Bergenfield High School
| Bergenfield High School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| 80 South Prospect Avenue Bergenfield, NJ 07621 |
|
| Information | |
| Type | Public high school |
| Principal | Jim Fasano |
| Asst. Principal | Rob Ragasa |
| Faculty | 87 (on FTE basis)[1] |
| Enrollment | 1,251 (as of 2009-10)[1] |
| Student to teacher ratio | 14.38[1] |
| Color(s) | Red, Black, and White |
| Athletics conference | Big North Conference |
| Team name | Bears |
| Website | School website |
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.[2]
As of the 2009-10 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,251 students and 87 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.38.[1]
The school was the 136th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 322 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2010 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", after being ranked 234th in 2008 out of 316 schools and 192nd in the 2006.[3][4] Schooldigger.com ranked the school 163rd out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (an increase of 52 positions from the 2010 rank) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the language arts literacy and mathematics components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).[5]
Approximately 97.7% of 2010 Bergenfield High School graduates planned to go on to two-year or four-year colleges.[6] The school's CEEB code is 310090.
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.
Contents |
[edit] 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 and AP Spanish Language.
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.
[edit] 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 2011[7] and was a finalist for the Grammy Signature Schools Award for multiple years as well.[8]
- 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 consecutive gold ratings at the state regional festival and has been named a New Jersey Honor Band in 2007 and 2009.[9]
[edit] Marching Band
- Bergenfield is well known for its now over 200-member marching band resembling the British Foot Guards.
- 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.[10] The musicians currently work under the direction of Brian P. Timmons and the color guard under Michael DeLucia.[11]
- Some of the many events and locations the band has been invited to perform at are Disney World, Yankee Stadium, New Meadowlands Stadium, Jets and Giants football games, Foxboro Stadium, Devils game at Prudential Center, and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for a record 20 times.[12]
- The Record placed the band's image on the front cover of the November 2007 issue of its Sports Magazine.[13]
- Bergenfield hosts the annual USSBA Bergen County Invitational Band Festival, which has a roster of up to 16 bands per year.[14] 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. [15]
- They’ve appeared on film in The Bounty Hunter and Tower Heist as the Macy's Great American Marching Band.
- TV news appearances 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.[16]
- Their most memorable television performance was performing 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.[17]
[edit] 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.[18] Previously, it was one of the 12 schools participating in the North Bergen Interscholastic Athletic League (NBIL/NBIAL). 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.[19] 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.[20]
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.[21]
[edit] Administration
Core members of the school's administration are:[22]
- 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.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Harry Basil, stand-up comic, actor in Peggy Sue Got Married and director.[23]
- Thom Fitzgerald (born 1968), filmmaker The Hanging Garden, The Event, 3 Needles.[23]
- Al Di Meola (born 1954), jazz fusion guitarist.[24]
- Bob Gaudio (born 1942), singer, songwriter and producer, of the group The Four Seasons.[25]
- 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.[26]
- Ron Villone (born 1970), pitcher who has played for the New York Yankees.[27][28]
- Jacklyn Zeman (born 1963), actress who has played Barbara "Bobbie" Spencer on General Hospital since 1977.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Bergenfield High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed June 12, 2011.
- ^ Bergenfield High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools. Accessed June 12, 2011.
- ^ Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed March 22, 2011.
- ^ "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
- ^ New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2009-2010, Schooldigger.com. Accessed January 9, 2012.
- ^ Bergenfield High School 2010 School Report Card, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed August 15, 2011.
- ^ Cesarano, Lisa. "179 Communities Achieve Prestigious Designation; 2011 Marks the First Year That Individual Schools Earn Honor", NAMM Foundation, May 4, 2011. Accessed August 22, 2011.
- ^ 2010 Grammy Signature School Finalists, November 9, 2009. Accessed October 31, 2011.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Music Man in Bergenfield", BergenfieldAlumni.com. Accessed January 9, 2012.
- ^ Activities and Clubs, Bergenfield High School. Accessed January 9, 2012.
- ^ Alvarez, Ashanti M. "BERGENFIELD'S MARCHING BAND OF NOTE", The Record (Bergen County), November 22, 2000. Accessed December 1, 2008.
- ^ [2]
- ^ 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."
- ^ [3]
- ^ 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."
- ^ 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."
- ^ League Memberships – 2010-2011, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed August 15, 2011.
- ^ 2011-2012 Public Schools Group Classification for ShopRite Cup–Tennis–Soccer–Basketball–Baseball–Softball for North I, NJSIAA. Accessed January 7, 2012.
- ^ Salvatore Peter Cascio: Lifetime Service To Wrestling - Class Of 2004, National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. Accessed August 15, 2011.
- ^ Goldberg, Jeff. N.J.S.I.A.A. FOOTBALL PLAYOFF CHAMPIONS, NJSIAA. Accessed November 6, 2011.
- ^ Administration, Bergenfield High School. Accessed March 22, 2011.
- ^ a b Beckerman, Jim. "A revolutionary stage designer", The Record (Bergen County), May 29, 2005. Accessed June 24, 2005. "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.'
- ^ Al Di Meola, 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."
- ^ 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."
- ^ Martin, Douglas. "F. J. Thompson, 69, Longtime P.O.W., Dies", The New York Times, July 18, 2002. Accessed April 4, 2008. "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."
- ^ 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."
- ^ Ron Villone, Baseball Cube. Accessed November 23, 2006.
[edit] External links
- Bergenfield High School
- Bergenfield Public Schools
- Bergenfield Public Schools's 2009–10 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
|
||||||||||||||
