If you were to describe the year in education in Hudson County, the best word to use would be “new.” New methods of teaching, new technologies, new facilities, new grade levels for charter schools – and new state testing.
In Weehawken, as is true of so many other districts, it was all about preparing for the state Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test, which tests aspects of the state core curriculum.
“We’re consumed with Common Core and PARCC testing and the challenge for the district,” said Weehawken Schools Interim Superintendent Dr. John Fitzsimons. “There have been quite a few glitches. The rollout has been problematic. This has basically consumed a lot of our time and energy.” The test has been controversial enough that some students have opted out of it.
But aside from having to prepare students for the tests, districts dealt with new technology, gifted programs, and expansions of charter schools.
Technology, STEM, specialized fields in NB, WNY
“We upgraded technology. We had to because of PARCC; we put in access points in each classroom for wireless [connections],” said North Bergen Schools Superintendent George Solter. “We used to have four or five in the hallway. Now, every classroom is connected.”
North Bergen also intends to make sure their thousands of students have Chromebooks. They will increase the number provided from 1,800 to double that next year.
Like other schools in the state, North Bergen High is adding a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) component to the school next year, accepting its first 20 students. The first batch of STEM students will study all their core subjects together in a “cohort” that stays together throughout the day.
Forming associations with other institutions of learning is also high on the North Bergen district list, including agreements with the U.S. Army’s Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County, New York Presbyterian Hospital, and the University of Maryland.
“We’re going to be doing a lot of interesting things with these kids,” Solter said.
Like in neighboring North Bergen, the West New York School District has been upgrading technology, according to Schools Superintendent John Fauta, who is retiring after July 1.
“We’re upgrading our technology, the things you do normally,” Fauta said. “All of our classrooms will have smart boards. These additions have been going on for the last year.”
Other West New York changes include the renovations at No. 1 and No. 6 schools. Also, students have been shifted to St. Joseph’s High School.
New space and new platform
In Secaucus, the long-awaited expansion of the town’s middle school is within sight, according to Schools Superintendent Robert Presuto.
“It will be a combination of refurbishing and adding square footage,” he said. “We’re moving into the school this year and next, putting things in place.”
Much of the work will be configuring items in the subject areas, so the school will have additional space for the sixth grade. The addition of a guidance counselor and school psychologist will bolster the staff.
When completed, there will be additional room for between 150 and 160 children.
Those children and others, as well as staff, will benefit from the district’s changeover to the Google platform for emails. Teachers have been in training for their own knowledge and to teach their students.
The switch will have two obvious benefits, including thousands of dollars in savings, according to Presuto. But there will be another, more important benefit.
“We’ll give each student 60 times the storage space,” Presuto said. “They’ll go from a couple megabytes to 30 gigabytes.”
Additionally, since the system is platform-independent, students can use the new system on their smart phones, tablets, and PCs.
“It doesn’t matter what they use, they’ll be able to get what they need to,” Presuto said. “Just a few years ago you had to view email on a specific PC. Now on Google drive you can access it anywhere.”
New high school in JC, private language school expands
In neighboring Jersey City, educational strides are about new schools or additions to them.
“There are a number of things happening this year, one of which I’m proudest of,” said Maryann Dickar, Jersey City Public Schools’ chief of staff. The city’s shiny red apple this year is the recent introduction of a new learning institution, Innovation High School.
“This new, small high school, a non-selective citywide school, features admission by lottery,” Dickar said.
The lottery was held Wednesday, March 11 and those lucky enough to get selected will be part of an incoming freshman class in the fall. One hundred children already attend the school, which is part of the physical plant of Snyder High School.
A big part of the excitement at Innovation is the partnerships with schools like New Jersey City University, which will allow the high school students to take college-level courses and receive credit.
Another new initiative is taking place at Middle School No. 40, where the district opened a blended learning laboratory.
“It’s an innovative approach to teaching math,” Dickar said. “It’s incredibly customized. Each student received a Chromebook laptop. Their math is taught by faculty at the same time.”
What differs here is that students are taught at their own learning level, grouped according to their proficiency, or allowed to work independently to practice specific skills, if they are capable.
Struggling students could be working at a 3-to-1 ratio with teachers, if necessary, according to Dickar.
“The blended learning lab tore down the walls of the classroom for different types of spaces,” she said. “It’s really like rethinking school. It’s a very forward-looking program.”
Additionally, an elementary-grade STEM program for the district has been developed in partnership with Liberty Science Center.
Also in Jersey City, a private school called the French American Academy is looking forward to actual physical expansion, according to Admissions Director Cathy Joly.
The bilingual education institute has three New Jersey campuses, including one on Third Street in Jersey City. Teaching all studies in both French and English to its 60 pre-kindergarten to third graders, the facility will add 90 students next year.
“In 2016, were planning to open the middle school, up to eighth grade,” Joly said.
This will be done by renovating the building where the school occupies two floors. The middle school will be housed on the third floor.
Guttenberg: renovations
In Guttenberg, it’s renovations for more learning as well.
The long-awaited $20 million upgrades to Anna L. Klein School, the town’s lone public educational institution, are about to begin, according to Schools Superintendent Michelle Rosenberg.
The construction will include a high school-size gymnasium and community center, 12 new classrooms, a STEM laboratory, and updates to the existing school building.
“We’re breaking ground, hopefully next month,” Rosenberg said. “We’ve awarded the contract to a company.”
Officials recently scheduled a meeting at Town Hall to work out final details.
The addition will be built in what is now the parking lot behind the Hudson Avenue school.
“It’s pretty exciting; they’ll probably finish in 2017, hopefully right after the Christmas holiday,” Rosenberg said.
The district will also increase a one-to-one Chromebook project begun this year for fifth and sixth grades to include seventh and eighth graders next year.
Hoboken: staff innovations, upgrades
In Hoboken, education news runs the gamut from new staff institutions, to programs including Nobel Peace Prize laureates, to teaching students a new way of thinking.
For Hoboken Interim Schools Superintendent Richard Brockel, his short tenure in his post (since July) includes what he believes has been a successful staff innovation.
“It’s meeting with all new staff and non-tenured teachers once a month to go over curriculum upgrades, assessments, etcetera – all the things a new teacher needs to know to be successful,” he said. “And it’s been absolutely wonderful. That was the main initiative.”
Also, Brockel did away with the position of curriculum director (among others) during cuts for this year’s school budget.
Instead of keeping that post, he elevated the responsibilities and authority of two high school supervisors.
“They became district-wide K-to-12 supervisors, one in charge of science and math, and the other, language arts and humanities,” Brockel said. “In my estimation, the move’s been very successful. They’re both top-notch employees, and have been doing a great job in terms of PARCC assessments and all the mandates coming down from the state.”
The high school has been praised for a number of programs, including their theater program. Recently they performed “Grease.” Students also participate in Harvard Model Congress and a Poetry Out Loud club.
For the Hoboken Charter School, the year has included further integration of the facility’s successful community service program, according to Executive Director Deirdra Grode.
The kindergarten to 12th grade school, with buildings on Washington Street and Fourth and Garden streets, focuses on community service learning that not only helps area residents, but bolsters students’ knowledge of the world and better prepares them for college.
“We practice a mission of service learning, where the students are engaged with a vehicle for the learning of service,” Grode said.
The service learning part could take the shape of study into hunger and homelessness, for example. Students would not only uncover statistics about homelessness in Hudson County, but also compare it to numbers nationally.
“They see the relevance of what they’re learning,” Grode said. “It makes them more oriented to serve and see the world in their community.”
It also gives them new skills, opportunities for great internships, and a well-rounded record for college applications.
“They’re going to have a killer resume when they apply to Georgetown or a similar school,” Grode said.
A new foray for the school is its work with Peace Jam, an international organization where the students work with Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
As part of that program, students have presented their work on the water crisis at a Connecticut conference and met a former president of Costa Rica, according to Grode.
The district has three charter schools. At the Elysian Charter School, the institution’s innovation is something novel, yet simple, according to Director Dr. Harry Laub. “It’s fostering thinking skills, community building, and personal relationships,” Laub said. “We teach the kids these skills.”
He added, “What we do is really address the idea that it’s more than academics, more than testing skills. It’s who they are as human beings and the values they hold.”
He said the students become problem solvers and leaders for life.
“They know how to interact with others,” he said. “That’s something you can’t test for; you can’t assign it a number.”
Union City – new superintendent and new initiatives
In Union City, it’s a year of firsts. With the elevation of Silvia Abbato to schools superintendent, she became the first woman and first Latina to hold that post. She replaces Stanley Sanger, who retired in June after 41 years with the district.
But the firsts don’t stop there. Union City is working on a distance learning class with China that the school will partner with Kean University on. Through the program, the possibility exists for exchange visits between Union City and Chinese students.
The program is the furtherance of Union City’s Mandarin Chinese classes that are already offered at Union City High School. There will also be an elementary component to the distance learning program, and as many as 200 to 300 students may wind up participating.
In addition to a new programs, a new school will open in the district. In September, Hudson Elementary School, at 19th Street and Bergenline Avenue, will open its doors for the first time.
The prekindergarten to third grade institution will focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) learning. Hudson follows the opening of the Colin Powell School three years ago.
Bayonne’s new programs, academies
In Bayonne, two thirds of the district’s specialized learning academies are already in place. The school’s Academy for Fine Arts and Academics provides career-based tracks of study for students who plan to attend four-year colleges in pursuit of careers in the fine and performing arts, humanities, or STEM fields.
Bayonne High unveiled its renovated STEM academy wing last fall, complete with cutting edge laboratories for biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, and computer science, as well as its Biological Discovery Center or “BioDome.”
“These resources, combined with a cohort of dedicated educators, will help to prepare Academy of Fine Arts graduates for success in the expanding job fields of biomedical engineering, computer systems design, and more,” said Schools Superintendent Patricia McGeehan.
Continuing in the career academy model, the Bayonne Board of Education launched the Academy for Professional Studies this spring, featuring studies in business, marketing, finance, technology, media, fashion design, and travel and tourism.
“Students will benefit from real-world experiences through internships and collaboration with local business,” McGeehan said.
The Academy for Professional Studies is partnering with the New Jersey City University School of Business. Through this collaboration, BHS students will work with NJCU business students and professors throughout the academic year and in summer studies.
Making sure that Bayonne students can be ready for real-world careers, a third initiative for the current academic year is the development of the Bayonne Career Academy, which better prepares graduates to immediately enter the workforce. Through continued development of BHS’s vocational programs, students will work with trained professionals in fields such as plumbing, electrical services, and carpentry.
Joseph Passantino may be reached at JoePass@hudsonreporter.com.