Bound Brook High School is a comprehensive community public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Bound Brook, in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the Bound Brook School District. Students from South Bound Brook attend the district's high school as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the South Bound Brook School District.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 Meeting , 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)".Somerset County School Districts-Sending/Receiving/Regional, Somerset County, New Jersey. Accessed June 5, 2016. "Bound Brook PreK-12 Receives 9-12 From South Bound Brook"
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 579 students and 58 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of approximately 10:1. There were 422 students (72.9% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 62 (10.7% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Bound Brook High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.
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.School Choice Approved , Bound Brook School District. Accessed September 8, 2013. 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 $ in ) 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."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"
From 1925 to 1935, until the opening of Dunellen High School, students from Dunellen had attended Bound Brook High School."Addition Will Be Ready Soon In Dunellen; Dedication of $80,000 Building Set for December", The Sunday Times, September 29, 1935. Accessed March 22, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Dunellen wilt soon boast of a modern high school. In fact, the new five-room addition to the Roosevelt Junior High School will be completed November 1.... The eleventh grade Is being conducted in Dunellen this term and the twelfth grade attends the Bound Brook High School."Triolo, John; and Marren-Licht, Liz. Dunellen, p. 8. Arcadia Publishing, 2012. . 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."
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.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."
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.Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014. 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.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed October 16, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 243rd in the magazine's September 2008 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state."Top New Jersey High Schools 2010: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2010, Accessed January 1, 2011.
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.Kaimann, Frederick. "New Jersey's Top Performing Public High Schools", The Star-Ledger, August 19, 2013. Accessed September 8, 2013.
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:
AP Calculus AB AP English Language and Composition AP English Literature and Composition AP United States History AP Statistics
Extracurricular activities
Athletics The Bound Brook High School CrusadersBound Brook High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 10, 2020. 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).League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. 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.NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020. 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.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." The school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group I South for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 185 to 482 students.NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
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).History of NJSIAA Boys Basketball Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020. The 1937 team won the Group III state title with 34-29 victory in the championship game against Woodrow Wilson of Weehawken."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."