Don Bosco Technical High School (New Jersey)

Don Bosco Technical High School
Information
Established	1948 (1948)
Closed	2002 (2002)

Don Bosco Technical High School was a vocational school located in Paterson, in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school, operated under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson, opened in 1948 and closed in 2002.

History

The Salesian Fathers established the school in 1948, expending $270,000 (equivalent to $3,500,000 in 2024) to acquire and renovate the three-story former silk mill into a trade school that would provide a model for future such schools in other communities.^[1]

Despite a bump in enrollment to 290 from a low of 250 five years earlier, the school announced its closure due to tuition that didn't cover costs, growing uncollected tuition, and millions in costs anticipated for repairs to the former silk mill.^[2]

The Salesians of Don Bosco operated the school from 1948 until its closure in 2002. The facility was acquired by the New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation in 2004 for $6.3 million (equivalent to $10.5 million in 2024).^[3]

After the school closed, it was briefly home to a charter school and then used as a middle school by the Paterson Public Schools. The three school buildings were demolished in 2017 at a cost of $3.5 million. The New Jersey Schools Development Authority will cover $112 million towards the construction of Union Avenue Middle School, which is planned to accommodate 1,000 students.^[4]

Athletics

Don Bosco Tech's athletic teams were known as the Rams.^[5]

The school's baseball team won the Non-Public B North state title in 1960 and 1967, and won the Non-Public B championship in 1976, defeating St. John Vianney High School in the tournament final.^[6]

Notable alumni

• Tom Barrise (1954–2022), college and NBA basketball coach, who was the interim head coach of the New Jersey Nets for two games in 2009^[7]

References

1. "Salesians "Will Open Paterson Trade School", The Tablet, July 31, 1948. Accessed March 27, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "The Salesian Fathers have announced that a new technical and vocational school will shortly be opened in Paterson, N. J., under the name Don Bosco Technical School. The large three-story building was formerly a silk factory which closed down a few months ago. The Salesians have completed arrangements to purchase the building at the price of $150,000 and to refurnish it for an additional $120,000. The course of studies at the new school will include mechanics, cabinet-making, printing, bookbinding, etc., with the ultimate object being to provide instructors for the various other trade schools the Salesians plan to open."
2. Clancy, Michael. "Don Bosco Didn't Have Enough Cash, Priest Says", Herald News, January 15, 2002. Accessed March 27, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Nearly 500 people packed the cafeteria of Don Bosco Technical High School on Monday night, venting anger and grief and expressing hope that there could be some way any way of saving the all-boys Catholic school slated to close in June.... First, the school does not charge enough tuition to cover its costs, he said. The tuition is $4,150, though the actual cost of the edu cation is $5,800 per student. More than half of the student body receives financial aid and does not pay full tuition. Still, the school doesn't collect all the tuition and has $55,000 in outstanding tuition for this school year alone."
3. Kvasager, Whitney. "State buys former Don Bosco Tech H.S.; Will still be used for Paterson students", The Record, May 30, 2004. Accessed March 27, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "The State School Construction Corp. bought the former Don Bosco Technical High School last Monday for $6.3 million, ending two years of negotiations..... The SCC plans to renovate the former parochial school building as a new K-8 school by 2008. The Don Bosco Tech building at 202 Union Ave. was a former silk mill. It had been owned by the Salesian Society, which used the building as a parochial school from 1948 to 2002."
4. Malinconico, Joe. "Demolition begins on Don Bosco Tech in Paterson", The Record, November 22, 2017. Accessed March 27, 2022. "In 2002, the Paterson Diocese closed the Don Bosco Tech high school that operated at the location. The city school district later began using the buildings for a middle school. The site also was home to a charter school for a year."
5. Cooper, Darren. "Only the nicknames and stories remain for alumni of closed schools", The Record, June 5, 2020. Accessed March 27, 2022. "Bill Vacca devoted much of his life to Don Bosco Tech (nickname: Rams) in Paterson before that school closed in 2002."
6. Baseball Championship History: 1959–2024, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
7. Czerwinski, Mark J. "Basketball coach named at Ramapo", The Record, October 6, 1992. Accessed March 27, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Barrise, an FDU graduate, was a three-sport star at Don Bosco Tech. He was All-State in soccer in 1971 and went to FDU on a soccer scholarship."