When classes resume this week throughout the Secaucus School District, students and parents will begin to see the impact of major personnel changes made over the summer.
Schools reopen on Tuesday, Sept. 8.
In late July the Secaucus Board of Education abruptly voted to reassign three of its school principals.
Pat Impreveduto, who had been principal of Secaucus High School, was reassigned to be principal of the Middle School. Taking his place at the high school will be Deidre Ertle, who had previously been principal at Clarendon School. Former Middle School head Pasquale Cocucci will take over as principal at Clarendon.
Current Huber Street Principal Fred Ponti will remain at that school
Impreveduto had been Middle School principal years ago before moving up to the high school. Ertle has previous experience as a college and career guidance counselor.
Schools Superintendent Cynthia Randina, who was hired last year, emphasized that these changes were not made to pass judgment on any one of the three principals, but rather to reinvigorate the learning environment at each school.
“I think this is a great opportunity for everybody to look at things with in a different way,” she said. “When you move principals around in a school district, they go into a situation with new eyes and a new attitude. So it’s like you’re giving everybody a fresh start.”
Career academy program growing
When former Schools Superintendent Constantino “Gus” Scerbo retired last year he said he hoped the school system would expand its learning academy program, which offers intensive, advanced career education in the areas of math, science, media, business, and technology.
It looks like Scerbo will get his wish. Under Randina’s leadership the high school will this year begin to lay the groundwork for its upcoming Future Teachers Academy. This year the high school has created a child development program, which will prepare students who may be interested in participating in the Future Teachers Academy in the 2010-2011 school year.
“There is a shortage of teachers nationally, particularly in the areas of math and science,” Randina noted. “It’s beautiful career for anyone who’s interested and we certainly want to have an opportunity to pique our students’ interest in a career in teaching.”
This year for the first time, the other learning academies will include an internship program.
SAT prep
Last year the school system instituted Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) preparatory classes that will be expanded this year.
Randina emphasized that the principal changes were made to reinvigorate the learning environment at each school.
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Educators from the Princeton Review have been serving as consultants to the school system recently and this year will help teachers integrate SAT preparatory skills into the regular ongoing math, science, and language program.
New curricula, Promethean Boards
There are major changes planned in the lower grades as well.
This year the school district will offer an extended day preschool program for students who need remedial work. (Students from the high school who are enrolled in the child development class will serve as tutors in the extended preschool program, to give them real world teaching exposure.)
Sixth graders will be introduced to a new math program that, according to Randina, is “more aligned with New Jersey’s core curriculum standards.”
Meanwhile, kindergarteners, first graders, and second graders will get their first taste of the school district’s new language arts literacy program.
Integrating new technology into the classroom has been a priority for Randina and the current members of the Secaucus school board. This school year, the district will have Promethean Boards set up in every classroom, which will allow live video streaming to enhance classroom instruction. Promethean Boards can, for example, allow teachers to take field trip – to museums, national landmarks, and foreign countries – without ever leaving the classroom.
The district has also designated a point person to help parents, whose own classroom experiences may have ended a decade ago, participate in their children’s education.
To help teachers keep pace with the dizzying array of changes taking place in the school district, each school will now have math and language arts “coaches” to help teachers with their own educational development.
“It’s really all about instruction,” Randina commented. “The more we can support our teachers, the better our students will do.”
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.