Sheriff Jack Kemler’s fifth annual family outing will be held on July 25 from 12:30-5 p.m. at the Tall Cedars Picnic Grove. The Tall Cedars Picnic Grove is located at 245 Sawmill Road in Hamilton.
The event will feature food, live entertainment and games.
Tickets are $15 for adults and free for children aged 12 and younger.
For more information or to purchase tickets, call (609) 575 – 8226.
On June 29, ballet students from around the world started their first day of training at Princeton Ballet School at the school’s studios in the Princeton Shopping Center. This is Princeton Ballet School’s 33rd year of offering summer intensive courses, making it one of the oldest programs in the United States.
The 2015 summer intensive welcomes over 100 students from all over the United States including dancers from Arizona, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. In addition, PBS also attracts many international students including dancers from Australia, Columbia, Italy and Switzerland.
Dancers live on the Princeton University campus for five weeks, training every day at an advanced level at PBS. The intensive training will be predominantly made up of ballet class, but will be augmented with other classes including partnering, variations, body mechanics, pointe and men’s class.
American Repertory Ballet’s Artistic Director, Douglas Martin, is one of the main teachers. His wife Mary Barton will also teach extensively in the program as will Kathleen Moore, a former principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre and now ARB company teacher and PBS faculty member.
Maria Youskevitch, also formerly a soloist with ABT, an accomplished master teacher throughout the United States and the ballet master of ARB Workshop will also be an integral faculty member at PBS.
Body Mechanics will be taught by Director of PBS Mary Pat Robertson. The program will teach students about maintaining a healthy dancer’s body. The program will feature guest teachers including Kirk Peterson, ARB choreographer and former ABT dancer and Trinette Singleton, ARB choreographer and former Joffrey Ballet dancer.
PBS’s summer intensive is an important formative experience for its many students. Students will not only be able to develop their ballet technique, but will also develop skills in injury prevention as well as creativity, leadership and discipline, through the expertise of the teachers and variety of classes provided including a choreography workshop.
The Mercer County Park Commission will host lichenologist Dennis Waters on July 11 as he unveils the mysterious lichens commonly found throughout the natural world. The event will take place from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. and will be held at the Tulpehaking Nature Center located at 157 Westcott Avenue in Hamilton.
Waters will lead two hours of exploration starting at the Tulpehaking Nature Center and winding through the trails of Roebling Park, shedding light on the strange lifestyles and ecological importance of lichens.
Lichens can be found in nearly all of Earth’s environments. Their ability to grow almost anywhere including inside solid rock has enabled lichens to cover 5 percent of Earth’s land surface.
Waters is a lichenologist, member of the British Lichen Society and the American Bryological & Lichenological Society and the Lawrence Township Historian. He recently played an active role in major lichenological field surveys, traveling from the South Atlantic Coastal Plains of Georgia to the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec.
During this walk, Waters will teach participants how to identify some of the common lichens found in nature, as well as teach about the ecological importance, behaviors and lifestyles of lichens.
The walk is geared toward adults and teens and costs $5 per person or $20 per family.
For more information about the nature center, programs and schedule of events go to mercercountyparks.org.
Adath Israel Religious School students display their Outstanding Achievement Certificates on the last Sunday of the 2015 school year. Pictured with the children is their teacher, Debra Radin.
Adath Israel is an egalitarian congregation located at 1958 Lawrenceville Road in Lawrenceville.
For Further information, call (609) 895-1129, or visit adathisraelnj.org.
Five new local residents have joined the Board of Directors of the nonprofit YingHua International School in Princeton. The new directors are B. Bonnie Liao, PhD., Kevin Merges, Ed.D., Cheryl Rowe-Rendleman, PhD., Stacy Schuster and John Wang. They join Robert Eng, Ed.D. and R. Wade Speir to complete the 7-member governing body of the independent school.
YingHua International School was founded in 2007 and is a full-time independent school for preschool through middle school grades. Over 70 students are taught the majority of their subjects in Mandarin Chinese by native Mandarin speakers. Scholars also study English and Spanish as part of their world language program.
The five new directors embody a varied depth of knowledge. Some of the tasks of the 2015-2016 Board of Directors include oversight of the school’s candidacy period for the International Baccalaureate World Schools Primary Years Programme and to guide the school’s addition of international exchange programs.
YingHua International School is accepting applications for the 2015-2016 school year and 2015 Summer Camp.
For more information on the school’s programs visit yhis.org.
The following is the Superintendent’s graduation address to the Robbinsville High School Class of 2015, given June 19:
Congratulations Class of 2015!
We are thrilled to be celebrating with you tonight. Whether you have been in our schools for 13 years or just the past few years of high school, it is truly an honor for us to cheer you forward as you go from here. As we cheer, I would also like to encourage you to be people who see. People who look beyond the obvious to see what lies underneath. People who by seeing and understanding the stories of others become moved to be helpers toward something better. People who see the complexity of the problems faced by our world yet do not give up hope that possibility lies ahead.
No words in a speech tonight will set a recipe that paves a path toward meaning and success for each of you, and certainly no words spoken tonight will chart a path that will heal the world. But people who understand that first impressions are not always right, and that good can come from things that look desperate are people who will make a lasting impact and a positive difference in our world. I challenge you to be this kind of people—people who really see and then respond accordingly.
Seeing is big and little, and everything is not always as it first appears. We all have stories that lie underneath the surface, and our stories form us and shape us. Think about the kid who came every day to class without his homework finished. What if underneath he wasn’t just a callous, irresponsible kid, but had to work two jobs in the afternoon and evening to help put food on the table for his family. Or maybe the kid who has the nicest car and the nicest clothes, but underneath feels like she is the most lonely person in the world? Or how about the one who gets the highest grades and is off to an Ivy League school in the fall, but can’t seem to keep a friendship or relationship intact? Are we content to let the story on the surface be what defines us or will be become people who see and act?
I challenge you to be people who look at the whole story, not to make excuses for what others do or how they act, but so that you can come alongside as a cheerleader, encourager, supporter and problem solver. By paying attention and seeing, we begin to understand that our walk as humans is often hard and almost always complicated. Seeing like this makes good people. I challenge you to be good people.
In a bigger sense, beyond our interpersonal relationships, things in the world aren’t always as they seem either. Will we be people who realize that first impressions are not always the most helpful for deciding how to engage with the world? I wonder what might change if we start to see what is under the surface? Are people poor because they are lazy? Are they uneducated because they just don’t feel like going to school? In prison because they are bad? Is war always about hate? Does everyone have the same chance to succeed? Is where you are born destiny? If you fail once will you always fail—are you just a failure?
What if there is more than meets the eye? What if dealing with our world’s problems requires citizens that see beyond easy explanations into the complex and intractable things underneath? What if you turn out to be someone who sees things as they really are? Will you then ignore the changes our world needs and go on your merry way? Or will you use your gifts and your privilege and your education to make change in the places you touch? Will you take a second look at things in order to notice what might not be so obvious? Will you be one who is moved and inspired by the larger story? Our world needs people like that.
I want to leave you with a brief story. About three weeks ago, I got a phone call from my wife, who was upset. She told me that she was at the Shoprite in line waiting to check out with her groceries—it was a fairly typical visit for groceries, where she was picking up a few things totaling about $80 that were “needed” in our house. In front of her in line was a young couple with a small child, and the checkout process was taking a long time. That’s when she started paying attention.
The young couple had about $40 worth of groceries—some fruits and vegetables, cereal and a few other items. The young woman, with great dignity in her face, was shuffling through a series of papers that looked like checks or maybe food vouchers, while the young man grabbed various items from the conveyor belt, argued the price and stormed up and down the store trying to find healthy food options for an affordable price. The scene was heart breaking. Standing behind this beautiful little family was my wife with a pile of groceries twice the cost where affordability was not even considered. The checkout line at Shoprite isn’t exactly the best place to initiate social action, but noticing and paying attention is a start.
My guess is that most of us, myself included, would simply get frustrated by how long checking out was taking and fail to observe a moving human story at play. But noticing and paying attention plants the seeds of change and real hope. Would you have noticed? Would you have been moved? Will you leave here and be a person who goes through life paying attention? Before you say yes, be careful, because if you say yes, you might actually be called to help heal some of our world’s brokenness.
Congratulations on reaching this milestone. You have earned the spotlight, and we are proud of you. Please go from here with your eyes and hearts open. Our world needs people like that.
Steve Mayer is superintendent of Robbinsville Schools.
The New Jersey School Public Relations Association (NJSPRA) awarded top honors to some of the state’s best school communicators at its first annual School and Communications Awards Luncheon, held at Rowan University in June 2015. Mercer County Technical School District and Lawrence Township Public Schools were among the winners.
Mercer County Technical School District took first place in the website category and tied for second place in the marketing and branding category.
Lawrence Township Public Schools tied for second place in the e-newsletter, print newsletter or newspaper category.
NJSPRA’s School Communications Awards recognize outstanding print and electronic collateral materials in New Jersey educational communications programs. NJSPRA developed the awards competition to recognize professional school communicators and administrators in New Jersey and the exceptional programs and materials they develop that bolster support for schools and school districts statewide.
Both members and non-members were invited to submit entries. NJSPRA received more than 30 nominations from districts and communications firms from 13 counties across New Jersey. Schools competed in six categories.
For more information about NJSPRA, visit njspra.com.
In a continuing expansion of academic programs for Mercer County’s high school seniors, ten new areas of study in arts and communication are now available through a partnership between Mercer County Community College (MCCC) and Mercer County Technical Schools (MCTS).
The new programs are: Advertising Design, Communication, Entertainment Tech: Theatre, Entertainment Tech: Musical Production, Fashion/Apparel Design, Fashion Merchandising, Game Design, New Media and Journalism, Photography and Visual Arts.
This latest expansion more than doubles the areas of study now available to high school seniors. The other programs include TV/Radio Production, Criminal Justice, Culinary, Theatre/Dance, Fire Science, and Exercise Science.
The enrollment process begins when students are high school juniors. As they develop their schedules for their senior year, they can apply to participate in the Career Prep program, which typically includes four college classes – two in the fall and two in the spring. Then, as seniors they will complete their required high school classes in the morning and take transportation provided by the county to MCCC for afternoon classes.
Cooperative programs between MCCC and MCTS have been on the rise in recent years. The Mercer County Health Science Academy was established five years ago and a new STEM Academy (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) will begin in the fall and will be housed on MCCC’s West Windsor campus.
Each course is open to 10 to 15 seniors, who may apply online before August 15 to enroll in programs for the 2015-16 academic year. An adult family member should visit mcts.edu. (A green ‘Apply Online’ tab can be found on the right-hand side of the opening webpage.) Interested rising seniors should also contact the guidance counselor at their high schools.
Applications are now available for the Mercer County Bar Foundation Scholarship. Since the early 1960’s, the Mercer County Bar Foundation has awarded scholarships to individuals pursuing a legal education in accredited Law Schools. The Foundation’s Scholarship is awarded to a student who shows financial need and is involved in community organizations. Applicants must have some ties with Mercer County.
To be considered for an award, applications must be completed and returned by September 1, 2015. For more information or for an application, visit mercerbarfoundation.mystagingwebsite.com/2015-law-scholarship or call the Mercer County Bar Foundation at (609) 585-6200.
Ewing Presbyterian Nursery School is pleased to announce its 50th anniversary of operation. During the past 50 years, the school has been nurturing children both socially and academically to help them develop a love of learning and have a solid foundation to begin kindergarten.
The school highly values the support of its loyal, enthusiastic families. Ewing Presbyterian Nursery School is part of Ewing Presbyterian Church, whose dedication to the school has been essential and greatly appreciated over the past 50 years.
Rising high school seniors enrolled in this summer’s New Jersey Scholars Program at The Lawrenceville School will not have to pay tuition for the five-week interdisciplinary program, thanks in part to a $2,500 grant from Investors Bank.
The New Jersey Scholars program applied for the grant from Investors Foundation, which supports non-profit organizations that enrich the diverse communities served by Investors Bank.
The mission of the New Jersey Scholars Program is to annually reach out to 39 able and enthusiastic residents of New Jersey who are United States citizens and rising seniors in a New Jersey high school. The students come from a broad socio-economic, ethnic and racial cross-section of the state’s population. The program creates an intense, interdisciplinary intellectual experience that will awaken in the students an awareness of their potential to achieve academic excellence.
The program teaches students to think in a new way by relating disciplines instead of dividing them. The scholars participate in lectures and small-group seminars where they actively engage with the disciplines, pursue research at world-class libraries and museums and are assigned extensive reading. They are stretched as they hone their creative talents in art, music, writing, drama and public speaking by contributing to an Arts Festival that is thematically related to the curriculum. They write essays and work closely with a faculty member to produce a 10- to 15-page interdisciplinary research paper.
Participants do not pay for the program, despite costing about $4,500 per student; the program relies on donations from organizations like Investors Bank to cover the cost. Selection of students is based on merit. For many scholars, the program dramatically increases their ambitions for higher learning.
Students are nominated to the program by their schools and must undergo a rigorous application process which includes writing essays, two letters of recommendation and providing a transcript of their grades. For the 39 spots in 2015, the program received 275 applications. Each New Jersey high school may submit up to two applications. Applications must be submitted by early January and students are chosen by early April.
Dr. Fiander is very excited to join the Chapin School community as its next Head of School. Everyone was looking forward to her start on July 1, 2015. There are plenty of opportunities to meet and get to know her over the summer and once the 2015-2016 school year begins. Until then, here is a glimpse of her thoughts and vision for Chapin.
What draws you to want to work at Chapin?
Having worked in seven school districts and one independent school, and having served as an accreditation chair for more than ten schools, I can unequivocally say that Chapin is an extraordinary school. Its attention to detail, its focus on the habits of the mind and heart, its familial, engaging atmosphere, its unwavering belief in limitless futures—all speak to what I believe is good and right for children. This draws me to want nothing more than to be a part of it.
What makes you excited to join the Chapin community?
I am deeply grateful for such a remarkable personal and professional opportunity to serve as the next Head of Chapin School. Life is about learning and growing. As all of the adults work together on behalf of Chapin’s children, I am confident that our combined efforts will continue providing the resources and inspiration for students to become their best selves. And, I can’t help but believe that we, too, will grow.
What are you looking forward to about working at Chapin School?
I sincerely can’t wait to meet and get to know everyone. I want to learn more about why parents send their children to Chapin, why teachers and administrators work at Chapin, why trustees want to serve and, mostly, why the children love being a part of Chapin School. In building relationships, I will be able to learn more about what is important to the people who make up this vibrant learning community and help to envision what exciting possibilities lie before us.
What do you want the broad Chapin community to know about you?
From the moment I attended first grade in Suitland, Maryland, and then moving to Illinois, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and back to New Jersey, I have always been “going to school”—either as a student, a teacher, a graduate school student, an administrator or an adjunct professor. I love being a part of a school community—because schools are places of eternal optimism and schools have the power to transform lives.
What is your vision for Chapin?
Schools are, and always will be, “works in progress.” As dynamic organizations, schools must adapt to the exponentially changing world in which we live, yet remain steadfast stewards of a guiding mission.
The Chapin Board of Trustees set an important path with its strategic initiatives for program enhancements, high standards of sustainability, diversity and inclusion efforts, and assuring the long-term financial stability of the school. I am eager to help fully realize these important goals, while ever on the quest for creative ways in which we can continue to prepare students “to meet the future with skill, confidence, determination and generosity of spirit.” I just know it is going to be a wonderful journey.
On Wednesday July 15, 2015 faculty and staff of Trenton Catholic Academy (TCA) welcomed their new Upper School Director Timothy Lynch. It was a homecoming of sorts since Lynch was Principal of McCorristin Catholic prior to the school becoming TCA, in 2005.
Sr. Dorothy Payne, SSJ President of TCA along with a search committee performed an extensive search and is very pleased that Tim is back on the McCorristin Campus of TCA.
Founded in 1962 by Monsignor Michael McCorristin, whose dream of creating a school to provide affordable, quality Catholic education to families who desired it, continues to this day at TCA. TCA has a 100 % graduation rate with 98% of all students going on to college or specialized training.
Students at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) like Passaic native Dalmiry Puello will have a little less burden on their academic shoulders this fall, thanks in part to a $5,000 grant to the college’s Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) from Investors Bank. The grant will help fund programs that assist students in adjusting to college life, through guidance, financial support and tutoring.
Puello, a 20-year-old political science major with a pre-law minor, will be a junior in the fall. She desperately wanted to attend TCNJ, but as the fourth sister in a single-parent home, she didn’t think it would be possible until she received an EOF scholarship.
For Puello, one of the most beneficial program offerings was EOF Career Day, when she was able to network with successful alumni. Other assistance includes help in obtaining internships, a mentor with whom she still communicates, course selection help, financial assistance and help speaking with her professors, as she says she sometimes has trouble breaking out of her shell. Puello is set to graduate with her bachelor’s degree in May 2016, a year earlier than expected.
EOF at TCNJ applied for the grant from Investors Foundation, which supports non-profit organizations that enrich diverse communities served by the bank. This is the second year Investors has supported the program, and this year the amount donated increased by $2,000.
For four decades, the EOF at The College of New Jersey has helped assist more than 1,200 graduates realize their aspirations and dreams. Currently, the program provides resources for nearly 400 students.
EOF is more than just a financial package – it is a full program of academic and personal support. Benefits for students also include advice and help with course selection, counsel on selecting and planning for a career, individual tutoring and study groups, a personal enrollment-to-graduation adviser, financial aid, cultural and career field trips and a personal faculty adviser. This summer, 84 students are spending five weeks on campus, and year-round the program offers academic support services to improve persistence, retention, and graduation rates, which include a Personalized Education Plan, Guided and Personalized Support Workshops, and supplemental instruction to promote academic success in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).
By Steve Mayer
Early each July, the Robbinsville Board of Education gathers for an annual goal-setting retreat. This year, as in the past six, the board evaluates the district’s progress against five major goal areas in order to establish a clear focus for the coming school year. The five goal areas we adhere to in all of our work are: to maintain a strong academic culture in Robbinsville, to effectively manage facilities and advance school security, to maintain sound fiscal practices, to foster community engagement and to promote a healthy school culture where developing competence and character are integral to our work.
The year, the board agreed upon 23 objectives that anchor in these five areas. This article will highlight a few of these objectives, and I encourage you to review the comprehensive document located on the school district website. Further, the Board of Education will review the objectives and outcomes at the next two public board meetings before authorizing them for the start of the new school year.
Academically, the district will focus on refining the scope and sequence of foundational math programs so that students are prepared for the rigor of standards set by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Emphasizing deeper conceptual understanding and facility with basic facts and number sense, teachers will foster critical thinking and problem solving skills that are required as algebraic and mathematical thinking is developed. To promote this work, the district will lean on recommendations from a program review commissioned in 2013-14 and conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania as a way to continue to refine how we promote sound math instruction across grades.
Given the world’s growing emphasis on globalization, improving world language instruction is also a target for our work as we prepare students for the 21st century. By holding fast to standards established by the American Council on Teaching Foreign Language, the district is pleased to add everyday Spanish instruction for sixth graders, and hopes to send middle school students to high school prepared to reach Advanced Placement courses, which require active listening, reading and speaking skills. Beginning in September, the district will offer Spanish in grades 6 through 8 and four languages at the high school.
Increasing our use of instructional technology is also an area of academic focus. This year, we are expanding the one-to-one Chromebook initiative to include all students in grades 3 and 5 and, by September 2017, intend to provide a Chromebook every student in grades 3 through 8 for in-school use. As we move forward leveraging the Google Drive to promote collaboration, build organizational skills, and foster stronger school to home partnerships, starting in September 2018 we will begin to expect students in grade 9 to enter high school with their own device. Taking advantage of technology to help develop writing and analysis skills makes good sense as we prepare students for college and career.
This brief article does not permit sharing detail from all of the goal areas, but please mark your calendars for Thursday, Nov. 19 when we will hold the first annual State of the Schools event at Robbinsville High School. The primary aim of this event will be to engage community members in the work of the schools by sharing information about vision and direction and providing a forum that will enable us to listen to our constituents. We believe we are at our best when our school district represents the values and dreams of our community. We look forward to partnering with you in the coming school year.
Steve Mayer is superintendent of Robbinsville Schools.
On August 1, 2015, the ONE Project, a faith and community coalition organized to efficiently and effectively address social needs through education and volunteerism, hosted the 2015 NJ Hunger Project at Robbinsville High School. The ONE Project, working with Feeding Children Everywhere, brought together 500 community volunteers and packaged 50,000 meals for hungry kids in New Jersey.
The ONE Project team raised more than $16,000 in donations from over 40 local community sponsors and dozens of individual donations. Those funds were used to purchase the ingredients for a lentil casserole meal created by nutritionists at Feeding Children Everywhere. This meal, which consists of lentils, rice, dehydrated vegetables, and pink Himalayan salt, is nutritious, non-perishable, and best of all, only costs 25 cents per meal.
Led by Ashley Stamboulian (Robbinsville High School), Kabir Suri (Lawrence High School), Akshat Gokhale (Middlesex Academy) and Bharath Jaladi (West Windsor-Plainsboro South High School), the ONE Project’s Youth Council, a collection of student leaders from schools throughout New Jersey, brought in over 100 student volunteers in an effort to express the importance of community service to students. Not only did they bring in a diverse group of volunteers, but they kept the crowd energized with rallying cheers every time a box of meals was filled.
The meals were donated to Community FoodBank of New Jersey and Mercer Street Friends Food Bank’s “Send Hunger Packing” program. This program, which is part of Feeding America’s national BackPack Program, is designed to target low-income children in Mercer County who struggle to afford food when they are out of school. The kids will receive a backpack full of nutritious food, including the 50,000 lentil casserole meals, to help bridge the hunger gap in our community.
These meals are particularly impactful considering that Feeding America’s research project, Map the Meal Gap, shows that almost 400,000 children in New Jersey or 1 in every 5 children are food insecure.
The ONE Project also collaborated with the New Jersey Ancient Order of Hibernians to make August 1, “A Day Against Hunger.” After the 2015 NJ Hunger Project, the community gathered for Mercer County II: Honoring the Red, White, and Blue at Mercer County Park festival grounds to salute our servicemen and servicewomen while also supporting Battle Against Hunger, which helps feed the hungry in Mercer County. Together, the ONE Project and NJAOH have taken the first step in bringing local business, faith groups and community partners under one roof in order to take on some of our community’s most pressing needs.
The Pennington School has announced the election of three new members to its Board of Trustees.
Julie M. Wulf was associate professor of business administration at the Harvard Business School from 2007-2014. Previously she was an associate professor of management at The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania from 1999-2007. Prior to her teaching career, Wulf worked at Booz & Co., as a vice-president of corporate planning and development for the American Express Company, and co-founded a private equity real estate firm in New York.
Julie Wulf received her B.S. from the University of California, Davis, an M.B.A. in finance from New York University, an M.Sc. in economics from the London School of Economics, and a Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University. She is an accomplished scholar and economist with dozens of peer-reviewed publications, some appearing in leading international periodicals. Wulf joins the Board as a current parent at the School; her daughter is a rising sophomore.
Matthew Pauls is president and chief executive officer of Cortendo, AB, a global pharmaceutical company. Pauls has more than twenty years of leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry, with an emphasis on general management, global product launches, commercial operations, business development, clinical development and technical operations.
Prior to joining Cortendo in 2014, Pauls was chief commercial officer of Insmed, Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company. In this role, Mr. Pauls built out the global commercial strategy and organization and led global technical operations efforts. He also played a key role in investor interactions and financings. Before that, Pauls was senior vice president and head of global commercial operations at Shire Pharmaceuticals.
Pauls has held positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb in brand management and payor marketing and at Johnson & Johnson in various U.S. and global commercial roles. He holds B.S. and M.B.A. degrees from Central Michigan University and a J.D. from Michigan State University College of Law.
Anne Michaelson joins the Board ex-officio in her role as co-president of The Pennington School Parents Association. Michaelson began her professional career in public relations at The Estee Lauder Companies before pursuing a master’s degree in health care marketing at Columbia University.
Subsequently she worked in the surgery department at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York, responsible for securing significant sponsorship dollars and donations for the hospital programs she helped to create.
A resident of Montgomery Township, Michaelson became PTA president of the local public school and helped transform that traditional organization into both a financial contributor to the schools and trusted consultant to the school administration. After that, she served on the Montgomery Township Board of Education for four years. Michaelson is a strong advocate for programs that give back to communities. She has volunteered at several local organizations including HomeFront, Dress for Success, Montgomery High School, and now at The Pennington School, where she is the proud parent of two daughters who are in the Upper School.
These three new members will bring a diverse set of skills to their work on the Board of Trustees as the School enters its fourth year of a five-year, $20M capital campaign and transformation of the campus and groundbreaking new programs in global studies, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), and interdisciplinary studies.
The Pennington School is an independent coeducational school for students in grades 6 through 12, in both day and boarding programs, with an enrollment of approximately 500 students. The School offers a comprehensive, college preparatory curriculum, with an emphasis on fostering the growth of the whole student through academics, athletics, community service, and the creative and performing arts. The Pennington School is committed to developing individual excellence in all of its students.
By Dana Drake
Welcome back students and staff to the 2015-16 school year! Lawrence Township Public Schools (LTPS) open Thursday, Sept. 3 for students. We look forward to what the new school year brings both in and out of the classrooms.
Before getting into the new school year, I’d like to take a moment to recognize a few of our LTPS administrators, staff and students who did some pretty amazing things over the summer.
Superintendent Dr. Crystal Edwards and Judy Bronston, former LES principal and now Director of Personnel, presented overseas in Malta at an International Learning Summit, Unlocking Learning Potential.
Dr. Edwards, who presented the keynote address, “Unlocking Learning Potential through Educational Reform,” wowed Board members with a quick re-cap at the July 15 board meeting. Judy presented a two-hour Best Practice workshop on using the LML Process.
K-3 Gifted & Talented teacher Jeanne Muzi took part in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Teacher at Sea Program, a program that bridges science and research through real-world research experiences for teachers. While aboard the Thomas Jefferson, Jeanne spent 12 days assisting scientists as they conducted a hydrographic survey along the U.S. East Coast.
School Spanish teacher Alyssa Katz and 11 high school students volunteered with “Students Helping Honduras” for a service trip to help build schools in Honduras. Our students spent hours each day working with Honduran crews to mix cement, lay bricks, plaster walls, etc.. We are very proud of those who volunteered and all their hard work!
The board is also proud to recognize student Nicole Lusardi who represented New Jersey at the 2015 Special Olympics in Los Angeles this summer. Competing as a cyclist, Nicole and won 4th place in the 500M, 6th in the 1K and 7th in the 2K. Congratulations Nicole!
As mentioned in previous columns, students and staff will see changes to the leadership teams at four of our seven schools — Lawrence High School (LHS), Lawrence Intermediate School (LIS), Lawrence Elementary School (LES) and Ben Franklin (BF).
Former LIS Principal Dave Adam has returned to LHS to replace Jon Dauber as principal. At LIS Cindy Westhead has moved up from asst. principal to principal. Replacing Cindy as LIS asst. principal is Amy Amiet, former EPS music teacher.
Melissa Lockett, former K-6 Supervisor of Science & Math, has replaced Judith Bronston as LES principal. And last but not least, at BF replacing Christopher Turnbull as principal is William (BJ) Meurer. On behalf of the Board, I’d like to welcome BJ who joins us from Montgomery where he was an elementary asst. principal.
The first several weeks of the new school year are usually full of activity with Back to School Night, Student Picture Day, PTO events and more.
Be sure to keep yourself updated on district events by visiting ltps.org and clicking the quick link “District Calendar.”
The full 2015-16 school year calendar is also posted online. Please be advised that the tentative last day of school will be June 17.
In the event that Mother Nature requires emergency closings those days will be made up at the end of the school year. (June 20 – 22) If we require more than three snow days they will be made up during spring break.
School will be closed Monday, Sept. 7 for Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 14 for Rosh Hashanah, and Wednesday Sept. 23 for Yom Kippur.
Dana Drake is a member of the Lawrence Township Board of Education.
Princeton Day School faculty and staff were back on campus on August 31, 2015 for opening meetings to prepare for the start of school. The community welcomed the following new faculty.
In the Upper School:
Christian Cousins will be teaching several levels of Upper School Spanish, including our AP Spanish Literature course. He holds a PhD and MA in Spanish Literature from the University of Texas-Austin, and a B.A. in Modern Languages from Trinity College. Prior to PDS, Cousins taught Upper School Spanish and coached soccer at St. Christopher’s School, a PreK-12 independent school for Boys in Richmond, VA.
Sam Hunt will teach 9th grade World Studies and 10th Grade American History, and will also serve as an Upper School Advisor. He received his B.A. from Southern Methodist University in French and World History. He then completed two Masters Degrees at Columbia University, one in East Asian and Japanese Studies and a second in African History. Prior to PDS, Hunt served as an Upper School World History Teacher, Advisor, and Dean of the 10th grade class at The Dalton School in New York City.
Jessica Manners will be teaching three sections of Upper School English. She received her B.A. in English and American Literature, cum laude, from Harvard University, and then completed a Master’s Degree in the Teaching of English from Columbia University Teachers College. Prior to PDS, she taught 9th and 11th grade English, as well as two English electives in Creative Writing and Film Criticism at the Leman Preparatory School in New York City.
Mia Manzulli will teach 10th grade English as well as an elective on Shakespeare, and will also serve as a faculty advisor to the Writing Center and to our Upper School Lively Arts Program. She earned her B.A. in English, with distinction and departmental honors, from Stanford University, and earned an M.A. as well as a PhD in English and American Literature from New York University. Manzulli previously taught across the street at Stuart Country Day School, where for six years she was a distinguished member of their English Department, and prior to Stuart, she was an Assistant Professor of English at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Caroline Lee will teach 9th grade English, a new upper level elective entitled American Literature: Race Matters, and will also provide faculty support to a number of our student diversity clubs and programs. Lee received her B.A. from Rutgers University, a Masters of English from Penn State, and a Masters of Liberal Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to PDS, Lee taught English at The Lawrenceville School, and also served for many years as a housemaster, a teacher in the school’s summer “Rising Scholars” Program, and as a leader in the school’s diversity programming, serving as Asst. Director for Multicultural Affairs.
Julie Ludwick will be teaching dance this fall, filling in for dance teacher Ann Robideaux while she is on maternity leave. Ludwick received a B.A. in Dance from the University of Washington in Seattle and an MA in Dance and Dance Education from Columbia University Teachers College. In addition to running a private dance studio, Ludwick also serves as Director and Lead Teacher in the “Fly By Night” Dance Theater in NYC, a Dance Company she founded in 1999.
Mary Sisson will teach one section of 7th grade English, three sections of 9th grade English, and will serve as an US advisor. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, with a double major in English and History (and a minor in Music), Sisson is currently pursuing her M.A. in English through the Bread Loaf School, Middlebury College. Prior to PDS, she taught at St. Anne’s Belfield School, a PreK-12 independent school in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Aimee Nyce is the new Upper School assistant to Jason Robinson, Head of Upper School and Assistant Head of School for Academic Life. She comes to PDS from The Wilberforce School in Princeton, where for the past six years she has served as the school’s Director of Admissions and Marketing.
In the Middle School:
Drew Lloyd will teach MS Science and serve as a 6th grade advisor. He earned a graduate degree in Environmental Sustainability from Cardiff University in Wales and a B.A. in Literature from New York University. Most recently Lloyd served as a MS Science Teacher and Sustainability Coordinator at The Pennington School.
Emily Gill will teach Spanish I, serve as an advisor, and also teach in Upper School. She is a graduate of St. Joseph’s University with a Master’s degree in Education and also is a Villanova graduate (BA, Spanish). Gill taught Spanish in both the U.S. and Spain in previous teaching positions.
In the Lower School:
Leah Anderson will teach 2nd Grade. She is a graduate of Drake University in Des Moines and holds a Masters of education from Rockhurst University in Kansas City. Prior to PDS, Anderson taught second grade for three years at Voyager Academy in Durham, NC. She was also a Leadership Team member and served on numerous committees including the Responsive Classroom, the Changemaker School, and the Teacher Evaluation committees.
Carolee Van Dervort will teach Science in grades PreK – 1st. Van Dervort is a graduate of the University of Delaware and holds a Masters of Education in Guidance and Counseling from Bowie State University in Maryland. Prior to PDS, she served as a reading therapist at the Cooper Learning Center at the Cooper Health Systems in Camden, and she taught fourth grade at Deale Elementary School in Annapolis, Maryland.
Heather Farlow will serve as the PreK Assistant Teacher. Farlow is a graduate of Rutgers University and holds a Masters degree in the school of public health from The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Prior to PDS, she was a Human Resources Assistant at the Brearley School in Manhattan, and was also the varsity field hockey assistant coach at the Chapin School in New York City. Heather will coach our varsity field hockey team.
Two administrative positions are also new this year, and were reported on earlier this year. Renée Charity Price is serving as Head of the Middle School. And Dr. Maritoni (Candy) Shah is serving as the school’s first Director of Wellness Services.
For more information, please visit pds.org
A sunny day brings more than warmth and brightness to Lawrence Township Public Schools (LTPS), it now brings revenue from the solar panels on the roofs of all seven district schools.
On July 15, 2015 LTPS sold 1,351 Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs) for $227 to $233 each at an auction. The district earns one SREC for every 1,000 kilowatt hours the solar panels produce. The sale reaped $313,434 of revenue which the district applies to tax relief for Lawrence residents.
The SRECs sold were generated by the solar panels in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
With the most recent sale, LTPS is just under the $2.5 million mark in revenue generated (exactly $2,499,203) since the first sale in March 2010. This revenue is in addition to the energy usage offset by the panels.
Prior to the most recent sale, LTPS last sold SRECs on September 17, 2014. At that time 1,200 SRECs went for $173 each and produced $207,000 of revenue.
The amount earned per SREC fluctuates depending upon supply, demand and regulation. Throughout various auctions since the LTPS panels came on line, the money earned per SREC has ranged from $86 to $678.
With an eye towards the future, on April 15, 2008 the LTPS Board of Education proposed and Lawrence Township residents approved a bond referendum financing solar panel installation on the roofs of all seven schools. After two phases of installation, all schools’ roofs were maxed out with no space available for more panels. Panels in phase two came on line in 2013.
