Bayonne High School (BHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in Bayonne, in Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operated by the Bayonne Board of Education. The school has been accredited until July 2022 by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools.[3]

Bayonne High School
Address
Map
669 Avenue A

, ,
07002

United States
Coordinates40°40′18″N 74°07′16″W / 40.67176°N 74.121234°W / 40.67176; -74.121234
Information
TypePublic high school
Established1936; 88 years ago (1936)
School districtBayonne Board of Education
NCES School ID340126002704[1]
PrincipalKeith Makowski (acting)
Faculty213.0 FTEs[1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment2,656 (as of 2022–23)[1]
Student to teacher ratio12.5:1[1]
Color(s)  Garnet and
  white[2]
Athletics conferenceHudson County Interscholastic League (general)
North Jersey Super Football Conference (football)
Team nameBees[2]
RivalSt. Peter's Preparatory School
AccreditationMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools[3]
PublicationThe Beacon
Websitewww.bboed.org/domain/17

As of the 2022–23 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,656 students and 213.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.5:1. There were 1,334 students (50.2% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 180 (6.8% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1] In the 2018–19 school year, the school's reported racial/ethnic make-up was 44% White (including Arab), 35% Hispanic, 13% Black, 7% Asian, and 1% Multiracial.[4]

Awards, recognition and rankings edit

For the 1995-96 school year, Bayonne High School was named a "Star School" by the New Jersey Department of Education, the highest honor that a New Jersey school can achieve.[5]

The school was the 263rd-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.[6] The school had been ranked 317th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 242nd in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[7] The magazine ranked the school 248th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[8] The school was ranked 273rd in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[9] Schooldigger.com ranked the school 219th out of 367 public high schools statewide in its 2009-10 rankings 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).[10]

Academic offerings edit

Advanced Placement courses are offered in AP Biology, AP Calculus AB, AP English Language and Composition, AP English Literature and Composition, AP European History, AP Music Theory, AP Psychology, AP Statistics, AP Studio Art, AP United States Government and Politics and AP United States History.[4] College credit can be earned through articulation agreements with New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, Saint Peter's University and Seton Hall University.[4]

History edit

The school was created in 1936, when the Sweeney Senior High School (officially Daniel P. Sweeney High School) and the Pulaski Vocational / Technical School were established. The technical school occupied what is now the vocational wing of BHS. The two schools were officially amalgamated in 1953. In 1973, the school was reorganized into six houses.[11]

After an incident in 1997 in which two students were stabbed, one fatally wounded, the school instituted wide-ranging measures to reduce violence, from discussion groups to metal detectors.[12] In 2000, it was reported to be known as a model of school safety.[13]

Campus edit

Bayonne High School is divided into six houses. The school is also home to an ice rink, and is the only public high school in the state to have an on-site ice rink for its hockey team.[14] Located in the ice rink building are a gymnasium, offices, bathrooms, indoor track, and workout/ meeting rooms. The campus also has three gymnasiums, a planetarium, an in-house biological conservatory, a 600-seat auditorium, four tennis courts, a football stadium, and one baseball field. It borders the Newark Bay. The high school is sized for approximately 3,000 students.

Athletics edit

The Bayonne High School Bees[2] compete in the Hudson County Interscholastic League (HCIAA), which comprises public and private high schools in Hudson County and was established following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[15] With 1,916 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group IV for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 1,060 to 5,049 students in that grade range.[16] The football team competes in the Liberty Red division of the North Jersey Super Football Conference, which includes 112 schools competing in 20 divisions, making it the nation's biggest football-only high school sports league.[17][18] The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group V North for football for 2022–2024, which included schools with 1,313 to 5,304 students.[19]

Sports offered include:[2]

  • Boys: Baseball, Football, Basketball, Volleyball, Swimming, Soccer, Tennis, Wrestling, Hockey
  • Girls: Softball, Volleyball, Basketball, Swimming (11 consecutive County Championship wins), Soccer, Tennis, Cheerleading (Over 6 national titles, two state titles)
  • Co-ed: Fencing, Golf, Bowling, Stepping, Cross Country, Hockey, Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field

The boys' cross country team won the Group IV state title in 1946 and 1952.[20]

The boys indoor track team won the public state championship in 1947.[21]

The boys tennis team was the overall state champion in 1951, defeating runner-up East Orange High School 3-0 in the tournament final to bring their season record to 11-0 and extend the program's winning streak to 60 matches.[22][23] The team had been in the HCIAA championship for 19 consecutive years, from 1993 to 2011. The team had won four consecutive titles from 1996 to 1999, and again from 2001 to 2004, and won their fifth consecutive county championship in 2011 with a 3-2 win over Secaucus High School in the tournament finals.[24][25]

The boys' basketball team won the Group IV state championship in 1951, against runner-up Thomas Jefferson High School in the finals of the playoffs.[26]

The baseball team won the Group IV state championship in 1973, defeating North Hunterdon High School in the tournament final.[27]

In 1990, the girls soccer team was Group IV co-champion with East Brunswick High School.[28]

The school's football team won the 2002 North I Group IV state championship, defeating Hackensack High School 25-23 in the championship game, for the school's first and only state championship to date in football.[29][30]

The ice hockey team won the 1999-2000 public school state championship, with a 6-3 win over Summit High School at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, before falling by a score of 4-2 to Hudson Catholic Regional High School for the overall championship.[31] The team won the McMullen Cup and The Monsignor Kelly Cup in 2017.[32]

The boys volleyball team has been ranked in the top 10 in the state and won four straight HCIAA championships from 2006 to 2009 over their county rival St. Peter's Preparatory School, a streak broken by St. Peter's in 2010 final.[33] In 2007 they reached the state final four before losing in the North Sectional to St. Peter's Prep.[34] In 2008 they lost in the elite eight of the state tournament to Vernon Township High School in three games, despite being ranked #1 in the North.[35] In 2009 they reached the state final four once again, only to be defeated by St. Peter's Prep again in the North final, 25-15, 25-23.[36]

In 2011, the girls' basketball team won their third consecutive Hudson County title with a 48-32 win over North Bergen High School.[37]

In popular culture edit

Administration edit

The school's acting principal is Keith Makowski. Core members of the school's administration include the six vice principals, one assigned to each "house" within the school.[46]

Notable alumni edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e School data for Bayonne High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 1, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Bayonne High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Bayonne High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed December 22, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c 2018 - 2019 Profile, Bayonne High School. Accessed July 23, 2019.
  5. ^ Star School Award recipient detail, New Jersey Department of Education, Archived December 18, 2006. Accessed November 30, 2009.
  6. ^ Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
  7. ^ Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed December 1, 2012.
  8. ^ Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed April 7, 2011.
  9. ^ "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
  10. ^ New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2009-2010[permanent dead link], Schooldigger.com. Accessed December 29, 2011.
  11. ^ The History of Bayonne High School Archived September 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Bayonne Board of Education. Accessed July 13, 2011.
  12. ^ Petersen, Melody. "Fatal High School Stabbing Prompts Security Measures", The New York Times, March 10, 1997. Accessed November 17, 2011. "The police are still searching for the assailant, who entered the school as students were heading into homeroom, wounded one student and killed another in the school's second-floor hallway, and then slipped away."
  13. ^ Back from the brink - Three years after a corridor killing, one high school offers a model of school safety USA Today April 16, 2000.
  14. ^ Korpi Ice Rink, Bayonne Hockey Association. Accessed October 29, 2016.
  15. ^ League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  16. ^ NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
  17. ^ Cooper, Darren. "Here's what we know about the new Super Football Conference 2020 schedule", The Record, July 23, 2020. Accessed March 22, 2021. "The Super Football Conference (SFC) is a 112-team group, the largest high school football-only conference in America, and is comprised of teams from five different counties."
  18. ^ Cooper, Darren. "NJ football: Super Football Conference revised schedules for 2020 regular season", The Record, July 23, 2020. Accessed March 22, 2021. "The Super Football Conference has 112 teams that will play across 20 divisions."
  19. ^ NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2022–2024, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  20. ^ NJSIAA Boys Cross Country State Group Champions, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  21. ^ Boys Winter Track and Field Championship History: 1922-2023, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated November 2023. Accessed February 1, 2024.
  22. ^ History of Boys Team Tennis Championship Tournament, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
  23. ^ "Bayonne in Net Sweep; 60th Straight Triumph", The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 27, 1951. Accessed March 3, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Bayonne High School defeated East Orange, 3-0, to sweep the New Jersey Interscholastic tennis championship today. The victory in the final round of the two-day tournament was the 60th consecutive triumph for the up-state school over a five-year period. The winners' record this spring was 11-0."
  24. ^ Sullivan, Al. "Five years in a row: Bayonne High School's tennis team honored", The Hudson Reporter, July 6, 2011. Accessed November 9, 2020. "When Bayonne High School's tennis team beat Secaucus last month in the Hudson County Team Tournament, it was the team's fifth straight time they had become the Hudson County Interscholastic League champions. The team achieved a record of a perfect 18-0 against other teams in Hudson County, and an overall record of 25-3 for the year... Bayonne has made the finals the last 19 years, winning the championships 14 times during that stretch. Previously, Bayonne teams have won only four straight championships, from 1996 to 1999, and from 2001-2004. This is the first time Bayonne has won five championships in a row."
  25. ^ Staff. "Secaucus (2) at Bayonne (3), Hudson County Tournament, Final Round - Boys Tennis", The Star-Ledger, May 27, 2011. Accessed July 13, 2011. "Andro Mossad's three-set triumph at second singles was the clincher as Bayonne defeated Secaucus, 3-2, yesterday at the Hudson County Tournament team final in Bayonne.It was the fifth straight title for Bayonne and 20th in 34 years under coach Bill Broderick."
  26. ^ NJSIAA Boys Basketball Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
  27. ^ NJSIAA Baseball Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  28. ^ NJSIAA History of Girls Soccer, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed January 1, 2022.
  29. ^ Roberts, Jeff. "Hackensack so close, yet so far", The Record, December 8, 2002. Accessed April 24, 2008. "But he ran out of time and chances in a 25-23 loss to Bayonne.... Bayonne (9-3) won its first Group 4, North 1 state championship...
  30. ^ NJSIAA Football History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed January 1, 2022.
  31. ^ Yardley, Jonathan. 2000 NJSIAA Ice Hockey Tournament, HNIB New Jersey. Accessed November 17, 2011.
  32. ^ NJSIAA Ice Hockey State Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
  33. ^ Villanova, Patrick. "Prep downs Bayonne for HCT title", The Jersey Journal, May 14, 2010. Accessed July 13, 2011. "The Marauders, ranked No. 2 in the state, had been edged by the Bees in four straight HCIAA championship matches, from 2006 to 2009. After the match, Bayonne coach Pat Longo called this St. Peter's team the best the school has produced in the last five years."
  34. ^ 2007 Boys Volleyball - North, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed July 13, 2011.
  35. ^ Kamaras, Jacob. "New-look Bees hoping for deep run", The Jersey Journal, April 4, 2009. Accessed July 13, 2011. "With a few returning leaders but a mostly new cast of characters, Bayonne High will go for a fourth straight HCIAA championship this season - and then try to make up for last year's state playoff heartbreak. This edition of the Bees has just two seniors - compared to five on last year's team, which lost to Vernon in the NJSIAA North semifinals during a match that was tied at 23-23 in the third game."
  36. ^ Staff. "Year in review (High school Boys Volleyball news)", The Star-Ledger, June 13, 2009. Accessed July 13, 2011. "Team of the year: Despite having six juniors in the starting lineup, St. Peter's Prep, No. 6 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, captured its third consecutive NJSIAA North Jersey title with a 25-15, 25-23 victory over No. 7 Bayonne on June 2."
  37. ^ Barton, Rich. "Bayonne gets revenge and a third straight Hudson County title", NorthJerseySports.com, February 27, 2011. Accessed July 13, 2011. "Rovatsos finished with game-highs of 21 points and 16 rebounds as top-seeded Bayonne won its third consecutive Hudson County title with a 48-32 triumph over second-seeded North Bergen at the Yanitelli Center on the campus of St. Peter's College."
  38. ^ Paul, Mary. "Time after time Jersey produces talent in entertainment". Bayonne Journal. July 5, 2007.
  39. ^ Filippelli, Stephen. "Someday (1990): Mariah Carey", reviewstream.com. Accessed February 2, 2010.
  40. ^ ""Nada Surf 'Popular' Cheerleader All Grown Up" Regretful Morning December 3, 2009". Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved February 2, 2010.
  41. ^ Sullivan, Al. "Movie stars seen around Hudson County; Bruce Willis, Mischa Barton filming locally", The Hudson Reporter, September 30, 2007. Accessed November 9, 2020. "He is playing the role of a disliked principal in a new film that has the working titles of The Assassination of a High School Principal and The Sophomore. Since some of the production is being shot at Bayonne High School, Willis and co-star Mischa Barton have been seen around Hudson County, including in Bayonne and Hoboken."
  42. ^ Reed, Ben. "Bayonne High is the reel deal for 'Strangers with Candy'", copy of article from NJ.com, July 16, 2004. Accessed July 13, 2011. "Yesterday afternoon a group of teenage boys surrounded a car in the Bayonne High School parking lot and beat it senseless with baseball bats, shattering windows and denting doors. Luckily, parents of Bayonne high schoolers need not worry. The boys were actors, not juvenile delinquents, and were filming a scene for the upcoming movie Strangers with Candy, parts of which have been filmed at the high school since the students began their summer vacation."
  43. ^ Staff. "Montel Williams Going Prime Time", Akron Beacon-Journal, December 31, 1995. Accessed July 13, 2011. "So Matt Waters is being done in New Jersey's Bayonne High School (fictionalized to Bayview for the series) on Saturday through Wednesday, with Thursday and Friday saved for talk-show taping."
  44. ^ Head, Steve (September 5, 2002). "Video Feature: Poolside with Swimfan", IGN. Accessed May 21, 2013. "What we've got for you today is a unique look behind-the-scenes at the filming of Swimfan. This video footage was taken as the production filmed at Bayonne High School, in Bayonne, New Jersey, earlier this year."
  45. ^ Chanko, Kenneth M. "Meet the Petes; Nickelodeon unleashes its scourges of suburbia: Danny Tamberelli, 11, and Michael Maronna, 16", New York Daily News, November 28, 1993. Accessed February 10, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "The brothers "Pete" big Pete and little Pete are holed up in a trailer behind Bayonne High School on a recent Monday during a break in shooting their fancifully warped cable series, The Adventures of Pete & Pete."
  46. ^ Home Page, Bayonne High School, Bayonne High School. Accessed February 18, 2024.
  47. ^ "Kenny Britt #88". Yahoo! Sports. Accessed January 25, 2013.
  48. ^ Nowlin, Bill. "Dick Brodowski", Society for American Baseball Research. Accessed April 17, 2020. "Dick grew up in the city and graduated from Sweeney Senior High School, playing baseball – initially shortstop – in CYO ball and high school."
  49. ^ Roberts, Steven V. "An old grad returns to Bayonne High School for his tenth reunion and finds he is; Old-Fashioned at 27 Old-fashioned at 27", The New York Times, December 6, 1970. Accessed April 17, 2020.
  50. ^ Hildebrandt, Alexandra. "Kuschelige Zeiten: Warum uns Katzen erwärmen", XING, August 7, 2019. Accessed April 17, 2020. "Die Fotografie faszinierte Walter Chandoha bereits in den späten 1930er- Jahren, als er Schüler an der Bayonne High School in New Jersey war."
  51. ^ Sister Miriam Teresa Demjanovich (1923): The First Alumna To Be Considered for Beatification Archived January 9, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Saint Elizabeth University. Accessed January 5, 2008.
  52. ^ Barney Frank (D), The Washington Post. Accessed October 29, 2016. "graduated from Bayonne High School, Bayonne, N.J., 1957"
  53. ^ Goodson, Adrienne. "The rest is history", CNN Sports Illustrated, May 18, 2000. Accessed April 24, 2008. "My name is Adrienne Goodson, and I was born and raised in Bayonne, New Jersey where I graduated from Bayonne High School."
  54. ^ Danan Hughes Stats, Pro-Football-Reference.com. Accessed July 15, 2018.
  55. ^ Coutros, Evonne E. "Playing A Wicked Streak For All It's Worth -- After Dave, Frank Langella's On A Roll", The Record, January 23, 1994. Accessed November 17, 2015. "Langella -- who was born in Bayonne, attended Bayonne High School and Columbia High School in Maplewood, and graduated from Syracuse University -- is currently starring as the tormented 55-year-old 19th-century actor Junius Brutus Booth, whose fame was overshadowed by that of his actor sons, Edwin Booth and John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Abraham Lincoln."
  56. ^ Roberts, Steven V. "An old grad returns to Bayonne High School for his tenth reunion and finds he is Old-Fashioned at 27", The New York Times, December 6, 1970. Accessed July 9, 2018.
  57. ^ Joseph Anthony LeFante, Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Accessed June 24, 2007.
  58. ^ Jammal Lord Archived January 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, database Football. Accessed December 26, 2007.
  59. ^ Gene Olaff Archived January 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, National Soccer Hall of Fame. Accessed November 26, 2007.
  60. ^ Staff. "Bayonne Hails Hero; $6,750 Presented to Winner of Medal of Honor", The New York Times, November 19, 1945. Accessed July 9, 2018.
  61. ^ Bernstein, Jason. "Former St. Peter's Prep player Roberts still following his pro dreams", The Jersey Journal, January 13, 2016. Accessed July 9, 2018. "Even though his parents Ronald Sr. and Dania played basketball professionally, Roberts was more into skateboarding growing up. He started his high school career at Bayonne, where he predominantly played freshman and JV. He transferred to St. Peter's Prep before his junior season and blossomed there."
  62. ^ Rahman, Sarah. "Author Steven V. Roberts pays a visit to hometown of Bayonne", The Jersey Journal, December 11, 2009. Accessed March 19, 2017. "For author Steven V. Roberts, Bayonne will always be the home to come back to, despite travels across continents and moving from one corner of the world to the next.... Growing up on 31st and 33rd Streets, Roberts was a graduate of Dr. Walter F. Robinson School and Bayonne High School before moving on to Harvard University."
  63. ^ Israel, Daniel. "Meet William Sampson; The Bayonne crane operator will likely be the next assemblyman for the 31st Legislative District", The Hudson Reporter, June 8, 2021. Accessed January 11, 2022. "Sampson went to Washington Community School before attending Bayonne High School, where he helped the basketball team win its first league title in over 30 years in 2005. He graduated in 2007 with a full scholarship to Clark Atlanta University, an Historically Black University (HBCU)."
  64. ^ McDonald, Corey W. "Bayonne renames school after WWI vet, Medal of Honor recipient", The Jersey Journal, January 31, 2019. Accessed November 9, 2020. "The Board of Education last night voted to rename the Midtown Community School after a distinguished World War I veteran born in the Peninsula City. The board voted unanimously to rename the Avenue A elementary school the William Shemin Midtown Community School — named after the distinguished Medal of Honor recipient."
  65. ^ Sullivan, Al. "'Beam me up, Scotty'; Local writer makes name in Star Trek universe", The Hudson Reporter, March 1, 2008. Accessed November 9, 2020. "A resident of Bayonne since he was 10 years old, William Stape, 39, has become a part of the Star Trek universe, both as the author of scripts for The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine TV series, but also by recently unveiling details concerning the sets of the upcoming Star Trek movie.... 'I've always been a science fiction, fantasy, and horror fan,' he said, recalling times at Bayonne High School when he used to discuss the books of J.R.R. Tolkien, who authored The Lord of the Rings."
  66. ^ Biography, Morris Warman Photography. Accessed July 23, 2019. "After graduating from Bayonne High School, he moved to New York City and worked as a free-lance photographer until he entered the United States Army in 1942."
  67. ^ Sullivan, Joseph F. "Bayonne Cheers a Hometown Product; 'Good Luck, Chuck'", The New York Times, March 22, 1975. Accessed April 18, 2020. "Mr. Wepner said that he was a gangling six-footer when he was 13 years old and that the added height helped him win a berth on the Bayonne High School basketball team."
  68. ^ Sullivan, Al. "A music legend dies: Willensky wrote music for Michael Jackson others", The Hudson Reporter, April 22, 2010. Accessed November 9, 2020. "Born in Bayonne, Willensky was celebrated even before he graduated Bayonne High School, one of those people everybody knew would turn out to accomplish something in life – if not in science, then in music. Most famous for writing Michael Jackson's 1971 hit 'Got to Be There,' Willensky wrote songs for some of the most prominent performers of that era, including Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight, Thelma Houston, Syreeta, and Jerry Butler."
  69. ^ Bill Wondolowski, The Pro Football Archives. Accessed August 10, 2017.

External links edit