Bethlehem Central High School

Bethlehem Central High School is a high school in Delmar, NY, just south of Albany. The school serves students in grades 9-12 from the Towns of Bethlehem and New Scotland.

Construction on the original school was finished in 1932, but in 1952 its original premises were deemed too small and it moved to its current location in 1954. The former building now serves as the town's Middle School. Unfortunately, the words "Bethlehem Central High School" were permanently carved into rock on the original building, leading to confusion for out-of-towners trying to locate the school. This original building is located at 332 Kenwood Avenue in Delmar, New York. Currently, Bethlehem Central High School is located on 700 Delaware Avenue in Delmar.

Famous Alumni

Famous alumni include Scott Sullivan, class of 1979 and WorldCom Inc.'s former chief financial officer, who was sentenced to five years in prison for engineering the telecommunication titan's $11 million fraud scheme. Ironically, his senior yearbook quote read, "Be careful of what you want. You may get it."

Eva Marie Saint, winner of an Academy Award, is an alumna of the Class of 1942. In 2006, she was inducted into the school's hall of fame.

Current events

The school is now under construction. Several additions are currently underway by contractor Sano-Rubin Construction Services. A new will be added, as will several new wings on both the second and first floors of the building.

As the district's budget for 2006-2007 was recently rejected by voters, many budget cuts were made and a revised budget passed on June 20, 2006.

The school's Science Bowl team finished first in their regional competition this year, earning them a trip to the national competition in Washington, DC.

Bethlehem High School has a history of producing excellent Masterminds teams, having won several championships in their league.

Recently, the school has been under much controversy due to underage drinking and over-consumption of alcohol by its students, specifically at school dances and sporting events. Though methods such as breathalyzing and increased chaperoning have been put into effect (mainly as a result of a dance held on March 3, 2006), the results have shown to be very poor. The "70's 80's" annual themed dance drew a crowd of no more than 300 students at one time, approximately 300-600 students less than previous years. The decrease in attendance has been blamed on the use of passive alcohol devices.

Lab school

Founded by James Nehring, the Lab School of Bethlehem Central High School was headed by Jane King until the 2005-06 school year, when she chose to take a job in Clifton Park, NY overseeing the creation of a biomedical curriculum. Its current head is Stephen Smith, also overseer of the school's newspaper The Talon. It is a school-within-a-school and has a total of around 111 students in all four grades (9-12). It is focused more on hands-on projects and has an overall passing average of an 80 or above per year, instead of the regular 65.
Field trips:

Annual field trips are held, including one to Camp Chingachgook (located in Katskill Bay, New York) in September, and one to the Silver Bay Association in Silver Bay, New York. These field trips are held overnight and require strict adherence to school rules as though everyone present were in school instead of elsewhere.

Important projects:

Presentations are also held at least twice per year (with the exception of freshman year, in which only one is required). At least three visual aides must be used throughout each presentation. A panel of evaluators grade the presentation as it is being shown to a crowd of anywhere from 25 to the whole student body. There are 20-week and 40-week projects, and, more recently, 10-week projects. These projects result in a research paper on a debatable topic (e.g. "Does alternative medicine work better than regular medicine?") and a 5-minute presentation on an aspect of that topic, not the one written in the research paper. A health-related presentation must also be done in senior year. This presentation can be either informational or debatable. Topics in the past have included prosthetic eyes, blepharoptosis, and humor therapy. The most important presentation in the lab school student's career is the internship presentation. This one consists of a 35-minute presentation on an aspect of a semester-long internship anywhere the student chooses. The senior year internship:This internship must meet various guidelines as set forth by the school in order to meet various educational requirements. Throughout this internship, the participating student must keep a journal of their hours and experiences and hand it in at the end of the year for a grade.

The end-of-the-year banquet:

At the end of each year, a banquet open to all lab school students (or "lab rats" as they are sometimes referred to) is held. Stephen Smith, the present head of lab school, gives the farewells to the graduating seniors, but is not the emcee. The emcee (or emcees) of the banquets are students voted by their peers beforehand. Banquets are regularly held in late June at the Desmond Hotel in Albany, NY.