By Ron Zeitlinger/The Jersey Journal

North Bergen High School school officials discovered a note in the school this week in which someone threatened to "shoot up the school" on Friday, according to a note attached to a bulletin board at school.

The bulletin board letter appears to be the text of a phone message intended for parents of students. In it, Principal Paschal Tennaro says the threatening note -- "gonna shoot up the school on 6/6/14" -- was found written on a desk on Tuesday.

In the letter, Tennaro says the school is taking the threat seriously and he outlined what school officials and police are doing to keep students safe, including a beefed-up police presence at the school Friday.

North Bergen police and township officials did not immediately return calls for comment on the threat.

Some of the actions being taken, according to Tennaro's letter:

• Students will be scanned by metal detectors before entering the school;

• Police will conduct a canine inspection of the school prior to the start of the school day and there will be "a significance presence of police and security guards" in the building all day;

• Students will be instructed to clear their lockers before they leave this afternoon and are being told not to bring any bookbags to school tomorrow;

• Teachers will inspect all desks and closets and lock all closets at the end of the school day.

Early last month the North Bergen police conducted an "active shooter" drill at the school while classes were in session.

"We want to simulate the realism as best we can," North Bergen Police Chief Robert Dowd said last month. "We want real-life horror, ... because the important thing is for the officers to make their decisions and to react ... under stress." 

Tennaro's letter also asks that any parent or student with information about the threat to come forward to the police or school employee and that all tips will remain confidential.