As of the 2023–24 school year, the district, comprised of seven schools, had an enrollment of 3,710 students and 292.9 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.7:1.[1]
The district participates in the Interdistrict Public School Choice Program, which allows non-resident students to attend school in the district at no cost to their parents, with tuition covered by the resident district.[5] Available slots are announced annually by grade.[6]
History
In 1935, the district's board of education cited overcrowding at Dumont High School and Tenafly High School, which Bergenfield students had been attending, as justification to build a new high school, as long as costs were reasonable and government funding was obtained.[7] The original high school building was constructed at a cost of $370,000 (equivalent to $7.9million in 2024) as an addition to an existing school, and dedicated in ceremonies held in April 1941.[8] The latest high school building was constructed at a cost of $3,625,000 (equivalent to $39.1million in 2024) and opened in 1959 on South Prospect Avenue to accommodate the post war Baby Boom and replaced the combination junior/senior high school (formerly called Warren J. Harding) on the corner of Clinton and Washington Avenue, which become a middle school.[9]
The district had been classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "FG", the fourth-highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.[10]
Core members of the district's administration are:[12][23]
Christopher Tully, superintendent of schools
JoAnn Khoury-Frias, business administrator and board secretary
Board of education
The district's board of education is comprised of five members who set policy and oversee the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration. As a Type II school district, the board's trustees are elected directly by voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either one or two seats up for election each year held (since 2012) as part of the November general election. The board appoints a superintendent to oversee the district's day-to-day operations and a business administrator to supervise the business functions of the district.[24][25][26]
↑ Bergenfield Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Bergenfield Public School District, adopted October 15, 2007. Accessed June 26, 2025. "Purpose: The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades Pre-Kindergarten through twelve in the Bergenfield School District. Composition: The Bergenfield School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of the Borough of Bergenfield."
↑ "Bergenfield Board Backs High School For Borough; Unanimous Support Is Given Building Plan, Provided Cost Is Kept Reasonable", The Record, June 12, 1935. Accessed September 4, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "Bergenfield Board of Education, on a motion sponsored by Trustee C. Henry Reinhart, last night definitely establsihed itself in favor of a high school provided a 45 per cent grant of the total cost can be had from the Federal P. W. A. and the balance borrowed on forty-year bonds carrying a low rate of interest.... According to Zimmerman, who attended a meeting in Trenton recently, the State officials heartily endorsed the Bergenfield High School plan, pointing out that both Dumont and Tenafly High Schools, in which Bergenfield High School students are divided, are overcrowded and have for a long time been some means of keeping for contemplating, their own pupils."
↑ Staff. "To Dedicate Bergenfield School", The New York Times, March 30, 1941. Accessed September 4, 2025. "The new $370,000 Bergenfield High School, an addition to Harding School at Washington and Clinton Avenues, will be dedicated Monday at 8 P. M."
↑ Statistical Forecasting Inc. Demographic Study for the Bergenfield Public School District, Bergenfield Public School District, December 2022. Accessed June 26, 2025. "The Bergenfield School District has seven (7) schools educating children in grades prekindergarten through twelfth. Children attend one of five elementary schools for grades PK-5: Franklin Elementary School ('Franklin'), Hoover Elementary School ('Hoover'), Jefferson Elementary School ('Jefferson'), Lincoln Elementary School ('Lincoln'), or Washington Elementary School ('Washington'). Roy Brown Middle School ('Brown') educates children in grades 6-8 while Bergenfield High School educates children in grades 9-12."
↑ Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the Bergenfield Public School District, New Jersey Department of Education for year ending June 30, 2024. Accessed June 26, 2025. "The Bergenfield Board of Education (the 'Board' or the 'District') is an instrumentality of the State of New Jersey, established to function as an education institution. The Board consists of five elected officials and is responsible for the fiscal control of the District. A Superintendent of Schools is appointed by the Board and is responsible for the administrative control of the District. A School Business Administrator/Board Secretary is also appointed by the Board and oversees the business functions of the District." See "Roster of Officials" on page 12.
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