As of the 2022–23 school year, the school had an enrollment of 677 students and 50.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.5:1. There were 383 students (56.6% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 73 (10.8% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.[1]
Bound Brook High School is the only high school in Somerset County with the "School Choice" designation. Students outside of Bound Brook can apply to attend one of Bound Brook's two academies: Bio-medical Sciences or Engineering.[6] The school began a 1:1 iPad initiative program in the 2012–13 school year. Since then, the school has gone wireless providing each student and teacher with an iPad and equipping every classroom with smart boards and projectors.
History
The district's first graduating class was in 1904. Washington School was constructed for students in grades 9-12 at a cost of $60,000 (equivalent to $2,030,000 in 2023) and opened in September 1908. When it opened, the Bound Brook district established sending/receiving relationships under which it accepted students from communities including Hillsborough Township and Montgomery Township.[7]
Students from Middlesex, New Jersey had attended the district's high school until the new Middlesex High School opened in September 1959 with students in ninth and tenth grades. Middlesex students entering eleventh and twelfth grades continued their education at the Bound Brook school through graduation.[10]
Awards, recognition and rankings
The school was the 290th-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.[11] The school had been ranked 290th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 288th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.[12] The magazine ranked the school 243rd in the magazine's September 2008 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.[13]
The school has improved drastically over the past few years, with the average SAT score improving from 2008 to 2012 by 14.9%, the highest percentage increase during that time period among the 11 community public high schools in Somerset County and the 27th-highest percentage increase in SAT scores among the schools included in the survey.[14]
Curriculum
Honors placement
Students may be recommended for Honors placement if they have an average grade of 92 or above, if they have completed summer assignments/projects that are assigned. Honors placement also requires teacher's recommendation. Students in an Honors placement course are dismissed from the course if their Honors placement course grade point drops below an expected range. Students dismissed from the course and be placed into an academic level course.
Advanced Placement offerings
Bound Brook High School offers few Advanced Placement courses, due to its small student population and limited resources. AP courses rotate yearly.
The following AP programs are offered by Bound Brook High School:
The Bound Brook High School Crusaders[2] compete in the Skyland Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Hunterdon, Somerset and Warren counties in northern New Jersey and operates under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).[15] With 472 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group I for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 75 to 476 students in that grade range.[16] The football team competes in Division 1A of the Big Central Football Conference, which includes 60 public and private high schools in Hunterdon, Middlesex, Somerset, Union and Warren counties, which are broken down into 10 divisions by size and location.[17] The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group I South for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 185 to 482 students.[18]
The boys basketball team won the Group III state championship in 1937 (defeating Weehawken High School in the final game of the tournament playoffs) and 1957 (vs. Hillside High School).[19] The 1937 team won the Group III state title with 34-29 victory in the championship game against Woodrow Wilson of Weehawken.[20]
The wrestling team won the Central Jersey Group I state sectional title in 1980, 1981, 1984, 1998–2001, 2003 and 2012–2014, andwon the North II Group I title in 2015. The team won the Group I state championship in 2012–2015[21] In March 2011, Andrew Campolattano became just the second four-time New Jersey state champion, when he pinned Cherokee's Mike Zeuli in just 47 seconds in the state final, finishing his high school wrestling career with a 175–1 record.[22] Craig DeLaCruz won the 2013 state championship in dramatic fashion, becoming Bound Brook's 19th state champion, the most of any in Somerset County.[23] The 2012 boys wrestling team, guided by head coach Kyle Franey, the Courier News Coach of the year, won its first Group I state championship, defeating Hanover Park High School in the final. The 2013 team, led by head coach Shaun Cleary, won its second consecutive Group I state championship, again defeating Hanover Park.[24]
The boys track team won the spring / outdoor track state championship in Group I in 1989.[25]
The softball team won the Group I state championship in 1994 (defeating Pompton Lakes High School in the finals of the playoffs), 1995 (vs. Pequannock Township High School) and 1997 (vs. Wallington High School).[26] The 1994 team finished the season with a 24-2 record after winning the Group I title with a 1-0 win against Pompton Lakes in the playoff finals.[27] The team won its second consecutive title in 1995 with a 6–5 win in the Group I championship game against Pequannock, a team that was making its first appearance in the finals.[28] The 1997 team finished the season with a record of 31-0 after winning the Group I title with a 3-0 defeat of Wallington in the championship game.[29]
The 2013 spring track and field team were the Somerset County champion in 100m, 200m and 400m races and also state finalist.
The girls basketball team won the Group I state championship in 2017 (against runner-up University High School in the playoff finals) and was declared as South I regional champion in 2020 after the finals were canceled in the wake of COVID-19.[31] The team won the 2016 Central Jersey Group I championship, their first sectional title since 1989, defeating Middlesex High School by a score of 67–52 in the tournament final.[32]
Sports offered
Interscholastic sports offered at the school include:[2]
The National Honor Society is an organization that recognizes outstanding students from grades 10 through 12. It was formed in 1921 as a result of the desire of educators to promote student excellence. The Bound Brook High School chapter was founded in June 1962. The pillars of the Society are Scholarship, Character, Service, and Leadership. Chapter meetings are held bi-monthly and community services are provided through various ongoing projects.
Team 56-Robbe Xtreme
FIRST Robotics Competition Team 56 is the result of a 17-year partnership between Bound Brook High School and Ethicon. Team 56 was the first team created by Johnson & Johnson, and one of the first FIRST Robotics teams in the state of New Jersey. '56 was part of the four teams that organized a competition at Drexel University in Pennsylvania, which led to the establishment of the Philadelphia Regional Competition for FIRST.
Robotics has led to the high school's involvement with programs Project Lead the Way like the engineering and Biomedical Program, where students practically have firsthand experience as to what professionals do in their respective fields, Bound Brook High School Robotics has also brought about the start of robotics in the Smalley Middle and elementary schools, so students can begin an interest with STEM (science, math, and technology) at an even younger age.
The team has won numerous awards and made many improvements over the years and brought great publicity to the town:
1997: 3rd place, J&J Mid-Atlantic regional, and J&J Mid-Atlantic regional Chrysler spirit award
1998: AutoDesk Animation finalist, Philadelphia invitational finalist and 3rd place J&J Mid-Atlantic regional
1999: 1st place national AutoDesk animation contest, 4th place Philadelphia Alliance Regional, and Best Offensive at Philadelphia Alliance Regional
2000: J&J Mid-Atlantic regional Chrysler spirit award, Made scholarships available to BBHS students, 1st place "Havoc at the Hill" invitational, 4th place Philadelphia Regional and AutoDesk animation finalist
2001: 1st place at J&J Mid-Atlantic regional, Philadelphia Regional, Mt. Olive invitational, Leadership in control at Philadelphia Regional, and Divisional semi-finalist, FIRST Championship at Epcot
2002: SBPL regional imagery award, FIT FIRST scholarship, 3rd place Long Island regional and a feature in Design News
2003: J&J Mid-Atlantic regional sportsmanship Award, semi-finalist at Philadelphia regional
2004: 1st place, J&J Mid-Atlantic regional, 2nd seed finish Philadelphia regional and featured in Discovery Channels "first Robotics"
2005: 1st place, Philadelphia regional, New Jersey regional finalist, General Motors Industrial Design Award, 4th-place finish Sacramento regional, finalist at J&J Mid-Atlantic regional, Motorola Quality Award at J&J Mid-Atlantic regional, National Galileo Divisional champions and National Championship finalist
2006: General Motors Industrial Design Award, Chesapeake Regional and NJ regional judges award
2007: Finalist and Rockwell automation innovation in control award at Florida regional Finalist and Rockwell automation innovation in control award at New York City regional
2008: Chief Delphi technology Award and Xerox creativity award
2009: New York City regional winner, Philadelphia Regional winner and National Galileo Divisional Finalist
2010: Philadelphia Regional winner
2011: Philadelphia Regional semi-finalist and Xerox creativity award
2012: RU district Champions
Administration
The school's principal is Edward Smith. Core members of the school's administration include the two assistant principals and the athletic director.[33]
^Hatala, Greg. "Glimpse of History: Feeling the burn in Bound Brook", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, September 9, 2013, updated March 30, 2019. Accessed February 16, 2022. "Washington School, now known as Bound Brook High School, was built in 1907 and was home to the town’s grammar and high school students for many years. Students from South Bound Brook now also attend Bound Brook High School, which has an enrollment of just under 500 students in grades 9 to 12."
^Minutes of August 20, 2009 Regular MeetingArchived February 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, South Bound Brook Board of Education. Accessed October 28, 2009. "Motion to accept the following costs for sending students to Bound Brook High School for the 2009-2010 school year (September 1, 2009- June 30, 2010)".
^"Bound Brook High School", Gillette On Hillsborough, January 14, 2019. Accessed February 16, 2022. "By the end of the century, the school board made some improvements to the school which allowed them to accept their first high school students. The first graduation was on June 23, 1904. In 1907 the school board borrowed $60,000 to build Washington School exclusively for 9th through 12th graders.... Too late to have any influence on the school, however, which was formally dedicated on September 11, 1908.... With the new high school complete, Bound Brook was able to attract students from Hillsborough, Montgomery, and other Somerset County towns who had mostly been attending Somerville"
^Triolo, John; and Marren-Licht, Liz. Dunellen, p. 8. Arcadia Publishing, 2012. ISBN9780738591612. Accessed March 22, 2022. "In 1935, an addition provided five more classrooms, a science laboratory, and a gymnasium. When completed, it was renamed Dunellen High School. From 1906 to 1925, Dunellen's high school students attended Plainfield High School, and from 1925 to 1935, they attended Bound Brook High School."
^Geraghty, Gloria. "Record 30,000 Ready for School Bells", The Daily Home News, September 5, 1959. Accessed February 16, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Bound Brook will lose 9th and 10th graders from Middlesex to the new Middlesex High School. Eleventh and 12th graders from Middlesex will continue in Bound Brook High School until they complete their secondary school education."
^Kinney, Mike. "Big Central revises 2020 football schedule for its shortened inaugural season", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, August 12, 2020. Accessed April 18, 2021. "The newly formed Big Central Football Conference has released a revised 2020 schedule for its inaugural season.... the BCFC is comprised of schools from Middlesex, Union, Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren counties."
^"Crusaders Stop Woodrow Wilson, 34-29", Courier News, March 22, 1937. Accessed March 4, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "A Bound Brook High School quintet that was touted at the beginning of the season as a potential champion today rests on top of the heap in the Group 3 ranks. Presenting a well-balanced attack, the Crusaders vanquished a favored Woodrow Wilson High five of Weehawken, 34 to 29, to capture the title before 3,500 spectators in the Rutgers University gymnasium Saturday night."
^McPherson, Gary. "Wrestling: Mike Zeuli's run ends in Atlantic City", The Central Record, March 16, 2011. Accessed September 8, 2013. "Bound Brook's Andrew Campolattano became only the second wrestler in New Jersey history to win four straight NJSIAA titles, pinning Zeuli in under a minute.... His 116 career pins is a state record and he finished his high school career with an astounding 175–1 career mark."
^Kratch, James. "Wrestling state championships, 2013: Craig De La Cruz of Bound Brook wins 120-pound championship", The Star-Ledger, March 10, 2013. Accessed September 8, 2013. "Bound Brook's Craig De La Cruz has gotten pretty good at winning close the past few weeks, and it all paid off yesterday in the state tournament's final round at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. The sophomore stunned the two-time state champion, Brenden Calas of Seton Hall Prep, with a takedown in sudden victory for a 3–1 triumph and his first career state championship in the 120-pound final."
^Chessari, Joe. "Miscues cost Pompton title", The Record, June 12, 1994. Accessed January 24, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Bound Brook (24-2), which managed only one clean single off senior Allison Moyle, pushed across the run in the seventh inning, breaking a scoreless tie, and securing its first New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Group 1 Softball championship Saturday afternoon at Toms River North High School. 'We had nothing to lose. If I didn't score, we were headed for 4 extra innings,' Klecz said following the 1-0 victory."
^Schutta, Gregory. "Even in defeat, Pequannock shows pride of champions", The Record, June 11, 1995. Accessed November 25, 2020, via Newspapers.com. "A couple of the players in the yellow Pequannock jerseys were still wearing their batting helmets as they watched Bound Brook celebrate their second straight Group 1 State softball championship. But considering that the Panthers were just two seasons removed from a 7-15 season, a 6-5 loss to the defending State champ in their first New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association championship game appearance was nothing to be ashamed of."
^Goldman, Jeff. "Perfection; Bound Brook wins state title to finish undefeated", Courier News, June 8, 1997. Accessed January 23, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "It was the perfect final chapter to a perfect season for the Bound Brook Softball team. The Crusaders saved their best for last in Saturday's Group 1 state final, dominating Walling-ton from start to finish in a 3-0 victory to capture their third state title in four years and finish 1997 at 31-0."
^Gould, Brandon. "Bound Brook girls basketball uses deep ball to win 1st sectional title since 1989", NJ Advance Media, March 7, 2016. Accessed November 22, 2016. "With the paint clogged all night, second-seeded Bound Brook dominated from beyond the arc to earn a 67-52 win over fourth-seeded Middlesex in the NJSIAA/ShopRite Central Jersey, Group 1 final on Monday. Junior Olivia Nilsen was the main culprit from deep for the Crusaders, who hit eight 3-pointers on their way to winning the program's first sectional title since 1989."
^Staff Directory, Bound Brook High School. Accessed May 22, 2024.
^"Josephine Phillips Married to Tiger D. Andrews", Courier News, July 5, 1944. Accessed May 6, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Mr. Andrews, a graduate of Bound Brook High School, served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve until he received a medical discharge recently for injuries incurred when his ship was sunk in the Mediterranean."
^"Gets Princeton Assistant Post", Courier News, June 16, 1956. Accessed May 6, 2021. "Gallagher was graduated from Bound Brook High School and was recipient of a Harvard Club of New Jersey Scholarship while a student at Harvard."
^Dunlap, LucyAnn. "A Play Where Art Imitates Art", U.S. 1 Newspaper, July 13, 2005. Accessed October 16, 2012. "A 1971 graduate of Bound Brook High School, he graduated from Salem University in West Virginia with a major in philosophy and theology, and earned a graduate degree from Notre Dame University in ethics."
^"Vote Republican", Courier News, October 31, 1946. Accessed January 15, 2020. "James W. Kelly Jr.... Graduate of Bound Brook High School"
^William Ozzard, Bound Brook High School Alumni Association Hall of Fame. Accessed March 24, 2015.
^Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey, 1984, p. 252. Accessed August 17, 2020. "Assemblyman Patero was born March 30, 1932, in Manville. He attended Sacred Heart School, Bound Brook High School, and Rutgers University."
