Say goodbye to summer. North Bergen and Guttenberg public schools open on Tuesday, Sept. 8, the day after Labor Day, with regular, full-day classes.
High Tech High School in North Bergen, a public countywide high school, will open gradually, with freshmen and sophomores beginning on Wednesday, Sept. 9, juniors beginning on Thursday, Sept. 10, and Seniors beginning on Friday, Sept. 11. The first week will consist of classes from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., with teachers participating in professional development sessions in the afternoon.
Here are some of the changes to look forward to this year.
North Bergen
North Bergen schools will be focusing on technology this year, migrating students onto a Google platform to share documents. In addition to modernizing and streamlining the learning process, this will allow for more collaborations between students.
“In a 21st century environment, if you look at businesses and corporations, they’re sharing things in teams,” said Superintendent of Schools George Solter. “In schools we did too much of everybody turning in projects on their own. In a work environment that’s not generally how it is anymore. We need to teach students how to be part of a team, all contributing to the final product.”
In preparation for the academic year, teachers showed up a week early, taking professional development courses from Sept. 1 to 3. Topics ranged from suicide awareness to Google documents.
“Every child in middle and high school is getting a school email address,” said Solter. “That’s what they’ll use to log on to Google docs. It’s limited to intradistrict. They can only email another North Bergen person with that email.”
All teachers have been given Chrome Book computers. The district purchased hundreds more Chrome Books for student use as well. “My goal is to go one-to-one with students in the future,” he said of the Chrome Books. “But we’re underfunded by the state so much. We’re basically $39 million in the hole just to start out the school year.”
That is in comparison to neighboring school districts in Union City and West New York, both of which are SDA (Schools Development Authority) or Abbott Districts, receiving extensive funding and support from the state.
“We have the same clientele, the same type of students as West New York and Union City, but not the same funding,” said Solter. “So we don’t have the opportunity to purchase the materials or programs that they do.”
Nonetheless, the school system did upgrade the technology to install WiFi in all the classrooms last year, which required adding access points throughout the buildings because the WWII-era walls were so thick that signals could not pass through.
Solter has also initiated Facebook and Twitter acounts for the school district to post notices regularly about meetings, events, and what’s going on in the schools. “The days of sending home a note in backpack are gone,” he said. “Everybody has smart phones and that’s a better way to communicate with parents.”
The district also purchased an online professional development program with modules on various aspects of teaching. Teachers will be required to view certain webinars, while other sessions will be available to view at their option.
“We’ll put our teachers up against anybody in the state,” said Solter. “For the amount of underfunding we have, we do a great job.”
Guttenberg
A new annex is being built on the lot adjacent to the Anna L. Klein School in Guttenberg. When completed it will house additional classrooms for the school as well as shared space for the community. Construction has been underway for months, with blasting taking place to remove rocks and clear the way for the foundation.
The blasting is expected to continue for another four weeks. Construction will continue throughout this school year and for another year beyond, according to School Superintendent Michelle Rosenberg.
Windows were bricked over in three of the classrooms nearest the construction to minimize the noise, and central air conditioning was installed.
“The construction management company is working with us,” said Rosenberg. “They have our school calendar and will minimize noise during standardized testing.”
During the construction period, students and staff will access the building through the 69th Street entrance. The Anna L. Klein School houses grades pre-K to 8, with high school students attending North Bergen High School.
Internal construction has been completed on the gym inside the Anna Klein School, with construction soon to finish on the adjoining community room, which will be open to the public. “It should be done in the next couple of weeks,” said Rosenberg. The hours of operation will be determined by the town.
Teachers reported to school on Sept. 2 and 3 for professional development sessions in advance of the kids’ return. Beginning this year, students in grades 1 to 8 will now receive instruction in Mandarin Chinese. “We wanted a foreign language for the kids to compete in a global world,” said Rosenberg.
This year also sees additional Chrome Book computers available for use by students. Every student in grades 5 and 6 already has access to one. The new purchases add about one computer for every two students in grades 7 and 8.
“We’re building our stash,” said Rosenberg. “Every year we continue to buy more. Our goal is for every student from grades 3 to 8 to have a Chrome Book.”
High Tech High School
Starting one day later than the other schools, High Tech will first introduce underclassmen to the academic environment on Wednesday morning, with upperclassmen joining later in the week. Teachers will spend the afternoons in professional development sessions for the first three days.
Work should begin this month on the new home for High Tech High School in Secaucus, on the site of the former Field Station: Dinosaurs park. The new county school is slated to open in 2018.
“Since we got the go-ahead with Secaucus we went forward with revamping all our programs, so when we move in three years we’re ready, because the facility is designed for academies,” said Assistant Principal Allyson Krone. “It’s pretty exciting. We’re making a lot of changes to the curriculum.”
High Tech has operated on the academy system for about five years now, according to Krone. Students select a course of study within one of four academies. “So when they come in from eighth grade they have this home within their bigger home, which is High Tech,” she explained. “It’s still one school, with a shared facility, shared gyms, and they mingle quite frequently in classes and extracurricular activities. But it’s totally interest-driven, based on whatever the child is interested in.”
The current academies are Digital Design and Fabrication, Performing Arts, Technology and Visual Arts, and Science and Technology, the latter offering focus areas in environmental studies or biomedical.
“We’ve added a lot of new components in programming and 3D animation,” said Krone of the Technology and Visual Arts classes. “Our biomedical program has been revamped to include more career exposure in pharmaceuticals and forensics.”
In addition to a working mechatronics lab, combining electronics, mechanical, pneumatics, and programming, the school created a new program in wood technology as part of the engineering program. “It’s based on a German model,” said Krone. “The students learn the basics of wood, and use machines to fabricate, becoming wood engineers.”
The technology wing was also remodeled. “We organized the TV studio and radio and computer programming and 3D animation so they’are all clustered together, all collaborating,” said Krone.
Also, the seeds were sown for a new academic program. Students can now participate in enhanced culinary arts courses, with a full culinary academy to be added next year. A restaurant has been opened on premises, the Blue Ribbon Café, where lunches are created by students, with student waiters.
“This year it’s for faculty only, although the students in the program will likely be able to participate,” said Krone.
“We’ve done a lot of work this year to prepare to move,” she continued. “So that gives us the ability over the next few years to work out the kinks.”
Art Schwartz may be reached at arts@hudsonreporter.com.