my name is Dr Richard Corbett and I am the proud superintendent of Rockaway Township Public Schools I was just waving to some of our wonderful students as they were walking by and I'm so happy and pleased to say that when I walk through these halls and talk to these students in these six different schools I see students that are learning and having fun and to me those are two very important qualities of a very very effective education Birchwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended birwood it is truly a loving community it's such a wonderful place to be our core values are the same as Rockway Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind what really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before Tony Brook is an amazing Place really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visit us in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is second to none they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involved School Community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District and will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community our Mantra we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community you just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors what keeps me coming back here every morning hug from kids you know I love being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal so yeah I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy their willingness to support and grow with one another another is contagious the people I work with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world the thing that makes Copeland middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better place I come here for the students I love the kids here they are amazing the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do I'm proud to be the superintendent of Rockway Township Schools and we are thankful for all the support we have from our community I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at deire is special because we don't have walls I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child if you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other one of the things that I love the most about this position and this job is that I get to work with students of all ages now that we house preschool students here I see every single student in the building from preschool all the way through fifth grade and I get to work with them on a deeper level on a way that inspires them not just to be confident in themselves but in what they love after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to [Music] come so we always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard like a harder task and I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder task than all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier our goal here is that every child is as comfortable in class as they are at home and if they're ever in trouble or ever concerned or worried that they have the tools available to them to be successful and to help each other be as successful as we know they can be we have really seen over the years an incredible increase in their emotional maturity and in their abilities to deal with issues both in the playground and in the classroom and I really believe it's because our districts Focus onal over the last several years I am the steam teacher at copela middle school I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what awesome is about being in Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing where go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to dbll yeah my name is Rea I'm in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss Takis cuz drawing is my favorite thing what makes deio unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other my name is quen k I'm in the fifth grade hi my name is Arya I am in second grade what makes our school awesome as all the teach teachers we have here they help us every day all the janitors keep our school nice and clean all my friends that help me since kindergarten and everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good Community because of my friends the teachers and the principal like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened in that story math is my favorite subject because the teachers always help us and it's fun but it can be complicated but it's still really fun my favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have fun activities to do and their stories my first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books and juny B Jones my favorite subject is science in science you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun every day I'm like happy at school when I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my 7th grade La teacher I used to dis likee like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe this school is probably hard honesty empathy acceptance and respect and [Music] trust this is probably one of the most special places I've ever worked it is the staff the teachers uh they are loving they are caring the energy here is just great it's wonderful to work with a group of men and women who truly love what they do their heart passion and soul is for students and to see them succeed I try to find a way for them to want to be here even if they're sad or even if they don't want to get out of the car in the morning if I say hey let's go wander in the library and they bounce out of the car right away which actually happened then I've done something right that I have found a way to make them feel like this is home for them because that's kind of how I feel I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what awesome is about being Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day our doors are always open we are truly a family here our kids are just everything if you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood you honestly never want leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other Birchwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended Birchwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be I commute an hour or more every day and I've been given the opportunity to work in another District but I've been here s 7 years and I will drive that hour because the community the parents the teachers our principal are incredible we're just so happy to have such a loving nurturing community that is so vested in our school We are family and once a bulld doog always a bulld doog I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at deire is special because we don't have walls our Mantra we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community you just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors I like to tell people that when you're here it's like learning at home you're in your kitchen but you still know what's going on in the family room it builds like this you know codery amongst not only the students but also the faculty that work here we call ourselves a dwire family Mr McGovern he seldom calls us a school and we really all live by that we treat each other like family and we emulate that for the kids I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe the school is probably heart honesty empathy acceptance and respect and Trust I have been teaching art here in Rockaway township for 16 years I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child I get the privilege of going into every single class once a month where I do a guidance lesson the best part of my job is when one of them is having a tough day and then they feel better and it's because of me the people I work with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community I am the steam teacher at copela Middle School I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class when I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my seventh grade La teacher I used to just like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day we are making sure kids are prepared for the future and that means making sure that they have access to technology every single classroom has interactive boards kids get a Chromebook in the fifth grade they work as as a team towards a common goal they overcome challenges we connect with the community through our concerts which are very well attended Vanda Copeland is truly an all-inclusive experience for all of the students here I try to get everybody involved so that they can make a positive impact in the future I teach us history and I come to work every day excited I get the opportunity to mold the Next Generation the thing that makes scopel middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff St it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better [Music] place our core values are the same as Rockaway Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind by being kind to a friend helping them out helping teachers be nice to them be respectful and don't interrupt the teachers and everything we do we try and relate back to our core values one of the things we are working on right now is positive behavior system I don't like to address anything negative in my office because I want kids to be able to trust me and to be able to come down as a leader of the building so we're really working on being kind and yes academics are important but one of the main things for us is that we raise good kids the main message is to be kind because above all else we want our kids just to be kind my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DB yeah my name is Reya I'm in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss tus cuz drawing is my favorite thing what makes D unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other if I had to describe our building in one word I would say we're a little unconventional we're always trying to have our teachers and our students look at other ways to achieve success and for every student that's different there are other ways that we can really show student growth Student Success I'm not trying to be cheesy or anything it's a really the staff here um we have built family and I think that says something about the building and the and and the community that we Foster like to call the meeting to order at 6m I will take attendance Mrs Anderson here Mrs [Music] karoo M mcari Mrs mzik here Mrs Smith here Dr thini here Mrs Shields here Mrs McGary here the New Jersey open public meeting Act was passed to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice and to attend the meetings of public bodies which any business affecting their interest is discussed and acted upon in accordance with the provisions of the act the Rockway Township Board of Education has caused notice of the date time and place of said meetings to be published in the Daily Record The Star Ledger and be posted in all schools in the district in the municipal building of the township and the Township Library does any board member wish to object to the conduct of the me of this meeting for the purpose as stated in the public notice all documentation and materials considered by the Board of Education as part of this agenda are available for the for public review and comment members of the public are invited to come to the Board of Education building off Green Pond Road during the regular business hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday if they wish to inspect any of the referenced items I have a motion to wave The Pledge so moved session second Aaron and Lissa show of hands please resolve that in accordance with the open public meetings act the Rockway Township Board of Education will meet in close session discuss matters involving Personnel litigation acquisition of Real Estate Security negotiations rective government funds the content of said discussions will be disclosed to the public at such time and extent as required by law can I have a motion to go into close session so moved seconded Alison and Noel can I have a show of hands okay Clos session starts at 6:02 p.m. see you back here at 7:30 my name is Dr Richard Corbett and I am the proud superintendent of Rockaway Township Public Schools I was just waving to some of our wonderful students as they were walking by and I'm so happy and pleased to say that when I walk through these halls and talk to these students in these six different schools I see students that are learning and having fun and to me those are two very important qualities of a very very effective education birwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended birwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be our core values are the same as Rockaway Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind what really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before Sony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visit us in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is second to none and they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involv School Community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well [Music] every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community our Mantra we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community you just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors well keeps me coming back here every morning hugs from kids you know I love being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal so yeah I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy they will willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious the people I work with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world the thing that makes scopeland middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better place I come here for the students I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do I'm proud to be the superintendant of Rockway Township Schools and we are thankful for all the support we have from our [Music] community I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and at deire is special because we don't have walls I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child if you've never taught at another school and you come to birwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other one of the things that I love the most about this position and this job is that I get to work with students of all ages now that we house preschool students here I see every single student in the building from preschool all the way through fifth grade and I get to work with them on a deeper level on a way that inspires them not just to be confident in themselves but in what they love after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to [Music] come so we used to always we start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard like a harder task and I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder task than all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier our goal here is that every child is as comfortable in class as they are at home and if they're ever in trouble they're ever concerned or worried that they have the tools available to them to be successful and to help each other be as successful as we know they can be we have really seen over the years an incredible increase in their emotional maturity and in their abilities to deal with issues both in the playground and in the classroom and I really believe it's because our districts Focus onal over the last several years I am the steam teacher at copelan middle school I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what awesome is about being in Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DBL yeah my name is Rea I'm in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss tus cuz drawing is my favorite thing what makes deio unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other my name is quin K I'm in the fifth grade hi my name is Arya I am in second grade what makes our school awesome is all the teachers we have here they help us every day all the jamers keep our school nice and clean all my friends that help me since kindergarten and everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good Community because of my friends the teachers and the principal like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened in that story math is my favorite subject because the teachers always help us and it's fun but it can be complicated but it's still really fun it's fun my favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have fun activities to do and there's stories my first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books and juny B Jones my favorite subject is science in science you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun every really am like happy at school when I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my seventh grade La teacher I used to just like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there good teachers math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe this school is probably hard honesty empathy acceptance and respect and [Music] trust this is probably one of the most special places I've ever worked it is the staff the teachers uh they are loving they are caring the energy here is just great it's wonderful to work with a group of men and women who truly love what they do their heart passion and soul is for students and to see them succeed I try to find a way for them to want to be here even if they're sad or even if they don't want to get out of the car in the morning if I say hey let's go wander in the library and they bounce out of the car right away which actually happened then I done something right that I have found a way to make them feel like this is home for them because that's kind of how I feel I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what awesome is about being Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing bre go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day our doors are always open we are truly a family here our kids are just everything if you've never taught at another school and you come to B Birchwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other Birchwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended Birchwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be I commute an hour or more every day and I've been given the opportunity to work in another another District but I've been here 7 years and I will drive that hour because the community the parents the teachers our principal are incredible we're just so happy to have such a loving nurturing community that is so vested in our school We are family and once a bulldog always a bulld doog I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at deire is special because we don't have walls our Mantra we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community you just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors I like to tell people that when you're here it's like learning at home you're in your kitchen but you still know what's going on in the family room it builds like this you know caterie amongst not only the students but also the faculty that work here we call ourselves a dwire family Mr McGovern he seldom calls us a school and we really all live by that we treat each other like family and we emulate that for the kids I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers math is my fav favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe the school is probably hard honesty empathy acceptance and respect and Trust I have been teaching art here in Rockaway township for 16 years I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child I get the privilege of going into every single class once a month where I do a guidance lesson the best part of my job is when one of them is having a tough day and then they feel better and it's because of me the people I work with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District and will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community I am the steam teacher at copela middle school I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class when I came into six grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special in cared for was my 7eventh grade La teacher I used to just like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrify of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this feere and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day we are making sure kids are prepared for the future and that means making sure that they have access to technology every single classroom has interactive boards kids get a Chromebook in the fifth grade they work as a team towards a common goal they overcome challenges we connect with the community through our concerts which are very well attended Vanda Copeland is truly an all-inclusive experience for all of the students here I try to get everybody involved so that they can make a positive impact in the future I teach us history and I come to work every day excited I get the opportunity to mold the Next Generation the thing that makes scopel middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better [Music] place our core values are the same as Rockaway Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind by being kind to a friend helping them out helping teachers be nice to them be respectful and don't interrupt the teachers and everything we do we try and relate back to our core values one of the things we are working on right now is positive behavior system I don't like to address anything negative in my office because I want kids to be able to trust me and to be able to come down as a leader of the building so we're really working on being kind and yes academics are important but one of the main things for us is that we raise good kids the main message is to be kind because above all else we want our kids just to be kind my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DB yeah my name is Reya I'm in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss Takis drawing is my favorite thing what makes deio unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other if I had to describe our building in one word I would say we're a little unconventional we're always trying to have our teachers and our students look at other ways to achieve success and for every student that's different there are other ways that we can really show student growth Student Success I'm not trying to be cheesy or anything it's a really the staff here here um we have built a family and I think that says something about the building and the and and the community that we Foster here at dbo and I'm really grateful to be part of that being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks so yeah I I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other what really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on and classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset just because we can't do something right now doesn't mean that we're never going to be able to do it and that's what I teach all of my students my favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have fun activities to do and their stories my first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books and juny B Jones my favorite subject is science in science you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun every day I'm like happy at school we identify the interests of students you know what motivates them so students feel more comfortable and confident in their learning environment moving them forward from one learning experience to another every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy their willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even write first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for educ and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to [Music] come bony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visitors in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is second to none and they really put the the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involved School Community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well inside school I really try to be involved in as many things as I can my children also go to school in this District at one of the other schools and I'm really proud of what we put forth for our children any type we can bring togetherness and have us all work together both in our community and out it's really going to help everyone raise their own level of abilities to really increase the success of our community so we used always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard like a harder task and I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder task than all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier having students in a classroom that's smaller where you get to meet their needs specifically rather than in a bigger classroom you can build more of a rapport and relationships with them I like them to become successful not just academically but also social and emotionally my name is Queen K I'm in the fifth grade hi my name is Arya I am in second grade what makes our school awesome is all the teachers we have here they help us every day all the janitors keep our school nice and clean all my friends that help me since kindergarten and everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good Community because of my friends the teachers and the principal like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened in that story math is my favorite subject because the teachers always help us and it's fun but it can be complicated but it's still really fun I've always wanted to be a teacher I think the reason why I wanted to be a teacher is because I think I had really good Elementary School teachers Rockway I thought was really interesting cuz I feel like it is a small close Community but I also felt like there was a lot of different opportunities in Rockway like how there was five different elementary schools but I also like how I felt like that I fit in with the Sony Brook mentality the Sony Brook mentality is something where we all feel and have the same idea of supporting students the kids understand that everyone makes a mistake everyone has a bad day and I think that it gives the opportunity for kids to grow and not feel like penalized I love that we have a great principal I love the teachers and the morale as soon as I started coming up here since I am from South Jersey I felt welcomed and included right away my name is Dr Richard Corbett and I am the proud superintendent of Rockaway Township Public Schools I was just waving to some of our wonderful students as they were walking by and I'm so happy and pleased to say that when I walk through these halls and talk to these students in these six different schools I see students that are learning and having fun and to me those are two very important quality ities of a very very effective education birwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended birwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be our core values are the same as Rockaway Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on forly on being kind what really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before sonon Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visit us in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is second to none they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involved School Community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District and will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our Comm Community our Mantra we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students uh great sense of community you just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors what keeps me coming back here every morning hugs from kids you know I love being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal so yeah I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy their willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious the people I work with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world the thing that makes scopel middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better place I come here for the students I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do I'm proud to be the superintendent of Rockway Township Schools and we are thankful for all the support we have from our community I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at deire is special because we don't have walls I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child if you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other one of the things that I love the most about this position and this job is that I get to work with students of all ages now that we house preschool students here I see every single student in the building from preschool all the way through fifth grade and I get to work with them on a deeper level on a way that inspires them not just to be confident in themselves but in what they love after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel them more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even write first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to [Music] come so we always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard like a harder task and I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder task than all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier our goal here is that every child is as comfortable in class as they are at home and if they're ever in trouble or ever concerned or worried that they have the tools available to them to be successful and to help each other be as successful as we know they can be we have really seen over the years an incredible increase in their emotional maturity and in their abilities to deal with issues both in the playground and in the classroom and I really believe it's because our District's Focus onal over the last several years I am the steam teacher at copela middle school I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what awesome is about being in Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing B go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DB yeah my name is Rea I'm in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss tus cuz drawing is my favorite thing well make to Unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other my name is quen k I'm in the fifth grade hi my name is Arya I am in second grade what makes our school awesome is all the teachers we have here they help us every day all the janitors keep our school nice and clean all my friends that help me since kindergarten and everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good Community because of my friends the teachers and the principal like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened in that story math is my favorite subject because the teachers always help us and it's fun but it can be complicated but it's still really fun my favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have fun activities to do and their stories my first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books and juny B Jones my favorite subject is science in science you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun every day I'm like happy at school when I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my 7th grade La teacher I used to just like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school well fun word to describe this school is probably heart honesty empathy acceptance and respect and [Music] trust this is probably one of the most special places I've ever worked it is the staff the teachers uh they are loving they are caring the energy here is just great it's wonderful to work with a group of men and women who truly love what they do their heart passion and soul is for students and to see them succeed I try to find a way for them to want to be here even if they're sad or even if they don't want to get out of the car in the morning if I say hey let's go wander in the library and they bounce out of the car right away which actually happened then I've done something right that I have found a way to make them feel like this is home for them because that's kind of how I feel I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do so my name is Jackson my name name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what awesome is about being Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teature my favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day our doors are always open we are truly a family here our kids are just everything if you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other Birchwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended Birchwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be I commute an hour or more every day and I've been given the opportunity to work in another District but I've been here 7 years and I will drive that hour because the community the parents the teachers our principal are incredible we're just so happy to have such a loving nurturing community that is so vested in our school we are family and once a bulldog always a bulldog I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at deire is special because we don't have walls our Mantra we live by is no walls no limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community you just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors I like to tell people that when you're here it's like learning at home you're in your kitchen but you still know what's going on in the family room it builds like this you know codery amongst not only the students but also the faculty that work here we call ourselves a dwire family Mr McGovern he seldom calls us a school and we really all live by that we treat each other like family and we emulate that for the kids I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe the school is probably heart honesty empathy acceptance and respect and Trust I been teaching art here in Rockaway township for 16 years I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child I get the privilege of going into every single class once a month where I do a guidance lesson the best part of my job is when one of them is having a tough day and then they feel better and it's because of me the people I work with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world every student who goes through Rockaway Township School district and will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community I am the steam teacher at Copa Middle School I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to SCH school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class when I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special and cared for was was my 7th grade La teacher I used to just like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day we are making sure kids are prepared for the future and that means making sure that they have access to technology every single classroom has interactive boards kids get a Chromebook in the fifth grade they work as a team towards a common goal they overcome challenges we connect with the community through our concerts which are very well attended Banda Copeland is truly an all-inclusive experience for all of the students here I try to get everybody involved so that they can make a positive impact in the future I teach us history and I come to work every day excited I get the opportunity to mold the Next Generation the thing that makes scopel middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better [Music] place our core values are the same as rock Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind by being kind to a friend helping them out helping teachers be nice to them be respectful and don't interrupt the teachers and everything we do we try and relate back to our core values one of the things we are working on right now is positive behavior system I don't like to address anything negative in my office because I want kids to be able to trust me and to be able to come down as a leader of the building so we're really working on being kind and yes academics are important but one of the main things for us is that we raise good kids the main message is to be kind because above all else we want our kids just to be kind my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DB yeah my name is Rea I'm in first grade being at dbo is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss tus cuz drawing is my favorite thing what makes the unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other I had to describe our building in one word I would say we're a little unconventional we're always trying to have our teachers and our students look at other ways to achieve success and for every student that's different there are other ways that we can really show student growth Student Success I'm not trying to be cheesy or anything it's a really the staff here um we have built a family and I think that says something about the building and the and and the community that we Foster here at dbo and I'm really grateful to be part of that being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we people together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks so yeah I I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other what really resonates with me about the school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere Fe and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset just because we can't do something right now doesn't mean that we're never going to be able to do it and that's what I teach all of my students my favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have fun activities to do and their stories my first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books in juny B Jones my favorite subject is science in science you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun every day I'm like happy at school I identify the interests of students you know what motivates them so students feel more comfortable and confident in their learning environment moving them forward from one learning experience to another every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy their willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to come [Music] bony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visit us in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is second to none they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involved School Community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well inside school I really try to be involved in as many things as I can my children also go to school in this District at one of the other schools and I'm really proud of what we put forth for our children any type we can bring togetherness and have us all work together both in our community and out it's really going to help everyone raise their own level of abilities to really increase the success of our community so we us always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might might seem hard like a harder task and I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder task then all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier having students in a classroom that's smaller where you get to meet their needs specifically rather than in a bigger classroom you can build more of a rapport and relationships with them I like them to become successful not just academically but also social emotionally my name is Queen K I'm in the fifth grade hi my name is Arya I am in in second grade what makes our school awesome is all the teachers we have here they help us every day all the janitors keep our school nice and clean all my friends that help me since kindergarten and everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good Community because of my friends the teachers and the principal like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened in that story math is my favorite subject because the teachers always help us and it's fun but it can be complicated but still really really fun I've always wanted to be a teacher I think the reason why I wanted to be a teacher is because I think I had really good Elementary School teachers Rockway I thought was really interesting cuz I feel like it is a small close-knit community but I also felt like there was a lot of different opportunities in Rockway like how there was five different elementary schools but I also like how I felt like that I fit in with the Sony Brook mentality the Sony Brook mentality is something where we all feel and have the same idea of support morning students the kids understand that everyone makes a mistake everyone has a bad day and I think that it gives the opportunity for kids to grow and not feel like penalized I love that we have a great principal I love the teachers and the morale as soon as I started coming up here since I am from South Jersey I felt welcomed and included right away my name is Dr Richard Corbett and I am the proud superintendent of Rockaway Township Public Schools I was just waving to some of our wonderful students as they were walking by and I'm so happy and pleased to say that when I walk through these halls and talk to these students in these six different schools I see students that are learning and having fun and to me those are two very important qualities of a very very effective education Birchwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended birwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to our core values are the same as Rockaway Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind what really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before Sony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visitors in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is second to none they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involved School Community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District and will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community our Mantra we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community you just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors what keeps me coming back here every morning hugs from kids you know I love being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal so yeah I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy their willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious the people I work with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world the thing that makes scopeland middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better place I come here for the students I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do I'm proud to be the superintendent of Rockway Township Schools and we are thankful for all the support we have from our [Music] community I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at deire is special because we don't have walls I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child if you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other one of the of things that I love the most about this position and this job is that I get to work with students of all ages now that we house preschool students here I see every single student in the building from preschool all the way through fifth grade and I get to work with them on a deeper level on a way that inspires them not just to be confident in themselves but in what they love after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to [Music] come so we used to always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard like a harder task and I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder task than all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier our goal here is that every child is as comfortable in class as they are at home and if they're ever in trouble they're ever concerned or worried that they have the tools available to them to be successful and to help each other be as successful as we know they can be we have really seen over the years an incredible increase in their emotional maturity and their abilities to deal with issues both in the playground and in the classroom and I really believe it's because our districts Focus oncl over the last several years I am the steam teacher at Copa Middle School I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what do every day so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what awesome is about being in Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing BR go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DBL yeah my name is Rea I'm in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches is us stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss tus cuz drawing is my favorite thing what makes Deo unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other my name is quink k I'm in the fifth grade hi my name is Arya I am in second grade what makes our school awesome is all the teachers we have here they help us every day all the jamers keep our school nice and clean all my friends that help me since kindergarten and everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good Community because of my friends the teachers and the principal like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened in that story math is my favorite subject because the teachers always help us and it's fun but it can be complicated but it's still really fun my favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have fun activities to do and their stories my first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books and juny B Jones my favorite subject is science in science you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun every day I'm like happy at school when I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my sth grade La teacher I used to just like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers math is my favorite because you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe the school is probably heart honesty empathy acceptance and respect and [Music] trust this is probably one of the most special places I've ever worked it is the staff the teacher uh they are loving they are caring the energy here is just great it's wonderful to work with a group of men and women who truly love what they do their heart passion and soul is for students and to see them succeed I try to find a way for them to want to be here even if they're sad or even if they don't want to get out of the car in the morning if I say hey let's go wander in the library and they bounce out of the car right away which actually happened then I've done something right that I have found a way to make them feel like this is home for them because that's kind of how I feel I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what awesome is about being Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day our doors are always open we are truly a family here our kids are just everything if you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other virtu is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended Birchwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be I commute an hour or more every day and I've been given the opportunity to work in another District but I've been here 7 years and I will drive that hour because the community the parents the teachers our principal are incredible we're just so happy to have such a loving nurturing community that is so vested in our school We are family and once a bulldog always a bulldog I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at deire is special because we don't have walls our Mantra we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community you just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors I like to tell people that when you're here it's like learning at home you're in your kitchen but you still know what's going on in the family room it builds like this you know codery amongst not only the students but also the faculty that work here we call ourselves a dwire family Mr McGovern he seldom calls us a school and we really all live by that we treat each other like family and we emulate that for the kids I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe this school is probably heart honesty empathy acceptance and respect and Trust I have been teaching art here in Rockaway township for 16 years I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child I get the privilege of going into every single class once a month where I do a guidance lesson the best part of my job is when one of them is having a tough day and then they feel better and it's because of me the people I work with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community I am the steam teacher at copela middle school I really really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class when I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my 7th grade La teacher I used to just like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day we are making sure kids are prepared for the future that means making sure that they have access to technology every single classroom has interactive boards kids get a Chromebook in the fifth grade they work as a team towards a common goal they overcome challenges we connect with the community through our concerts which are very well attended Vanda Copeland is truly an all-inclusive experience for all of the students here I try to get everybody involved so that they can make a positive impact in the future I teach us history and I come to work every day excited I get the opportunity to mold the Next Generation the thing that makes copel middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better [Music] place our core values are the same as Rockway Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind by being kind to a friend helping them out helping teachers be nice to them be respectful and don't interrupt the teachers and everything we do we try and relate back to our core values one of the things we are working on right now is positive behavior system I don't like to address anything negative in my office because I want kids to be able to trust me and to be able to come down as a leader of the building so we're really working on being kind and yes academics are important but one of the main things for us is that we raise good kids the main message is to be kind because above all else we want our kids just to be kind my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to dbf yeah my name is Reya I'm in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss tus cuz drawing is my favorite thing what makes de you unque is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other if I had to describe our building in one word I would say we're a little unconventional we're always trying to have our teachers and our students look at other ways to achieve success and for every student that's different there are other ways that we can really show student growth Student Success I'm not trying to be cheesy or anything it's it really the staff here um we have built a family and I think that says something about the building and the and and the community that we Foster here at dbo and I'm really grateful to be part of that being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks so yeah I I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset just because we can't do something right now doesn't mean that we're never going to be able to do it and that's what I teach all of my students my favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have fun activities to do and there stories my first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books in juny B Jones my favorite subject is science in science you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun every day I'm like happy at school we identify the interests of students you know what motivates them so students feel more comfortable and confident in their learning environment moving them forward from one learning experience to another every morning I'm inspired by these children there energy their willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to [Music] come bony Brooke is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visit us in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is second to none and they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involved School Community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well inside school I really try to be involved in as many things as I can my children also go to school in this District at one of the other schools and I'm really proud of what we put forth for our children any type we can bring togetherness and have us all work together both in our community and out it's really going to help every everyone raise their own level of abilities to really increase the success of our community so we always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard like a harder task and I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder task than all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier having students in a classroom that's smaller where you get to meet their needs specifically rather than in a bigger classroom you can build more of a rapport and relationships with them I like them to become successful not just academically but also social and emotionally my name is Queen K I'm in the fifth grade hi my name is Arya I am in second grade what makes our school awesome as all the teachers we have here they help us every day all the janitors keep our school nice and clean all my friends that help me sense kindergarten and everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good Community because of my friends the teachers and the principal like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened in that story math is my favorite subject because the teachers always help us and it's fun but it can be complicated but it's still really fun I've always wanted to be a teacher I think the reason why I wanted to be a teacher is because I think I had really good Elementary School teachers Rockway I thought was really interesting because I feel like it is a small close-nit community but I also felt like there was a lot of different opportunities in Rockway like how there was five different elementary schools but I also like how I felt like that I fit in with the Sony Brook mentality the Sony Brook mentality is something where we all feel and have the same idea of supporting students the kids understand that everyone makes a mistake everyone has a bad day and I think that it gives the opportunity for kids to grow and not feel like penalized I love that we have a great principal I love the teachers and the morale as soon as I started coming up here since I am from South Jersey I felt welcomed and included right away my name is Dr Richard Corbett and I am the proud superintendent of Rockaway Township Public Schools I was just waving to some of our wonderful students as they were walking by and I'm so happy and pleased to say that when I walk through these halls and talk to these students in these six different schools I see students that are learning and having fun and to me those are two very important qualities of a very very effective education birtu is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended Birchwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be our core values are the same as Rockaway Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind what really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before Tony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visit us in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is second to none and they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well at attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involved School Community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community our mantro we live by is no walls no limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community you just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors what keeps me coming back here every morning hugs from kids you know I love being outside in the morning at bus student having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal so yeah I I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy their willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious the people I work with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world the thing that makes scopel middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better place I come here for the students I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do I'm proud to be the superintendent of Rockway Township Schools and we are thankful for all the support we have from our [Music] community I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at dwire is special because we don't have walls I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child if you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other one of the things that I love the most about this position and this job is that I get to work with students of all ages now that we house preschool students here I see every single student in the building from preschool all the way through fifth grade and I get to work with them on a deeper level on a way that in inspires them not just to be confident in themselves but in what they love after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to come so we us always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard like a harder task and I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder task than all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier our goal here is that every child is as comfortable in class as they are at home and if they're ever in trouble or ever concerned or worried that they have the tools available to them to be successful and to help each other be as successful as we know they can be we have really seen over the years an incredible increase in their emotional maturity and in their abilities to deal with issues both in the playground that in the classroom and I really believe it's because our districts Focus onal over the last several years I am the steam teacher at copela middle school I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what awesome is about being in Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing break you go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to dvl yeah my name is Rea I'm in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss Takis CU drawing is my favorite thing what makes deio unique is that everyone is so kind to each each other and everyone cares about each other my name is Queen K I'm in the fifth grade hi my name is Arya I am in second grade what makes our school awesome is all the teachers we have here they help us every day all the janitors keep our school nice and clean all my friends that help me since kindergarten and everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good Community because of my friends the teachers and the principal like we read a book and then we do a project based on on what happened in that story math is my favorite subject because the teachers always help us and it's fun but it can be complicated but it's still really fun my favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have fun activities to do and their stories my first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books and juny B Jones my favorite subject is science in science you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun every day I'm like happy at school when I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special in cared for was my seventh grade La teacher I used to just like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe the school is probably heart honesty empathy acceptance and respect and [Music] trust this is probably one of the most special places I've ever worked it is the staff the teachers uh they are loving they are caring the energy here is just great it's wonderful to work with a group of men and women who truly love what they do their heart passion and soul is for students and to see them succeed I try to find a way for them to want to here even if they're sad or even if they don't want to get out of the car in the morning if I say hey let's go wander in the library and they bounce out of the car right away which actually happened then I've done something right that I have found a way to make them feel like this is home for them because that's kind of how I feel I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what all is about being Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day our doors are always open we are truly a family here our kids are just everything if you've never taught another school and you come to birwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other birwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have Birchwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be I commute an hour or more every day and I've been given the opportunity to work in another District but I've been here 7 years and I will drive that hour because the community the parents the teachers our principal are incredible we're just so happy to have such a loving nurturing community that is so vested in our school We are family and once a bulldog always a bulldog I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at deire is special because we don't have walls our Mantra we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our student students a great sense of community you just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors I like to tell people that when you're here it's like learning at home you're in your kitchen but you still know what's going on in the family room it builds like this you know codery amongst not only the students but also the faculty that work here we call ourselves a dwire family Mr McGovern he seldom calls us a school and we really all live by that we treat each other like family and we emulate that for the kids I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe this school is probably heart honesty empathy acceptance and respect and Trust I have been teaching art here in Rockaway township for 16 years I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child I get the privilege of going into every single class once a month where I do a guidance lesson the best part of my job is when one of of them is having a tough day and then they feel better and it's because of me the people I work with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District and will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community I am the steam teacher at copela middle school I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class when I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my 7eventh grade La teacher I used to just like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day we are making sure kids are prepared for the future and that means making sure that they have access to technology every single classroom has interactive boards kids get a Chromebook in the fifth grade they work as a team towards a common goal they overcome challenges we connect with the community through our concerts which are very well attended Vanda Copeland is truly an all-inclusive experience for all of the students here I try to get everybody involved so that they can make a positive impact in the future I teach us history and I come to work every day excited I get the opportunity to mold the Next Generation the thing that makes cop middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better [Music] place our core values are the same as Rockway Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind by being kind to a friend helping them out helping teachers be nice to them be respectful and don't interrupt the teachers and everything we do we try and relate back to our core values one of the things we are working on right now is positive behavior system I don't like to address anything negative in my office because I want kids to be able to trust me and to be able to come down as a leader of the building so we're really working on being kind and yes academics are important but one of the main things for us is that we raise good kids the main message is to be kind because above all else we want our kids just to be kind my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DBL yeah my name is Rea I'm in first grade being at dvo is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us Stu which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss tus cuz drawing is my favorite thing what makes deio unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other if I had to describe our building in one word I would say we're a little unconventional we're always trying to have our teachers and our students look at other ways to achieve success and for every student that's different there are other ways that we can really show student growth Student Success I'm not trying to be cheesy or anything it's a really the staff here um we have built a family and I think that says something about the building and the and and the community that we Foster here at dbo and I'm really grateful to be part of that being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principle after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks so yeah I I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other what really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen seen before it's a really great environment I have a motion to close oh adjourn close session so moved seconded Aaron and Allison show of hands thank you we close session ended at 7:42 reconvene at 7:42 can we please stand for pledge of allegiance public discussion during the course of the board meeting the Rockaway Township Board of Education offers members of the public an opportunity to address issues regarding the operation of the Rockway Township Public Schools the board reminds those individuals take this opportunity to identify themselves by name and address and to limit their comments to items listed on the agenda and or items directly related to the operation of the school district issues raised by members of the public may or may not be responded to by the board all comments will be considered and a response will be forthcoming if and when appropriate the board asks that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking specifically comments regarding students and employees of the board are discouraged and will not be responded to by the board students and employees have specific legal rights afforded by laws of New Jersey the board Bears no responsibility nor will it be liable for any comments made by members of the public members of the public should consider their comments in light of the legal rights of those affected or identified in the comments and be aware that they are legally responsible and liable for their comments in accordance with board policy 0 167 public discussion is limited to 15 minutes with a thre minute limit per member of the public the board president shall have the right to modify the length of public discussion as she deems appropriate can I have a motion to open public comments so moved second in Aaron and Noel can I see a show of hands please uh we're open for public comment if anyone has anything okay can I have a motion to close public comment moved second you Lissa and chrisy show of hands please okay Communications are listed there can I have a motion to approve the minutes of June 12th so moved second Aon and christe have roll roll call vote please Mrs Anderson yes Mrs killu Miss mcgi yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Dr thini yes Mrs Shields yes superintendent report are you doing a presentation on the okay I'm going to a good seat this presentation will suffice for my superintendent's report and um thank you a so I'd like to present to the board and to the community and this will be posted on the website um the recent referendum focus groups that took place around the district Abe from May 6th until May 22nd we had five different focus groups Stony Brook Copeland we combined dbo and Birchwood because of scheduling KDM and dwire uh between all of the focus groups there were 62 participants the information was abstracted using um poll everywhere uh and there were 18 activities activities are is in quotes because that's what the that's what polar everywhere calls them they're kind of questions um and by the way uh numerous board members did attend the focus group so I appreciate that very much it was very helpful to see that uh next slide please uh I want to be clear about the limitations uh regarding these focus groups the participants were not selected randomly so it's not scientific and most participants have children in the school district which means that obviously they have a bias um so that's important to keep in mind so is not a scientific type of survey they're active with their school in the PTA again they have a bias in terms of how they're going to answer the question so it's important to keep that in mind next slide please so the school and the number of participants um you can see it there stonan Brook 10 Copeland 10 dbo Birchwood 12 KDM 14 dwire takes the prize at 16 for a total of 62 uh participants putting them all together now I will explain this okay yeah you can go ahead that's all right so here are what we call the activities um the questions so essentially the first three are kind of warm-up questions they're kind of and they're qualitative but I really want to focus on 4 through 18 because I can quantify the responses so what I had to do and thanks to Michael L Franco for helping me do this is go back to poll everywhere and because all of these Focus Group groups took place at different five different locations I had to take the responses of each question for example number four um and take each group and put them all together aggregate the data so you had uh the total responses I'll tell you what I mean in a minute so anyway one through three is kind of warm-up questions so number one was what do you like best regarding this go back please what do you like best about your school regarding the infrastructure facilities what concerned you most about the school's infrastructure facilities name the three qualities that describe the facilities in your ideal School District kind of warm up questions qualitative but then I can kind of drill down a little bit deeper now by the way I will say this also the point of this really and truly was to start a discussion in the community about a referendum and we go into these focus groups with a actually absolutely no preconceived notion of what a referendum might look like in fact going into these focus groups the board really didn't say yes we're absolutely going to do a referendum so all this is so preliminary these questions and these activities they're very general I created them most of them I created them and um they're not perfect for sure right but they did the trick and as far as I'm I'm concerned in terms of getting the discussion going getting a response from the people in our communities all right so let's go on let's take a look at them next slide oh yeah so I kind of written with no Insight or foresight regarding the board's intention they are in general they measure the sense of the community one to three I say a qualitative four through 18 I can measure it more numerically it's quantitative and now I'll tell you what each one looked like four through 18 take a next slide please so are you concerned with the facilities adversely affecting instruction a very general question but when you put all the responses of all the participants together 94.4 said yes that's all that's pretty uh interesting I think next slide please the number of students in my child's class concerns me so the population of students student to teacher ratio and 80 almost 82% said yes that's pretty telling next slide please which of the following spaces would you choose for expansion improvements and the spaces just came to my mind I I'm probably leaving out a few spaces too but you can see that um related surfaces in the cafeteria kind of uh um took precedent there probably because in some schools particularly cafeteria is just not big enough there they have to have two lunches right next slide please my school is adequate for learning 43% agree with that and another 12% strongly agree with that next slide please my school is aesthetically appealing and that's interesting so I guess people generally don't like the way the schools look because 46.4% disagree and it's 286 almost 29 % strongly disagree with that my school is accommodating accessible to people with disabilities um strongly agree 20% agree 27.3% 34 almost 35% rounded up 35% disagree and 18.2 strong disagree next slide please my school adequately protects students from outside Intruders 51% disagree another 12.3 strongly disagree with that definitely a concern amongst the community every school should have security glasses that protects from bullets and force entry and most people agree with that or strongly agree with that by the way I've had a subsequent com conversation with uh Dr tomasini about the um the use of protective glass in schools and he gave me some insight into how that could be count counterproductive so this question was created this activity was created before I had the discussion with Dr tomasini but there are some definite drawbacks to security glass so um and I think that maybe that type of information has to be pushed out to the community too next slide please my school Lobby may be vulnerable to a hostile Intruder 43% agree with that I strongly agree with that almost 40% agree with it so most people are concerned about that or see that as a concern next slide please now we get into a little bit more interesting questions would you pay higher tax to lower the student teacher ratio yes 72.2% yes next slide would you pay a higher tax to improve safety 76% is saying yes next slide please how about a higher tax improve instructional facilities 94% are saying yes how about to improve Aesthetics people don't care everyone's acknowledging that the buildings aren't very pretty to look at but they don't care about it so much so so 71% is saying no to that would you support a district referendum to improve education in Rockaway Township Schools 98% % say yes that's right that's it's all we need now how much would you pay though and 55 56% of willing to pay a lot of money this is an annual let's say $300 a year external taxes so let's sum it up 94% of the participants are concerned about the facilities adversity affecting instruction class size is definitely concerned for 81% most degre or strongly agree that their school is adequate for learning but safety is a concern regarding lobby as an accessible entrance for intruders majority of participants would pay higher taxes to lower the student teacher ratio improve safety 94% would pay a hirer tax to improve instructional facilities 98% would support a referendum to improve education and 56% would pay an additional 300 dollars annually uh for improvements so again um there are some very definite opinions here and I think the we could we could say that obviously a majority of these participants support a referendum and would support paying uh significant in taxes additionally to to improve instruction Rockway Township but it's not a scientific sample so we have to keep that in mind um and that's it that's it in a nutshell next slide please if there's any question questions and be more than happy to answer questions I will post this on the website for everyone to see and the community is welcome to email me with any questions that they might have I'd be more than happy to answer them thank you does the board have any questions for Dr Corbett current investigations there are four hivs under current investigation of the four one was affirmed um and the other three of course not unsub and the ones on the agenda for affir four and of the four that are under on the agenda for affir two are substantiated notti that's what I have thank you uh I'm assuming There's No Business administrators report that um so we are still working on that this is the engineers are looking at the um circulation of the water right now and we're trying to make sure that those plans are correct we go to DP uh and also the roofs the RO very soon Pro andm might go into October however it will not interfere with instruction thank you committee reports Aaron all right so the operations committee met on the 19th at 2 o'clock in the central office uh present for that was Mrs Anderson Mrs mzik uh Dr Corbett Mr Elder and myself with that we discussed several things to include um pay schools and uh the possible usage uh with mashio our current service so that way it's a little bit more streamlined on being able to also utilize a neutr slice uh for ordering we also uh discussed remote participation uh at the board meetings uh there were several things that were discussed and there was an analysis conducted however there's no uh recommendations from the committee this time to change anything uh we discussed the KDM water treatment um ultimately the bluff there uh the contractor will come back out and everything will be remedied um and the architect is is overseeing everything uh we also went over uh class 3es uh briefly and then we uh we discussed lead your questions that's uh that can you can you explain the relation between neutal slice the pay thing and mashos like can you sure me okay so from from our discussion uh we used to use neutral slice for the ordering system the uh when we switched over from Chartwells to mashos uh we removed that and we started to use a different form uh not using neutral slice so which is what created a little bit of a uh a disconnect between our our current ordering process which we've heard some feedback on it's not that great so ultimately what we're trying to do is we're turning neutr slice back on again uh it does connect with mashos as well as pay schools so all three will work together and talk to each other so that way we can have a better ordering system it will then work with our actual payment and then work with our vendor which is is masio ultimately right now we're using a a form mashos is looking at the form and and filling it and we're using my school bucks which isn't talking to M does that do anything to the percentage that gets tacked on for using a card in the system like the service fees that I'm unsure of I'd have to follow up on that one I I don't know about the percentages with the cards but I do know that the um from what we got with the neutral slice discussion it would definitely streamline the ordering to not have to to use the Google form yeah no I understand that I just wanted to know because I know that service fees come up here and there and so I didn't know if that made a difference I can follow up on that any other committee reports just not even a report but just the anticipated education committee um is scheduled for July 9th at 1:30 just want to make sure I know Noel that works for you yes Tanya will that work for you because I know it's the midday said July 9th July 9th yeah 1:30 that whole day would work for me if you want to uh no 1:30 is fine as long as we keep it streamlined just take my lunch during that time hour so prior to that I guess everyone just take a look at all of those curriculum documents um and have any thoughts feedback ready to go yes Lisa okay the community outreach meeting um happened on June 19th at the central office at 3 um I was there along with Aaron and Allison virtually Dr Corbett and then three um of our Architects from our firm as Dr Corbett mentioned he shared the feedback of the focus groups um during his report we have technically planned to meet with the pr firm at the next committee meeting as mentioned in the June 4th report the district's retained an engineer he conducted an assessment District properties to determine expansion possibilities and met with our Architects before our June 19th committee meeting on June 19th the committee met with our architectural firm to discuss the analysis of District properties we received details on the best options to address inequities within the district capacity and responding to the educational needs of the district or Paramount the committee reviewed the options presented and recommends moving forward with a plan that will compreh comprehensively address all aspects of the district's capacity and educational needs for the future our next meeting is scheduled for July 9th at 4M I can go a policy oh excellent okay so I know uh last meeting uh we had some questions I think one was with regard to policy 2260 um which unfortunately is back on for first read but we be next time um regarding the term all Sexes and so you know for for being on the policy committee my understanding was that that was to cover you know all Sexes but I definitely wanted to check with sha ese just to make sure and so they verified um that it's actually a phrase that's used in njac 67-77 equity and school and classroom practices and so that's where it comes from um in that I didn't see it defined so that's kind of an answer but not an answer but that's really why it was there was to align with that um 5756 I know uh uh I think uh we had community members asking for kind of the Genesis and how it came to be a policy in this District um I was not here at the time that it was enacted so I don't have firsthand knowledge so I've been digging around um we just got some feedback from sh Esme because I don't even have access to the alert that it was on um and then I'm going to have to like literally like watch the videos and like just follow the trail so that's there's more to come on that it is a little bit more involved but I definitely want to be able to have for the community kind of that outline of of you know how this started and why it's here now that's it thank you okay moving on to recommended for board Action Personnel can I have a have a motion to open approv Personnel items so moved second Aaron and chrisy starts on page four and goes to the top of page seven there'll be no discussion can I have a roll call vote please on Personnel items Mrs Anderson yes Mrs carilla Ru yes Miss mcari yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Dr tomasini yes Mrs Shields yes motion carries Hib can I have a motion to approve the Hib determination so moved seconded the loud mic and Allison and we are voting on confirming 11109 and 11128 and unconfirmed are one one14 and 1154 can I have a roll call vote please Mrs Anderson yes Mrs Carillo yes Miss McGary yes Mrs MZ yes Mrs Smith yes Dr Thomas heini yes Mrs Shields yes motion carries can I have a motion to approve education recommendations so moved second in Aaron and Allison Noel and they start on they're all on page eight there's two items is there any board discussion on these items no I can open up to the public if there's any comments on these two items okay can I have a roll call vote on education items please Mrs Anderson yes Mrs kurillo yes Miss magiri yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Dr tomasini yes Mrs Shields yes motion carries special education can I have a motion to approve special education recommendations so moved second Alison and Noel there are 13 items starting on page nine going to the bottom of page 10 is there any board discussion on these items I can open it up to the public if there's any comments on these 13 items okay can I have a roll call vote on special education items please Mrs Anderson yes Mrs kurillo yes Miss mcir yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Dr Thomas heini yes Mrs Shields yes motion carries Administration can I have a motion to approve Administration recommendations so moved second Aaron and chrisy there are are five items I just want to bring to people's attention um number one and two regarding our Legal Services I guess there are a few pending cases where we're going to keep the old um law firm and then our new law firm is item number one and also item number five is the um the contract with the Teachers Association so any board discussion there's any public comments on those five items I can open up the floor okay can I have a roll call vote on Administration items please Mrs Anderson yes Mrs Coro yes Miss mcari yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Dr tomasini yes Mrs Shields yes motion carries okay Finance can I have a motion to approve Finance recommendations so moved seconded christe and Noel look like we have six items I do see neutr slices on there um I signed off on the bills yesterday all is good with that is there any board discussion yeah I have a question so I see for pay schools and I understand you know what it does now but it's onetime cost of2 $ 3,812 for a grand total of $3,557 what's the Gap like is that like a huge service fee or what are you looking at that's like seven Grand item number five item number five so it's it's a onetime cost of 23 Grand and change and then a grand total of 30 grand so what's that seven Grand in the middle of there I'll be it my math is not the best but like is that like a service fee or a setup fees or taxes or I'd have to get back to you about that I can't I don't know yeah because I'm a little bit and I'm not comfortable voting on it because that's a big gap between I know there's an don't remember what the attachments said I know there's an attach I have you have can you pull it it's it's itemized so everything that's on here with this um there's the so kind of trying to summarize it here there's the one time uh there's an on-site installation uh USB automatic fire and cach drawer uh onetime fee of armor scan combo pin pad um onetime fee remote installation and training to the system uh onetime fee of the contactless touchless scanner and combo the onetime fee of installation and configuration of all modules uh including inte Integrations when needed includes setup and configur ation onetime fee shipping and handling and a onetime fee of uh it looks like a computer system 19 and 12 inch lightning XP uh with a Celeron Processor 8 gigs so looks like that's the hard drive uh that's inclusive there of it looks like that's the hardware for everything and then the annual fee includes Central browser based system responsible for management of the student data across multitude of systems an annual fee for software support and maintenance of both online and mobile products an annual fee for the quick app pay schools free or reduced meal application tracking software annual fee for quick lunch Cloud license so this isn't a one-time cost so it's a onetime cost of the 23,000 correct and a grand total of 30,000 or is itre fees in the middle so then it's technically not a one-time cost for them it's it's that plus anual fees correct so what's the annual fee because that should I would assume that that would be on here because we be voting $ 6,745 the onetime fee is $23,800 total of 30,5 okay so the difference between the 23 and the 30 is what is the annual fee yes $674 which okay thank you that makes more sense because I couldn't understand why it was big jump so all right so then I guess we're just going to clarify that the onetime cost is a 23,000 and we're also voting on the annual fee of $674 correct all right that's the full thank you sorry that threw me off no problem any other comments I can open to the public on finance stuff okay hold on can I have a motion to public comment second Aaron and Lisa show of hands please yep my name is John saus they 322 Richard mroe Department K1 I just have a question I guess for you because you just did the itemized point of sale system do you have an itemized list for the bus purchases because it seems a little high that's half a million just for three buses hold on yeah no worries yeah so the selling price on each one is $17,569.13 4,820 185 per unit ordering three of them it comes out to be $494,500 thank you yeah 4655 switch so we we correct so that needs to be amended under number four the numbers are switched on the agenda the bill says 494 46255 okay so the motion will be to approve items one through six with number four having the total amount as $494,500 broken out for the pay schools that it's a one-time cost of the 23 and an annual fee of 6,745 because the weight read now just looks like we're paying like 73k for okay can I have a motion to close to the public so moved second and Lissa show of hands we all good on what we're voting for yes can I have a roll call vote on finance items please Mrs Anderson yes Mrs kurillo yes Miss mcgi yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Dr tomasini yes Mrs Shields yes policy can I have a motion to approve policy recommendations so moved seconded Christie and Allison uh all the policies are up for second read any board discussion I just wanted to clarify that we did the policy 2260 that we tabled last week is not on here no it would have been on for first read but it's not yep so just for the public just want to straight let everyone know that any other board discussion I can open to the public if there's any questions about policy okay can I have a motion to open public com moved second Aaron and Lissa show of hands please I April Peto 14 dudak Road I just I was looking at this at home and the 5755 says abolished does that mean we're not voting that through is that gone now so that's removed removed totally yeah so that's removed and that's not being voted on tonight so you could see next to it it says what's been revised and what's been abolished okay thank you you're welcome I have a motion to close public comment so moved second Lissa and chrisy show of hands please okay can I have a roll call vote on policy items please Mrs Anderson yes Mrs carilla Ru yes Miss mcari yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Dr tomasini yes Mrs Shields yes motion carries in accordance with board policy 0167 public discussion is limited to 15 minutes with a three minute limit per member of the public the board president shall have the right to modify the length of the public discussion as she deems appropriate I have a motion to open open public comment so moved second Allison and Christie show of hands please if anyone would like to comment from the public okay can I have a motion to close public comment so moved seconded chrisy and Noel show of hands please discussion items is there any old business any new business uh we will have to return to Executive session to discuss Personnel items um hoping it an attorney Cent client privilege stuff um hopefully it'll be not more than 30 to 45 minutes uh we will be closing from public uh from exec session no action will be taken can I have a motion to go into close session so moved second Aaron and Lissa show of hands please oh was it was both but I she got it got it I'm gonna stay with Lissa because I heard it on that side uh Clos session will begin at 8:18 p.m. thanks everyone for coming out tonight have a good evening no we've done very we [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]