Bergen County Technical High School, also known as Bergen Tech, or more commonly "BT", is a four-year, tuition-free public magnet high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. Bergen Tech is part of the Bergen County Technical Schools, a countywide district that also includes Bergen County Academies in Hackensack as well as Bergen Tech in Paramus. The school is nationally recognized, as students have the opportunity to be engaged in a technical major while fulfilling college preparatory classes and having the opportunity to take a wide variety of electives.
As of the 2014-15 school year, the school had an enrollment of 665 students and 66.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a studentâ€"teacher ratio of 10.1:1. There were 57 students (8.6% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 32 (4.8% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.
Bergen Tech is a member of the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Mathematics, Science and Technology and the Coalition of Essential Schools. It is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and the New Jersey Department of Education.
History
Bergen Tech was originally a shared-time vocational school which was completely revamped in 2000 to be a full-time, academic high school with students taking classes in their particular "majors." A number of advanced classes have been added to Bergen Tech's curriculum since the school's inception, including AP Physics C and AP Government to sophomores in the Law and Justice major. The high school also gained the interest from schools abroad with the intention of creating a foreign exchange program in 2013, receiving visits from high schools in France and South Korea (due to a partnership between the Hyundai Motor Company and the Bergen Tech Automotive major).
Awards, recognition and rankings
2011
Schooldigger.com ranked the school tied for 18th out of 381 public high schools statewide in its 2011 rankings (a decrease of 6 positions from the 2010 ranking) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the mathematics (98.3%) and language arts literacy (100.0%) components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).
2012
The school was recognized in 2012 by the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program of the United States Department of Education, one of 15 private and public schools in the state to be honored that year. It was ranked 104th in the nation and sixth in New Jersey on the list of "America's Best High Schools 2012" prepared by The Daily Beast / Newsweek, with rankings based primarily on graduation rate, matriculation rate for college and number of Advanced Placement / International Baccalaureate courses taken per student, with lesser factors based on average scores on the SAT / ACT, average AP/IB scores and the number of AP/IB courses available to students.
2013
In its 2013 report on "America's Best High Schools", The Daily Beast ranked the school 74th in the nation among participating public high schools and 7th among schools in New Jersey. U.S. News & World Report named BT as a Gold Medal High School the same year.
2014
In 2014, Bergen Tech was named the 129th best high school in the nation, and the 5th best high school in the state of New Jersey by the U.S. News & World Report. New Jersey Monthly, which publishes high school rankings within the state based on student/teacher ratio and student results on the SAT, HSPA, AP/IB exams, and graduation rates, placed BT tied for 8th within its list of the "Top Vocational High Schools in New Jersey". In addition, the school was named an Apple Distinguished School for 2013-2015.
2015
Business Insider, using data from the 2015 Niche rankings, ranked the school as 12th in the nation and second in New Jersey on its 2014 list of the "25 best public high school in the United States". In addition, U.S. News & World Report ranked the school 3rd best in the state and 31st in the nation.
2016
In its listing of "America's Best High Schools 2016", the school was ranked 41st out of 500 best high schools in the country; it was ranked 13th among all high schools in New Jersey.
Admissions
Bergen County Technical High School utilizes an admissions process. For the 2010-2011 school year, 168 students of 1,500 applicants were accepted into Bergen County Technical High School, Teterboro's Class of 2015, which garnered an acceptance rate of 11.2%. The current admissions process for Bergen Technical High School - Teterboro requires a filled out application (which can be found online at the school website); NJ ASK scores (Proficient or above), transcripts from middle school, letters of recommendation from the applicant's math, science, and English teachers, and completion of an entrance exam that consists of a writing and mathematics section.
Academics
The school offers, in addition to studying specific majors of study currently offers 16 different Advanced Placement (AP) courses, including every science AP course offered by the College Board in addition to college level courses which are offered articulation with various universities. Approximately 81.4% of students participate in Advanced Placement classes, which is above the New Jersey state average participation rate of 19%. The 149 students in the Class of 2014 took a total of 645 Advanced Placement exams. On average, each student took 4.2 exams. Students fulfill requirements for their major, in addition to the New Jersey state standards, able to use remaining elective slots to pursue varying interests throughout their high school experience.
Majors
Bergen County Technical High School offers nine majors for its students, each offering a unique curriculum. A student's major, however, does not limit the electives the student may take.
- Automotive Engineering & Design
The Automotive major focuses on utilizing modern technology to educate its students in automotive engineering - classes include Systems Analysis I and Advanced Systems Analysis. The recent creation of an automotive lab, in addition to upgrades to its automotive shop used for instruction, serves as the classroom for students in this major that allows for hands-on experience.
- Business (Strategic Asset Management)
The Business (Strategic Asset Management) major recently took part in the National Financial Capability Challenge. 11 out of 13 students of the Class of 2015 scored in the 90th percentile, including one student who obtained a perfect score (only 583 students across the United States earned a perfect score). Students are required to take AP Microeconomics in their sophomore year.
- Commercial Art & Graphic Design
The Commercial Art & Graphic Design major is a college-level course with an intense focus on the principles of art and design. Students in this major often participate in design contests and art festivals, such as the Bergen County Teen Arts Festival. By the end of a student's senior year, students have a portfolio showing their creativity and technical proficiency.
- Culinology® (Food Science)
The Culinology major is the first high school program of its kind in the entirety of the United States. The major's three classrooms are equipped with the country's one and only Culinology facility, a state of the art kitchen, and a food science laboratory. Students focus on both food and culinary sciences during their high school career.
- Digital Media Arts
- Fashion Art, Design & Merchandising
- Computer Science (IT)
- Law & Justice
The Law & Justice major is well-known at BCTHS-Teterboro for hosting numerous mock trials, competitive debates, and social issues presentations. Classes for this major include Intro to Law & Justice, AP United States Government and Politics, Criminology, Constitutional Law, Introduction to Public Policy Analysis (Syracuse University Course), Forensic Science (Syracuse University Course), and Senior Seminar. The major culminates in a Washington DC capstone trip, where students choose a topic of choice to research and go onto conduct interviews with staff members, public servants, and interest groups on the trip to complete their paper. Previous courses offered include Torts and Corrections & Police Studies. The major also currently holds an articulation with Fairleigh Dickinson University for those interested in pursuing a B.A. in Criminal Justice.
- Aerospace Engineering
This major offers courses geared towards engineering, from Intro to Aerospace Engineering, Digital Electronics, and Principles of Engineering. Aerospace Engineering was officially started in September 2014, and replaced the major called Pre-Engineering.
Science (A Physics First Approach)
Bergen Tech has also been recognized for their rigorous physics department, where nearly 64% of students move on to take AP Physics B (now updated to AP Physics 1) in their sophomore year. Dr. Robert Goodman, a former Bergen Tech physics teacher, who was named New Jersey Teacher of the Year for 2005-2006., is an advocate of the Physics First methodology and did his doctoral dissertation at Rutgers University based on the success of teaching Physics First to freshman based on the model he implemented at Bergen Tech. The science curriculum framework centers around freshmen taking Physics Honors, with the option of taking AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, AP Physics C, and Waves and Modern Physics from NJIT in subsequent years. Instead of the traditional biology-chemistry-physics sequence, Physics First relies upon a physics-chemistry-biology sequence. The school's specialized curriculum adds a lab period once a week to every student's schedule to all science classes, which is equivalent to two regular periods. In these labs, students perform unique experiments to understand real-life methods applications of the sciences they are studying. Physics experiments range from creating a personal generator to measuring the frequency of a sonic boom.
Students interested in taking AP Chemistry can do so their junior and senior years, and those interested in AP Biology may do so in their senior year. In addition to AP Chemistry and Biology, as well as AP Environmental Science, students have the option to take college level classes in Organic Chemistry (articulation with Fairleigh Dickinson University), Forensic Science (a Syracuse University Project Advance Course), and/or Anatomy & Physiology.
Mathematics
Bergen Tech - Teterboro offers a wide range of mathematics courses. These include: Algebra I, Geometry, Math Analysis I & II (a highly rigorous 2-year Precalculus with Limits course with a heavy emphasis on Algebra II and Trigonometry), AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, Multivariable Calculus, and AP Statistics. Based on the number of students who choose to take the class, some years there will be an Algebra II class, or a Calculus Honors course. Incoming students can take a summer Pre-Algebra or Algebra I course if they feel necessary, or to be placed in another math class.
Humanities
Aside from World Cultures, United States Honors 1 and 2, and AP US History classes, college level classes in Global Challenge and Sociology are also available as electives.
In the 2016-2017 academic school year, AP Human Geography was introduced to the freshmen class for certain students. Course material in Human Geography is based on the concept of globalization.
AP Seminar and AP Research
Bergen Tech will start offering AP Seminar starting the 2015-2016 academic year, one of the newest curriculum designed by the CollegeBoard. The subsequent year is expected to see the introduction of AP Research.
Project Wednesdays and Senior Experience
Every Wednesday during the school year, periods are shortened to accommodate an additional hour before the day's end. This period is known as Project Wednesday. Types of projects that students can apply to are: knitting, Physics Olympiad, Garage Band, Radio Lab, Equations, The Sims, Robotics, Earth preservation, Fitness, Teacher, and many more. This allows students to take classes that help explore their interests outside of traditional course offerings. Freshmen are required to take a project named "School Climate" to help adjust to Bergen Tech's intense coursework. Seniors take every Wednesday to partake in what is known as "Senior Experience," where every senior participates in an off campus internship for the entire school day that gives credits required for graduation.
Extracurricular activities
Among a wide variety of after school clubs and extracurricular activities available, students at Bergen Tech - Teterboro participate in the SkillsUSA competition yearly. The school gained a record-breaking achievement of eight gold medals, nine silver medals and three bronze medals for their 2012 chapter. Some after school clubs offered at BT include, but is not limited to Action is Magnanimous (AIM), BT Ink Writing, Chemistry, Computer, Engineering, Debate, Gay-Straight Alliance, Global Citizens, Interact, Knight News, Model UN, Physics, Student Council, Quiz Bowl, and the Ski/Snowboarding Clubs. Clubs can be started with enough student interest and initiative to do so, which has given rise to BT Storytellers and the Drama Club in recent years.
Athletics
The school offers various sports, where students play with the other campuses of the Bergen County Technical Schools district under one team as the Bergen Tech Knights. Sports include: cross country, football, soccer, tennis, volleyball, cheerleading, basketball, bowling, indoor track, fencing, baseball, golf, lacrosse, softball, and track & field. Students who wish to play a high school sport that is not offered can make accommodations with their town of residence, as appropriate.
Administration
Core members of the school's administration are:
- David Tankard, Principal
Notable alumni
- Gary Brolsma (born 1986), the Numa Numa guy.
References
External links
- Bergen County Technical High School - Teterboro
- Bergen County Technical High School - Teterboro's 2015â€"16 School Performance Report from the New Jersey Department of Education
- Data for the Bergen County Technical Schools, National Center for Education Statistics