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 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 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 M Anderson here car Laro here Mr mcgi M mcgi I'm sorry M mes M Smith here drini here miss Shield here open meeting Act passed toensure the right of the to have Advan ofies discussed Daily Record District bu any member wish to to the conduct of this meeting for thepose as stated in thece all documentation and materials considered by the board of educ as part of this agenda are available for the public riew and comment bu 8 to 4m Monday through Friday if they to insect reference items I have to so moved seconded open Ro Township Board of Education will be in CL session to discuss matters involving person litigation EST security negotiations rece of government funds of discussions willed to at so moved [Music] 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 walked to 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 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 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 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 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 Duty and having kids come com 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 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 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 fth 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 Mak 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 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 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 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 DB yeah my name is Rya 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 Deo unique is that everyone is so kind to 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 as all the teachers we have here they help us every day all the janitors keep our school nice and clean um 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 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 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 is Mia my name is Mariah I think what awesome is about being in birwood 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 birwood 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 seven 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 Lottery 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 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 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 sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she still talk 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 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 at 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 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 D 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 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 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 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 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 mother 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 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 Tony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's fulltime 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 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 in hand 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 Ty 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 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 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-knit community but I also felt like there was a lot of different opportunities in Rockway like how there was five different Elementary School 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 birwood 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 EXP 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 attended back to school nights our events and we have very involed 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 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 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 goop 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 bir wood 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 that 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 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 there school's a happy place for them and they want to [Music] come so we start 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 District's 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 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 dbf 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 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 Deo unique is that everyone is so kind to 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 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 I 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 dislike 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 away 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 birwood 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 see 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 birwood 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 DWI 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 help 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 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 stand 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 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 tus cuz drawing is my favorite thing what makes Dio 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 principal after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one 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 that 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 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 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 to 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 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 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 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 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 hard 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-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 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 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 Birchwood 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 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 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 matro 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 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 are thankful for all the support we have from our [Music] community I truly believe in in 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 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 bu 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 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 us 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 challeng 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 copel 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 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 also 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 Rya 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 Deo 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 helped 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 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 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 [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 mar 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 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 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 want a bulldog a always a bulldog I truly believe in in 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 is 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 work here we call ourselves a DWI 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 [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 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 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 likee 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 AA 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 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 [Music] 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 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 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 Deo unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other why 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 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 really resonates with me about the school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparing 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 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 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] 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 attended back to school nights our events 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 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 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 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 S kindergarten and everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good Community because of my friends the teachers and the princial like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened in that story yeah 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-nit community but I also felt like there was a lot of different opportunities in Rockway I 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 superintend attendent of Rockway 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-generational 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 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 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 teaches 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 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 to 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 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 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 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 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 yeah 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 Absolut can I have a motion to adjourn close session please second and Allison hands clst session ends at 7:30 p.m. please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance States [Music] Dr Corbett I'll hand the mic over to you thank you very much Madame President we are so pleased to have our students here from are there any students from Copa Middle School oh yes there are congrat thank you so much for being here uh I'd like to at this time introduce uh Mr Dustin Bayer our principal of the Middle School please come forward Mr Bayer thank you [Applause] good evening Board of Education superintendent Corbett and all of the parents students and community members in attendance I am thrilled to stand here tonight as the principal of Copeland middle school and present the outstanding individual accolades that our students have achieved throughout the school year the 2023 2024 school year will always hold a special place in my heart because it will forever be my first year as principal at Copeland Middle School very early in September I asked every student and staff member at CMS to embrace our theme building our community Brick by Brick I talk to the students about three core attributes leadership citizenship and leaving a legacy the students you'll hear about tonight are being recognize for their talents hard work and personal characteristics they truly are brick Builders here at Copeland Middle School who embody our core values before we begin calling names I would like to acknowledge the Copeland Middle School staff your dedication to our Copeland community and most importantly to our students is as as as impressive as I've seen it is because of you that our students are able to shine so bright right to the board of education and superintendent Corbett thank you for your unwavering support of Copeland Middle School at this time I would like to ask Mr Mike Bernstein to present the cross country County Champions good evening I'm Mike Bernstein I work here at copal Middle School school I teach sixth grade math and I am the cross country coach for the boys and girls here at Copeland um cross country kind of holds a special place in my heart because it was our first sport here at Copeland I've had dozens of conversations over the last six seven years people grew up in Rockway well we never had Sports at Copeland and bringing Sports to Copeland has been a really really special experience and cross country being our first sport something that I didn't really know a whole lot about before starting to coach it um has been wonderful and such a such a great time working with these kids um if you've never been to a cross country race there's two kind of exciting moments uh about 150 kids line up all at once they have a starting gun that shoots everybody takes off and then nothing happens for about 10 minutes everyone's just kind of stands around nobody knows what's going on and then you see somebody out in front coming around the bend at the end of the race and it's beyond exciting because you're just waiting and waiting you don't know how they're doing and here at Copeland in the five or six years we've had the program we've had four individual champions for the races as well as amazing other Runners and several of whom are here tonight um so I wanted to honor them and those students also will be honored by being in the rafters of the gymnasium uh in for forever uh with their names up on a banner to acknowledge their their accomplishment um so Gabriel Braum and Cassandra Graham are two of our individual Champions who are here tonight and we want to honor [Applause] them um we have also couple other uh champions from previous years and uh we want to honor them as well and they'll be on the list and I also want to give a special shout out to the RT Racers program from Rockway Township because these kids are coming in to middle school already as incredible Runners so really appreciate it's really a community effort and you know it's wonderful wonderful to be a part of it e congratulations to those student athletes and certainly to Mr bernsteen and all of our coaches who who go above and beyond uh to provide great opportunities for our Middle School students the Morris County area choir and the north Jersey area band are honors ensembles that accept students based on auditions from a pool of schools throughout the northern part of New Jersey we are pleased to celebrate the remarkable achievements of the Copeland School of the Copeland students who auditioned for and were accepted into these prestigious ensembles their dedication passion and unwavering commitment to the art of music has not only enriched our community communities but has also inspired their peers throughout tireless rehearsals and spirited performances these exceptional young individuals have demonstrated the transformative power of music we are so proud of them for their achievements congratulations to the following Morris County area honors choir students Leo adessa students as I call your name come up Le Leo students we'll grab our um award and then we'll we'll make a line over here so we have Leo Odessa Isabella [Applause] Carelli Eliza fous [Applause] Cameron Michaela [Applause] ferte Aaron [Applause] lesser Charlie laaly [Applause] Samantha [Applause] Lenell Aditi [Applause] marala alelo made [Applause] and Mia zovsky [Applause] next I'll call up the north Jersey Junior Area band students Clara [Applause] McKinny Brian amadon [Applause] gerano [Applause] Geraldo Kayla [Applause] Stone Laura perogue [Applause] Lindsay [Applause] broadman and Ethan [Applause] delak e [Applause] students you can grab a seat students thank you congratulations again to all our wonderful students each school year the Morris County School the Morris County School boards Association recognizes one student from each Morris County School District as an unsung hero an unsung hero is a student who makes outstanding contributions to their schools and communities but are often overlooked by other traditional student recognition programs on Wednesday March 20th at the County College of Morris these students were recognized in front of an audience of nominees parents and administrators and board members all throughout Morris County congratulations to the 20124 Copeland Middle School unsung hero Hannah Forest [Applause] [Applause] congratulations Hannah the Morris County superintendent's Middle School leadership award is presented annually to a graduating Middle School student whose actions and deeds represent a model of citizenship and leadership in their respective School community on Wednesday May 8th one Middle School student from each Morris County Middle School will be recognized and awarded the Morris County Superintendent Middle School leadership award congratulations to the 202 24 superintendent leadership award recipient Briana Ricker [Applause] congratulations BR Bri uh Brianna and congratulations to all of our Copa middle schools here tonight to all of our families uh and students just wishing you all a great fourth quarter as we round out the school year thank you again [Applause] I just want to make a comment to everyone and I'm going to mention this this evening in my report to the board you may not be here for that uh but I will say this I I I received a call from the mayor this morning and mayor Jackson called to say that um he recently I think was perhaps the day before encountered some soccer students sixth seventh and eighth grade and he had a conversation with them and he asked them two questions first question he asked them a bunch of remember a bunch of students six seventh eighth grade how do you like the middle school and they said it's awesome we love it then they said and how do you like Mr Bayer and they said he's wonderful he's great we love him so to all the administrators the staff the students and the parents at Copa Middle School thank you for making it a really great and awesome school we appreciate it so [Applause] much now as you can see we have some H Gourmet cookies on to my left but we're going to wait because we have a very special presentation this month is Autism Awareness Month so um we would like to give Dave kig Jessica Duda and Danielle Renee an opportunity because they work so closely in so well with those students um who who have autism to please come up and provide us that um uh that presentation and then we will have the cookies thereafter thank you you m roll you're coming up and introducing them he is oh come up Mr Rollins good evening board members Board of Education Dr Corbett community members I am pleased to be here tonight to recognize an outstanding group of Educators and our extraordinary autism program April is Autism Awareness and acceptance month our goal tonight and every day for that matter is to promote understanding acceptance and inclusion of individual with autism in all aspects of life our autism program provides learning expire environments where students feel valued through through meaningful connections and empowered to reach their full potential this group of Educators bring a wealth of exp expertise to our school Community they are intentional in meeting individual student needs while working collaboratively with fellow staff members some of which are here tonight these members make a collective impact on our culture of inclusivity this commitment from these Educators not only Fosters an extraordinary program but contributes to making KDM an exceptional School their work prepares students for the autism program at Copeland middle school and for Life Beyond School walls I'd like to introduce this remarkable team as they continue to make a difference in the lives of our students every day from KDM we have Mr kig Miss Duda Miss Renee Mrs ceden could not be here tonight and from Copeland Middle School we have Miss hollers M request request and could not make it tonight as [Applause] well we're going to use the microphone no uh this is nothing new for autism awareness and acceptance month we uh we kind of got sidetracked because of the covid lockdown and everything but this is something that we've been uh working on in the schools in the community for many many years uh the autism program began in 2002 with if you can imagine it it's one student one staff assistant and one teacher uh I was there I was that teacher uh the the funny thing which I never got an answer to was how that discussion went with uh you know first of all getting a program approved that we were going to have a student for a uh a program for students with autism sounds like a great idea but when our director at the time Dr Eric Nixon brought it to the superintendent and the board I just wish I was there for the conversation when they said well how many students are we going to have the first year and he said well we're just gonna have one and somehow that still got approved and from that humble beginning here we are uh 22 years later so we ban in 2002 one student one staff assistant one teacher and we have grown to over 20 students uh between the ages of 5 and 14 and still to this day we continue to advocate for our students for autism awareness and acceptance month I'm a little shorter than Dave but um just as you know the numbers are very big and it's a big thing for us just to give a little bit of information autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects one in 36 children in the United States and New Jersey actually has the third highest rate in the nation so we have a big program here for all of our students um so we have a here's a short video explaining how despite the challenges and differences autism can make amazing things happen [Music] we are all different and that's wonderful some differences are easy to see height hairstyle eye color and so on other differences can't be our favorite foods FS or special skills interestingly the way we see the world is also different for instance what do you see in this drawing most people see a duck but some of you might have seen a rabbit whichever you saw you are correct this is just a trick drawing to show you that all brains work differently the brain is your body's computer it works differently for all of us and controls how you learn that's why we are all good at different things how you feel which is why we all feel different emotions and how you communicate sometimes the brain is connected in such a way it affects senses and how we perceive and read situations and interactions this is known as autism many people have autism so it's likely you already know someone who is autistic and for this reason it's useful to know a little bit about autism the special wiring inside an autistic brain can sometimes make the person good at tasks we may find difficult such as mathematics drawing or music it can also do the opposite and activities we find too easy are incredibly difficult to themar such as making friends the senses constantly send information to your brain about your surroundings and other people however when a person's brain and its senses don't communicate well the brain can become overwhelmed and Confused affecting how they see the world picture yourself walking down this [Music] street this is how an autistic brain may experience the same War scary isn't it sadly in many cases the person can't say out loud how they feel so even though there's chaos going on in their heads they seem okay on the outside unable to ask for help we will develop behaviors to help us feel calm and uncomfortable situations we may look away hug ourselves chew our things fingernails fidget bite our lips and so on equally autistic people develop behaviors that help them cope with these intense moments these actions may seem unusual but they're just their way to feel calm when they happen it means they are having a hard time the kind thing to do is not to give them an even harder time by getting cross ignoring them or mocking them remember just because a PlayStation can't read an Xbox game it doesn't mean it broken people with Autism need friends who are willing to take the time to know them with good communication and plenty of patience everyone would be better off people with Autism are not ill or broken they simply have a unique view of the world T and with a little support from their friends they might just be able to share that view with us autism can make amazing things [Music] happen um so thank you so um our program has succeeded and flourished thanks to all the incredible people that work with our students um from staff assistants to therapists families peer mentors these people make a difference in our students lives every day um to highlight these individuals and of course our amazing students we have um created a short video for you this evening [Music] may you have auspiciousness and causes of success may you have the confidence to always do your best may it take no effort in you're being generous sharing what you can nothing more nothing less may you know the meaning of the word happiness may you always lead from the beating in your [Music] chest e e e e than [Applause] thank you so much that was a it was a great presentation very moving and uh educational also thank you so much congratulations against to our Copeland students and I think everyone deserves some Gourmet cookies is that correct Madame President can we have a break for Gourmet cookies let's take about a 10-minute break thank you all very [Applause] much 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 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 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 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 academic Ally working hand in hand 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 mro 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 Sport 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 community I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a 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 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 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 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 on seal 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 over come 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 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 dbf yeah my name is Rya I'm in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I love 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 Deo unique is that everyone is so kind to 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 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 helped 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 one word to describe the school is probably heart honesty empathy acceptance and respect and Trust [Music] 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 birwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like 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 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 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 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 thank you during the course of the board meeting the Rockway Township Board of Education members off sorry board of education offers members of the public an opportunity to address issues regarding the operation of Rockway Township Public Schools the board reminds those individuals who take this opportunity to identify themselves by name and address and to limit their comments to items listed on the agenda and are 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 ask 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 employees have specific legal rights afforded by the 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 be consider should consider their comments in light of the legal rights of those affected or identified in comments and be aware that they are legally responsible and liable for their comments in accordance with board policy 0167 public discussion is limited to 15 minutes with a 3 minute limmit per member of the the public the board president shall have the right to modify the length of public discussion as she deems appropriate and I have a motion to open open so moved second Allison and Aaron show of hands please anyone from the public would like to come up Dana tabella 31 Omaha Avenue thank you for the recent listening session regarding policy 5756 now that the board has had an opportunity to hear all sides I want the board to remember that they are bound by the oath that they took when they were elected which in part States I do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States I am certain some of you must feel in an awful position when some members of the community are trying to to tug at your heartstrings but I think that the board members should do some independent research on the rights of parents according to the Constitution of the United States in its simplest form you will find that the constitution protects the fundamental rights of parents to direct the care education and upbringing of their children I would also love for the board to do some research about parents who actually have alleged child welfare concerns abuse or neglect filed against them to be heard by the division of child protection and permanency if you are not aware even these parents have rights and are titled to due process and an opportunity to be heard in addition to those fundamental rights New Jersey statutes and regulations establish that parents have the right to be informed of their children's development and health even if the division of child protection has custody of the child in addition to all of those rights parents are to be represented by an attorney in any type of litigation therefore policy 5756 is completely ludicrous since this policy infringes upon the rights of parents without even any substantiate of child abuse or neglect it denies them information that may be crucial to making decisions regarding their child's Health and Welfare hopefully the committee of three will bring this motion to resend policy 5756 but if they do not I ask that each board member be an independent researcher independent thinker and at least one of you make a motion to resend this policy which would be congruent with your oath thank you thank [Applause] you Anam Marie cinski one link Shore Drive I would good good evening and again I thank you for having that um listening session on 5756 I would like to know when the committee meeting will be held to review the policy and will it be open to the public I also wanted to make sure you were all aware of a recent Supreme Court ruling regarding gender care in Idaho the US Supreme Court allows Idaho to enforce gender care ban while a pending lawsuit plays out all of my attorney friends have told me that when this matter gets to the Supreme Court they would rule against transitioning children especially behind their parents' backs this is some pretty strong case law I will ask again what is the medical procedure that the school staff will take if a child comes to them wanting to change their name pronouns or clothing who will be doing the intake for the children wishing to change their gender these are very important questions that deserve an answer this is this was the only response I received on the topic from Dr Corbett the district does not diagnose gender dysphoria nor do we refer a child to any clinics associated with treatment for gender dysphoria I am not finding any procedure or regulation on this policy could you please direct me to how you would handle transitioning a child without the parents involvement if you are doing this if you're not doing this why would you need this policy at all all it does is make parents question whether or not they should trust the school staff with their children judge movitz put in right right in his order that 5756 is not mandatory all of the other policies include parents why would this be any different I also sent an email regarding policy 9240 every parent except as prohibited by federal and state law shall have access to records and information pertaining to his her unemancipated child including but not limited to medical dental insurance child care and educational records whether or not the child child resides with the parent unless that access is found by the court to not be in the best interest of the child or the access is found by the court to be sought for purpose of causing detriment to the other parent there is no law prohibiting parents from being told about transitioning it seems like our Board of Ed is blindly following the legal advice of a questionable Law Firm that has no problem claiming polic policies are mandated when they are not all of the voted Board of Ved members took an oath to uphold the Constitution if a parent has a constitutional right to direct the upbringing of their child you have violated your oath if you're in support of policy 5756 and keep secrets from parents I once again am requesting this board resem policy 5756 it is not only a liability but it completely destroys the trust trust parents should be able to have in our schools please somebody be brave enough to make this motion thank you thank you hello um April P 14 dudak Road Rockaway thank you for doing the listening session I'm following up tonight on that listening session and my email to the board on 5756 I want to reiterate I oppose this policy and believe it would be it should be rescinded I'm disappointed to see it it's not on the agenda tonight I do have a couple of questions I have in my email and I'm going to just say them again when was this policy actually adopted because there are different dates according to both the archived meetings and the date that was stated at the listening session presentation um also in the presentation by Mr mcer last month he indicated that the pending lawsuit suits against school districts were due to resending or changing the policy but that's not true of the 26 school districts to date that have rescinded the policy none have been sued the schools that have been sued have amended the policy so the real risk to the district is keeping the policy and being sued by parents who discover the school's been socially transitioning their children without their knowledge there are currently two pending lawsuits in New Jersey by parents against the schools and no doubt more to come also it's my understanding that the company Strauss Esme wrote and introduced the policy to the school districts and there are some indications it was marked mandatory when it was not was that the case for Rockaway Township and how will Strauss Esme be liable for any lawsuits against the district should they occur While most people have strong opinions on this policy and are free to have their voices heard the fact is that the policy itself is flawed policy 5756 lies in stark contrast to every other policy of the school district parents are the sole decision makers for their children as defined by the US Constitution and stated by the board multiple times within existing policies I compiled and attached to my email a list of more than 40 policies that require parental consent or notification why is it that policy 5756 is the only policy that clearly states No Parental notification or consent is required while the listening session showed only a sampling of public opinion on this policy I hope the board can see that this is a topic that needs to be addressed immediately as board members each of you took an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of New Jersey and impartially and justly uphold the duty of the office I understand this to mean that no matter personal beliefs or opinions you each would make decisions in the best interest of all students in our district by resending this non-mandatory policy and just like that wonderful presentation we heard before it takes a village and that includes everyone including and most importantly the parents thank you thank you hi uh Jason Warner six command Avenue uh I didn't plan on speaking so I apologize if I'm not quite as polished as these ladies but um the biggest reason I'm here is just to re reiterate I think the importance that we have to find out the next steps in this process when the next hearing session is or whatever is going to come next and I want to explain a little bit why um I I wasn't fully aware of how that that when that policy went in place and what that policy meant so that that's an oversight on my part so I don't blame anybody but myself but now knowing that this school has a policy where you knowingly are going to keep parents in the dark I feel I now have to be at every meeting I have to go you know do every step possible just to keep myself in the loop and I guess I want to pose the question to the board is I'm a parent I love my kids very very much this a policy you're considering whether to put in place if I was to sit in front of you we sitting in a diner and I were to ask you how do you justify keeping secrets about my children from me because you feel I'm a risk to my children you know it's easy to sit back there without having to actually answer that question but if I was to look you in the face you're going to tell me that you can't tell me pertinent things about my child because you feel that you have the right to just label me a threat based on no evidence I think if you can't come up with a good answer that you would give me face to face to that question then I think it it tells you exactly where your head should be right and what your an should be that's a that's the relationship that you are now creating between the school and parents I've never had an issue with the school I went to the school district my kids have gone here for a long time I've got a lot of good things to say about the school district this seems like such a a I don't want to use the phras but cut your own throat move I don't understand why you would take something where it's a good relationship and say no no no we're now going to cast you as bad people and keep you in the dark I I I I just don't understand it I really truly don't so that's really all I have to say thank you for your time thank you [Music] hello uhana 11 Bernard Road um I'm here tonight I know you all know what I'm here the same policy anyway um I just got a question who is responsible or supposed to answer emails when trying to you know reach out to the board the somebody because I emailed like three weeks ago or before the hearing and I didn't have no response I basically I don't know what to think they don't care they do care we should keep emailing them or I should keep coming to the board meetings and speaking up or what I should do anyway the second um why you still keeping this p policy when you know it's keeping secrets from you know from we the parents is not the best for a kids future I I don't understand you guys parents some of them I don't know I mean some of them probably grandparents and how you will feel when you know a adults keeping secrets from your kids right and probably can be help helping for them to you know get hurt in the future or that time I just here to ask you guys to consider to remove this policy because it's not safe oh I'm sure you guys have your mind already set up right so that's all I'm here for and I hope somebody can respond my email back to me that's all thank [Applause] you hello my name is Franchesca nordon 53 cuka Avenue I did not prepare anything officially but I would really like to ask the board an active self-governance to move forward on reviewing this policy deciding the proper things to do I've been watching the school board maybe for about two and a half years and I admire the work that you guys do you have the subcommittees you work hard and I think this this is very very urgent and deserves much attention thank you thank [Applause] you anyone else from the public I have a motion to close public comment so move second show of hands the next session section is Communications uh there are four emails listed there a new email did come in uh late this evening that will be reflected on the next meeting's agenda for the approval of the minutes the motion will be to approve the board minutes from March 13th and March 26 which was the listening session I have a motion to approve those agendas from um minutes from those two meetings so moved second Alison and Noel I have a roll call vote please Mrs Anderson yes yes yes yes Smith I abstain Tom yes yes okay superintendent report thank you madam president as you know our listening session regarding policy 5756 was held on March 26 cafeteria was filled and we also had a good turnout online virtually our next listening session is scheduled for April 24th it will concern vaping and substance abuse Mr Timothy schak will present and guide the discussion for the first time the district will have a joint moving up ceremony for all fifth grade students it will be held June 11th 5: pm at Morris NES high school we will combine the moving up ceremony with the lead graduation this event aligns perfectly with the Rockway Township strategic plan which is to provide common common experiences for students parents should have received or will shortly receive a save the DAT announcement this would come from the principles questions or concerns should be directed to the school principal into the woods Jr presented by the Copa Middle School theater company was indeed an impressive production repl with talent and a lot of energy we are very proud of our students and staff who made this production a great success with impressive Productions like into the woods Jr I am not surprised that the Rockway Township School District district has been designated as one of the best communities for music education for the fifth year in a row it is wonderful to see our students and staff recognized for their hard work and dedication last month rise up Rockaway asked for our support to gather the lather for the less fortunate the campaign included all schools and was a great success with KDM alone collecting more than 2,000 hygiene products this is a very important Drive since food assistance usually does not cover articles such as soap toothpaste and deodorant to provide opportunities for Community input we are in the process of planning referendum focus groups during May at locations around the district more details will be provided in a letter which I hope to send out this Friday April 19th last week I sent a letter out to our community regarding unused snow days with two unused snow days May 24th and June 19th um those two days are now designated as additional days off for students and instructional staff on April 10th kindergarten teachers Sandra boraman and Nicole bzero hosted the first of three introductory kindergarten events where we welcomed our new students and families to the district April has been a very busy month as our staff prepares for the 2425 school year all principls and a court team of teachers um have received comprehensive training on the linked in data management platform the system will replace the da data dashboards and give parents access to the child's data in real time additionally linked it will give teachers the ability to easily analyze student data and assist them in making sound educational decisions they're informed by multiple data measures and some news from our schools as the weather warms up Birchwood is above Buzz with excitement students in grades two and five have completed coate testing and both teachers and students are eagly preparing for the upcoming NJ SLA testing which is next month birwood students were involved in various engaging activities from Interactive Learning Experience experiences to science projects that provided students with a deeper appre appreciation of the solar eclipse the science club has also launched its third season fun events at Birchwood include fifth grade Mini Olympics and autism awareness day which will be celebrated April 19th students and teachers will wear blue to show their support students are practicing their performances at the for the spring concert which will be held at the end of the month April is also the month of the military child um and is an opport opportunity for the dbo community to celebrate thank acknowledge students from military families the goal is to spread awareness and recognize these children who make up 15% of the student population at dbo their sacrifice and bravery is extraordinary the month of military child includes events such as wearing purple an honor guard for students as they enter School a Special Assembly to honor and recognize military students which included many special guests including Major General reim mayor Joe Jackson I was presid Miss Shields Mrs mzik was present so also was the Rockway Township Police Chief and the fire chief um they had launch for active mil uh duty military parents a military vehicle showcase a visit from Miss Teen USA children from military families leading the Pledge of Allegiance throughout the month of April finally dbo is grateful to all military families and the entire Community for their support of our students e enjoyable spring break the dwire family is ready to take on the end of the year school activities as always the end of the year is packed with activities both academic and fund third fourth and fifth grades are gearing up for the njsla our multilanguage learning students have already completed their access testing and are now focused on State Testing all other great grades are focusing on the final Diagnostics dwire is proud of all students who participated in the talent show whether they were singing dancing playing the piano or gymnastics each child performed at a high level and were all stars of the show Tre students held their first Market which was very profitable TRS is a project-based learning program that teaches students how to start and launch their own business at that event Mr McGovern purchased a bath bomb I'm not sure what that is but he bought one but it allowed him to eat snacks while reading his favorite book with a nightlight bookmark in a candle lit tub I don't want to picture that anyway that was only some of the items from the market D's young entrepreneurs did an exceptional job the book fair was also a great success DWI will recognize Harbor day and secure their status as a national tree campus KDM used the Grant from the Rockway Township Education Foundation to fund their treps after school activities second and fifth grade students completed the coate testing spring after school enrichmond programs are filled to capacity demonstrating the students commitment to academic Excellence additionally KDM students as I mentioned donated over 2,000 personal hygiene items uh for clients clients served by the rise up Rockaway way through the districts gathered the lather initiative currently KDM is collecting gently used clothing for their clothing Drive the recent KDM talent show proudly demonstrated many multi-talented students you could see the entire show on the KDM website to encourage students interpersonal skills KDM has issued over 400 positive office referrals for students demonstrating heart the KDM Community is looking forward to the fifth grade faculty basketball game as well as the spring concert and art show coming in May this past Friday the annual Stony Brook talent show was a great success students did a great job performing in front of a packed house and the performances are a testable to their dedication we thank the PTA and parent volunteers for making the show possible the stuff the bus fundraiser is officially underway and the student council has been instrumental making it a success all donations will be delivered to the Rockway Township Food Pantry on April 22nd after school clubs are in full swing and the teachers are committed to delivering instruction that is both challenging and engaging for all students April will close with Stony Brooks spirit days and their Spring Book Fair as mentioned the cop Cula Middle School theater company's production of into the woods was a big hit under beautiful early spring Skies the Copeland Middle School inaugural BAS baseball and softball teams kicked off Tuesday April 9th both teams have been working hard and represented culen well on Monday April 15th Cula Middle School piloted a new digital Hall Pass system smart pass which is intended to improve overall student accountability and safety by placing the traditional form of Hall excuse me replacing the traditional form of hall passes the seventh grade class visited Liberty Science Center yesterday April 16th the 8th grade will visit Philadelphia on March 30th and May 1st the sixth grade will be traveling to Medieval Times on May 21st we are also excited to welcome assemblywoman oraon who will visit Copa Middle School on April 18th she'll be presenting to our grade A students as part of their Civics curriculum and she will discuss the legislative process and her work on the budget and on the children and family food security committees and as I mentioned earlier but I'll say it again for the record this morning I received a phone call from AIA Jackson who told me how he recently spoke to some soccer players from grades 6th seventh and eth they asked them how's Copeland and how's Mr Bayer doing according to Mayor Jackson They responded the school is awesome Mr Bayer is the best so we thank our administrators staff and students for all their efforts making Copeland a great school that is my report however I would also like to report out on HIV um under current investigations there were 19 hivs um since the last meeting and seven were affirmed uh all the um affirmations were at Copa middle school and all but one of the hivs that were investigated was at Copa Middle School the other one was at Stonybrook um elementary school there were said one two seven of the 19 were affirmed and that is my report thank you are there any questions or comments for Dr Corbett actually I did have one question I know I had the moving up ceremony is the 14th yes I'm sorry thank you for asking that so what H let me reemphasize what happened was um we we kind of got some dates mixed up the 14th is the conflict is here at Copeland there that is the night of their social their eighth grade social and there's about 25 parents maybe more but around 25 parents that have students in both fifth and eth grade so it wouldn't be fair to them to keep that date so we were able to um contact n's high school and move it to the 11th that is move the moving up ceremony for the fifth grade to the 11th so that has been changed the notification will be going out thank you make is this administrator's report yes yes I have two quick items um happy to report that on Monday the county superintendent the county school business administrator approved our 3425 school budget as we submitted it uh and as as a offshoot of that uh I've I have uh advertised and bids for the roofs on uh Malone Copeland and ber they're out in the paper now we're looking forward to awarding them in the May board meeting sort of work can be done in the summer when thank you any questions for okay student services Dr M I believe youone it's very nice to be back here it's been a while so it's very nice to see everybody again uh members to the Board of Education Dr Corbett superintendent families and fellow administrators I have just a few points it's not I'm not going to take too long I promise you but I think it's important for the board to know what's happening in the department um State monitoring the special education monitoring system has changed in New Jersey and district will be monitored every 10 years now our district has been selected to be cohort number six that means we're the last cohort we will be monitored during the 2028 2029 school year I will expect that we will pass with flying colors the New Jersey Department of Education Office of special education has made public all the indicators for monitoring see attach innal referrals initial referrals revaluations and annual reviews now what you see here is not something from the State Department of Education this is something we put in place in oober to make sure that every IP that is filed in the Department of Education in the department of special services has been reviewed either by me or by the special supervisor this was had in place before for example the initial evaluation has 90 days but it also have 20 days 15 days 45 days 10 days and by doing this we go one by one and if something is missing we have to to have documentation that it was done m and um every document has our signature so if we find a mistake when they come here it will be basically our fault not expecting to have any issue with compliance but if we are the last cohort we should be experts by now because all the district will be doing the um the monitoring semi special education Medicare initiative if you see the last update and if you remember when I first came on board uh the semi number was kind of low we never know why we did believe that it was a issue with the system as a result of that two weeks ago we had to do a corrective action plan for the 2022 2023 school year and the corrective fion plan was sent to the county office and it was approved for this year the year that we supervis 23 24 you can see since August to April says to date we have 206 consent so we expecting by June to be able to get to 90% and we also expecting to come to the meeting and present to the board the semi findings parents surve our district was SE selected one more time uh by the New Jersey Department of Education Office of special education to participate in Statewide parent survey this is something that is required the purpose of the survey is to gather feedback about Services we provide in special location the feedback then is provided to us more information will be provided to the board and to the district as we gain access to it the purpose of doing this array will be for us to improve the level of services we provide in special education preschool we adding an additional preschool integrated class next year this will increase our capacity to serve our preschool disabled students with an inclusive setting as a result we will welcome more general education preschoolers Autism Awareness as you saw today uh the district has been already engaging in activities to promote uh autism awareness and I can tell you from my own experience that I have supervised personally and I have conducted observation in some of these teachers and related service providers and the energy that you saw today and the way they presented the information was the same I saw in the classroom the student service department is preparing a district white activity for Tuesday April the 3rd more information to follow you may receive an email tomorrow or maybe Friday uh the theme of the event will be a Blue Wave rocks Rock Away CAC also on Tuesday the 23rd our monthly CAC meeting will take place here at copet middle school as you know we have the meeting has been taking place in central office we did that with intention to see if we were able to recruit more members that didn't work uh those meetings were also virtual and in person and at this point we believe that coming back to Copa midle school will be the best and we will offer both virtual and we will offer uh in person we will have a presenter from rocker University School based program uh she will discuss mental health and autism we encourage everybody to attend because like it was said before here it takes a village but most importantly we have some giveaways for you thank you very much thank you you have any questions no thank you moving on any committee reports Aon oh I'm sorry I thought I heard oh you want me y okay sounds good okay the education committee actually meant twice um since the last meeting once on March 28th um at 4 :0 and then again on April 10th um at 5:00 um the location for both was central office and attendance were Dr Corbett Mr ganal Mrs Anderson Mrs Shields and myself um one of the items um that was the topic of discussion was academic achievement um and more specifically the school performance reports have been released um the committee plans to continue reviewing that data from all of the schools um and also looking at sending and um comp districts data as um as well in addition to what um has gone on in Prior years um some of the items included in that report were um njsla scores also the um District's attendance and also attendance of the schools um and that is something that is available um on the state's website in addition um we discussed education programs such as um author day um an author day planning committee has been put together to try to coordinate something districtwide um that um can be something that reoccurs each year year um at the beginning of the year we are aware that the PTA Forum meetings um yielded some requests from ptas to have this districtwide event um in addition this would align with District goal 2 offer educational additional educational and Service Learning opportunities districtwide um some other items of discussion at that most recent meeting were the solar eclipse um which occurred on Monday April 8th um the unused snow days um and the give back days are many May 24th and June 19th um and then the education committee is meeting again um on May 13th at 4:30 pm in the Board of Education conference room are there any questions no but Dr Corbett I know we you know this author day and I know a lot some PT budget for that in their budget so maybe at the assembly meeting on the 29th we should let them know that this is something that we're looking to do as a district next year so then they don't when they're doing their budgets for next school year they don't you know absolutely um it's something that so in some ptas they may want to provide books or there there may be things that they want to do so it would absolutely be helpful for them to have that awareness while they're doing budget planning over the summer um in addition we're also aware that there is funding um being provided as well um so that's really helpful and since you mentioned it April 29th is the general assembly for the PTA the third one we're having this year at the uh office board members up to three are welcome to attend let me know if you want to come please you'll be there got a spot Aon all right reporting out on the operations committee we met on March 26 uh 3M we were Central Central office virtual uh with that in attendance was Mrs Anderson Mrs mzik Mr Smith Dr Corbett and myself um highlights from the discussions that we had uh we talked about the school expansions and the projects things that we had uh moving forward additionally talks about the firm and the Architects um we went over some of the summer projects to include the roofing um and what that was going to look like and now good to hear that that they've gone out for uh for bid for those summer projects to begin we also did a follow up on the dbo morning care um which is uh is moving underway we discussed the Raptor system just to give an overview uh for everybody to make sure that um everybody understood how that's been utilized and I saw it the other day as I was coming in the school that we were using the Raptor system uh and last but not least we also discussed smart pass and how it was being uh it's being demoed um from April 15th through the remainder of the year and the uh The Faculty here in the building got uh training on April 8th on how they were going to utilize that so that smart pass is something important we'll be able to get feedback um from Mr Bayer uh closer to the end of the year to figure out if that's something that we want to pursue in the future or if that's something that we just don't care to engage but awesome thing to be able to demo that for free any of your questions all I have for no I was oh just waving uh I do want if I if I may um I'd like to propose the operations committee to miss serson Mrs mzik uh either April 23rd or April 30th for our next meeting April 23rd is a CPAC meeting so I know that will be very close and I might have something else there so if we can avoid that date I appreciate it 30th for me Dr Corbett is the 30th work yes 30th work Mr Smith 4 4:30 either one whatever works four four it is thank you Dr Corbett I can I just wanted to check the calendar I can do the general PTA meeting as well all right General PTA meeting I have three I have M Anderson I have Mrs Shields no I have two do I have three Mrs mzik you don't know so I have two okay good I'm gonna write that down I don't want so so far I have two just email me let me know first come first served can you give me the date uh date and time one more time 29 29th at what time though 6 o'clock 6 p.m. you serve food too by the way sorry so the policy committee will meet on May 3rd at 6: PM uh agenda to the board to follow my mic is super loud thank you I always get the low one so I'm like shocked that I have the loud Lisa okay for the community outreach meeting we met on April 9th uh we met at Copeland Middle School at 4:30 there's me Dr tomasini Who is both virtual and in person Dr Corbett we had um two guests from the local PTA uh Liam goldrick from the Donovan group Peter campasano and Carrie zagari from AR um basically just went over um introductions of both the committee members and the volunteers we're discussing uh the purpose and approach to community engagement about having a clear consistent message and how to connect with those outside the school communities um after the discussion we feel engagement with the community is necessary while we continue to assess the district needs Dr Corbett will schedule focus groups with the ptas looking for another Outreach the Town Council either by coming to those meetings or a separate one our next meeting will take place Tuesday May 7th at 4:30 location will be at Copeland middle school again thank you I think I'm the last one negotiations on April 9th the Rockway Township Board negotiations committee met for the second joint session with the Rockway Township Education Association the party's reviewed proposals which were exchanged prior to our session and our next meeting is this Monday at 7 pm and we'll meet at six o'clock prior to and uh just once again a reminder if at all possible to please Supply agendas prior to your meeting to the entire board and also as always as any board member has a topic they'd like to be brought up in a committee just reach out to that chairperson and uh they will try to add it okay let's go to business at hand Personnel can I have a motion to approve Personnel items so moved second Aaron and CHR [Music] personnel there will be no public discussion it starts on the bottom of page four and goes all the way to page eight can I have a roll call vote please yes yes yes yes yes yes yes uh Hib we are voting on 14 hibs tonight two are confirmed 12 are unconfirmed can I have a motion to approve hi determination so moved seconded christe and Al can I have a roll call vote please on oh sorry yes yes MC yes M bik yes Mr Smith yes Dr thini yes yes education have a motion to approve education recommendations so moved seconded Aaron and Noel pleas begin on page nine go so until page 11 is there any board discussion am I right I can open to the public if I can open to public if anyone has comments on that section education the evening show show for The Vaping session do you are children allowed to be in attendance The Vaping session should by the way Mr Shoemaker will be presenting during the school day to the students but at the middle school like he'll be presenting to Middle School L I know yes of course sure I'm guessing it's up to the parent if they want to bring a younger child I think that would leave that to the discretion of the parent okay the vote is on the top of page 12 yes yes I got okay roll call vote Please Mr Anderson yes yes Gary yes yes Mr Smith yes yes yes special education I have a motion to approve special education recommendations so moved seconded Christie and Allison there are three items listed here is there any board discussion I can open to the public on this section if anyone would like to speak to it can I have a roll call vote on special education items Mrs Anderson yes Caro yes Gary yes mik yes Smith yes commini yes yes Administration can I have a motion to approve Administration recommendation so moved Zed aaren and Noel they begin on page top of page 13 and go until 15 the top page 15 any board discussion no on education items I can open to the public oh Administration I'm sorry Administration items open to the public I just wanted to say that I'm appreciative of the the shared service agreement for our school resource officer from the Rockway Township Police Department that we're continuing that that effort and having uh the the support of the the police department here in school agreed okay can I roll call vote please on Mrs Anderson yes Cur yes mcir yesik yes Mr Smith yes yes yes sorry Finance can I have a motion to approve Finance recommendation so moved second Aaron and chrisy there are two items here I did go to the board office Monday afternoon to sign off on all the bills any other board discussion I mean I guess I just recommend if anybody um that is newer to the board who hasn't had that experience um you know take the opportunity to see like what it entails because you know there's definitely you know really good learning experience in knowing you know like what goes into all of that just encourage that I can open to the public can I have a roll call vote on finance items please please Mrs Anderson yes Mrs Kuro yes M McGary yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes thini yes she yes policy motion to approve policy recommendations so moved second it's chrisy and Lissa there is policy 24155 up for a second read any board discussion on that I can open to the public if anyone like to speak to I have a motion open to public so moved Atkins Aaron and Lissa show of hands please Donna marce cinski one Lake Shore Drive so this is where the disconnect comes we have a policy School parent and family engagement that's going to bring us closer together right and help us create this special environment for our children but policy 5756 excludes parents in a medical decision-making process with no procedure I can't find it anywhere so please if it's if it's something I missed please email me the school will build the schools and parents capacity for a strong parent family engagement in order to ensure effective involvement of parents and to support a partnership among the school involved parents and the community to improve student academic achievement through the following activities specifically described below again it's a disconnect it's telling parents that we're not included for a major medical decision but yet we're going to be included in this thank you thank you have a motion to close to the public so moved second Alison and Lissa can I have a roll call vote on PO on the policy Mrs Anderson yes R yes M McGary yes M mzik yes M Smith yes see yes yes in accordance with board policy 0167 public discussions limited to 15 minutes with a three minute limit per member of the public the board shall have the right to modify the length of public discussion as she deems appropriate can I have a motion to open a public comment so moved second Aaron and Lissa can I have a show of hands please would wish to speak Donna marce zinski I'm going to beat the dead horse you guys all voted for parent involvement please put this policy up for a vote policy 5756 is ridiculous thank you [Applause] well Brian Adams rtea uh just a an event to put on your calendar for this weekend April 21st is the library Springfest that the MCCA of which we are members of is helping sponsor uh there's going to be great things food trucks petting zoos Book Sales and free books provided by the Education Association and Bluey will be there stop it yes Bluey will be there all right thank you said Lou okay can I have a motion to close public comment so moved second Aaron and Lissa show of hands please does the board have any old business or new business we could just lump it together no the Mars County School Board Association spring celebration meeting will take place on May 2nd in Roxbury as a reminder last year the evening was renamed the Nancy hellborg Memorial recognition set meeting recognition of the Rockway Township former board members dedication to her board and her position on the Mars County School Board Association board of directors as she intended to be there at that meeting to celebrate the unsung heroes uh so just welcome everybody to come out what time is that again it's May 2nd wait what time uh 6 6 and where is that Roxbury High School okay thank you anybody else have anything I know this was mentioned a few times already but uh I had the chance to go see into the woods my neighbor was in it and it really was phenomenal it was so good um so proud of those kids there is nothing else may 1 is our next board meeting and we'll have the uh budget hearing at that time that'll be a real page Turner so please come out for that uh we do not need to return to exec session so can I have a motion to adj the meeting so moved second Aaron and Lissa show of hands please meeting adjourned at 911 p.m have a great night everyone thank you start [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]