Friday, April 12, 2013
The Christie Administration released its new School Performance Reports for the 2011-2012 school year Wednesday.
Elementary school students atBerkley Street and BF Gibbs schools in New Milford were found to be lagging behind their peers while the middle school was found to be high performing when compared to their new peer groups and the state according to the new School Performance Reports. Academic achievement results were not available for New Milford High School. Released Wednesday, the reports are a new version of the long-running School Reports Cards that have measured school performance on a variety of metrics since the 1990s. According to the report, Berkley and Gibbs students were ranked between the 33rd and 39th percentile in their peer groups and in the 49th percentile in the state. David E. Owens students were ranked high in their peer …
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Students took third place in the competition featuring New Jersey and Pennsylvania schools
Future New Milford filmmakers were awarded third place in the Montclair State University's "French Day" student film competition last month by beating out fellow New Jersey and Pennsylvania students. The eighth grade David E. Owens Middle School class under the supervision of French language teacher Issam Helwani won with their entry “The Québec Café Catastrophe." The third-place video was an original creation set in Quebec where the student actors had to resolve a problem while only speaking French. The film competition sought to educate students about the global status of the French language by drawing attention to the places and situations in which one can speak French in the world today. “It is remarkable to see so many students …
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Schools are seeking permission to open in fall 2014.
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Thursday, April 4
Nearly 40 applications were filed this week to launch new charter schools, including two in Bergen County, according to a report onNJSpotlight.com. The two Bergen schools are seeking permission to open in Bergenfield and Hackensack, the report said. The proposed Edessa Charter School would draw students from New Milford, Dumont, Paramus, Bergenfield, River Edge and Oradell, according to the state education department. It would focus on 60 K-2 students, but was projected to grow to 120 K-5 students. An Englewood woman is seeking to open the Global Academy Charter School, planned in Hackensack. It would initialy include 115 students in 7th through 10th grade and was projected to expand to 12th graders, serving 210 students in all. "The …
Students left Monday afternoon for their two week long trip beginning with Berlin
Following an eight-hour flight, 12 New Milford High School students arrived in Berlin, Germany in their first stop of their Eastern European Holocaust Education Trip. The students, accompanied by Colleen Tambuscio will spend two weeks visiting a variety of historical locations as part of the Holocaust Education Program. Throughout their two-week trip, students will blog about their adventures for friends, family and the entire New Milford community at hst10.blogspot.com. The annual Holocaust Education Program began in 1994 when New Jersey mandated the study of the Holocaust. At New Milford High School, they are approaching Holocaust education through classroom instruction, field experiences and the study of the Holocaust at authentic …
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently spoke to NMHS Principal Eric Sheninger on the school's use of OpenCourseWare
A pilot program at New Milford High School has been gaining attention as the senior students use of OpenCourseWare was recently highlighted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The IOCS (Independent Open CourseWare Study) program works as a complement to the schools Academy programs. The Academy offers students specialized learning opportunities in either Arts and Letters, STEM or Global Leadership. In the first part of the school year, approximately 50 seniors took part in the pilot program with classes ranging from Neuroscience, Social Psychology, Computer Science, Chemistry, Principles of Human Pathology, Animal Behavior, and Political Science. Plans are already in the works for the IOCS program to be offered again next fall. …
During this week's Board of Education meeting, four teachers were honored as Teacher of the Year
The Greek philospher Socrates once said that "Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel," and New Milford schools are gifted with some of the brightest flames as the district honored its four Teachers of the Year and District Teacher of the Year this week. This year's honores are Nora Aivers (NMHS), Stacey Calise (Gibbs), Pamela Krause (DEOMS) and Dora Oliviero (Berkley). Oliviero was also named District Teacher of the Year. "Every year at this time we have the priviledge to publically announce and recognize four individuals, four teachers that have dedicated years to not only their profession of teaching but the children of New Milford," Superintendent Michael Polizzi said. Aivers, who teaches mathematics and AP …
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Former Circle Systems Group principals overcharged districts, exchanged gifts for work, U.S. Attorney says.
Two former executives of an athletic equipment supply firm each face 20 years in prison after admitting their roles in a scheme to defraud schools. Mitchell Kurlander, 54, of Allentown, Pa., and his father-in-law, Alan Abeshaus, 81, of Highland Beach, Fla., pleaded guilty today in federal court to one count of mail and wire fraud conspiracy. Kurlander and Abeshaus served, respectively, as chief financial officer and chief executive officer of Circle Systems Group Inc., which had contracts with a number of New Jersey school districts. The athletic apparel and equipment firm systematically defrauded school districts from at least 1997 to 2007, according to a release by U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, by keeping duplicate payments from schools …
Monday, April 1, 2013
More than 160 schools across Bergen County slated for security reviews, prosecutor says.
Officials are set to inspect more than 160 Bergen County schools in an expanded security initiative formed after the Newtown elementary school massacre, the county prosecutor announced Monday. Under a newly formed county task force, police chiefs in towns that requested the safety reviews will designate a police liaison to receive training from the prosecutor’s office and work with school officials to develop a security plan, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said. “This task force system will create a permanent security environment whereby local schools will have a greater access to information and assistance in their efforts to keep our schools safe,” Molinelli said in a statement. The security inspections have been going on …
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Berkley was ranked 504th in the state while Gibbs followed at 620
Berkley school came out just slightly ahead of Gibbs in a listing of elementary schools in the state in 2011-2012, according to school ranking website schooldigger.com. Drawing from performance data from the New Jersey Department of Education, Berkley was ranked 504th out of 1,254 elementary schools in the state. Gibbs followed in at 620. Gibbs fell 41 spots in the rankings from the previous year, while Berkley rose 129 positions from the prior year. Third and fourth-grade students from the two schools showed high proficiency in mathematics, ranging from 81 to 84 percent on average in the ASK evaluation tests. Language arts proficiency for both was between 66 to 71 percent. Gibbs students averaged a 147 on the combined ASK tests, with …
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Days before Easter, the St. Joseph School eighth grade students performed the annual Passion Play
St Joseph School eighth graders offered their annual Passion Play for students and their families. The play tells the story of Jesus Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem through his Last Supper and finally to his death on a cross.
Danielle
11:49 am on Sunday, April 14, 2013
My biggest concern with the elementary school is their math program. It is failing our children and that is clearly reflected in their test scores. Regardless of how Ms. Shanley and Mr. Polizzi feel about Everyday Math, the truth is, it is a tremendous failure. How much longer will they cripple our kids?? 90%of educators say it has a negative effect on their students and many other districts … more ›