JANUARY 2004
From the Desk of the
Superintendent: Dr. Ripatrazone
Senior Accepts Scholarship
Technology Highlights
A Walk Back Through Time
Hats Off to High School Students
SPOTLIGHT ON SCHOOLS
Franklin School
Jefferson School
Kennedy School
Nixon School
Lincoln/Roosevelt School
Eisenhower Middle School
Roxbury High School
__________________________________________________________________________
FROM
THE DESK OF THE SUPERINTENDENT: DR.
RIPATRAZONE
On
November 3, 2003 the Roxbury Board of Education awarded contracts to five
companies, who will be completing renovations and additions in Phase 2 of the
district’s building project. The
schools included in Phase 2 of the building project are – Jefferson Elementary
School, Eisenhower Middle School and Roxbury High School.
Due to the complexity of the construction work at Lincoln Roosevelt, this
project will be Phase 3 in our building project process, beginning Spring 2004.
Just as with Phase 1 of the building project, EPIC Management, Inc. has been contracted by the Roxbury Board of Education to manage the day-to-day construction operations that will take place at these three project sites. The hiring of EPIC Management has worked out very well in ensuring the safety and well being of students, staff, parents and visitors at the locations where construction work is currently taking place.
As construction gets underway at these locations, principals will be regularly communicating information to parents and guardians regarding safety issues and procedural changes that are necessary during construction. In addition to these principal communications, www.roxbury.org can be utilized to view progress that has been made at each of the building sites.
At Franklin, Kennedy and Nixon Schools, a variety of activities have been completed with regards to the construction. At Franklin, concrete slabs for the gym and classrooms have been installed and steel has been erected. At Kennedy and Nixon, concrete footings have been installed and computer lab renovations have been completed and students are utilizing the rooms and equipment.
This is an exciting time in our school district and we wish to once again thank our community members for their continued support!
On November 12th, Laura Ahern, Roxbury High School’s standout senior basketball player, signed a letter of intent and accepted a full scholarship to play basketball next year at Wagner College, a Division IA school on Staten Island.
Ahern, a 5’10” forward, has scored over 1,000 points in her career for the Gaels so far. She is just the fourth female player in Roxbury’s history to do so. As a junior, Ahern was named First Team All-Conference and First Team All-County by the Morris County coaches. As a junior, she was named her team’s Most Valuable Player.
“Laura is one of the hardest working players I’ve ever coached,” stated Frank Dekmar, Roxbury’s Girls’ Basketball coach. “Her work ethic is second to none, and her passion for basketball is contagious to her teammates and coaches. She is truly an example for young student athletes to follow and emulate.”
In the past year, the Roxbury School District has made great strides in the way of attaining our five district technology goals. http://www.roxbury.org/staffdev/Tech_Goals.htm .
Items achieved, which attribute to the attainment of these goals include:
ü
Since the spring of 2003, www.roxbury.org has seen the addition of
four new sub websites: Employment
Opportunities,
Special Services, Student Support
Services, and Building Project.
In addition we have revamped the
district home page, Community
School, Staff Development and Useful Links sites.
We also added quick links to all
schools, as well as a district calendar of
events, a site map and search feature. Make
sure you visit and bookmark
http://www.roxbury.org
ü InterActive SMART Boards and LCD Projectors have been added at each of the seven schools. These boards are used for student, faculty and community presentations. Research has shown that effective use of this equipment positively impacts learning.
ü Staff development opportunities have been created to assist staff in learning how to use the SMART Boards, as well as ways on how to incorporate the equipment as a technology tool into everyday teaching activities and curriculum.
ü Unified district software has been put in place, titles include: Sunburst, Type to Learn – Grades K-6, Max’s Sandbox- (Max Write, Max Count, Max Show) grades K-3. The Roxbury School District has been invited to showcase how we use this software Program in March 2004 at the NJECC Annual State Conference.
ü At Franklin, Jefferson, Kennedy and Nixon Schools, 26 new Dell Computers have been purchased for each of their computer labs.
ü Computers previously in labs have been placed in classrooms.
The Computer Services Department continuously completes the rigorous yearly application cycle to secured eRate Federal Funding. For the past three years, these funds have defrayed the cost of these projects.
Throughout this year, the Roxbury Township
School District is proudly celebrating 100 Years of Excellence in Education,
marking the 100th anniversary of the Grey Building, built in 1903.
The Grey Building is the first school building constructed after the formation
of a consolidated Board of Education in 1894, when the practicality of a
centralized school system was recognized in our township that officially dates
to 1740.
Historically, public education goes back yet
another hundred years, when farms and orchards dotted the landscape and homes
were scattered across the countryside. One-room
schoolhouses, each with its own board of trustees, serving small districts, were
established in the six villages that comprise the township: Succasunna,
Ledgewood, Kenvil, Berkshire Valley, Port Morris and Landing.
The first was the Alpaugh School, built in 1806 in Succasunna on “The Road to
Chester”, now Unneberg Avenue.
Population
growth in the early to mid 1800s, coincidental with the development of the
statewide Morris Canal and the nationwide railroad system traversing the
township, stimulated the establishment of additional one-room schools.
When the two-story Grey Building opened, it provided education for grades
one through twelve. The outlying one- room schoolhouses, under the jurisdiction
of the Board of Education, continued to offer lower grade schooling.
Overcrowding
of the Grey Building by 1914, and the state’s declaring the one-room schools
outmoded, resulted in a referendum for construction of another school. Only
after extensive debate was the referendum approved, with taxpayers finally
acknowledging the need for public education through twelfth grade. Lincoln
School, serving grades seven through twelve, was completed in 1918, and the Grey
Building could then serve lower grade children from the closed one-room schools.
Township
growth throughout the 1900’s, attributable to increased automobile ownership,
construction of new roadways, and an influx of city dwellers following World War
II, quickened the pace of school construction. Between 1938 and 1972, an
additional seven schools were built—Roosevelt, Franklin, Jefferson, Kennedy,
Nixon, Eisenhower and the current Roxbury High School—with costs soaring as
each new school was added. The cost
to educate one pupil in 1903 was $13.00 per year.
School facilities and services continue to be improved under the guidance of a dedicated Board of Education, offering outstanding programs made possible by township taxpayers who continue to choose to invest in our youth—our township’s and our nation’s future.
HATS OFF TO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
ü
Brian Chaney, Wen Chiao
Chou, Victoria Cook, Lauren Drew, Lauren Galluzzo, Stephen Giordano, Joseph
Herzog, John Hughes, Katherine Kopmann, James Lord, Erin Mayfield, Lauren
McGinnis, Shonali Mioha, Sandra Moskowitz, Matthew Nolan, Alex O’Sullivan,
David Park, Sarah Quinn, Jackie Reynolds, Nichol Riccardello, Francisco
Sarmiento, Jessica Schwartz, Ketan Thanki, Kristina Thompson, and Kevin Trainor
for being selected as Edward J. Bloustein Distinguished Scholars.
ü James Marconi for achieving 1st Place in the Voice of Democracy Audio Essay Contest.
ü The Roxbury High School Math Team for taking 3rd Place in the Fall Iron Hills Math Competition.
ü Francisco Sarmiento and Kristina Thompson for being recognized as College Board Hispanic Recognition Program Scholars for 2003-2004.
ü
Girls' Cross Country for
qualifying for the Group IV State Championships.
ü The RHS Student Council for sponsoring a “Blood Drive.”
ü
The Varsity Girls’ Soccer Team for
winning the Iron Hills Conference Championship, The Morris County and The Group
IV Section I State Championships.
ü The Roxbury High School Drama Club for doing an outstanding job with their production, The Jury Room.
ü Lauren Silber for being chosen as the candidate for the Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership program.
ü Ali Caruana and Jenn Ennis for qualifying for the Meet of Champions.
ü Jenn Ennis for being recognized by New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association for outstanding sportsmanship.
ü Audrey Nonemaker for being named The Daily Record’s Player of the Year for girls' soccer.
SPOTLIGHT ON SCHOOLS
As this year got underway, so to did the Reading Buddy program with Mrs. Joanne Saul’s sixth graders of Lincoln Roosevelt School and Mrs. Donna Esposito’s second graders of Franklin School. This Reading Buddy program has been in existence for six years. Since its early inception, Mrs. Esposito and Mrs. Saul have expanded the program to include monthly get-togethers. During these lessons, the students have the opportunity to explore literacy with one another. Some of the activities the children enjoy are poetry writing, reading and composing stories and a yearly celebration of Read Across America, just to name a few. Beyond the monthly meetings, the buddies remain in touch through pen pal letters, which they write to each other on a monthly basis.
As a way to remember and recognize those who have served in the Armed Forces, Mrs. Patti DeFillipis and her first graders created a “Wall of Honor” in the main hallway of Jefferson School to commemorate Veteran’s Day. The entire school was invited to place “bricks” on the wall in remembrance of friends and family who served in the Armed Forces.
This year students and staff of Kennedy School were asked to show their school spirit in a variety of ways. During one day of their week long Spirit Week, they were asked to dress in red, white and blue. Throughout the week, the staff and students also dressed in hats, jeans, sports team clothing and blue and gold. The Kennedy School PTA also organized a trivia contest where everyone was a winner. All students and staff received a pencil with Kennedy School engraved on it. According to Mr. Illiano , “Spirit Week is designed to bring the entire school together, to promote a sense of common purpose, community and unity.”
The students observed the metamorphosis from caterpillar larvae to Painted Lady butterflies over a period of several weeks. They learned the terminology for each stage, as well as the order of the process. Once the butterflies emerged from their pupas, the students released them. According to Mrs. Butler, “The children were very excited to watch them fly away.”
Recently,
the students of Miss Homeyer’s Fifth Grade Lincoln/Roosevelt class created and
participated in a Cultural Bazaar. According
to Miss Homeyer, “One of the things the students study in Social Studies is
different cultures. The idea for
this cultural bazaar came from our new Social Studies text.”
The cultural bazaar in Miss Homeyer’s class was a time for the children to cooperatively showcase artifacts and research that they had done on a particular group of people. Miss Homeyer stated, “In addition to creating artifacts, the children created models of homes used by the group of people which they were studying. The children were also able to highlight their cultural group by drawing clothing worn by them, bringing in food specific to the culture, writing journals on imaginary experiences that one would have encountered, and drawing and labeling a map of where the culture was located.”
On Veteran’s Day, each student on Eisenhower Middle School’s Team 7M gave a brief presentation about a Veteran that he/she wanted to honor and then placed a flag in the front lawn of the school to create a display, which eventually spelled out USA.
According to Mrs. Judy Lella, Social Studies teacher at EMS, “This is the first time we have had our students partake in a ceremony such as this. The students were very excited about taking part in the display.” Mr. Doty, EMS English teacher added, “The students exercised their duty and responsibility to our veterans by honoring them in this ceremony.”
The Roxbury High School National Honor Society recently conducted a month long clothing drive, which was to benefit the community of Roxbury Township. All students of Roxbury High School were welcome to participate in the drive.