Belleville High School (New Jersey)

Belleville High School
Address
100 Passaic Avenue Belleville , Essex County , New Jersey 07109 United States
Coordinates	40.803794°N 74.162606°W / 40.803794; -74.162606
Information
Type	Public high school
School district	Belleville School District
NCES School ID	340135001954[1]
Principal	Caleb Rhodes
Faculty	121.0 FTEs[1]
Grades	9-12
Enrollment	1,591 (as of 2023–24)[1]
Student to teacher ratio	13.2:1[1]
Color(s)	Blue, gold and white[2]
Athletics conference	Super Essex Conference (general) North Jersey Super Football Conference
Team name	Buccaneers[2]
Accreditation	Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools[3]
Website	hs.bellevilleschools.org/o/bhs

Belleville High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grade from Belleville, in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Operating as the lone secondary school of the Belleville School District, the school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1964.^[3]

As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,591 students and 121.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 13.2:1. There were 774 students (48.6% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 217 (13.6% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.^[1]

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 294th-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.^[4] The school had been ranked 160th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 214th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.^[5] The magazine ranked the school 2008 out of 316 schools.^[6] The school was ranked 241st in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state.^[7]

Schooldigger.com ranked the school 311th out of 376 public high schools statewide in its 2010 rankings (a decrease of 12 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).^[8]

Athletics

The Belleville High School Buccaneers^[2] compete in the Super Essex Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools in Essex County and was established following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).^[9] Until the NJSIAA's 2009 realignment, the school had participated in Division A of the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League, which included high schools located in Bergen County, Passaic County and Essex County.^[10] With 1,057 students in grades 10-12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group III for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 761 to 1,058 students in that grade range.^[11] The football team competes in the Freedom White 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.^[12][13] The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group IV North for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 893 to 1,315 students.^[14] The school colors are blue, white and gold.^[2]

The baseball team won the North II Group IV state sectional championship in 1965.^[15]

Administration

The school's principal is Caleb Rhodes. His core administrative team includes four assistant principals.^[16]

Notable alumni

See also: Category:Belleville High School (New Jersey) alumni

• Chico Borja (1959–2021), soccer player and coach^[17]
• Ramiro Borja (born 1961), retired professional soccer player^[18]
• Lonnie Bunch (born 1952, class of 1970), educator, historian and museum curator who became the Fourteenth Secretary of the Smithsonian in 2019 and was founding director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture^[19]
• Kacy Catanzaro (born 1990), professional wrestler, gymnast and obstacle racer^[20]
• Jack Cullen (born 1939), pitcher who played for the New York Yankees^[21]
• Robert Curvin (1934–2015, class of 1952), advocate for Newark, New Jersey, activist and historian, who had a key role in the 1967 Newark riots^[22][23]
• Phil Cuzzi (born 1955, class of 1973), Major League Baseball umpire^[24]
• The Delicates, singing group consisting of Denise Ferri, Arleen Lanzotti, and Peggy Santiglia from the Class of 1962^[25]
• Tommy DeVito (1936–2020), lead guitarist for The Four Seasons who dropped out of school following eighth grade to pursue his music career, but was named an honorary graduate of Belleville High School in 2007^[26]
• Connie Francis (born 1937, class of 1955), singer^[27]
• David Grant (born 1965; class of 1983), defensive end for six NFL seasons for the Cincinnati Bengals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Green Bay Packers^[28]
• Joe Pesci (born 1943), Academy Award-winning actor^[29]
• Joel A. Pisano (1949–2021), United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey from 2000 to 2001^[30]
• Peggy Santiglia (born 1944), singer-songwriter of the "girl group era", best known for her 1963 pop hit "My Boyfriend's Back" with The Angels, which she recorded at the age of 19^[31]
• Gerard Way (born 1977, class of 1995), frontman of My Chemical Romance and writer of The Umbrella Academy^[32]
• Mikey Way (born 1980, class of 1998), bass guitarist of My Chemical Romance^[32]
• Leonard R. Willette (1921–1944, class of 1939), Tuskegee Airman pilot killed in action in World War II flying over Germany while protecting a group of American bombers^[33]
• Tony Zuzzio (1916–2002), lineman who played for the Detroit Lions during the 1942 NFL season^[34]

References

1. School data for Belleville High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024.
2. Belleville High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 4, 2015.
3. Belleville High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools. Accessed January 15, 2020.
4. Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
5. Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed December 1, 2012.
6. Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed April 12, 2011.
7. "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
8. New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2009–2010, Schooldigger.com. Accessed January 14, 2012.
9. League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
10. Home Page, Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League, backed up by the Internet Archive as of May 9, 2009. Accessed December 15, 2014.
11. NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
12. 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."
13. 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."
14. NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
15. Baseball Championship History: 1959–2024, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated June 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
16. BHS Administration, Belleville High School. Accessed September 3, 2024.
17. Denman, Elliott. "Cosmos going south after 2-1 win", Asbury Park Press, June 8, 1981. Accessed February 7, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "'I had many chances today," said Borja, who was born in Ecuador, came to the U.S. with his family at 14, and played his soccer at nearby Belleville High School and New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark."
18. "NJAC tourney resumes today", Herald News, May 14, 1990. Accessed February 7, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "Former Belleville High School standout Ramiro Borja notched a goal and an assist in the first half to lead the Albany Capitals to a 2-0 win over the New Jersey Eagles in an American Professional Soccer League game at Bleecker Stadium in Albany Saturday night."
19. Staff. "Belleville resident in charge as newest Smithsonian museum opens", The Record, September 29, 2016. Accessed July 1, 2019. "A Belleville High School graduate was a major contributor to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture that opened this weekend in the nation’s capital. Dr. Lonnie Bunch, Belleville Class of 1970 and also a School No. 5 graduate, has served as the founding director of the museum since 2005."
20. Schneider, Jeremy. "From N.J. to WWE: Kacy Catanzaro begins pro wrestling journey", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, January 30, 2018, updated January 30, 2019. Accessed November 12, 2020. "World Wrestling Entertainment announced on Jan. 18 that Catanzaro, a Belleville High School graduate who was born in Glen Ridge, has joined WWE's NXT, the organization's developmental system."
21. Constantino, Rocco. "Jack Cullen", Ball Nine, April 8, 2022. Accessed January 3, 2025. "Despite the fame that has come from the Essex County town, only one person has ever graduated from Belleville High School and gone on to play Major League Baseball. That man is Jack Cullen, who pitched for the Yankees in the 1960s, and he joins us for this week’s edition of Spitballin'."
22. Cohen, Gilbert. "Preserving Memory: Newark and Rutgers in the 1960’s And 1970’s - Oral History Interview: Curvin, Robert, 1991-11-30", Rutgers University, November 30, 1991. Accessed February 18, 2022. "Curvin: Well, I went to high school in Belleville, New Jersey, and graduated in 1952. And a year after that I entered the US Army."
23. "Four Belleville Men Receive Basic Training Assignments", The Belleville Times-News, August 14, 1953. Accessed February 18, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Donald C. Pissott, Anthony Corsi, Carmen Sorice Jr., and Robert Curvin, all of Belleville, have recently been assigned to the 9th Infantry Division for Basic Training at Fort Dix. Pissott, Sorice and Curvin are all former Belleville High School students."
24. Lamberti, Mike. "Belleville grad/MLB umpire Cuzzi promoted", Belleville Times, February 12, 2015. Accessed October 30, 2016. "A 1973 graduate of Belleville High School, Cuzzi long dreamed of being an umpire, but didn't really begin that quest until nearly a decade after high school."
25. Grushkin, Paul. Rockin' Down the Highway: The Cars and People That Made Rock Roll, p. 190. Voyageur Press, 2006. ISBN 0-7603-2292-9. Accessed June 5, 2011.
26. Fink, Jerry. "Vegas man knows 'Jersey Boys': Before Tommy DeVito came to town, he started the Four Seasons, gave Frankie Valli a platform", Las Vegas Sun, April 2, 2008. Accessed April 13, 2011. "He quit school after the eighth grade. (Belleville High made him an honorary graduate last year.)"
27. Bondy, Halley. "Belleville to honor hometown girl, the resilient Connie Francis", The Star-Ledger, October 22, 2009. Accessed April 13, 2011. "Francis graduated from Belleville High School in 1955. Her first hit, 'Who's Sorry Now?' took off in 1958 after airing on Dick Clark's American Bandstand."
28. Lamberti, Mike. "Buc Shots: Belleville High grad David Grant reflects on Super Bowl experience", Belleville Times, February 4, 2016. Accessed July 1, 2019. "David Grant, a 1983 Belleville High School graduate, recalls his experience playing in Super Bowl XXIII against NFL Hall of Famers Joe Montana and Jerry Rice."
29. Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of Congress, Volume 136, Part 22, p. 32597, United States Government Printing Office, 1990. Accessed July 1, 2019. "Mr. Speaker, it is obvious from his many accomplishments that Joe Pesci has come a long way since his days singing and playing guitar at Belleville High School."
30. Alvarado, Monsy. "Joel A. Pisano, retired federal judge who presided over high-profile cases, dies at 71", The Record, February 28, 2021. Accessed March 2, 2021. "A New Jersey native, Pisano was the son of Salvatore Pisano, who died in 1992, and Rita W. Bergonzi Pisano, who died in 2009. He attended Belleville High School and graduated from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1971 before attending Seton Hall University School of Law in Newark."
31. Childs, Marti Smiles; March, Jeff. Echoes of the Sixties, p. 85. Billboard Books, 1999. ISBN 9780823083169. Accessed July 1, 2019.
32. Uschak, Roman J. "Rock band with Belleville roots, My Chemical Romance, breaks up", Belleville Times, April 18, 2013. Accessed July 15, 2013. "Lead singer and co-founder Gerard Way graduated from Belleville High School in 1995.... Way's younger brother, Mike, the bassist for My Chemical Romance, also grew up in Belleville and is a 1998 BHS graduate."
33. Kadosh, Matt. "Belleville Tuskegee Airman soars in history", The Record, February 21, 2018. Accessed March 3, 2018. "Willette, of the Tuskegee Airmen's 99th Fighter Squadron, had died in the crash while escorting B-17 bombers over Germany in 1944. The 1939 Belleville High School graduate was one of 66 black Tuskegee Airmen killed in World War II combat."
34. Tony Zuzzio, Pro-Football-Reference.com. Accessed June 10, 2018.

External links

• Belleville High School
• Belleville School District
• School Performance Report for Belleville High School, New Jersey Department of Education
• Data for Belleville High School, National Center for Education Statistics