Buena Regional High School

Buena Regional High School
Location
125 Weymouth Road
Buena, NJ 08310
Information
Type Public high school
Established 1973
School district Buena Regional School District
Principal Moses White
Vice principal Michael Mattina
Faculty 65.6 (on FTE basis)[1]
Grades 9 - 12
Enrollment 824[1] (as of 2012-13)
Student to teacher ratio 12.56:1[1]
Color(s) Royal Blue and Gold
Athletics conference Cape-Atlantic League
Team name Chiefs
Website School website

Buena Regional High School is a comprehensive regional public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from communities in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Buena Regional School District. Municipalities served by the district are Buena Borough and Buena Vista Township. The school opened in September 1973.

Students from both Estell Manor and Weymouth Township, attend Buena Regional High School as part of sending/receiving relationships with the respective school districts.[2][3]

Students from Newfield, a non-operating school district, had attended the district's high school until the 2010-11 school year, after the New Jersey Department of Education approved a plan in 2009 under which students from Newfield would start attending Delsea Regional High School, with those still at Buena attending until they graduate.[4]

As of the 2012-13 school year, the school had an enrollment of 824 students and 65.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.56:1. There were 260 students (31.6% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 89 (10.8% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]

An addition completed in 1999 added six new classrooms and two state-of-the-art science labs.

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 296th-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.[5] The school had been ranked 316th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 297th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[6] The magazine ranked the school 286th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[7] The school was ranked 289th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[8]

Curriculum

The curriculum offerings include Advanced Placement (AP) courses in AP Calculus, AP United States History, AP English Literature and Composition, AP European History, AP Biology and AP Chemistry.[9]

Athletics

The Buena Regional High School Chiefs compete in the National Division of the Cape-Atlantic League an athletic conference consisting of both parochial and public high schools located in Atlantic County, Cape May County, Cumberland County, and Gloucester County, and operates under the aegis of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[10] With 561 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2014-15 school year as South Jersey, Group II for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 486 to 748 students in that grade range.[11]

Buena Regional High School's athletic department offers teams in boys and girls basketball, tennis, and soccer, as well as baseball and softball, girls' field hockey, boys' wrestling,boys and girls spring and winter track, cross country and football. There are cheerleading squads for Varsity and Junior Varsity basketball and football. The football team claimed a South Jersey state championship in 1988, as well as reaching the state championship game in 2002, only to lose in overtime on a controversial goal-line stand. The boys' cross country team won the school's only state championship in 1988 as well. The baseball team has won or shared 15 league, conference, or division titles in 34 years. The baseball team won a South Jersey Group II State title in 2008 under Coach George West. A co-ed swim team was formed for the 2008-09 season. Also the girls cross country team under Michael Falciani has won two consecutive Atlantic County championships, and has been undefeated for four years in their conference.

The baseball team became the first title-winning team from the Cape Atlantic League when it won the Group II state championship in 2014 under coach Harry Grose with a 4-1 win in the tournament final against Bernards High School.[12]

Arts

The band and choir of Buena Regional have competed extensively throughout the years, with the choir winning a Grand Championship in a national competition in 1992. The Drama Club had floundered throughout the years, suffering from a lack of consistent leadership, having had five directors in twenty years. The Musical Theatre Tradition began in earnest in Buena in 2001 with a production of Oklahoma!. Lately, there has been leadership provided by the choral music director for 10 years who has established a program that has sustained itself financially. The 2010 production of Beauty and the Beast was followed by the 2011 production of Into the Woods .

Administration

Core members of the school's administration are:[13]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 School Data for Buena Regional High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 24, 2015.
  2. ↑ Buena Regional School District 2014 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 24, 2015. "The Buena Regional Schools offer a Pre-K through Grade 12 learning opportunity for the children of the Buena Vista Township and the Buena Borough communities as well as grade 9 through 12 experiences for the students of Estell Manor and Weymouth Townships."
  3. ↑ Uzdavinis, Brian. "Pinelands hampers education in Buenas", Buena Vista Township, copy of article from The Press of Atlantic City, December 7, 2002. Accessed June 10, 2011. "Buena Regional - which serves three sending districts in Newfield, Weymouth Township and Estell Manor, along with Buena Borough and Buena Vista Township - has been asking the state for special needs, or Abbott, designation."
  4. ↑ Romalino, Carly. "State OKs Newfield's break with Buena district", Gloucester County Times, June 17, 2009. Accessed November 18, 2014. "The Board of Education here can sever its three-decade tie with Buena Regional School District, New Jersey Commissioner of Education Lucille Davy has ruled. The move will begin in the 2010-11 school year."
  5. ↑ Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
  6. ↑ Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 12, 2012.
  7. ↑ Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed February 1, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
  9. ↑ Buena Regional High School 2013 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed November 18, 2014. "BRHS’s curriculum includes Advanced Placement (AP) program offerings in English Literature and Composition, Calculus, European History, and Chemistry as well as honors, college preparatory and general course offerings in each of the major content areas."
  10. ↑ League Memberships – 2014-2015, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 18, 2014.
  11. ↑ 2014-2015 Public Schools Group Classification: ShopRite Cup–Basketball–Baseball–Softball for South Jersey, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, as of July 8, 2014. Accessed November 18, 2014.
  12. ↑ McGarry, Michael. "Buena Regional wins state Group II baseball championship", The Press of Atlantic City, June 7, 2014. Accessed April 28, 2015. "Brady pitched Buena to a historic victory and a state championship. The junior struck out 11 as the Chiefs beat Bernards 4-1 to win the state Group II title at Toms River East. Buena (22-5) is the first Cape-Atlantic League public school to win a state title since the state tournament began in 1971."
  13. ↑ Administration, Buena Regional High School. Accessed November 18, 2014.

External links

Coordinates: 39°32′07″N 74°55′06″W / 39.535175°N 74.91838°W