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.
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 2,830 students and 239.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.8:1. There were 1,772 students (62.6% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 148 (5.2% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Bayonne High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026. 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.2018 - 2019 Profile, Bayonne High School. Accessed July 23, 2019.
History 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. Since 1973, the school has been organized into six houses.The History of Bayonne High School , Bayonne Board of Education. Accessed July 13, 2011.
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.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." In 2000, it was reported to be known as a model of school safety. USA Today April 16, 2000. The school had been accredited until July 2022 by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools.Bayonne High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed December 22, 2022.
Awards, recognition and rankings 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., New Jersey Department of Education, Archived December 18, 2006. Accessed November 30, 2009.
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.Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014. 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.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed December 1, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 248th in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed April 7, 2011. The school was ranked 273rd in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state."Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008. 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).New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2009-2010, Schooldigger.com. Accessed December 29, 2011.
Academic offerings Advanced Placement courses are offered in AP Biology, AP Physics, AP Precalculus, AP Calculus AB, AP English Language and Composition, AP English Literature and Composition, AP European History, AP Music Theory, AP Psychology, AP Computer Science Principles, AP Computer Science A, AP Statistics, AP Studio Art, AP Human Geography, AP United States Government and Politics and AP United States History. College credit can be earned through articulation agreements with New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, Saint Peter's University and Seton Hall University.
Campus 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.Korpi Ice Rink , Bayonne Hockey Association. Accessed October 29, 2016. 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 The Bayonne High School BeesBayonne High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. compete in the Hudson County Interscholastic League (HCIAA), which is composed of 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).League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. 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.NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020. 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.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."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." The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group V North for football for 2022–2024, which included schools with 1,317 to 5,409 students.NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
Sports offered include: 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.NJSIAA Boys Cross Country State Group Champions, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
The boys indoor track team won the public state championship in 1947.Boys Winter Track and Field Championship History: 1922-2023, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated November 2023. Accessed February 1, 2024.
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.History of Boys Team Tennis Championship Tournament, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020."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." 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.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."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."
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.NJSIAA Boys Basketball Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
The baseball team won the Group IV state championship in 1973, defeating North Hunterdon High School in the tournament final.Baseball Championship History: 1959–2024, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated June 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
In 1990, the girls soccer team was Group IV co-champion with East Brunswick High School.NJSIAA History of Girls Soccer, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed January 1, 2022.
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.NJSIAA Football History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed January 1, 2022.
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.Yardley, Jonathan. 2000 NJSIAA Ice Hockey Tournament, HNIB New Jersey. Accessed November 17, 2011. The team won the McMullen Cup and The Monsignor Kelly Cup in 2017.NJSIAA Ice Hockey State Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.