Parent Questions to Angela Penna on Busing Cuts
Email exchange between a parent and the BOE President on the controversial cuts to subscription busing. -Jessica Lesperance With the recent notice about subscription busing, I thought it would be helpful to share correspondence that I started with administration regarding courtesy busing back in March. As you will see, I eventually got one response but never any follow up after...
BHPSNJ BOE Committee Meeting Minutes: January 2023 through April 2023
Based on experience, residents should take the accuracy of these minutes with a large grain of salt.….multiple large salt chunks. Regardless, these are still useful for the public to see. One interesting note is that Dr. Varley is under the impression that BHPSNJ staff names can be redacted – we don’t believe this is true, and it is a practice that...
BHCW 08/07/2023 Newsletter
What’s Important to Know About Berkeley Heights This Week… Online Version PDF Version See All Newsletters
From Our Inbox: 08/06/2023
Will CMS no longer offer sewing or cooking classes? Recently a Community Member sent us the following message: I am wondering if the middle school parents have been informed that there will no longer be any sewing or cooking classes offered to students? I know Top Chef was a big hit in the past. Based on our sources this is...
Expanding World Language Programs Nearby Leaves Berkeley Heights’ Students Behind
An Educator in the Community Offers Insight into Our World Languages Program At this moment, a seventh grade student taking World Language (Spanish, French, Italian) at Columbia Middle School (CMS) only receives half-year of instruction. Whereas for the remaining half of the school year, CMS students take another elective or in many cases, an unstructured study hall in a noisy...
What it Would Look Like if We Put Students First
Words are cheap; lawyers and high-level administrators … not so much. -Ekin Najarian Yesterday Ms. Stanley went on a social media parade on behalf of the BOE majority, pretending to recruit new BOE members. As per usual, Ms. Stanley did not use a disclaimer that the thoughts, opinions, and inherent attacks on residents sharing their own personal thoughts, were her...
What We Can Do to Reverse The Berkeley Heights Declines in Math, Science, and ELA Part 1: The Budget
The First in a Series of Articles on How Berkeley Heights Can Repair the Damage under Dr. Varley’s Leadership Since BHCW’s analysis of the Berkeley Heights School District’s declines in Math, Science, and English came out, I have had many conversations with different parents, teachers, and other school staff in the community on how to reverse them. In the second...
Another Resignation and More Key Positions Appear to Be Filled without Community Feedback
The District Bleed Continues and The Superintendent appears to be taking Full Advantage of her “Summer Powers” to hire key staff without Community Feedback or Board Approval On July 21, a job for Woodruff reading specialist was posted, we wish Mrs. Zackowski best of luck in her future endeavors. In other news, the position of Business Administrator and Payroll specialist...
BHCW 07/23/2023 Newsletter
What’s Important to know about Berkeley Heights This Week…. Online Version PDF Version See All Newsletters
nj21st.com (with the exception of featured images and logo) is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
