Saying goodbye to a model teacher is hard to do. The Board of Education announced last week the pending retirement of one of Hoboken’s finest by many accounts: Josephine DeGennaro, a fourth grade teacher at Connors Elementary School.
DeGenarro has served the children of Hoboken for 35 years. She will retire on Jan. 1 to babysit for her new grandchild.
“I’m heartbroken,” Connors Principal Linda Erbe said after the meeting. “She’s bright, dedicated, the ideal teacher. She’s exactly what we want a teacher to be.”
DeGennaro said after the meeting, “I have a passion for teaching and compassion for children. It’s a little difficult [leaving].”
DeGennaro said she’d like to stay involved with the children and the district even after she’s gone. In addition to teaching, she has led a holiday trip to Macy’s Department Store for the children to visit Santaland and enjoy a puppet show, and spearheaded a toy drive at Connors. After the toys are collected, DeGennaro and her class – “Santa’s elves” – deliver them to the pediatric ward of Hoboken University Medical Center (HUMC).
“Some of these kids come from tough lives. I try my hardest to let them know they have security.” – Josephine DeGennaro
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Green eggs and ham
One of the most fun events she participates in – and one that she intends to continue – is her celebration of Read Across America, a day to encourage reading in schools which is celebrated on Dr. Seuss’ birthday, March 2.
Over the years, DeGennaro has entertained the children with her rendition of Dr. Seuss’ “Green Eggs and Ham.” She actually cooks up a batch in her skillet right in front of the class.
“She’s almost like an institution on her own.” – Linda Erbe
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“Some of these kids come from tough lives,” she said. “I try my hardest to let them know they have security.”
Erbe said, “She’s almost like an institution on her own. She’s a hard act to follow.”
DeGennaro’s husband, Mauro, is also employed by the district as athletic director at Hoboken High School.
He was present at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting, where several board members conveyed their thanks to his wife for her many years of exceptional service.
Other meeting items
For the second straight meeting, Interim Superintendent Peter Carter was able to garner unanimous support for a full agenda from what was previously a divided board.
Making use of state educational money, the board approved three measures appointing instruction supervisors who will assist in professional development for the teaching staff.
The district has approximately $500,000 to spend on non-recurring educational improvements, according to Carter, coming from both Title I funding that is allotted based on the number of low-income students in the district, and from funding for special educational needs.
The board’s Curriculum Committee agreed these three well-credentialed professionals were a good place to start, especially considering the district’s failing grades on some state standardized tests.
Community members also sat in on the committee meeting. Board member Ruth McAllister, who chairs the Curriculum Committee, invited interested members of the public to attend upcoming meetings.
McAllister said the new instructional supervisors should help raise the test scores of three district schools deemed by the state “in need of improvement.”
She said based on early indications, last year’s standardized test results – which should be released soon – will show that two schools are in their third year in need of improvement, and another school will be in its second year.
The committee is meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 5:30 p.m. in the board room, on the basement level of Wallace School, to discuss the gifted and talented program and other before- and after-school programs.
Their next meeting will be Tuesday, Nov. 24 – which she hopes will be a committee meeting of the whole board – to discuss technological improvements that the district can spend some of their state funding on, for instance, Smartboards (technologically advanced black boards) or starting a laptop program.
She said her committee is the first in the district to conduct committee meetings open to the public.
Agenda not available
Some parents complained at the meeting that the agenda was not made available until 4 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon.
Carter said the Columbus Day holiday inhibited the district from releasing the agenda until the day of the meeting.
In the future, Carter said, parents can expect the agenda to be posted on the district’s website the afternoon before the meeting, usually on Monday at noon or 1 p.m.
Timothy J. Carroll may be reached at tcarroll@hudsonreporter.com.