We have goals!

At last night's Board meeting, we approved the following as the Board of Education's goals for the 2008-2009 school year. (Normally this would happen sooner, but this year we waited to have our Board retreat until Dr. Fishbein had started as superintendent).

Student Learning
Promote academic achievement for all students. Develop a set of metrics to collect baseline data that measures and demonstrates individualized student success in curricular and co-curricular opportunities.

What this means: We want to define the things that are important to us as a district...how do we measure student success in ways other than test scores? Is there a Ridgewood definition of "success" that encompasses academics, extracurriculars, that measures effort in addition to achievement? This year we want to answer these questions, figure out what we want to prioritize, and then we'll proceed to use those metrics to evaluate the district and ourselves.

Communications
Conduct an audit of the two-way flow of information between the district and the community. Identify effective components and areas in need of improvement. Design a community survey instrument to be used in the 2009-2010 school year. Identify the procedures/standards, personnel and budget resources needed to create a highly effective communication system.

What this means: We want to evaluate our communications, both from the Board to the public and from the public to the Board. As part of this evaluation, we will create an annual survey or "report card" or feedback device where parents can tell us how the District and schools are doing. We'll determine where and how our communications can be improved.

Ridgewood Board of Education Policies and Regulations
Review and revise the district's Policy and Procedure Manual, aligning it with state law and code so that it becomes an effective reference and public information tool. Develop new policies that reflect legal mandates and local priorities. Develop a process that ensures ongoing review and updating of the policies and procedures.

What this means: Our Policy Manual needs to be updated, both to incorporate legal requirements and also to make it more user-friendly and more relevant to real, day-to-day life in the District. Updating the policy manual is routine every district must undertake -- it's time to do ours and we want to do it well.

2009-10 Budget and Bond Referendum
Develop a budget that meets the educational needs of all our students and is mindful of the state's budgeting parameters as well as the economic climate in the community. Design a bond referendum that would allow funding for construction of new and improved instructional space, building repairs and capital improvements as identified in our Long Range Facilities Plan and Ridgewood High School Building Evaluation, and possible improvements to athletic facilities.

What this means: Pretty self-explanatory, isn't it? It's going to be a tough budget year, and we're going to have to create a budget AND come up with a smart, comprehensive, fair, efficient and forward-thinking referendum to meet our pressing needs.

Let me know if you have any questions...

Attn: Willard & Ridge Parents

Dr. Fishbein, Sheila Brogan and I will be at the Willard HSA meeting on Monday at 1:30, and the Ridge HSA meeting on Tuesday at 2:00 to discuss each school's expansion plans vis-a-vis the 2009 referendum. Please attend if you'd like to see the plans up close, ask questions, etc. (The plans will also be available in PDF form on the district website.)

Agenda for 10/20 meeting

You can see the complete agenda for tomorrow's Board of Ed meeting by clicking here. Some highlights (in addition to the Violence & Vandalism report already mentioned):

Update on referendum planning, specifically energy conservation/efficiency.

Mr. McDonald, RHS athletic director, will update us on the sports league changes. It's somewhat confusing and, from what I understand, no better than what they had when they started the discussion. I'm looking forward to Mr. McDonald explaining the latest.

We're going to discuss the Board's goals for 2008-09.

Dr. Fishbein will give an update on the Math Plan.

Ridgewood Education Foundation will announce grants totalling almost $8,000.

Like I said, you can read all the minute details on the district website, just click here.

See you tomorrow night!

School Violence & Vandalism

One of the topics on the agenda for tomorrow night's meeting (10/20 @ 7:30 PM) is the annual Report on School Violence and Vandalism for 2007-08. There will be a report on the numbers in Ridgewood, comparison to previous years, and also a discussion about activities in the schools related to the prevention of violence. There will be a public comment section, so if you have any questions or comments about violence or vandalism in our schools, you are invited to share and/or pose questions at the meeting.

Summer Homework

A parent emailed me the following question:

"Why do so many other neighboring communities have "summer homework" - a required book/s to read, worksheets, historic local sites to visit, etc. - and Ridgewood does not? Just wondering!"

I will see what I can find out about our schools' practices and philosophy re: summer homework. But, in the meantime, I'm interested to hear what parents think. Any thoughts?

Consolidation of Special Ed Classrooms

As a continuation of the discussion on expansion, it helps to understand where our self-contained special ed classrooms are currently located, and where they'd be located following the expansion in the proposed referendum:

Pre Construction:
Somerville -- PARCCA (K-2)
BF -- PARCCA (3-5)
Orchard -- LLD (K-2)
Somerville -- LLD (K-2)
Travell -- LLD (3-5)
Travell -- LLD (K-2)
Travell -- LLD (3-5)

Post Construction:
Willard -- PARCCA (K-2)
Willard -- PARCCA (3-5)
Willard -- LLD (K-2)
Hawes -- LLD (K-2)
Hawes -- LLD (3-5)
Ridge -- LLD (K-2)
Ridge -- LLD (3-5)
BF -- PARCCA (6-8)

In other words, under this plan, PARCCA K-5 would be together at Willard, and then move to BF for PARCCA 6-8. Our LLD (Language & Learning Disabled) classes for K-2 would be at Willard, Hawes and Ridge, consolidating to 3-5 at Hawes and Ridge. (Traditionally, the numbers of LLD students is reduced from K-2 to 3-5.

Why are Ridge, Hawes and Willard the schools chosen to be expanded? Why not Travell or Somerville or Orchard? This mainly has to do with property and the availability of space for expansion. Ridge and Hawes have the most room. And Willard, as the oldest elementary school, has some very small classrooms which can be easily adapted for LLD or PARCCA, with the addition of larger non-LLD classrooms.

The 2008-2009 Math Planning Year

The outline for the 2008-2009 Math Planning Team has been released and you can find it at the District website by clicking HERE. You'll find a detailed outline of activities, objectives and action plan, as well as a list of the external advisors who will be participating and lending insight throughout the process.

The objectives for this Math Planning Year are:
1) Select an elementary math textbook or program for use in all elementary schools;
2) Plan professional development and implementation rollout for 2009-2010

The Math Planning Team consists of Dr. Fishbein, Ms. Botsford, Dr. Anspach (our new Director of Curriculum), Mr. Dan Ilaria (6-12 Math Supervisor), all the elementary school principals, and Ms. Nancy Schultz (Mathematics Specialist of Professional Resources in Science and Mathematics (PRISM) at Montclair State University). The Team's action plan includes the following:
-- Review relevant documents (see list in Math Plan)
-- Understand parents' wants/needs for math textbook/program
-- Understand teachers' wants/needs for math textbook/program
-- Understand the views of mathematicians (see full Math Plan for names/bios)
-- Write a District vision statement for elementary mathematics
-- Identify District needs and wants for math textbook/program
-- Recommend math textbook/program for Board approval in May 2009

Throughout the process, the Math Planning Team will give updates and solicit feedback at Board of Ed meetings, Board Curriculum Committee meetings, Curriculum Communication Committee meetings, HSA meetings and faculty meetings.

In terms of parent input, things will be kicked-off with an Elementary Math Evening on Monday, October 27, from 7:30 to 9 p.m., on the 3rd floor of the Ed Center. All interested parents are invited to attend. Please attend if you have an opinion about math education! The structure will be to work in small groups to respond to the following questions:

* What is your passion when it comes to mathematics?
* Reflecting on your own education in mathematics, what would you want that is different or the same for all children today in their mathematics education?
* What do you think all students should know and be able to do in mathematics when they graduate?
* What do you want to see in an elementary mathematics textbook or program?

The goal of the meeting will be to collect and forward input to the Math Planning Team, along with all the focus group and other parent input received last year.

So here we go...it's great to have a plan. The "math issue" has been out of the limelight over the past few months, and I think it has been good to tone down some of the emotions that got riled up last spring. Now we can focus and really work through the issue together.

So check out the plan (click HERE) and I'd love to hear what you think.

Board Meeting Agenda Highlights for 10/6

Just a few highlights of what we'll be doing at tomorrow's Board of Ed meeting (you can read the full agenda by clicking HERE):

• Proposed plans for expansion at Ridge and Hawes. Revised plans for GW expansion. (This will be early on the agenda, so if you want to come see and discuss these plans, you can get home fairly quickly).

• Various human resources items (appointments, resignations, leaves of absence, substitutes, etc.)

• Miscellaneous financial approvals (receive donations, budget appropriation transfers, contract with the Ice House, change order for Hawes retaining wall project)

• Presentation of the Elementary Math Planning Year including objectives, action plan, timeline, team members and external advisors.

• Discussion items: 1) student residency; 2) security
NOTE: One of the security issues involves the posting of a guard at BF. I would love to hear what BF parents think about this. Do you think it's necessary? Do you and your children feel more safe with the guard in place? Any comments or thoughts? Email me or post here! Or come to the meeting and speak to the Board...

As always, there will be two opportunities for public comment: once at the very beginning of the meeting and once toward the end.

The public portion of the meeting will start at 7:30 p.m. Don't feel like coming down to the Ed Center? You can watch the meeting online by clicking here.

What’s the story on the referendum?

If you’ve been reading the Ridgewood News the past few weeks, you’ve seen stories about proposed construction projects at several of our schools. The articles have not done a great job of explaining the big picture. Maybe I can help clear things up a bit.

Here’s the deal. We have physical needs at all of our school buildings. Some of the needs involve expansion: we need to add instructional and other space where we’ve run out of room to educate our school populations. In addition, we need to create permanent homes for some of our special ed programs which have moved from school to school in recent years. Some of the needs involve renovation: many of our buildings are very old and have typical old-building needs like roofs, windows, leaks, handicap-access, etc. It has come time to address all these needs and, since our budget certainly doesn’t allow us to save up for construction projects, we’ll need to acquire the funds via a bond, which must be approved by voters in a referendum, or vote.

Since last spring and continuing now, the Facilities Committee has been meeting with principals and looking at each school, compiling a list of needs in terms of expansion and renovation. The third area we’ll be looking at is energy efficiency – looking for ways to either save on energy costs or possibly to create our own solar power (if the finances make sense). And the fourth thing we’ll be looking at is our athletic facilities, especially fields and gyms. The ultimate goal of all this research will be to put together a package of the most important and vital projects districtwide, and then bring the package to the voters for approval, probably in September 2009.

Over the last few Board meetings, we’ve seen plans for expansion at GW and Willard. Monday night we’ll look at plans for Ridge and Hawes. Future meetings will discuss needs at Orchard, Travell, Somerville, BF and RHS. The purpose of these presentations is to keep you apprised of our thinking, and to ask for feedback from the public. We’ll also be taking feedback and answering questions at HSA meetings. Plans will be posted on the District website soon. We’re moving somewhat quickly right now because we have a deadline of January to submit plans to the state for approval.

So right now, we’re gathering info and estimating budgets. Eventually, we’ll put it all together and we’ll have to make some decisions about priorities. We will have to say “no” to some things…a lot of things. But the ultimate goal is to update our school buildings and create learning environments that serve all our children and that comply with state laws.

When it comes time to prepare for the vote, we’ll have detailed plans, budgets, FAQs and more. There will be meetings and presentations. For now, tune in to (or visit) Board of Ed meetings and/or HSA meetings to be part of the planning process. And, if you have any questions, feel free to post a question here (click "comments") or email me at lauriegood@mac.com.

Share this video with your 18+ year old kids

">