Henry P. Becton Regional High School (commonly known as Becton Regional High School) is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Carlstadt and East Rutherford, in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as part of the Carlstadt-East Rutherford Regional School District. Students from Maywood attend the school as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Maywood Public Schools.
Becton Regional High School is accredited by the New Jersey Department of Education and has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools since 1938.Becton Regional High School, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools, backed up by the Internet Archive as of April 24, 2012. Accessed March 26, 2015.
As of the 2024–25 school year, the school had an enrollment of 853 students and 60.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.1:1. There were 290 students (34.0% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 56 (6.6% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.School data for Henry P. Becton Regional High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed January 15, 2026.
History After a fire in October 1966 destroyed half of the former East Rutherford High School,Staff. "Fire Destroys Jersey School", The New York Times, October 9, 1966. Accessed January 9, 2018. "A fire destroyed East Rutherford High School tonight."Lanza, Monica P. "Becton High is a reality at last", Herald News, November 15, 1971. Accessed March 2, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Mrs. Irene Mercoun, president of the Carlstadt-East Rutherford Board of Education, formed in 1968, traced the chain of events that culminated in the reality of a regional school for the two towns. 'It all started with a nightmare for East Rutherford High School and the Municipal Square School,' Mrs. Mercoun said. The nightmare was a fire that destroyed the Municipal Square School which was being used by high school students from Carlstadt and East Rutherford. The fire cost the system half of its available facilities for high school students." the regional district was created with the passage of a referendum in June 1968.Clock Dedication and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony , Henry P. Becton Regional High School. Accessed January 9, 2018.
The new high school was named in honor of Henry Becton, chairman of Becton, Dickinson and Company who donated part of the company's original East Rutherford property to be used as a site for the construction of the school.BD Director Emeritus Henry P. Becton Sr. Dies at 95, Becton Dickinson. Accessed August 19, 2011. "When the East Rutherford, New Jersey high school burned down, BD donated land for a new school renamed the Henry P. Becton Regional High School." Constructed on a site, the building was designed to accommodate an enrollment of 1,100 students and was completed at a cost of $4.3 million (equivalent to $ million in )"New Becton H.S. - 'out of this world'", Herald News, April 26, 1971. Accessed April 3, 2022. "The south wing of the Henry P. Becton Regional High School reflects the progress on the $4.3 million facility slated for opening in September. The school with a capacity of 1,100 students, can be expanded in the future by an addition to the wing..... The building, set on a 2.6-acre tract donated by Becton, Dickinson & Co., off Paterson Avenue at Route 17, is essentially completed."
The building opened in September 1971 with 800 students in attendance.McGuire. Jane. "New Schools, Smooth Start", The Record, September 10, 1971. Accessed April 3, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Approximately 800 students from Carlstadt and East Rutherford entered the classrooms of the Henry P. Becton Regional High School yesterday for the first time."
Becton Regional HS has science labs, a two-floor media center and technology hub, and a gymnasium and weight facility. The building recently underwent a $28 million renovation, which included enhancements to its technology infrastructure, heating & cooling, and security system.
In March 2020, the Maywood Public Schools received approval from the New Jersey Department of Education to end the relationship it had established with the Hackensack Public Schools in 1969 to send students to Hackensack High School. Maywood will begin transitioning incoming ninth graders to Henry P. Becton Regional High School beginning in the 2020–21 school year. The transition would be complete after the final group of twelfth graders graduates from Hackensack High School at the end of the 2023–24 school year.Stoltz, Marsha A. "Here's why Maywood will send its students to Becton instead of Hackensack High School", The Record, March 9, 2020. Accessed April 6, 2020. "Maywood high school students will have four years to phase out of Hackensack High School and into Henry P. Becton Regional High School in East Rutherford. The process will begin in September, when current Maywood eighth-graders will be the first to attend Becton as freshmen, according to a March 7 joint announcement by the superintendents of the two districts."Board of Education of the Borough of Maywood, Bergen County, Petitioner, v. Board of Education of the City of Hackensack, Bergen County, Respondent Final Decision, New Jersey Department of Education, March 2, 2020. Accessed April 6, 2020. "Accordingly, the Commissioner granted the petitioner’s application for severance, subject to establishment of a sending-receiving relationship with the Carlstadt-East Rutherford Regional School District for a minimum duration of five years."
Awards, recognition and rankings In 2018, the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) recognized Henry P. Becton Regional High School as a model high school based on recent academic success and career-focused programs. The NJDOE stated, "Henry P. Becton Regional High School instituted a more flexible and diversified class schedule, a common lunch period, career-focused internship and dual enrollment programs and digital learning upgrades focused on innovation across the curriculum. As a result, their graduation rate increased over 13 percentage points over the past 4 years."
The school was the 202nd-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 150th in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 150th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed.Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 12, 2012. The magazine ranked the school 138th in 2008 out of 316 schools.Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed February 10, 2011. The school was ranked 145th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state."Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
Schooldigger.com ranked the school 193rd out of 376 public high schools statewide in its 2010 rankings (a decrease of 30 positions from the 2009 rank) which were based on the combined percentage of students classified as proficient or above proficient on the language arts literacy and mathematics components of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).New Jersey High School Rankings: 11th Grade HSPA Language Arts Literacy & HSPA Math 2009-2010 , Schooldigger.com. Accessed January 15, 2012.
Location The school is located on Paterson Avenue, near the border of Carlstadt, and near Route 17.
Extracurricular activities The school mascot is the Wildcat, and its colors are maroon and white. The school's newspaper is the weekly Cat's Eye View, and the yearbook is The Tealeaf. The school also publishes Images, an annual art and literary magazine.
Recent school musicals and plays have included Grease which was performed in March 2017, Little Shop of Horrors in 2016, and A Tough Act to Follow in 2015. The school is slated to put on "Seussical: The Musical" in 2024.
Becton has clubs and activities for students, including Horticulture Club, Political Science Club, Gaming Club, cheerleading (football), marching band & music activities, Debate, Environmental Club, Girls Helping Girls, Italian & Spanish Honor Society, Key Club, Math League, National Honor Society, Robotics Club, Science Olympiad, Student Council, Theatre Arts Club/play, and yearbook.
Athletics Becton offers the following competitive team and individual sports: cross country, football, girls' and boys' soccer, girls' and boys' tennis, volleyball, wrestling girls' and boys' basketball, bowling, softball, baseball, and boys' and girls' track.
The Henry P. Becton WildcatsHenry P. Becton Regional High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. participate in the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference, which is comprised of small-enrollment schools in Bergen, Hudson, Morris and Passaic counties, and was created following a reorganization of sports leagues in Northern New Jersey by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA).Mattura, Greg. "Small-school NJIC may debut its own league championship", The Record, January 9, 2017. Accessed August 30, 2020. "The small-school North Jersey Interscholastic Conference may debut its own boys basketball tournament this season, one season after introducing its girls hoops championship. The NJIC is comprised of schools from Bergen, Passaic and Hudson counties and the event offered to the 36 boys teams would serve as an alternative to likely competing against larger programs in a county tournament."Member Schools, North Jersey Interscholastic Conference. Accessed August 30, 2020.League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020. With 357 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 school was classified by the NJSIAA as Group II North for football for 2022–2024, which included schools with 484 to 683 students.NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
The school participates as the host school / lead agency in joint girls soccer and boys tennis teams with Wallington High School. These co-op programs operate under agreements scheduled to expire at the end of the 2023–24 school year.NJSIAA Fall Cooperative Sports Programs, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 1, 2020.NJSIAA Spring Cooperative Sports Programs, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed December 1, 2020.