Bergen Academies

200 Hackensack Avenue

School District

Bergen County Vocational Technical
Grade

9-12
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:13
Type

public

School Map for Bergen County Vocational Technical School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by student on August 17, 2024

Very rigorous school and curriculum. Due to a selective admissions process, most students perform well and when combined with good teachers the learning environment is excellent. This school offers plenty of academic opportunities, but is not suitable for anyone unprepared for a hard curriculum or anyone not well-versed or proficient in STEM subjects.
Submitted by parent on March 02, 2022

The best stem/steam school in NY/NY area for sure. A lot of work and a lot of material. Hard tests and hard grading. School at elite college level material. Any college is a cake walk after this school.
Submitted by parent on May 04, 2021

By far the best school in NY/NJ.
Submitted by other on October 02, 2019

my dream to come here :) :D
Submitted by student on September 14, 2018

I am so incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to attend this amazing school full of academic and extracurricular opportunities. My peers are not only talented, but also friendly and of strong character. What's more, you can leave your phone or laptop in the hallways or somewhere else in the school for hours and no one will ever take it!
Submitted by other on June 21, 2016

I can only speak for the science/engineering academy, but overall the courses were thoroughly challenging and the opportunities for research were endless. You can make your experience here as fulfilling as you want to, limited only by how many hours are in a day and how motivated you are. One thing to note is that many of the legendary teachers at the school have either passed away or have been expelled for other reasons.
Submitted by other on December 08, 2015

The school is a good place for kids to achieve their accademic goals! Also, the atmosphere is filled with positivity and knowledge!
Submitted by parent on April 16, 2015

It's a GREAT School for the very smart and brilliant, motived student. As the first reviewer noticed, if your son or daughter doesn't fit this bill, this isn't the place for you. If they are, colleges will take notice. My son was accepted to Johns Hopkins early decision, because of the rigors and reputation of this institution.
Submitted by parent on November 30, 2014

This school is okay if you are up for an extreme pressured experience. Expect a horrible social life and little to no time doing much besides meaningless busywork. To the teachers here, more work means more engaging, and that seems a common model. Be warned: the kids here can be quite snobby and superior. There is no leadership and the principal and disciplinarian, Mr. Lynch - aptly named, is a major bully.
Submitted by parent on March 23, 2014

This school has a great system for separating the students who really wish to learn from those who do not.
Submitted by student on February 25, 2014

This school is definitely not for everyone. While the schools atmosphere is smothered with heavy stress with a tinge of freedom(lots of frees you can do anything you want with it i go to the school's fitness center) Only go there if you truly have a passion for learning and a certain subject along with an iron steel pride. You wont be on the top all the time anymore. Everyone there is nice respectful to each other :) the teachers are rocket scientists with crazy degrees but some are really bad at teaching (similar to college professors hint hint ) you have to be emotionally ready, organize your time, and learn how to learn by yourself and go ahead without your teacher. Most importantly you must jot be ashamed to ask for extra help, everyone does at one point or another.
Submitted by other on September 04, 2013

I have no idea why people are complaining about sleep deprivation. Let's face it, when you get accepted into an advanced studies school you will not have 10 hours of sleep everyday. I studied in Korea for a little bit and there are MIDDLE schoolers who stayed up all night and got about 0-4 or 5 hours of sleep doing studies and homework. Yes it is unhealthy but if you study hard and get into a good college and nice career all this work would have paid off and you can have a successful life without having to worry about being homeless and not getting a wink of sleep knowing you can't provide for yourself and maybe future children.
Submitted by student on September 02, 2013

Continuing from the previous post due to the character limit, I'd like to add that there is some unnecessarily tedious work assigned. However, I personally never suffered from chronic sleep deprivation, although some BCA students do. I generally sleep eight hours per night, which I think is a healthy amount. Remember to use frees to your advantage to work on homework, but also use some frees to socialize or rest. Also, going back to bathrooms, I can only give feedback on the girls' bathrooms. One negative thing is that you're stuck with the same academy for 4 years. As an AAST (science) student, I feel that limits some of my opportunities because I had wanted to do a photography internship but did not have much photography skills/experience to add to my resume. Of course, you can learn things on your own time and take electives regarding your interests outside of your academy, but I think it would be cool to be able to double academy in the way that college students double major. There's also no pottery/ceramics electives, which I really wanted to take in high school :/ By no means do I regret being in AAST - there's tons of scientific research opportunities & rigorous training.
Submitted by student on August 30, 2013

Having been a student at this school, I feel like the responses below don't truly reflect what BCA is all about. Personally, I feel like some of my friends love BCA, while others don't really like it. However, I'm going to tell you the objective truth. It is true that BCA is a competitive place to get into, but once your into the school the environment is actually very nice. More often than not students help each other with homework and projects, and everyone is supportive of each other on that front. The friendliness of people is a varied as it would be at any other high school: there will be jerks, people who are shy, social butterflies, lone wolves, and every other type of person. That depends of the class of course. From personal experience I will say that once you are in BCA for the first time you may nice feel "smart" anymore, and will have to work hard, even if you've never worked in middle school. While that is a sacrifice, you end up learning a lot. BCA also offers a wealth of opportunities to students which you wouldn't find at other high schools - such as biological/nano/pysch/writing research, amazing theatre productions, and the chance to be part of many winning teams.
Submitted by student on May 01, 2013

Don't come here. As a to be grad of AMST, I can say that these four years were truly horrendous. Teachers are subpar and laugh at you if you don't understand anything. Having a PhD does not give you the right to teach; most of the teachers with PhD have trouble explaining introductory material to students, which I find very aggravating. The student body as a whole is antisocial and filled with tryhards, at least in my academy. Like the AEDTer below me said, don't come here if you want to have freedom and creativity. If you want to have FUN (which is what you should have in high school), go any place but here. You won't regret the decision.
Submitted by student on July 14, 2011

I am a sophomore student in ABF (the Academy for Business & Finance). Going into BCA last September, I was so excited to be a part of this great, prestigious school. My only hesitation was that I wasn't really that interested in the Academy I had been accepted into. However, despite my worries, my Freshman year turned out to be great, and even though I wasn't enthralled by what I've learned so far in ABF, I must admit all of the business topics covered I found very interesting. BCA, whether you like it or not, isn't like any other high school in Bergen County, NJ - it is special and unique in a number of great ways. In middle school, I felt like an outcast because I was "an over-achiever", but at BCA, I fit in perfectly and I have a number of friends. On another note, the diversity at BCA is great (nothing like I experienced in middle school), and I am so so so lucky to have been accepted into this wonderful school.
Submitted by parent on December 06, 2010

I'm a parent who was fortunate to have two children at BCA. One was in the Academy for Science and Math, while the other was in the the Academy for Visual and Performing Arts. Both found friends, had successful high school careers, and went on to fine college programs that suited their interests. BCA is "HIGH SCHOOL," with all that entails. It's not perfect, but it allows kids to succeed without making them feel like dweebs.
Submitted by parent on November 10, 2010

I fully agree with the student below who advised not sending a child here. The administration/teachers fuel this pressure cooker environment in which there is excessive quantity rather than quality homework in many classes. This results in dangerous chronic sleep deprivation especially in upper classmen. Unfortunately it may take a student tragedy to illuminate these stresses to effect change in BCA.