Burlington City High School is a six-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in seventh through twelfth grade in Burlington, in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the City of Burlington Public School District. Burlington City High School serves as the receiving school for students in grade nine through twelve from Edgewater Park, as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Edgewater Park School District.[5][6] The school is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools until July 2026;[1] The school's accreditation status was extended for seven years in Fall 2018.[7]
| Burlington City High School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
 | |
100 Blue Devil Way , , 08016 United States | |
| Coordinates | 40°04′09″N 74°51′10″W / 40.069265°N 74.852871°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Public high school |
| School district | City of Burlington Public School District |
| NCES School ID | 340243000966[2] |
| Principal | Juan Arbelaez |
| Faculty | 75.8 FTEs[2] |
| Grades | 7-12 |
| Enrollment | 813 (as of 2022–23)[2] |
| Student to teacher ratio | 10.7:1[2] |
| Color(s) | Royal Blue White[3] |
| Athletics conference | Burlington County Scholastic League |
| Team name | Blue Devils |
| Rivals | Florence Township Memorial High School, Palmyra High School, Burlington Township High School, Bordentown Regional High School, Northern Burlington County Regional High School, Willingboro High School |
| Accreditation | Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools[1] |
| Newspaper | Arrowhead[4] |
| Website | hsbc |
Grades 7 and 8 are housed in a separate area of the building set-aside for them, and referred to as the "House", or Junior School. The House offers a curriculum designed for this age group, along with co-curricular activities appropriate for these students. Grades nine through twelve are accredited by the New Jersey Department of Education.
As of the 2022–23 school year, the school had an enrollment of 813 students and 75.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.7:1. There were 338 students (41.6% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 80 (9.8% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[2]
Awards, recognition and rankings edit
The school was the 276th-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.[8] The school had been ranked 197th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 268th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[9] The magazine ranked the school 267th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[10] The school was ranked 252nd in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[11] Schooldigger.com ranked the school as tied for 331st out of 376 public high schools statewide in its 2010 rankings (a decrease of 9 positions from the 2009 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).[12]
Curriculum edit
Burlington City High offers students over 100 courses in academic, fine and performing arts, technical and vocational areas. Ten Advanced Placement Program (AP) courses are offered.
Athletics edit
The Burlington City High School Blue Devils[3] compete in the Burlington County Scholastic League (BCSL) a sports association comprised of public and private high schools in Burlington, Camden, Mercer and Ocean counties in Central Jersey, operating under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[13][14] With 419 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2022–24 school years as Group I South for most athletic competition purposes.[15] The football team competes in the Freedom Division of the 94-team West Jersey Football League superconference[16][17] and was classified by the NJSIAA as Group I South for football for 2022–2024, which included schools with 200 to 463 students.[18]
The team colors are royal blue and white. Interscholastic sports offered by the school include baseball, basketball (men and women), field hockey, soccer (men and women), softball, tennis (men and women), track and field spring (men and women), track and field winter (men and women) and wrestling.[3]
The boys basketball team won the Group II state championship in 1966 (defeating runner-up Roselle Park High School in the tournament final), won the Group I title in 2002 (vs. Cresskill High School) and was declared the South I Regional champion in 2020 after the finals were cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[19] The 1966 team finished the season with a record of 24-0, overcoming 40 points by Roselle Park's top scorer to win the Group II state championship game by a score of 64-54 in front of a crowd of more than 8,000 at Convention Hall in Atlantic City.[20]
The football team won the South Jersey Group II state sectional championship in 1979.[21]
The softball team finished the 1998 season with a 18-2 record after winning the Group I championship by defeating Cedar Grove High School by a score of 15-5 in the final of the playoffs.[22][23]
Administration edit
The school's principal is Juan Arbelaez. His administration team includes two vice principals.[24]
Notable alumni edit
- Sam Calderone (1926-2006), catcher who played in the Major Leagues in 1950 and from 1953 to 1954.[25]
- Eddie Miksis (1926-2005), played Major League Baseball from 1944 to 1958.[25]
- Barney Schultz (1926-2015), Major League Baseball pitcher from 1955 to 1965.[25]
- Balvir Singh, teacher at BCHS and politician who has served on the Burlington County Board of County Commissioners since 2018.[26]
References edit
- ^ a b Burlington City High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed December 22, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e School data for Burlington City High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 1, 2024.
- ^ a b c Burlington City High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
- ^ Clubs, Burlington City High School. Accessed February 17, 2022.
- ^ Burlington City High School 2016 Report Card Narrative Archived September 27, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed November 28, 2017. "Burlington City High School is a six-year secondary school that includes grades seven through twelve with a total current enrollment of 700.... Thirty-nine percent of students in grades nine through twelve are students from the neighboring Edgewater Park community. BCHS has served as the receiving district for the Edgewater Park School District, which educates students from kindergarten through eighth grade, for many years."
- ^ Edgewater Park Township School District 2016 Report Card Narrative Archived December 1, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed November 28, 2017. "The children of Edgewater Park attend school every day in a safe learning environment, where they grow and mature into caring, productive teenagers ready to move on to Burlington City School District for their four years of high school."
- ^ MSA-CESS Fall 2018 Accreditation Actions[permanent dead link], Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools, Fall 2018. Accessed April 25, 2021.
- ^ Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
- ^ Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 4, 2012.
- ^ Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed February 13, 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[permanent dead link], Schooldigger.com. Accessed January 5, 2012.
- ^ Member Schools, Burlington County Scholastic League. Accessed September 1, 2022.
- ^ League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
- ^ NJSIAA General Classifications - Public Schools 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 1, 2022.
- ^ Burlington City Blue Devils, West Jersey Football League. Accessed May 1, 2023.
- ^ Home Page, West Jersey Football League. Accessed May 1, 2023. "The WJFL is a 94-school super conference that stretches from Princeton to Wildwood encompassing schools from the Colonial Valley Conference, the Burlington County Scholastic League, the Olympic Conference, the Tri-County Conference, the Colonial Conference, and the Cape Atlantic League. The WJFL is made up of sixteen divisions with divisional alignments based on school size, geography and a strength-of-program component."
- ^ NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2022–2024, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
- ^ NJSIAA Boys Basketball Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 1, 2022.
- ^ Golden, Ed. "State Title Climaxes Burls' Greatest Campaign; Team Effort Overcomes One-Man Point Machine", Courier-Post, March 28, 1966. Accessed March 5, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "'One man can't beat five.' Those were the first words from Burlington High basketball coach Bill Burr Saturday after his unbeaten (24-0) Blue Devils captured the first basketball championship in the school's history, a stirring 64-54 triumph over North Jersey champion Roselle Park (20-6).... The Burls didn't look humble in Saturday's victory before 8,213 in Convention Hall, the largest crowd of the tourney."
- ^ NJSIAA Football History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed September 1, 2022.
- ^ Softball Championship History 1972–2023, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated July 2023. Accessed April 1, 2024.
- ^ Evans, David. "Thompson's shot lifts City", Courier-Post, June 7, 1998. Accessed January 13, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "It was the top of the fifth inning of the Group 1 state softball final between Burlington City High School and Cedar Grove on Saturday at Toms River East.... With the lead, Burlington City piled on eight more runs as the Blue Devils earned their, first state title with a 15-5 victory. "I'm more comfortable in pressure situations.... When Burlington City, 18-2 and ranked 12th in the Courier-Post Top 20 Poll, had advanced to the state final with a 6-4 win over Montgomery on Thursday, it was already one step beyond what the team had done last season."
- ^ Staff, Burlington City High School. Accessed January 19, 2022.
- ^ a b c Staff. "Catching up with ...... Burlington City's Barney Schultz", Burlington County Times, June 12, 2005. Accessed May 22, 2012. "Schultz was one of three Burlington High baseball teammates from the 1940s to go on to play major-league ball. Eddie Miksis, who died in April at age 78, played 14 seasons as a utility infielder. Sam Calderone was a reserve catcher for the New York Giants and Milwaukee Braves in the early 1950s."
- ^ Cagnassola, Mary Ellen. "Rookie Balvir Singh takes on freeholder role as first Sikh to hold county office in NJ", The Sun Newspapers, January 26, 2018. Accessed September 10, 2020. "On top of being a husband, a father to two small children (and now a newborn as of Jan. 25) and a full-time math teacher at Burlington City High School, where he graduated from and has worked for the past 11 years, the additional responsibilities of a freeholder are no small consideration."