North Bergen High School is a four-year comprehensive

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, serving students in

ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...

through

twelfth grade Twelfth grade, 12th grade, senior year, or grade 12 is the final year of secondary school in most of North America. In other regions, it may also be referred to as class 12 or Year 13. In most countries, students are usually between the ages of 17 ...

from

North Bergen North Bergen is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township had a total population of 63,361. The township was founded in 1843. It was much diminished in territory by a ...

, in

Hudson County Hudson County is the most densely populated county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It lies west of the lower Hudson River, which was named for Henry Hudson, the sea captain who explored the area in 1609. Part of New Jersey's Gateway Region in ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, United States, operating as part of the

North Bergen School District The North Bergen School District is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from North Bergen, in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2018–19 school yea ...

. The school is the district's only high school,"North Bergen High School Overview"
'' U.S. News & World Report''. Accessed May 3, 2014. and its student body includes residents of both North Bergen and Guttenberg. The school offers various clubs and activities, academic programs, and sports. In 2019, the school play attracted national attention, while the athletics department holds several state titles in multiple sports.

History

The high school opened in 1961 with Joe Coviello as its first principal and football coach. In the program's first football game, the team defeated St. Cecilia High School by a score of 14-0. In terms of state aid, North Bergen High School was the most underfunded school in New Jersey, according to a 2014 report from the Education Law Center, receiving $24 million less than the school would be entitled to if it were fully funded under the formula specified by the School Funding Reform Act."North Bergen High School recognized as one of NJ's best public high schools"
''

The Hudson Reporter ''The Hudson Reporter'' is a newspaper chain based in Hudson County, New Jersey. ''The Hudson Reporter'' publications mainly focus on local politics and community news. The oldest newspaper in the chain is the '' Hoboken Reporter'', founded in 1983 ...

'', May 2, 2014. Accessed May 17, 2022. "North Bergen's school district is the most underfunded by state aid in New Jersey, according to the Education Law Center. Last year the district received $24 million less than what it is entitled to receive under the School Funding Reform Act formula." In 2019, the school's production of ''

Alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

'' went viral due to its realistic set and costumes made from recycled materials under a low, self-funded budget. The screenplay was adapted by an English teacher, who also served as director, while an art teacher directed the set and costuming and a music teacher added knowledge of stage lighting. Images and videos from the performances attracted celebrity attention including that of

Sigourney Weaver Susan Alexandra "Sigourney" Weaver (; born October 8, 1949) is an American actress. A figure in science fiction and popular culture, she has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Gram ...

, who played the protagonist of the original film. Ridley Scott's production company, Scott Free, donated $5000 to allow the school to perform an encore. Weaver visited the cast and crew for their encore performance on April 26, 2019. The

New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts (NYCDA) is a private acting college in New York City. Originally conceived for the purpose of training actors for film and television acting, in 2009 the conservatory gained accreditation to offer Assoc ...

gave scholarships to all students involved.

Curriculum

The school provides Advanced Placement course work and exams. The AP participation rate is 9%.

Student body

As of the 2021–22 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,316 students and 164.6 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

student–teacher ratio Student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio is the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that there are 10 students ...

of 14.1:1. There were 1,031 students (44.5% of enrollment) eligible for

free lunch A free lunch is the providing of a meal at no cost, usually as a sales enticement to attract customers and increase revenues from other business. It was once a common tradition in saloons and taverns in many places in the United States, with th ...

and 135 (5.8% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for North Bergen High School

National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance ...

. Accessed December 1, 2022. Students from Guttenberg attend the school as part of a

sending/receiving relationship A sending/receiving relationship is one in which a public school district sends some or all of its students to attend the schools of another district. This is often done to achieve costs savings in smaller districts or continues after districts hav ...

with the

Guttenberg Public School District The Guttenberg Public School District is a community public school district that serves students in Pre-kindergarten through eighth grade from Guttenberg, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprising o ...

Awards, recognition and rankings

North Bergen High School was recognized as a "Benchmark Public High School for Academic Achievement" by the Business Coalition for Education Excellence, for the years 2005, 2006 and 2007. The school was the 286th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide in ''

New Jersey Monthly ''New Jersey Monthly'' is an American monthly magazine featuring issues of possible interest to residents of New Jersey. The magazine was started in 1976. It is based in Morristown. In addition to articles of general interest, the publication fe ...

'' magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology. The school had been ranked 322nd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 296th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 294th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 285th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. Schooldigger.com ranked the school 198th out of 376 public high schools statewide in its 2010 rankings (a decrease of 39 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 The High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA, pronounced "hess-pah" (/ˈhɛspə/) or sometimes just "H-S-P-A") was a standardized test that was administered by the New Jersey Department of Education to all New Jersey public high school students in ...

(HSPA). In 2014 '' U.S. News & World Report'' magazine awarded a bronze medal to North Bergen High School, recognizing it as one of New Jersey's best public high schools, based on criteria such as test scores, student demographics, college readiness and faculty-student ratio. Superintendent Dr. George Solter stated that the school was awarded the medal specifically for it emphasis on reading skills, the dedication of its faculty, and the talent of its students.

Athletics

The North Bergen BruinsNorth Bergen High School

New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) is an association of hundreds of New Jersey high schools that regulates high school athletics and holds tournaments and crowns champions in high school sports. State championsh ...

. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete in the

Hudson County Interscholastic League The Hudson County Interscholastic League (formerly known as the Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic Association) is a New Jersey high school sports association operating under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Asso ...

, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Hudson County and operates under the supervision of the

(NJSIAA). With 1,852 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. The football team competes in the Liberty Red division of the

North Jersey Super Football Conference The North Jersey Super Football Conference is a football-only athletic league of high schools in New Jersey. The 115-team league was formed in 2016. History The NJSFC consists of nearly all of the football playing members of four conferences that w ...

, which includes 112 schools competing in 20 divisions, making it the nation's biggest football-only high school sports league. The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group V North for football for 2018–2020. The North Bergen High School track, tennis, football and soccer teams use Bruins Stadium, which is located in James J. Braddock Park. The school's gymnasium serves as the home field for other sports. Interscholastic sports programs offered include football, boys'/girls' basketball, baseball, softball, boys'/girls' tennis, boys'/girls' cross country, boys'/girls' indoor track and field, boys'/girls' outdoor track and field, boys'/girls' soccer, boys'/girls' volleyball, boys'/girls' bowling and wrestling. The boys' varsity bowling team won the 1974 overall state championship. The football team won the North I Group IV state championship in 1977, 1978, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1997 and 2011. The team won their first North I Group IV state sectional title in 1977 with a 6-0 win against

Henry Snyder High School Academy of the Arts at Henry Snyder High School is a four-year performing arts public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, located in the Greenville section of Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, operating as part o ...

in the championship game played at

Giants Stadium Giants Stadium (sometimes referred to as Giants Stadium at the Meadowlands or The Swamp) was a stadium located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The venue was open from 1976 to 2010, and it primarily hosted sp ...

. In 1978, the team finished 11-0 by winning the North I Group IV championship with a 28-14 win against Passaic Valley High School in the finals at Giant Stadium. The team's 37-3 win in the 1984 North I Group IV title against Ridgewood High School led the team to an 11-0 season. The 1988 team finished the season with a 9-2 record after winning the North I Group IV state sectional title with a 14-13 victory against John F. Kennedy High School after scoring a touchdown and extra point to win in the final minute of the championship game. The 1990 team finished the season with a 9-2 record after winning the North I Group IV sectional title with a 3-0 overtime win against

Hoboken High School Hoboken High School (HHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, located in Hoboken, in Hudson County, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the Hoboken Public Schoo ...

in the championship game. A 33-10 win against

Wayne Valley High School Wayne Valley High School is a comprehensive four-year public high school, in Wayne, in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. The school serves students in ninth through twelfth grades as one of the two secondary schools of the Wayne Pu ...

gave the team an 11-0 record for the season and the North I Group IV sectional championship. After Union City High School opened in 2008, the schools started a rivalry, with Union City leading 6-4 through 2017.

NJ.com NJ.com is a digital news content provider and website in New Jersey owned by Advance Publications. According to a report in ''The New York Times'' in 2012, it was the largest provider of digital news in the state at the time. In 2018, comScore r ...

listed the rivalry at number 30 on its 2017 list "Ranking the 31 fiercest rivalries in N.J. HS football". The 1977 boys' basketball team, led by Dan Callandrillo, finished the season with a record of 27-1 after winning the Group IV state title by defeating Camden High School by a score of 69-55 in the tournament final. In 2007, the boys' basketball team played in the North I, Group IV sectional championship, falling to

Passaic County Technical Institute Passaic County Technical Institute (also known as PCTI, Passaic County Tech, the Passaic County Technical Vocational High School or simply Tech), is a vocational public high school in Wayne, that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades ...

by 86–85 in overtime, in a game played at

; Students and fans from both schools rioted after the game, with a North Bergen student arrested in the melee for assaulting a police officer. The wrestling team won the North I, Group IV state sectional championship in 1983, 1991 and 1993, and the North I Group V title in 2015 In 2001, the baseball team won the North I, Group IV state sectional championship with a 7-6 win in extra innings against Memorial of West New York.

Other extra-curricular activities

North Bergen High School features various interest groups and clubs that include the Art Club,

Academic Decathlon The Academic Decathlon (also called AcDec, AcaDeca or AcaDec) is an annual high school academic competition organized by the non-profit United States Academic Decathlon (USAD). The competition consists of seven objective multiple choice tests, tw ...

Team, Bible Club, Chess Club, Color Guard, Debate Team,

Distributive Education Clubs of America DECA Inc., formerly Distributive Education Clubs of America, is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit career and technical student organization (CTSO) with more than 177,000 members in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, DC; Canada, China, Germany, Poland, G ...

, Environmental Club,

FBLA-PBL The Future Business Leaders of America, or FBLA, is an American career and technical student organization headquartered in Reston, Virginia. Established in 1940, FBLA is a non-profit organization of high school ("FBLA"), Middle Level ("FBLA ...

and the Gay-Straight Alliance Club. The high school also offers various culture groups and honor societies, including the French Club, Indian Cultural Club, Muslim Cultural Awareness Club (MCAC), German Club, Italian Club, Spanish Club, Russian Club, German Club,

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...

, French National Honor Society,

German National Honor Society The German National Honor Society or Delta Phi Alpha () (german: Deutsche Ehrenverbindung), is the sole post-secondary national honorary society for German studies in the United States. According to the organization, the honor society seeks to "r ...

, Italian National Honor Society, Russian National Honor Society and

Spanish National Honor Society Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

.''2021-2022 Student Handbook''
North Bergen High School. Accessed October 13, 2022. North Bergen High School students can participate in community service and student government groups, including Rebel, Key Club and Student Council. North Bergen High School is home to various performance groups, such as the Stage Crew, Modeling club, Drama club, Dance club, Marching Band, Concert Band, Jazz Band, Wind Ensemble, The Advanced Sciences Club, Music Creation (M.C) and Advanced Music Creation (A.M.C).

Notable alumni

070 Shake Danielle Balbuena (born June 13, 1997), better known by her stage name 070 Shake, is an American hip hop recording artist. 070 Shake is a part of the musical collective 070, who have released a mixtape together titled ''The 070 Project: Chapter ...

(born ), stage name of rapper Danielle Balbuena. *

Mohamed Mahmood Alessa On June 5, 2010, in a covert American anti-terrorism operation named "Operation Arabian Knight", two American citizens Mohamed Mahmood Alessa and Carlos "Omar" Eduardo Almonte, New Jersey residents, were arrested at Kennedy International Airport in ...

, charged in 2010 with planning to travel to

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

to join an Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group based there. * Christopher Amoroso (1972-2001; class of 1990)

Port Authority Police Department The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department, or Port Authority Police Department (PAPD), is a law enforcement agency in New York and New Jersey, the duties of which are to protect and to enforce state and city laws at all t ...

(PAPD) officer who died in the

September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerci ...

. *

Rick Apodaca Rick may refer to: People *Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name *Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality *Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...

(born 1980), Puerto Rican professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who has played in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

USBL The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

NBDL The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...

, and the

National Superior Basketball League of Puerto Rico The Baloncesto Superior Nacional, abbreviated as BSN, is the first-tier-level professional men's basketball league in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1929 and is organized by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation. The Baloncesto Superior Nacio ...

. * Dan Callandrillo (born 1959), former professional basketball player who was part of North Bergen's Group IV state championship in 1977. *

Joey Diaz José Antonio Díaz (born February 19, 1963), known professionally as Joey "CoCo" Diaz, is a Cuban-American stand-up comedian, actor, and podcaster. After pursuing stand-up comedy full time in 1991 in the Colorado and Seattle areas, Diaz relocate ...

(born 1963), standup comedian and actor.Hague, Jim
"NB comedian lands role on 'My Name is Earl'"
, ''

'', September 23, 2007. Accessed June 7, 2012. "So how did Joey 'Coco' Diaz begin his life in comedy? 'It all comes down to being from North Bergen,' said Diaz, the comic actor who was born and raised in North Bergen before heading for Hollywood a few years ago to pursue his career. 'I got my comedy start in North Bergen High School. If you don't have a good sense of humor coming from North Bergen, then you better just shoot yourself.'" *

Evan Rodriguez Evan Junior Rodriguez (born September 21, 1988) is a former American football tight end. He played college football for Temple Owls football, Temple. He is Moorish American from his Nigerian & Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican descent. Rodri ...

(born 1988), former NFL fullback and

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

who played for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

. *

Rena Sofer Renas may refer to: Places *Rena, Badajoz, a municipality in Extremadura, Spain *Rena, Norway, a village in Innlandet county, Norway *Rena, Washington, a community in Clallam County, Washington, United States People *Rena (given name), list of pe ...

(born 1968), actress.Lipton, Michael A
"Heart Condition: For Rena Sofer, Checking into General Hospital Meant Finding a Healing Love with Costar Wally Kurth"
''

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

''. October 31, 1994. Accessed September 22, 2011. "Neither parent remarried, and today Sofer maintains close relations with both her father, who presides at Temple Beth El in North Bergen, N.J., and her mother, a professor of developmental psychology at the University of North Carolina in Fayetteville.... She took a drama class during her senior year at North Bergen High School and then, after less than a semester at Montclair State College, took acting lessons in New York."

References

External links

North Bergen High School official websiteNorth Bergen School District
*
NJ Report CardSchool Data for the North Bergen School District

{{Authority control 1961 establishments in New Jersey Educational institutions established in 1961 North Bergen, New Jersey Public high schools in Hudson County, New Jersey