Shauna’s Notes on Italian
World Languages Faces Another Setback… We previously reported that regular Italian 4 classes at GL were not being offered due to low enrollment and that students who would have been in the class had the option to join a combined Honors Italian 4/AP Italian mega-class with about 28 students and no support. We are now hearing reports from Columbia Middle...
Thoughts on Thinking Classroom and Proficiency Scores
It’s a late-summer tradition, not only for us, but for many in town: finding out which teachers (or team, for CMS) your students will have for the upcoming year, and texting friends and neighbors to compare. This year has been no different in that respect, but this time it led to some concerns and a look back at last year....
The BOE Write-up That’s Almost as Long as the Meeting
A re-cap of the August 10th, 2023 Board of Education Meeting, with Bonus Material that you won’t want to miss. The Superintendent’s Report consisted mainly of a presentation by Mr. Nixon on the results of the NJGPA test. Governor Livingston students did well, with 95% receiving a passing score in ELA and 82% passing the math portion. Results from last...
‘It’s Erroneous Anyway’
And Other Stories from 345 Plainfield Needing something for your summer beach reading? We’ve got you covered. Below is a selection of stories we have collected and curated over the past 18 months. We’ll start our suggested list of stories with a classic: ‘It’s What the Majority Wants’. In this yarn, the plot begins with a choice that must be...
Does The Middle Matter?
The Berkeley Heights Public School District Continues to Fail At Equity where it Matters For years now, Berkeley Heights Public Schools has had a language problem. That can be taken a couple ways – communication from our Superintendent is one-way and self-serving, and the Business Administrator orchestrates conversations to set up her own agenda – but in this case we’re...
Have You Had Enough Yet?
It’s Time that EVERYONE in our District face the facts, for the sake of our students. It’s a busy time of year; graduations, moving-up ceremonies, clap-outs, parties, luaus, and more. This year, it’s also a time to reflect on what the hell is happening to our district and start to talk about what needs to be done. For starters, we...
The BHPSNJ OPRA Disconnect
The District is taking steps to undermine one the few remaining avenues families have in getting accurate information…..and the BOE Majority is using dollars that should be going to classrooms to do it. The Custodian of School Records position remains, and Stephen Hopkins has been approved again for the job, along with an accompanying stipend of $12,000. The core responsibilities...
No One Rises to Low Expectations
Is it time for more families to start paying attention and finally get involved? The title of this article is a quote from author Les Brown, born Leslie Calvin Brown on February 17, 1945, in Miami, Florida. After giving birth to Brown and his twin brother, Wes, on the floor of an abandoned building, Brown’s biological mother gave her sons...
Can the BOE Goals be Achieved?- Shauna’s Notes on the 05/11/2023 Meeting
The Goals Discussed During the 05/11/2023 Meeting Seem More Like Lip Service After watching the presentation given by NJSBA representative Patty Rees, and the ensuing discussion on BOE goals, it looks like this is going to be an uphill battle, in the best case, and has the potential to be an abysmal failure. Let’s recap. In Ms. Rees’ presentation, she...
The Collaborative Model – Part Three
The Final Article in the Series on the BHPSNJ Implementation of the Collaborative Model As mentioned in Part Two, more recent educational papers have begun to focus on the real-life issues that have arisen as “consultation and collaboration” have become commonplace in schools. Much of the information below is from a paper by Stephen Hernandez at Hofstra University. (Link at...
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