Skip to main content.
Bard
  • Bard College Logo
  • Academics sub-menuAcademics
    • Programs and Divisions
    • Structure of the Curriculum
    • Courses
    • Requirements
    • Academic Calendar
    • College Catalogue
    • Faculty
    • Bard Abroad
    • Libraries
    • Dual-Degree Programs
    • Bard Conservatory of Music
    • Other Study Opportunities
    • Graduate Programs
    • Early Colleges
  • Admission sub-menuAdmission
    • Applying
    • Financial Aid
    • Tuition + Payment
    • Campus Tours
    • Meet Our Students + Alumni/ae
    • For Families / Familias
    • Join Our Mailing List
    • Contact Us
  • Campus Life sub-menuCampus Life
    Living on Campus:
    • Housing + Dining
    • Campus Services + Resources
    • Campus Activities
    • New Students
    • Visiting + Transportation
    • Athletics + Recreation
    • Montgomery Place Campus
  • Civic Engagement sub-menuCivic Engagement
    Bard CCE
    • Engaged Learning
    • Student Leadership
    • Grow Your Network
    • About CCE
    • Our Partners
    • Get Involved
  • Newsroom sub-menuNews + Events
    • Newsroom
    • Events Calendar
    • Press Releases
    • Office of Communications
    • Commencement Weekend
    • Alumni/ae Reunion
    • Fisher Center + SummerScape
    • Athletic Events
  • About Bard sub-menuAbout
      About Bard:
    • Bard History
    • Campus Tours
    • Mission Statement
    • Love of Learning
    • Visiting Bard
    • Employment
    • Support Bard
    • Open Society University Network
    • Bard Abroad
    • The Bard Network
    • Inclusive Excellence
    • Sustainability
    • Title IX and Nondiscrimination
    • Inside Bard
    • Dean of the College
  • Giving
  • Search
Kebab Menu: June 2025
Information For:
  • Faculty + Staff
  • Alumni/ae
  • Families
  • Students
Giving to Bard
Quick Links
  • Apply to Bard
  • Employment
  • Travel to Bard
  • Bard Campus Map

Join the Conversation
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Instagram
Read about us on Threads
Watch us on You Tube

Bard Press Releases

News Menu
  • Newsroom
  • Events Calendar
  • News Archive
  • Press Releases
  • special sub-menuSpecial Events
    • Commencement + Reunion
    • Family + Alumni/ae Weekend
    • Fisher Center
    • Bard Summerscape
    • Bard Athletics
  • Home
Bard High School Early College Opens Its Bronx Campus Opening ceremony for Bard High School Early College Bronx. Daniel Weisberg, Leon Botstein, and Janet Peguero stand in the center, cutting the ribbon. Photo: Danny Santana Photography

Bard High School Early College Opens Its Bronx Campus

The Bronx, NY — On Wednesday, August 30, community leaders, government officials, school administrators, teachers, and students gathered in the Bronx for the ribbon-cutting of the newest Bard High School Early College (BHSEC). A branch campus of Bard College, the new high school early college is a collaboration between the City of New York Department of Education, Montefiore/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Bard College to create a science-focused public high school where students can earn up to an associate’s degree from Bard, tuition free, alongside their New York State Regents diploma.

During an exuberant, standing-room-only ceremony, speakers affirmed their commitment to supporting and providing world-class college education to public school students in the Bronx. Dr. Siska Brutsaert, the founding principal of the new BHSEC and former dean at BHSEC Manhattan, kicked off the event and welcomed other distinguished speakers, including Bronx High School Superintendent Renee Peart, Bard College President Leon Botstein, NYCDOE First Deputy Chancellor Daniel Weisberg, Deputy Bronx Borough President Janet Peguero, State Senator Luis Sepúlveda, State Senator John Liu, State Assembly Member Michael Benedetto, City Councilmember Amanda Farías, Former Schools Chancellor Meisha Porter, and Senior Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion at Albert Einstein College of Medicine Dr. Lynne Holden.

The new BHSEC in the Bronx builds on more than 20 years of successful partnership between Bard College and the City of New York. At the request of city leaders, in September 2001 Bard launched its high school early college network by opening BHSEC Manhattan as a new public high school on the Lower East Side. Since then, the success of the BHSEC Manhattan students, combined with local community demand for outstanding public education options, has led Bard to open additional early college campuses in Queens, Newark, Cleveland, New Orleans, the Hudson Valley, Baltimore, and Washington, DC. The College has awarded over 4,000 AA degrees to BHSEC students across the Bard Early College network, where over 3,000 students are currently enrolled. More than 95 percent of BHSEC students, the majority of whom are first-generation college students and Pell eligible, graduate from high school with at least one year of tuition-free college credit from Bard.

BHSEC Bronx is the first campus in the Bard Early College network to host a partnership with Einstein Montefiore Medical Center. The school’s curriculum, developed in collaboration with medical professionals from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, will provide unique learning opportunities in public health and medical sciences to its students. Classes at the new school, which has an initial enrollment of 125 students with plans to expand over the next four years to 500 students, will begin on Thursday, September 7.
#
About Bard College
Founded in 1860, Bard College is a four-year, residential college of the liberal arts and sciences located 90 miles north of New York City. With the addition of the Montgomery Place estate, Bard’s campus consists of nearly 1,000 parklike acres in the Hudson River Valley. It offers bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, and bachelor of music degrees, with majors in more than 40 academic programs; graduate degrees in 13 programs; eight early colleges; and numerous dual-degree programs nationally and internationally. Building on its 163-year history as a competitive and innovative undergraduate institution, Bard College has expanded its mission as a private institution acting in the public interest across the country and around the world to meet broader student needs and increase access to liberal arts education. The undergraduate program at our main campus in upstate New York has a reputation for scholarly excellence, a focus on the arts, and civic engagement. Bard is committed to enriching culture, public life, and democratic discourse by training tomorrow’s thought leaders. For more information about Bard College, visit bard.edu.
###

This event was last updated on 08-31-2023

Back to Top

Bard Press Contact:
Ania Bartkowiak
845-758-7688
[email protected]
Recent Press Releases:
  • Bard College Receives a 2025 Capacity Building Grant from Wake Forest University’s Educating Character Initiative
  • Bard College Launches New Online Platform in Partnership with JustAir to Give Public Access to Real-Time Hudson Valley Air Quality Information
  • US-China Music Institute Awarded Grant from Cyrus Tang Foundation
  • Three Bard College Graduates Win 2025 Fulbright Awards
Bard College
30 Campus Road, PO Box 5000
Annandale-on-Hudson, New York 12504-5000
Phone: 845-758-6822
Admission Email: [email protected]
Information For
Prospective Students
Current Employees
Alumni/ae 
Families

©2025 Bard College
Quick Links
Employment
Travel to Bard
Search
Support Bard
Bard IT Policies + Security
Bard has a long history of creating inclusive environments for all races, creeds, ethnicities, and genders. We will continue to monitor and adhere to all Federal and New York State laws and guidance.
Like us on Facebook
Follow Us on Instagram
Threads
Bluesky
YouTube