About Bethlehem High School - Bethlehem Central School District

Bethlehem Central High School is a comprehensive 9-12 high school that enjoys local and national recognition for excellence.

In 2024, Bethlehem Central High School earned an A+ rating from Niche, an online research and review publication. Niche also ranked BCHS as the number one high school in the Capital Region and #65 of 1,243 public high schools in New York state. In 2024, BCHS earned a Gold rating from U.S. News & World Report on their “Best High Schools” list. According to the list which ranks more than 25,000 high schools, Bethlehem is ranked #838 in the nation overall and #191 in the U.S. for STEM learning.

In 2019, the Bethlehem Central School District was ranked number five in academics among more than 600 upstate New York school districts by Business First and was in ranked number one in 2020 in the Albany area by the Albany Business Review. In August of 2015, Bethlehem Central High School was named one of the Top 500 high schools in the nation by Newsweek‬ coming in at #247.

In addition to academic success, the school emphasizes community building and social, physical and emotional growth. Twenty hours of community service are required of every senior for graduation. Bethlehem Central High School features a wide array of extracurricular activities and organizations, including music and drama programs that are renowned in the community and a full breadth of interscholastic sports.

Students self-select from a wide range of curricular offerings including AP, enriched, college level, honors, and accelerated courses. The entire curriculum handbook with complete course descriptions is available to parents and students. The school day consists of eight 43-minute instructional periods. An innovative “Lab School” is available for students in grades 9-12 seeking a rigorous interdisciplinary program in a “small school” environment.

Another option for 9th and 10th grade students who would benefit from smaller classes and further skill development is the EXCEL program. It offers interdisciplinary team-taught instruction in the four major subject areas.

Behavior Expectations

Be the Change

Help us recognize as many students as possible who are making positive contributions in the Bethlehem Central community. If you are a teacher, administrator, counselor, student, coach, staff or community member, you can nominate students for acts of kindness or for simply displaying good character. Each month, students will be nominated based on character strengths that are designated for that particular month. Additionally, a few of the nominated students will be randomly selected each month and presented with a prize donated by an area business.

Promote an even more positive culture in our community! Submit your online nomination form here.

Community businesses have joined as partners in Be the Change by providing gift cards for our student winners. Thank you to them for their support! If you know of a business that would like to become a Be the Change sponsor, please get in touch with Assistant Principal Kim Sparkman by email at ksparkman@bethlehemschools.org or by phone at (518) 439-4921.

School Hours

Homeroom 7:35-7:40
1st period 7:40-8:24
2nd period 8:29-9:13
3rd period 9:18-10:02
4th period 10:07-10:51
5th period 10:56-11:40
6th period 11:45-12:29
7th period 12:34-1:18
8th period 1:23-2:07
9th period (Extra Help/Activities) 2:15-3:00

Attendance and Reporting Absences

Absence Reporting Form

Regular school attendance is essential to a student’s educational development and social-emotional well-being. With some exceptions, every child enrolled in school is expected to be present each day school is in session.

All absences, tardiness, and early departures (ATED) must be accounted for. It is the parent’s responsibility to notify the school office on the day of the ATED and to provide a written excuse upon the student’s return to school.

To learn more about our district’s attendance policies, please click here.

Visiting our School

Our visitor policies are designed to ensure the safety of all students and staff and minimize disruption to the instructional program. The doors to all elementary schools are locked during the school day. Visitors will push a call button at the main entrance to alert the office to their presence at the door.

Main office staff will ask visitors to identify themselves, and then will “buzz” them into the building. Once inside, visitors will report to the main office, sign in, and take a visitor’s badge. Upon leaving the building, please return to the office to sign out and return the badge.

To learn more about our district’s visitor policies, please click here.

Pick-up and Drop Off Directions

For directions to our school, please click here. Students should be dropped off and picked up from the Main Office.