day, the teams played again, also ending in a 1-1 tie, with another four sudden-death five-minute overtimes. The two exhausted teams took a day off, and then came back for a third game, which Brighton won 3-1. The games were written about in a Scorecard item in Sports Illustrated a few weeks later. Noted Brighton graduate and professional soccer player and coach David Sarachan was the center striker for that team.
The Boys Lacrosse team won the 2004 sectional championship.
In the 2006 season, the boys volleyball team went to sectional finals, beaten by Victor in the final game.
The girls lacrosse team, perhaps the school's most successful program in recent years, has won 12 sectional titles and 2 state championships in the past 14 years (as of 2011). John Dugan’s school record setting performance of 1:55.0 at the 1989 NYSPHSAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in 800 meters stood for nearly twenty years. In 2007, Mike Geary set new marks for both the 800 meter (1:54) and the 1600 meter (4:19).
Brighton's eternally modest assistant track coach Steve Pulos PhD is a former track All-American at 10,000 meters, Wineglass Marathon champion (2:34), and Lilac Festival 10k champion. Steve was the individual winner of the prestigious Lilac Festival 10k road race in 1980 with a time of 30:24, although he would never personally admit to any of his running accomplishments. To put this monster run into perspective, the former American record holder at 5k, Matt Centrowicz, would win this race two years later. On top of that, Steve's time blows the doors off several later individual winners, such as Scott Bagley, Todd Reeser, and Tom Haxton (perennial Rochester road racing champion, University of Rochester All-American, and University of Chicago All-American, respectively).
In addition, Coach Pulos team's have won eight Section V Championships in track/cross country during his coaching tenure at Brighton High.
In 2006 Zack Ellis(103 sophomore) went to states placed 2nd
In 2007 two members of the brighton varsity wrestling team went to states, Joey Disalvo(215) and Zach Elis(112), a senior and a junior respectively
In 2008 Zack Ellis(119) returned to states with another senior, Matt Mahon(285) who made all-state
The boys and girls cross-country team were New York State Champions in 2004.
The Girls Alpine Ski Team won the NYS crown in 2005.
The Boys Basketball team produced a 17-3 record in 2007 and advanced into the Monroe County Tournament as the number 1 seed for the AA division. Five players were selected to the Monroe County 2007 All-Star Team (Joe Reed, Brad Cronister, Connor Dever, Dan Holtzman, Brandon Burris).
The Boys Baseball team made it to the sectional championships in 2006 where they lost to rival Pittsford Sutherland
The Boys Swim team sent several swimmers to the state competition in 2007 and again in 2010.
The Boys diving team had the pleasure of sending diver Devin Zdanowski to the New York State Diving Championships in 2010 after taking 1st place in the 2010 Section V Championship meet.
The Boys Bowling team won its first Division III title in 2007. Also Richard Farrington made the All Section 5 composite team for states that year.
The Brighton Crew team has produced many Division 1 rowers at schools such as Annapolis, Georgetown, Princeton, Stanford, Wisconsin, and Yale. The Boys Crew team won the NYS Championship points trophy in 2005. The Boys Lightweight Four won the NYS Championship in 2005, placed third in 2006, and placed second in 2007. The Boys Double won the NYS Championship in both 2005 and 2007.The Boys Double with Henry Fitts and Aidan Marsh went to Nationals in 2007.
In 2009, the Boys Track and Field Team won their first Sectional Title. The team prevailed after trading leads with Pittsford Mendon all throughout the day. The Barons secured their title when 10th seeded Philip Cooper won the 200m by 3 hundredths of a second.
In 2011, the Brighton Barons Boys soccer team won their third sectional title, under newly appointed coaches and former Baron goalkeeper Adam Hiller, after defeating Aquinas in the Class A finals 2-0. They then defeated East Aurora of Buffalo 4-0 to win the Western New York Regional title, which gave them a berth in the 2011 State Championship tournament in Middletown, NY. The Barons came up short to Maine-Endwell in the semi-finals, where they lost in penalty kicks 4-5 after they tied 1-1 in regulation. They ended the season 13-4-4.