Bedford North Lawrence High School

Description

Bedford North Lawrence High School, also known as "BNL"is a comprehensive four-year public high school located in the eastern part of Bedford, Indiana and is accredited by the Indiana State Department of Public Instruction and the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Established in 1974, the school consolidated seven area high schools: Bedford, Tunnelton, Shawswick, Needmore, Fayetteville, Oolitic, and Heltonville. Bedford North Lawrence is fed from Bedford, Shawswick, and Oolitic Middle Schools, as well as the private St. Vincent de Paul School.BNL's mission: "as a purposeful learning community that each student reaches his or her full potential."HistoryThe present school building was not complete in 1974, but the consolidation proceeded, busing all students to what was previously the Bedford High School. The school was also nearly known as Eastbrook High School, with their colors being green and gold, however, the name "Bedford North Lawrence (best known as "BNL") was the name chosen with the mascot being a 7-point star, hence, BNL Stars. Their colors are red, white and blue. BNL was remodeled in the 2005-06 school year, adding new classrooms, reconstructing hallways to improve congestion, and new IMC and Cafeteria.In 2005-06, the Bedford North Lawrence graduating class averaged a composite 983 out of a 1600 possible on the SAT Reasoning Test. On the ACT test, students averaged a 22.3, which is above average for the state of Indiana. BNL has an 82% graduation rate, 64% of those pursuing higher education, and 32% graduating with honors. Bedford North Lawrence maintains a 93.3% attendance rate. BNL offers 18 Honors level courses for students, ranging from AP Psychology to AP Chemistry. Seven of these courses can also be taken for dual high school and college credit through Indiana University's Advanced College Project. The school features traditional eight-period scheduling and runs on two semesters, one August-to-December, the other January-to-May.