I loved Bell-Jeff... To say the least there are few teachers the school could do without. Particularly in the religion department but I wont name any names.
If you're looking for a small, family orientated, Catholic education BJHS is your school.
All four years being at this school i couldn't really relate to what Elise or Kathleen were saying. i believe school is what YOU make it. I love it here. You don't go to school to know whos doing what or whos going to be boyfriend and girlfriend next. mind your own business and people will mind theirs.
Its quite funny that you mention Mr. Perez..he is definitely one of the sweetest teachers there. i understand we all have our opinions but i strongly feel you named the wrong teacher. If you are truly into Biology and feel that it is "biting you in the ass" now because mr. Perez wasn't tough enough on you, then you should have taken the book home and studied on your own and maybe then you would not have anyone to blame. I was doing fine in my physiology class with Mr. Perez. He's great. i understood the ins and outs of physiology. if i wasn't doing as great as i should have been doing mr. Perez would speak to me and offer help when i needed it. His door was always open. If he really wasn't doing his job i wouldn't have typed all this up..but i think its only fair that he gets the credit he deserves. He's awesome.
Mr. Bergen and Mr. Boysen have been there for about 10 years so obviously they are doing their job just fine. Thy have to be the funnest teachers but when it gets down to studies they are super on top of the whole class on knowing E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G about each chapter. If they weren't there to challenge me i wouldn't be doing so great.
I've never had mr. kane so i'm in no position to say anything about him. but overall i love the teachers and haha.. favoritism? NO NO NO its called respecting the teachers to get respect back. but when we have those students that think they are always right and always disrespect the teachers then obviously the teachers are going to see the students respecting them a lot better in their eyes.
This school was revolutionary when it opened. It saw its heyday in the 30's thru the 70's, but by the mid 80's had declined sharply in quality and commitment to Catholic values.
My mother graduated from here in 1976, and when I had to change schools my freshman year of highschool, to Bell-Jeff I went. She thought (so mistaken) that the school was still a haven for great educators, and above-par extracurricular activities.
Yeah, right.
My freshman year, the only electives offered were sports, or one art class. We didnt even have a theater program (Bell-Jeff was known for its spectacularly well done musicals in the 60's and 70's) until I managed to scrape together some interest and funding my sophomore year. (Thank you Mr. Kane)
This school is concerend with nothing more than making a dollar. They will admit anyone with a decent bankroll, juice the hell out of the less wealthy families, and make the money disappear into new floors for the gym and other sports related bullshit.
I graduated from here in 2001 and my god, thank goodness I can write a coherent paragraph. The academic staff is a joke, many are not even qualified to be teaching the classes they are assigned. For example, a former blockbuster employee with no degree was my 11th grade ADVANCED PLACEMENT english lit. teacher.
I realize that I'm totally bashing my alma mater, and I have to be honest and say that yes, there were some amazing memories, and some truly outstanding staff members, and I dont wish to minimize the impact they had on me, but they alone are not enough to make it a great school. Some still remain like Mr. James Clerihan, the vice principal. Brother Phillip, who is the guidance counselor and Senior AP English teacher and Mr. Boysen, the religion teacher. The school still holds the religious retreat called Kairos, for the senior class, and that experience alone is what made me reconsider my original two stars.
But please, if you value rock solid education, save your children the heartache of college rejection later on in life and send them to Providence or St. Francis or any other Catholic school.
based on 5 reviews
4 Comments
principal needs to go!
I loved Bell-Jeff... To say the least there are few teachers the school could do without. Particularly in the religion department but I wont name any names.
If you're looking for a small, family orientated, Catholic education BJHS is your school.
All four years being at this school i couldn't really relate to what Elise or Kathleen were saying. i believe school is what YOU make it. I love it here. You don't go to school to know whos doing what or whos going to be boyfriend and girlfriend next. mind your own business and people will mind theirs.
Its quite funny that you mention Mr. Perez..he is definitely one of the sweetest teachers there. i understand we all have our opinions but i strongly feel you named the wrong teacher. If you are truly into Biology and feel that it is "biting you in the ass" now because mr. Perez wasn't tough enough on you, then you should have taken the book home and studied on your own and maybe then you would not have anyone to blame. I was doing fine in my physiology class with Mr. Perez. He's great. i understood the ins and outs of physiology. if i wasn't doing as great as i should have been doing mr. Perez would speak to me and offer help when i needed it. His door was always open. If he really wasn't doing his job i wouldn't have typed all this up..but i think its only fair that he gets the credit he deserves. He's awesome.
Mr. Bergen and Mr. Boysen have been there for about 10 years so obviously they are doing their job just fine. Thy have to be the funnest teachers but when it gets down to studies they are super on top of the whole class on knowing E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G about each chapter. If they weren't there to challenge me i wouldn't be doing so great.
I've never had mr. kane so i'm in no position to say anything about him. but overall i love the teachers and haha.. favoritism? NO NO NO its called respecting the teachers to get respect back. but when we have those students that think they are always right and always disrespect the teachers then obviously the teachers are going to see the students respecting them a lot better in their eyes.
that's all i have to say (:
This school was revolutionary when it opened.
It saw its heyday in the 30's thru the 70's, but by the mid 80's had declined sharply in quality and commitment to Catholic values.
My mother graduated from here in 1976, and when I had to change schools my freshman year of highschool, to Bell-Jeff I went. She thought (so mistaken) that the school was still a haven for great educators, and above-par extracurricular activities.
Yeah, right.
My freshman year, the only electives offered were sports, or one art class. We didnt even have a theater program (Bell-Jeff was known for its spectacularly well done musicals in the 60's and 70's) until I managed to scrape together some interest and funding my sophomore year. (Thank you Mr. Kane)
This school is concerend with nothing more than making a dollar. They will admit anyone with a decent bankroll, juice the hell out of the less wealthy families, and make the money disappear into new floors for the gym and other sports related bullshit.
I graduated from here in 2001 and my god, thank goodness I can write a coherent paragraph. The academic staff is a joke, many are not even qualified to be teaching the classes they are assigned. For example, a former blockbuster employee with no degree was my 11th grade ADVANCED PLACEMENT english lit. teacher.
I realize that I'm totally bashing my alma mater, and I have to be honest and say that yes, there were some amazing memories, and some truly outstanding staff members, and I dont wish to minimize the impact they had on me, but they alone are not enough to make it a great school.
Some still remain like Mr. James Clerihan, the vice principal. Brother Phillip, who is the guidance counselor and Senior AP English teacher and Mr. Boysen, the religion teacher. The school still holds the religious retreat called Kairos, for the senior class, and that experience alone is what made me reconsider my original two stars.
But please, if you value rock solid education, save your children the heartache of college rejection later on in life and send them to Providence or St. Francis or any other Catholic school.