Get your pens, pencils, and papers ready! On Sept. 9, Union City students will head back to their classrooms for the first full day of the 2010-2011 school year.
Last year saw some big changes, such as the official opening of the combined Union City High School. Although this year’s changes may be small, they’re mighty.
“This is going to be an exciting year for us,” said Superintendent Stanley Sanger last week.
Sanger said that the district has built upon its partnerships with nearby colleges and universities to provide more college level courses to high school juniors and seniors.
“They can move towards their high school diploma and garner college credits,” said Sanger. “So it is very possible for Union City High School students to leave with 12-15 college credits without any cost to them that are transferrable to many colleges in New Jersey.”
Sanger said the administration is hoping to provide health screenings for all of Union City’s students sometime in early fall, on or around Oct. 1.
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The building may provide new options for where students from the Hudson School, which is over 100 years old, and Woodrow Wilson School (which currently leases property in Weehawken) will be housed.
Taking on special care
Sanger said the district will be making a “concentrated effort” to address the at-risk population (which includes special needs students and those who struggle with English) at the high school.
And on the elementary and middle school level, Sanger said that the district will take on 40 autistic and emotionally disabled students who will return to schools in the district.
Previously, these students were sent out of the district to special programs.
Sanger said the move will provide a closer model of care for the students and also provide tremendous cost savings for the district – he estimated the cost of sending one student out of district could range between $45,000 to $75,000 per year depending on their disability and where they were placed.
“By pulling them back in district we’ll save money, they’ll be within our schools, and we’ll have more control of how these students are being taught and what services they’ll be getting,” said Sanger. “It will allow us to provide not only the academic services, but also social services and various therapies as well.”
A new kind of health education
Sanger said the Board of Education is committed to making any new school buildings which open in the city more like community centers than just schools.
For multimillion dollar projects, such as the newly built Union City High School, Sanger said it’s important to get the most out of them instead of having them close down at 4 p.m. every day.
“The intent is to provide not only educational services, but also community services,” said Sanger.
Union City High School includes things like a theater and stadium which can be used for various local events and most recently, a health center was opened.
Plans for the new pediatric center were included in the original blueprints of the multi-million dollar high school and it was opened in July with the help from the non-profit organization North Hudson Community Action Corporation (NHCAC).
The facility, which is open to families in Hudson County with low incomes and can see patients 18 and under, contains 2,286 square feet of space and includes four private examination rooms and an on-site laboratory. It is staffed by a doctor and a host of nurses and other health care professionals.
Officials opened the center over the summer to monitor the flow of patients and to determine how to make it work once school is back in session.
Although the exact details are still being worked out, Sanger said the administration is hoping to provide health screenings for all of Union City’s students sometime in early fall, on or around Oct. 1.
‘Back to school’ nights
“Back to School” nights are scheduled to be held in Union City from Sept. 13 through Sept. 16 from 6:30-8:30pm. Sanger said that parents will be notified of specific information about their school’s back to school night with a flyer and through the phone notification system.
Details about those events, district-wide, and specific school information can also be found online at www.union-city.k12.nj.us.
Lana Rose Diaz can be reached at ldiaz@hudsonreporter.com.