Bergenfield High School

Bergenfield High School is a four-year, comprehensive public high school serving students from Bergenfield, in Bergen County, New Jersey, operating as part of the Bergenfield Public Schools. Bergenfield High School is accredited by the New Jersey Department of Education and has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools since 1945.^[3]

The school was constructed at a cost of $370,000 as an addition to an existing school, and dedicated in ceremonies held in April 1941.^[4]

As of the 2010-11 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,190 students and 84.2 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.13:1. There were 233 students (19.6% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 103 (8.7% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.^[2]

Approximately 97.7% of 2010 Bergenfield High School graduates planned to go on to two-year or four-year colleges.^[5] The school's CEEB code is 310090.

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 139th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 328 schools statewide in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2012 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", after being ranked 136th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.^[6] The magazine ranked the school 234th in 2008 out of 316 schools and 192nd in the 2006.^[7][8] 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).^[9]

Curriculum

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

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

• 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^[10] and was a finalist for the Grammy Signature Schools Award for multiple years as well.^[11]

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 alone has received gold ratings at the state regional festival and has been named a New Jersey Honor Band in 2007 and 2009.^[12]

Marching band

Bergenfield is well known for its now over 200-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.^[13] The musicians currently work under the direction of Brian P. Timmons and the color guard under Michael DeLucia.^[14]

The band marched in the Super Bowl XLVIII Halftime Show and performed at the NFL Media Day festivities at the Prudential Center in Newark.^[15] 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.^[16] The Record placed the band's image on the front cover of the November 2007 issue of its Sports Magazine.^[17]

Bergenfield hosts the annual USSBA Bergen County Invitational Band Festival, which has a roster of up to 16 bands per year.^[18] 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

• The Bergenfield marching band represented New Jersey as the lead music group in a televised opening of the 1964 New York World's Fair.^[19]
• They've marched at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for a record 20 times and were featured in a 1978 Macy's commercial. They've also participated in NYC ticker-tape parades.^[20]
• The band appeared on film in The Bounty Hunter and Tower Heist as the Macy's Great American Marching Band.
• Their notable TV news segments include News 12, Good Day New York when the Yankees won the 2009 World Series, and The Today Show where host Ann Curry fulfilled one of her long-time dreams by performing with the marching band.^[21]
• They performed live at the 41st Tony Awards held in June 1987 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre, appearing as part of a tribute aired to honor the then recently deceased Robert Preston, best known for his starring role in The Music Man.^[22]

Athletics

The Bergenfield High School Bears now compete in the Big North Conference, following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.^[23] Previously, it was one of the 12 schools participating in the North Bergen Interscholastic Athletic League (NBIL/NBIAL).^[24] With 890 students in grades 10-12, the school is classified by the NJSIAA for most sports as North I, Group II, which includes schools with enrollment of 819 to 1,112.^[25] Tom Curry is Bergenfield's Athletic Director. The football team was once very successful, and at one time was ranked number 1 in New Jersey. Its wrestling program has been successful over the last 40 years and former coach Sal Cascio is in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in Stillwater, Oklahoma.^[26]

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.

• 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 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.^[27]

Administration

Core members of the school's administration are:^[28]

• Principal - Jim Fasano
• Assistant Principal - Rob Ragasa

Bergenfield High School has 110 faculty members including those listed above, four guidance counselors, two nurses, and two library / media center faculty.

Notable alumni

• Harry Basil, stand-up comic, actor in Peggy Sue Got Married and director.^[29]
• Thom Fitzgerald (born 1968), filmmaker The Hanging Garden, The Event, 3 Needles.^[29]
• Al Di Meola (born 1954), jazz fusion guitarist.^[30]
• Bob Gaudio (born 1942), singer, songwriter and producer, of the group The Four Seasons.^[31]
• Bernard Goldberg (born 1945), television news reporter and author of Bias, a New York Times number one bestseller about how the media distort the news.^{[citation needed]}
• Vincent Scuro (born 1951), author and columnist.^{[citation needed]}
• Floyd James Thompson (born 1933), America's longest held Prisoner of War.^[32]
• Ron Villone (born 1970), former major league pitcher, who played for 12 teams in his career.^[33][34]
• Jacklyn Zeman (born 1963), actress who has played Barbara "Bobbie" Spencer on General Hospital since 1977.^[35]

References

External links

• Bergenfield High School
• Bergenfield Public Schools
• Bergenfield Public Schools's 2010–11 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
• Data for the Bergenfield Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics
• Bergenfield High School Profile

Coordinates: 40°55′31″N 74°00′21″W / 40.925371°N 74.005964°W / 40.925371; -74.005964

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