Students attending the Hoboken public schools go back to class on Wednesday, Sept 7 at 8:15 a.m. Schools Superintendent Dr. Christine Johnson said there are new programs and facility upgrades for this year, and more division between the middle school and the high school although they are still in the same building.
Upgraded facilities and new equipment
Several of the school buildings received facility upgrades over the summer. At Wallace Primary School, the gym and stage floors have been sanded and refinished, new bleachers have been installed, and two new bathrooms have been installed. Wallace Elementary School also has new science labs and entryway flooring.
Brandt Primary School has all new flooring.
Hoboken High School has all new science labs including and engineering and robotics labs equipped with 3-D printers. The high school also has new lighting and ceiling in the gymnasium.
Each school in the district has had a fresh coat of paint and every elementary school in the district will have a 3-D printer station.
One of the biggest upgrades of the summer was the installation of the new turf field and track at JFK Stadium. The stadium will be unveiled at a ribbon cutting on Friday, Sept. 9 during a home football game between the Redwings and Verona High School at 7 p.m.
A focus on STEM
“When I first came to the district, I knew I wanted to implement a STEM program,” said Johnson.
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and is a curriculum based on integrating these fields. The superintendent said she started her search last year to find a comprehensive program that would teach kids to present projects and think scientifically. The new program, entitled Project Lead the Way, will implement STEM into the schools with classes in biomedical sciences, engineering, and computer science.
Project Lead the Way has been a huge undertaking for the faculty of the schools. Several teachers have taken college courses for professional development to become certified in the different units of study.
Personal growth
A new program will also be implemented at the high school level, a “personal growth period.” This period takes up a double block around lunchtime for 90 minutes each day in which the students can choose from a schedule of activities on a month-to-month basis. These include college information sessions, a lunchbox lecture series, a wellness series, tutoring sessions including PSAT and SAT prep, a health and fitness line of courses, online courses, and more. They can take lunch during this period too.
After school
Parents have lucked out this year because the district has implemented a new afterschool program in the primary schools in which students can take courses for a very low cost, from chess to science. They can remain in the buildings until as late as 6 p.m.
Passport to Learning has enrolled approximately 500 students, Johnson said.
Passport to Learning also allows the same after-care services at every primary school. The children will receive one hour of an enrichment class then one hour of tutoring, homework help, or challenge problem solving, and then about 45 minutes of free play and an optional dinner.
“If you qualify for free lunch, the program is free,” she said. “If you qualify for reduced lunch you only pay 30 percent of the total cost and the total cost for the most expensive option is $200 per semester for grades 3-6. K-2 pay $100 per marking period.”
The program partners and works with community groups such as Mile Square, Math Wizards, and Learn Language as well.
Authentic literacy
Johnson said she was also concerned about literacy when she started. “Authentic literacy” is the idea of ensuring that children are constantly reading and writing, so when they approach complex literature, they won’t struggle. Last year she began tackling the issue by implementing Night Writes, which teaches analytical reading and writing.
“The children were given literature to read, like a New York Times article or a science article, and then given a prompt they had to write a response to,” said Johnson. “They began with short small paragraphs and by the end of the year they were writing with fluency.”
This year they will be focusing on this program again for the districts children from third grade to senior year of high school.
Separating high school from junior high
The Hoboken Junior Senior High School on Ninth and Clinton streets will no longer exist in name, according to Johnson.
It will now be separated into the “Hoboken Middle School” and the “Hoboken High School.” The separation in names, will also “reflect a separation in programs and core staffing” to best support both schools, she wrote in a letter to the families of the district.
The superintendent also wrote that “plans are in action to establish a middle school identity” and that additional classrooms have been secured to accommodate the growing enrollment of the Hoboken Middle School.
“It will follow the school within a school concept,” said Johnson. “The middle school will have its own entrance and exit, its own wing, and its own staircase.”
The middle school will be located on the third floor and students will share some common spaces with high school students but never at the same time said Johnson.
“They will share the cafeteria, the gym, and the music room, but never shared simultaneously,” said Johnson.
Johnson said she did not decide to separate the schools because of two troubling incidents last year. In May a 16-year-old Hoboken High School student allegedly fondled a 12-year-old seventh grader in the school elevator, confirmed Sgt. Edgardo Cruz at the time. In the following month there was another incident between three 12-year-old girls at the high school field during gym class. According to Hoboken Police Captain Charles Campbell at the time, two of the minors allegedly grabbed and became physical with a third 12-year-old girl. The alleged aggressors were suspended.
Following the incidents, parents were buzzing about a possible separation.
But Johnson said she decided to separate the two schools for other reasons.
“From a programmatic perspective it was hard to identify what was needed, and middle school students need different things,” said Johnson. “They do much better when they are separated from older children as it gives them space to be 12 or 13 years old and be silly without worrying about being embarrassed.”
“Middle school is a time where kids are broken or made, they either solidify confidence or become withdrawn,” said Johnson. “This will help them not to worry about being silly or foolish or rush them into adulthood.”
New middle school programs will be introduced to family members during the Sept. 6 orientation and family dinner.
Pre-k problems
The Hoboken school district has had a problem seating all the children in pre-k classes for several years with a waiting list often 60 children long.
Currently the waiting list is in the mid-30s, according to Johnson, which is the lowest to date.
Johnson explained that Hoboken receives money from the state’s Department of Education to offer free preschool to Hoboken residents. This is because Hoboken is considered a Schools Development Authority (SDA) district, formerly known as an Abbot District. It’s one of 30 districts who get extra money because of the low-income population in town.
The New Jersey Department of Education uses a formula to determine how many seats they need to pay for Hoboken’s preschool aged children. The formula uses last October’s first grade enrollment figures times two to ascertain how many preschool students to expect in the district. The district also puts in a request. Sometimes they still can’t handle all the new students (see our cover story “A ‘tidal wave’ of toddlers” from July 17, 2016 at hudsonreporter.com).
According to Johnson, members of the waiting list get placed in the district when families move away, opt for private schools, or their companies offer in-house pre-K. Sometimes they find parents from neighboring towns trying to enroll their kids in Hoboken.
“Our district residency officer is a former detective and he finds families who have used phony addresses to get into our pre-K schools,” said Johnson.
This year those on the waiting list were told where they ranked on the list of the first time.
“I didn’t want parents to hold off on placing their kids elsewhere if they were placed toward the bottom of the list,” said Johnson.
New faculty
Over 30 new people will join this year’s faculty including new teachers, new deans, a new principal, and a new assistant superintendent.
The new Assistant Superintendent Gerald Fitzhugh II has “hit the ground running,” according to Johnson and has began creating academic clarity maps, which will be available online for the district’s parents.
Unfortunately, Johnson said that they are having trouble with the district’s new website www.hobokenschools.org so the academic clarity maps are not yet available, but will be soon. For the parents it will tell them what their children should be learning at any given time and for the teachers it will “clarify the essential standards of learning” and will help them “stay on track, but putting everyone on the same page.”
“I already have my clothes ready and my lunch is packed and in the refrigerator already.” – Tamika Pollins, new Calabro principal
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The high school students will have a syllabus rather than a map so they can get used to it before college.
Fitzhugh was principal of Connors Elementary School for the past four years and will be replaced by Tamika Pollins.
Pollins said she was excited for the opportunity and for the year to begin.
“To say I’m excited about this new role is an understatement,” said Pollins. “I already have my clothes ready and my lunch is packed and in the refrigerator already.”
The two deans will be located at the high school and will act as “liaisons” between the students and the faculty according to Johnson.
Derek Piccini and Stephen Dickerson will be filling these newly created roles.
Piccini said he has been a teacher in the district for the past six years and “As soon as I saw the posting for it I was happy about it because I knew it was going to be great for the school. I knew it was going to be better for the administration, the teachers, and especially the students…. It will be extremely beneficial and I’m eagerly awaiting the school year to begin.”
Dickerson said he was also excited about the opportunity and believes the new dean position will focus on the students and give them the drive to want to learn. He said that more often than not, education tends to focus on changes in curriculum not the student.
Marilyn Baer can be reached at marilynb@hudsonreporter.com