District Happenings

One of my governing philosophies as superintendent is there is no substitute for returning regularly to the classroom to see first-hand how our teachers and students are striving for excellence every day.

Positive local news coverage of our students giving back to the community and feature shows like two recent episodes of NJTV’s “Classroom Closeup’’ program (on the launch of our new STEM Academy and on an elementary art/literacy program entitled “The Art of Comprehension”) are just a few examples of the quality work being done in our classrooms. I consider it a privilege to be able to see these and so many other programs in action, under the direction of our inspired staff and administrators.

As superintendent, and as a former teacher, I am filled with pride every time I witness chemistry and physics coming to life in creative ways, or see our math students tackling seemingly impossible equations. I revel in the sounds of our bands and choruses and in the expressions of pride on the faces of our young musicians as their hard work is rewarded with deserved praise from friends and family at our concerts.

In my position I know that these daily successes are not an accident, but rather the result of planning, perseverance and passion. As we launch ourselves into 2015, we are fully engrossed in this year’s initiatives like the expansion of our Writer’s Workshop literacy program and a new elementary STEM pilot that uses fun and engaging activities to introduce higher-level thinking concepts, the scientific method and engineering principles to our younger students.

We are also finalizing our preparations for the first round of the PARCC assessments, which are new tests aligned to the Common Core Standards that will replace the NJ ASK tests beginning this spring. Because of the work that has been done over the past several years (professional development, planning, readying our technology and tech infrastructure, field testing the new assessments last year), I am pleased to say we are ready for this new challenge. At the beginning of January you will be receiving letters home explaining what these assessments are, when they are taking place in your individual schools (the testing calendar will be new to us this year) and how you can help your child do his or her best. 

Meanwhile, we are also planning ahead for next year and are about to embark on our budget discussions to craft the 2015-2016 school budget. We are also considering ideas for a new Finance Academy and for the possibility of Full-Day Kindergarten. Our Jan. 20th Board of Education meeting (Jan. 20th at 6:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Center) will include more discussions on these and other matters. I encourage you to come out to discuss the many ways we are working to advance our district and serve our students.

As the year continues, I know I am eager to get back out there to see what other wonderful things are going on inside our schools. It will be my pleasure to use this column to continue to share my experiences with you, so we can all share in our students' successes.