##VIDEO ID:HZKDLjWCrEI## 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 visitors in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is second to none they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involved School Community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District 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 Macho 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 copel middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better 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 we 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 birwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other one of the things that I love the most about this position and this job is that I get to work with students of all ages now that we House Preschool students here I see every single student in the building from preschool all the way through fifth grade and I get to work with them on a deeper level on a way that inspires them not just to be confident in themselves but in what they love after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he 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 call here here M MC here Mrs mzik here Mrs Smith here Dr thini present Mrs Shield here A New Jersey open public meeting Act was passed to ensure the right of the public to have advance notice and to attend the meetings of public bodies as which at which any business affecting their interest is discussed and acted upon in accordance with the provision of the act the Rockway Township Board of Education cause notice of the date time and place of said meetings to be published in the Daily Record Star Ledger and posted in all schools in the district municipal building of the township and the Township Library is any board member wish to object to the conduct of this meeting for the purpose as stated in the public notice all documentation and materials considered by the Board of Education as part of the this agenda are available for public review and comment members of the public are invited to come to the of educ building offen Road durings 8m Monday through Friday they wish to inspect any of referenced items please have a motion TOA resolve that in accordance with the open public meetings act the Rockway Township Board of Education will meet in closed session to discuss matters involving personel litigation acquisition of real property security negotiations government funds content of said discussions will be disclosed to the public at such time and extent as required by law I please have a motion to go into close session I'm sorry Tanya can I just have a show of hands for the last motion oh sorry so moved second session starts at 62 my name is Dr Richard corporate 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 and 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 Sony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visit us in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment staff is second to none they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involved School Community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District and will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community our Mantra we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community you just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors what keeps me coming back here every morning hugs from kids you know I love being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal so yeah I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy their willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious the people I work with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world the thing that makes copel middle school is so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better place I come here for the students I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do I'm proud to be the superintendent of Rockway Township schools and we are thankful for all the support we have from our community I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at deire is special because we don't have walls I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child if you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other one of the things that I love the most about this position and this job is that I get to work with students of all ages now 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 a 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 always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard like a harder task and I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder task than all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier our goal here is that every child is as comfortable in class as they are at home and if they're ever in trouble or ever concerned or worried that they have the tools available to them to be successful and to help each other be as successful as we know they can be we have really seen over the years an incredible increase in their emotional maturity and in their abilities to deal with issues both in the playground and in the classroom and I really believe it's because our District's Focus onal over the last several years I am the steam teacher at copela middle school I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mari I think what awesome is about being in Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing where go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DB yeah my name is Reya 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 cuz I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss tus cuz drawing is my favorite thing what makes de 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 fth 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 helped me since kinder gar 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 there 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 likee like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe this school is probably hard honesty empathy acceptance and respect and [Music] trust this is probably one of the most special places I've ever worked it is the staff the teachers uh they are loving they are caring the energy here is just great it's wonderful to work with a group of men and women who truly love what they do their heart passion and soul is for students and to see them succeed I try to find a way for them to want to be here even if they're sad or even if they don't want to get out of the car in the morning if I say hey let's go wander in the library and they bounce out of the car right away which actually happened then I've done something right that I have found a way to make them feel like this is home for them because that's kind of how I feel I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what awesome is about being Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is recess my favorite thing is 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 birwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended birwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be 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 friendss with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe the school is probably hard honesty empathy acceptance and respect and Trust I have been teaching art here in Rockaway township for 16 years I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child I get the privilege of going into every single class once a month where I do a guidance lesson the best part of my job is when one of them is having a tough day and then they feel better and it's because of me the people I work with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world [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 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 Fab abulous 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 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 dbo is awesome because all the teachers here are so 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 is something about the building and the and and the community that we Foster here at dbo and I'm really grateful to 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 them more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks 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 what really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing person 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 in juny B Jones my favorite subject is science and science you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun every day I'm like happy at school we identify the interest 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've 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 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 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 school nights our events and we have a very involved School Community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well inside school I really try to be involved in as many things as I can my children also go to school in this District at one of the other schools and I'm really proud of what we put forth for our children any type we can bring togetherness and have us all work together both in our community and out it's really going to help everyone raise their own level of abilities to really increase the success of our community so we used 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 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 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 Rockaway Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and trust and 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 academically 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 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 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 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 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've 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 always start off with a growth mindset and and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard like a harder task and I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder task than all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier our goal here is that every child is as comfortable in class as they are at home and if they're ever in trouble or ever concerned or worried that they have the tools available to them to be successful and to help each other be as successful as we know they can be we have really seen over the years an incredible increase in their emotional maturity and in their abilities to deal with issues both in the playground and in the classroom and I really believe it's because our districts Focus onal over the last several years I am the steam teacher at Copa Middle School I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what awesome is about being a birwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing where go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is 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 Reya I'm in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss Takis 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 quen k I'm in the fifth grade hi my name is Arya I am in second grade what makes our school awesome is all the teachers we have here they help us every day all the janitors keep our school nice and clean all my friends that help me since kindergarten and everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good Community because of my friends the teachers and the principal like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened in that story math is my favorite subject because the teachers always help us and 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 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 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 wi 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 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 Birchwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be I come here 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 an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at deire is special because we don't have walls our Mantra we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community you just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors I like to tell people that when you're here it's like learning at home you're in your kitchen but you still know what's going on in the family room it builds like this you know codery amongst not only the students but also the faculty that work here we call ourselves a dwire family Mr McGovern he seldom calls us a school and we really all live by that we treat each other like family and we emulate that for the kids I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe this school is probably heart honesty empathy acceptance and respect and Trust I have been teaching art here in Rockaway township for 16 years I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child I get the privilege of going into every single class once a month where I do a guidance lesson the best part of my job is when one of them is having a tough day and then they feel better and it's because of me the people I work with makes me come back every every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community I am the steam teacher at 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 eny coming to math class when I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my 7th grade La teacher I used to just like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with 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 class 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 Rockway Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind by being kind to a friend helping them out helping teachers be nice to them be respectful and don't interrupt the teachers and everything we do we try and relate back to our core values one of the things we are working on right now is positive behavior system I don't like to address anything negative in my office because I want kids to be able to trust me and to be able to come down as a leader of the building so we're really working on being kind and yes academics are important but one of the main things for us is that we raise good kids the main message is to be kind because Above All Else we want our kids just to be kind my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to dblf yeah my name is Rea I'm in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss tus cuz drawing is my favorite thing what makes deio unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other 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 stent 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 duding having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks so yeah I I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other really resonates with me about the school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere 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 with 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 Sport and grow with one another is contagious one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to [Music] come bony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visit us in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is second to none they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involved School Community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well inside school I really try to be involved in as many things as I can my children also go to school in this District at one of the other schools and I'm really proud of what we put forth for our children any type we can bring togetherness and have us all work together both in our community and out it's really going to help everyone raise their own level of abilities to really increase the success of our community so we 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 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 janers 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 have a great principal I love the teachers and the morale as soon as I started coming up here since I am from South Jersey I felt welcomed and included right away my name is Dr Richard Corbett and I am the proud superintendent of Rockaway Township Public Schools I was just waving to some of our wonderful students as they were walking by and I'm so happy and pleased to say that when I walk through these halls and talk to these students in these six different schools I see students that are learning and having fun and to me those are two very important qualities of a very very effective education Birchwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended 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 really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before Sony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visit us in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is second to none they really put the kids first all the time 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 the 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 extra curricular 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 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 scopel middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better place I come here for the students I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do I'm proud to be the superintendent of Rockway Township Schools and we are thankful for all the support we have from our community [Music] 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 ice 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 can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to come so we us 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 overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what awesome is about being in Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day my 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 DBL 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 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 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 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 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 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 and soul is for students and to see them succeed I try to find a way for them to want to be here even if they're sad or even if they don't want to get out of the car in the morning if I say hey let's go wander in the library and they bounce out of the car right away which actually happened then I've done something right that I have found a way to make them feel like this is home for them because that's kind of how I feel I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what awesome is about being Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day our doors are always open we are truly a family here our kids are just everything if you've never taught at another school and you come to 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 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 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 Comm moery 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 this 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 and emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child I get the privilege of going into every single class once a month where I do a guidance lesson the best part of my job is when one of them is having a tough day and then they feel better and it's because of me the people I work with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community I am the steam teacher at copelan middle school I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating in their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class when I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my 7th grade La teacher I used to just like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with 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 tried 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 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 a to trust TR 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 DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here 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 CU drawing is my favorite thing what makes deio unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other if I had to describe our building in one word I would say we're a little unconventional we're always trying to have our teachers and our students look at other ways to achieve success and for every student that's different there are other ways that we can really show student growth Student Success I'm not trying to be cheesy or anything it's a really the staff here um we have built a family and I think that says something about the building and the and and the community that we Foster here at dbo and I'm really grateful to be part of that being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up 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 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 ask 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 they're 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 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 they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involved School community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well inside school I really try to be involved in as many things as I can my children also go to school in this District at one of the other schools and I'm really proud of what we put forth for our children any type we can bring togetherness and have us all work together both in our community and out it's really going to help everyone raise their own level of abilities to really increase the success of our community so we us 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 and 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 always help us and it's fun but it can be complicated but it's still really fun I've always wanted to be a teacher I think the reason why I wanted to be a teacher is because I think I had really good Elementary School teachers Rockway I thought was really interesting because I feel like it is a small close-nit community but I also felt like there was a lot of different opportunities in Rockway like how there was five different elementary schools but I also like how I felt like that I fit in with the Sony Brook mentality the Sony Brook mentality is something where we all feel and have the same idea of supporting students the kids understand that everyone makes a mistake everyone has a bad day and I think that it gives the opportunity for kids to grow and not feel like penalized I love that we have a great principal I love the teachers and the morale as soon as I started coming up here since I am from South Jersey I felt welcomed and included right away my name is Dr Richard Corbett and I am the proud superintendent of Rockaway Township Public Schools I was just waving to some of our wonderful students as they were walking by and I'm so happy and pleased to say that when I walk through these halls and talk to these students in these six different schools I see students that are learning and having fun and to me those are two very important qualities of a very very effective education Birchwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended birwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be our core values are the same as Rockaway Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind what really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before Sony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visit us in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is second to none and they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involved School Community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well [Music] every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community our Mantra we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community you just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors what ke keeps me coming back here every morning hugs from kids you know I love being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal so yeah I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy they're willing this 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 scopel middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better place I come here for the students I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do I'm proud to be the superintendent of Rockway Township Schools and we are thankful for all the support we have from our [Music] community I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teach at DWI 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 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 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 5 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 my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to [Music] come so we used to always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard like a harder task and I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder task than all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier our goal here is that every child is as comfortable in class as they are at home and if they're ever in trouble they're ever concerned or worried that they have the tools available to them to be successful and to help each other be as successful as we know they can be we have really seen over the years an incred incredible increase in their emotional maturity and in their abilities to deal with issues both in the playground and in the classroom and I really believe it's because our districts Focus onal over the last several years I am the steam teacher at copela middle school I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when you finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what awesome is about being in Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DBL yeah my name is 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 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 well 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 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 there's stories my first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books and juny B Jones my favorite subject is science in science you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun every 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 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 I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers meth I have a motion to come out of close session moved seconded Aaron and Allison show of hands please post session ends at 7:32 please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance okay we're going to kick off the meeting with the PTA recognition I'm going to hand it over to you Dr Corvett thank you it is is a pleasure to recognize all that the PTA does around the district um at their local communities but recently Gathering Together on a regular basis to share ideas uh to consult with each other uh and to move the district forward so I appreciate the service that the PTA provides and by the way I also appreciate the fact that when I uh call them and ask them if I can speak for a few minutes they say yes and I'm able to talk for a few minutes so it's it's a great pleasure for all of us on behalf of the Board of Education to recognize the great work that the PTA does and when your name is called can I ask you to come forward please and then we can have uh group shot too Melissa Melissa plot thank you Melissa Carri oh you come here Chris Bender Jennifer bar Robert Wadley oh we have a few missing tonight Rebecca lindsy Kramer jelle labach Janelle warton's not here uh Jana Ana Ana's not here one Sharon mcgard Sharon's not here Christina Erikson Melissa Mory cenina Aton Debbie bulldo Bill Buchanan all right [Applause] e and now in recognition of the wonderful PTA guess what guess what we have this evening something very very special cookies um Madam president shall we take a a few a few minutes there you go so let's have some milk and cookie I excuse me coffee 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 Rockway Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind 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 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 Copeland middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better place I come here for the students I love the kids here they are amazing 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 in educ are 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 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 people 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 when 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've 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 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 a whenever you're ready to resume good public discussion during the course of the board meeting the Rockway Township Board of Education offers members of the public an opportunity to address issues regarding the operations 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 or items directly related to the operations 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 and employees have specific rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey the board Bears no responsibility nor will it be liable for any comments made by the members of the public members of the public should consider their comments in light of legal of the legal rights to those affected or identified in the comments and be aware that they are legally responsible and liable for their comments in ordance with board policy 0167 public discussion is limited to 15 minutes with a three minute limit per member of the public board president shall have the right to modify the length of public discussion as she deems appropriate I have a motion to open public comment so move second Christie Lissa show have hands please anyone from the public would like to come forward good evening everyone my name is Megan o' Conor and I'm at 64 Erie Avenue has a school board looked at selling other school assets or delaying some construction to purchase a smaller bond amount I really think there needs to be some compromise to get a referendum passed anecdotally many residents have a major issue as well as myself with the dollar size of the bond that's going to be purchased and the fact that they have to be paying this additional tax over 30 years my second question are you going to provide a line by line Construction budget for taxpayers have you compared different bids so taxpayers can look at those costs and also are you going to disclose who the different vendors are that you will will be using for construction so tax pay payers can assess if there's any conflicts of interests also the issue regarding the board's communication with the public on September the 20th you issued a press release outlining the general scope of the construction there was no mention however of the dollar amount of the bond nor was there a dollar amount for the average tax increase to give taxpayers a fair and balanced communication these details should be included on any future communication with the public and my final question is um on the referendum what does unhoused children mean what is that referring to thank you let me just say thank you U Conor for your questions and and coming forward and asking these questions it's important uh for myself for the Board of Education to be totally transparent with the community we want the community to know what's going on uh to that end we hope to post on the website uh frequently asked questions uh probably by tomorrow all right so please visit the website now I want to say up front that that's subject to change and one of the reasons why we don't have all the information yet that you're asking you're asking some very very good questions and I appreciate those questions we just don't have all the answers and by the way to that end I just want to this is available for anyone who wants to be sure that they're on the mailing list and to be sure that they're receiving updates regarding the referendum I have two QR codes here so I have these available for anyone here or anyone in the community who wants to be kept up to date uh with the referendum process and we will be again posting the frequently asked questions and updating that regularly as we receive the information as dentist to comment um with respect to uh the con the construction the contractors the identity in the process um once if once there's a vote and it's successful um there's a bond transaction and then the bid process is an open and public process so the biders are required to submit bids uh the bid opening is um is known and then when the board adopts a resolution to approve a Construction contract that has to be done at a board meeting um with the identity of all the biders uh reflected in the resolution the values that they place on the particular aspects of the project so so in terms of the identity the the contractor once the board gets to that point it is a very open and public process and in fact has to be because the law requires it um in terms of uh the line by line uh aspect of the budget once there's a vote and you get approved um there are line items that are reflected the department of education issues of PC letter um to the board so that you can see that um and you know the problem with that is that at the time that it's issued and the time the bid comes in you don't actually know the price until you see what the bid what happens with the bid I've been involved in construction projects which uh on a daily basis the price of steel changed so the B bid price on one day was different than the the value assigned by the Department of Education on another day so um but with respect to the bid and the identity of the contractor that has to be in a public uh domain and once the board gets to that point which would be some time from now it would be it has to be a public experience so the the public would know who the contract other public comment have a motion to close public comment second Sor hands please the communications that were received by board mail or listed I have a motion to approve the minutes no moved V roll call vote please Mrs Anderson abstain Mrs car Laro yes M McGary yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Dr Thomas cini yes Mrs Shields yes motion carries superintendent's report thank you Mr shields uh in October the department of student services conducted the first CPAC meeting for the school year the committee met before the actual meeting to go over expectations and Logistics and discuss ways to increase CPAC involvement several individuals expressed interest in joining the committee the presentation that evening was entitled Back to Basics diving into IEPs it was provided also by uh Katy petski the supervisor and there were about 20 people in attendance and it really led to a very nice fruitful discussion after a thorough interview process I'm pleased to recommend Michael Martino as the supervisor building and grounds effective January 1st 2025 Mr Martino is a licensed electrician and HVAC technician currently serving as the buildings and grounds director for Summit public schools with more than a decade of experience in school maintenance positions and a strong background in construction will bring much needed Insight leadership to the department referendum FAQs as I mentioned will be posted on the website tomorrow October 17th they are subject to revisions and changes as we receive additional information regarding the referend to provide information regarding the referendum to the public I plan to attend park lakes Spooktacular yes I will be there dressed up in my Halloween vest and I will have candy available for whoever would like some candy that evening and I will also have available as much information as I have for the public regarding the referendum and some news from our schools that October is off to a strong start at Birchwood they began the month with the kindergarten social hosted by the PTA fun evening brought together parents and students who enjoyed carnival style games connect and build they connected and build relationships between the families Birchwood Fire Company Number Four also visited the school to provide fire safety education students had an exciting time touring the fire trucks and learning about the equipment used by firefighters from October 7th to the 11th Birchwood celebrated the week of respect with a ser series of engaging activities organized by the guidance Department the rest of October has more in store including the annual Trunk or Treat event safe schools week Red Ribbon Week parent teacher conferences and the always anticipated Halloween parade in addition to the student events virtual teachers have been enjoying their Wellness Wednesdays created by the school's Wellness team these special days provide resources activities and healthy treats for staff teachers certainly appre appreciate and embrace the initiative looking ahead title one before school language arts andth support will begin in November dbo dbo also started October by observing the week of respect students and staff were excited to be part of this a wonderful yearly initiative which promotes kindness inclusion and creates a welcoming and supportive environment dbo is pleased to offer 10 clubs this fall where students will meet each week to participate extra activities student learning is a major part of the dbo culture last week the dbo cares Club cleaned up the courtyard and the playground for all to enjoy we are very pleased proud to announce that Katherine ad DWI has been identified as a National Blue Ribbon School for exemplary academic performance that is amazing how about a round of applause [Applause] this is a tremendous honor not only for the school but for the community as well Mr McGovern on numerous occasions has stressed the dedication and fortitude of his staff students and parents on November 7th to 8th Mr McGovern and a staff representative will travel to Washington on behalf of the school to accept the award from the Department of Education at KDM students have completed their assessments and teachers and staff are actively developing plans to remediate and extend student learning math teachers participated in a district initiative focused on improving math instruction the participant feedback was very positive we look forward to implementing new strategies um introduced in the classroom training currently KDM offers seven after school programs with full rosters including the highly anticipated TRS club uh generously funded by the Rockway Township Education Foundation KDM PTA hosted a highly successful wathon that exceeded expectations is fun and enjoyable uh for everyone the students PTA and the parents who volunteered um KDM thanks the Rockway Township Fire Department for visiting our kindergarten and second graders during the Fire Prevention Week ADM closed out the month of September with over 42 students receiving positive office referrals demonstrating Parts initiatives at ston Brook such as the week of respect safe schools Unity day and red ribbon week aimed to instill a sense of compassion and empathy in students the annual Stony Brook picnic and wathon were enjoyed by all in both events benefited from picture perfect weather PTA numerous parent Volunteers played a big part in their success special thanks to the Rockway Township Fire Department for visiting Cy Brook on October 8th for their annual fire prevention assembly with the kinderg garders and second graders everyone is looking forward to the pbsis kickoff event scheduled for November 1st it's been a busy start to The Fall season at Copa Middle School the week of respect was highlighted by a week full of spirit days and kindness activities in recognition of safe schools and violence Prevention Week C middle school students are engaging in a week-long grade level Penny War to determine which administrator will get hied in the face on Wednesday October the 6 uh excuse me on Wednesday October the sixth grade students sixth grade students heard a powerful message from former TV reality star Louie I don't know how to pronounce his name I'm afraid to pronounce the name boat I think it is presented by the Rockway Township substance abuse Alliance the Copa Middle School Halloween themed socials for students in grade six and seven will occur on October 18th and the 25th respectively after school clubs and activities are up and running and after school extra help will begin in late October CMS cross country team hosted two home meets in October and is finishing up another successful season and that is my report although I do want to also mention the HIV investigations currently under way uh of the current investigations one at dwire and one at Copeland the one at DWI the date it opened was September 9th and it was founded as an HIV um with a distinguishing istic of race and then at Hopeland there was a investigation opened on the 12th of September and the distinguishing characteristic was mental physical sensory disability and that was also found as HIV that is my report thank you thank you are there any questions or comments for Dr Corbett business administrator's report thank you um The District's audit had its onsite review which took place during the week of September 23rd and September 30th our Auditors nissia um had their team come out and they provided they were provided with all of the necessary data and information during that time and while we are waiting for the final reports to be process all feedback has been positive um I want to thank my business office staff and particularly Liz Bender um who is the lead contact for the Auditors for all of their hard work in diligence very smoothly and it's largely thanks to those leades um the district was notified that it has been selected for an audit from our food for our food service program by the Department of Agriculture these audits are conducted on a cyclical basis and our food service company mashos is prepared to guide us through that process so we'll be going through that leading into the spring um we are wrapping up and closing out our district Roofing projects with the help of USA Architects all on-site assessments have been good and we've moved on to final punch list items and close outs um there are two motions on on the agenda tonight for payments to be made on those uh given that these projects were delayed from the original intended timeline due to issues involving the bid process it's quite a relief to them now so we are getting very close to the Finish Line um the business office is preparing for the creation of our annual budget with the completion of the NJ smart snapshot and preparation of the asssa report in the coming month we will begin with the validation of payroll and account of personnel costs we can then proceed with next steps and I plan to provide the board with a budget calendar at our next um so we're we're going right into the next process very quick so it comes up comes up before you know it and finally I am pleased to report that the follow that following a thorough interview process with numerous qualified candidates we have selected a new supervisor facilities and as Dr Corbett mentioned Mike Martino comes to us with a depth of knowledge and experience in the field of buildings and grounds that will be a major asset to the district I believe that Mike's work work ethic and vision will provide um invaluable support to our department and help us navigate the coming years in terms of Maintenance growth and expansion so I put him forward for consideration by Dr Corbett and the board without hesitation or expansion that's my report any comments or questions education report Mr good evening everyone Alfonso ganella director of curriculum instruction before I begin I would also like to welcome Mr Martino to our district very excited to have you here beautiful life Kathleen very nice meeting you good luck so this is our annual njsla uh spring 2024 presentation so we are going to walk through each grade level we're also going to look at specific um groups and their areas of growth thank you so a little bit about the test administ ation um I was able to meet uh very early on in October with all of the uh School testing coordinators uh myself Miss Waxman um who really does a lot of the heavy lifting on um the njsla implementation side of it um we were able to Norm out all of our procedures and protocols for testing um the reason that's important is six different schools uh 14 coordinators getting everybody on the same page and really setting the environment um for the kids to take the test and a you know as stressfree in an environment as you can is critical um the testing windows were again content specific focusing on one subject per week uh this provided ample time for makeup testing um and did not overtax students multiple days in a run so testing Tuesday through Thursday starting the window slightly earlier which left us enough time for makeups um Mr Elder and his team you know once again the infrastructure was spot on um you can kind of picture when you are everyone's logging into a system like uh Genesis conferencing today all at the same time all those users flood the system um when that happens during testing that can cause the system to override and essentially putter out um so we've learned over the years um that we had to upgrade our switches with which Mr Elder and his team have done we've also staggered our testing times so you know all 2200 kids or 1700 kids are not logging in at one time test um so we've been very fortunate um and again just you know a big shout out to the teachers the school testing coordinators the teachers themselves um you know this is a very very um you know stressful couple weeks for the teaching staff being uprooted from their classes testing um abnormal schedules so great job to them so that was the environment for test Administration okay where to focus we're going to look at State averages versus District averages and then we will look at the trajectory of a graduating Aid student so kids that are currently in 9th grade next slide okay we are going to begin with math because we tested math first this year so if you look at it there are five levels level one are students who did not meet expectation level two partially met three which a very critical group these These are students identified as your push kids um these students at level three at any given time taking a test there could be a 15-point swing so if they were to take this test a week later it is possible that they would move to level four but this is really a group that you know we want to focus in on to get to level four which is your students that met or on or are on grade level expectation and level five exceeding meaning you are above grade level so grade three in math the state average was 47.5% Rockaway Township was 63.9 that's 16.4% above the state average next slide please fourth grain again you're looking at 44.9% is the state average Rockaway Township was 61.6 Which is 16.7% higher than the state grade five is 40.2% for the state Rockaway Township was 55.8 Which is 15.6% higher than the state average now we come into Middle School sixth grade and just to give a little background about Middle School when students enter middle school there are different levels in math okay so there's pre-algebra algebra geometry and grade level math so in sixth grade every student is tested in the population so every student takes the sixth grade njsla we have roughly 27 students who are um enrolled in pre-algebra that is the highest Math course you can take in middle school if you pass the course those students move on to algebra which is a high school course in seventh grade and geometry which is a high school course in 8th grade and they are tested separately than their grade level peers so with all of the students in the population grade six scored 42.7% proficient which is 6.5% higher than the state average next slide so grade seven is where our students begin to get pulled into High School level courses and they are tested separate um from their grade level peers so the state average in Matt 7 is 37.5% Rockaway Township was 34.4 which is obviously 3.1% lower than the state average rade eight the state average is 19.5% and rock White Township was 15.8 which is 3.7% lower than the state average now the promising news a if you click the next slide if you look at our algebra students those students that were not tested in the grade level population uh those students tested at 39.5% for the state our students scored 93.6 Which is 54% higher than the state average if you look at our geometry scores again students not tested in the eth grade population uh those students were 40 9% proficient in the state Rockaway Township was 96.8% proficient which was 47.8% higher than the state now if you look at a class of 2024 uh data story for math we will follow a graduating 8th grader so students who are currently in ninth grade at the high school now something to keep in mind is that you will not see a grade four and five because the state of New Jersey did not test during the covid years um and as you may know uh you know our students have suffered uh you know significant learning loss during that time so if you look at our students in grade three you'll see the teal color is Rockaway Township and then the darker color is the state so you can see the trend of the you know Rockaway Township M scores beginning to you know a steady decline which I I do want to highlight um is indicative of State Trends as well this is not just a Rockaway Township Trend this is a Statewide Trend um but that will that shows you grade three through grade eight in math so L language arts was our second group so third grain the state was 43.6% proficient Rockaway Township was 55.8 that's 12.2% higher than the state next slide fourth fourth grade the state was at 50.8 Rockaway Township was at 61.5 10.8% higher than the state okay next slide Ela 5 knocked it out of the park 70.4% proficient 18.2% higher than the stay sixth grain 53.2 Rockaway town ship was 63.7 Which is 10.5% higher than the state average seventh grade 54% proficient for the state Rockway Township 63.9 99.9% higher than the state next slide so if you look at a class of 2024 data story you'll see our students in third grade were well above State average and this group maintained you know pretty well during the covid years um and stayed pretty consistent throughout um you we saw a dip in eighth grade this year um you know and that's certainly something that you know we will and have been looking at uh to improve on next slide please so now these are some of my favorite slides so this this is a snapshot so these are scaled scores of our MLL so MLL is multiple language learner the old designation was ESL so the teal is your non-ml students so those are your English speakers and your um oranges are your MLL students so if you look at each grade level our MLL students are fairing uh very well when compared to their peers there is not that much of a dip and just a little background the MLL program is housed in two schools Katherine a DWI which has received Blue Ribbon re recogition and right here at Copeland middle school and you know that is a total team effort because our ml program it's not a segregated population our MLL students are um integrated into the the Gen Ed setting they are not pulled out and not sitting in their own classroom receiving direct instruction from an ESL teacher they are receiving um support and learning from all of their teach teachers um so kudos to those students and kudos to our teachers um for really helping them grow and and you know gain uh language Acquisitions great job a next slide please non MLL and MLL so the MLL students are in yellow and what you'll see is a similar Trend our MLL students non-english speakers are holding serve with their English-speaking counterparts Ed stands for economically disadvantaged again very promising data you're you're seeing that our economically disadvantaged students are also fairing very well academically in Rockaway Township Schools same can be said on the E La side of it special education versus non-special education students or special ed students are in teal if you look at the graph our specialed students are also performing very well compared to their peers on State Testing in every grade level and in advanced courses High School level courses such as algebra and geom ometry most identical data on the ELA side science in uh fifth grade so a little background science is tested in grade five and is tested in grade 8 throughout the state um just just a kind of a another little bit of information um there is not as many uh testing resources sample test questions that go out on the science area of nsla as goes out for math and language arts so science uh 27.6 uh and we were 33.3 which is 5.7 higher than the state average science in grade 8 is 18.8 8% and Rockaway Township 16.1 so 2.7% lower in eighth grade kind of hard talking at a podiums now I'm going to turn this a little bit if that's all right Amy chrisy I'm sorry so some promising things happen in in Rockaway township last year so Global observations the ELA data at the primary grades is Stead increased um Ela grade 8 saw a decrease in test scores from what we've seen historically math scores districtwide have improved at the elementary level um but declined at the middle school this is a state Trend but I also highlighted the algebra and geometry scores which were exceptional and those students are not tested in the grade level um with their grade level counterparts so next steps we want to be more deliberate with how students are using I ready and I the program was rolled out during Co and you know it was very difficult to do anything during Co you know the our goal as Educators was to have kids in school to feel safe to feel support it um so rolling out a new program proved very difficult um so what we've done is we are um really focusing on training and Shifting the training to a coaching model as opposed to a sit and listen model um at an upcoming board meeting we will actually be putting on an I ready curricular demonstration activity for you so the parents can see the type of instruction that their students are receiving in class we've continued to focus on our conquer math professional development our teachers are aligning their lesson plans with updated grade level curriculum so a as we discussed there was over 66 documents approved um in August this year so that's aligning District resources streamlining curriculum and training teachers on those resources focusing on science of reading in K3 the super kidss program is at every building K1 and two every building grade three is leveraging um magnetic reading through the I ready program so all of our students are are science of reading through and through and then we've begun the process of implementing uh standards-based District Summit of Assessments in each grade level I have a meeting with the lead teachers tomorrow and we will uh receive training on how to leverage that component of link it I do want to to end with something I said at the last meeting celebrate the success of your children it's not whether your child falls in the green or they're in the 902nd percentile um there's very valuable life lessons that come through education and that's the the journey the struggle um trying your best and sell celebrating that as a parent doesn't matter what the score says on a presentation um it's the effort they put in and showing up every day and putting in the work and enjoying the ride really is what education is about um so thank you everyone I do want to throw one plug in uh Genesis conferencing was released today as have the um link it Parent Portal so the data dashboards that you received have gone away you now have access to your child's data in real time through the linkit platform thank you are there any comments or questions from the board for Mr Canela yeah I actually have some questions so I just want to confirm in math the sixth grade scores because I see that the data story is showing that we're below state but the percentag is showing that we're higher so I just want to make sure we can confirm that now in the future and then when I look at the next steps you know it doesn't seem to me to be addressing the trend because I see the trend that we're having issues primarily in seventh and eth grade which are critical years because moving on to high school and so forth so I just wanted to know either now or in the future maybe the next meeting or something um you know what we're planning on doing to address this glaring like look at us seventh and eighth grade are primarily Below in all in in majority of subjects and so that that really worries me that you know we in this we seem to be saying well you know it's States having the same issue like everybody else is having the same issue so you know well you know I mean like I just want to make sure we're not doing that and saying that everybody else is having this issue in 7th grade so we're just going to kind of just say h you know like we're normal I want to make sure that we're actually doing something to prepare these these kids that are eventually going to be leaving our our district into the next that make sense y I can answer I can answer uh I can give you a preview of the next board meeting so that is a that's an excellent point because the data in seventh grade does begin to decline um and that is yes a state Trend but we don't want to compare ourselves to the state we want to compare ourselves to to us and we have spectacular teachers spectacular administrators so what we did this year and began this process last year which I consider a missing peace and professional development is we've been focusing on training the administrators in the on these programs so with our I ready program every building administrator was trained on I ready but not trained on a chalk and talk session they've worked with an instructional coach um and they've been um previewing observing lessons by Champion teachers that have been working the program and then they've observed lessons with a co-taught um lesson with an i ready coach and a teacher so that allows the principal when they're running grade level meetings or doing you know walkthroughs to actually give teachers targeted support and feedback um and that is not going to be oneoff professional development that is actually embedded throughout the school year and will be a model that we follow for years to come so we want to have our job embedded coaching be something that's part of what we do and not just have teachers in a room you know looking at a webinar listening to someone talk we want our actual teachers engaging with the content engaging with students with an expert there with them um so we've begun that process that's my board update for next week we'll be giving a little more detailed overview on it and then we'd like to show everyone on um really a sample of the training about a 10-minute mini lesson on I ready math that that we're focusing on not just in seventh and eth grade um but throughout the district okay and that'll also be something that addresses the ELA and science as well yes all right thank you so much you're very welcome I have to talk the mic I'll yell at me from the back no worries Mr ganell I have a question about science um mentioned it um when I'm looking at the the scores of the children that are not proficient in grade five it's 66.7% and in eighth grade it's 83.9 um I assume we have plans on how to rectify that yes a lot of those plans are centered around the new curriculum and streamlining resources across all of the schools which have been a bit of a problem and really norming out the expectations um in each content area and as I said the administrators the curriculum writers the teachers everyone last year really put in the work um and this year they're working that plan so I anticipate those scores looking probably say better than they have in recent years okay so is there a specific PD perhaps that's scheduled around this at'll be for for science specifically science so our science PD is based around the science kits that they're using Mystery Science um in our October 14th PD day focused on a deep data dive using this njsla data so our science teachers math and ELA teachers picked out specific strands and standards that were areas of concern and they developed action plans based around those standards that they will be imp implementing throughout the year okay thank you thank you very much thank you everyone committee reports who wants to kick it Offa or I can start all right the education committee met on October 9th at 4:30 in central office in attendance were Dr Corbett Mr ganal Miss Anderson Mrs Shields and myself um we had the opportunity to um revisit the curriculum revision process um and really reflected on what's upcoming um there are still more curriculum documents coming um in the areas of Music um life skills gifted and talented um MML as well we also had the opportunity to discuss grows and glows um and have ideas for the uh continued revision um we also had the opportunity to talk about um something that Mr ganal just mentioned the Genesis conferences going live today um and in addition to that the link at data um which was supposed to be taking all of the prior data and kind of housing it all together um was also supposed to be available today as well um at 3 o' in addition um we had the opportunity to discuss the Genesis Parent Portal intake form and that's like still work in progress and our next meeting is November 6 at 4:30 I just want to confirm that still works for all of you guys that sounds good for me yeah okay okay I actually have a few reports uh because the committee Outreach committee has added on multiple uh GS a lot of information coming out we had a meeting on September 24th um at this meeting besides the committee members were Peto from USAA arits Liam gri from the Donovan grp uh we discussed uh the list of meetings that were originally on the February 6th committee agenda and luckily the members agree to spend all of our time together um at this meeting we discussed uh Dr Corbett's proposal the overall strategy for the referendum one of those items mentioned was to bring a videos to showcase our community the community survey we discussed whether or not we engage the community effectively mailers were apparently less successful than we anticipated we discussed other options for outreach and we discussed that we were going to be um having that conversation further on October 1 o oh excuse me October 1 meeting we discuss additional meeting dates in November and December we discuss other options for outreach text messaging might be a solution to reach community members and then we discuss the additions to the website at that point the guests that R belder Liam goldrick and Greg MAA from 247 marketing left the meeting so we could discuss uh additional funding sources to offset the cost of the community October 8th besides the committee the guests were Peter cisano krie zagari sham Perez and Matt cryan all from USAA and Liam gold from donov discussed on how the township handles their meeting uh their mailings discuss uh possible class one streams and further disc disc with the D on our properties had a presentation from the USAA with initial concepts for rendering hand sched scory board discuss the frequently asked questions that have been coming up in the community we will discuss that further on October 15 talks about video production uh we discuss uh the additional funding sources offset the community and that we disc the board at a later date we added additional meeting dates uh the meetings for the rest of the calendar year are October 29th at five November nope that one we canceled December 3rd at 4M but the additional ones we actually pick were October 15th November 12th November 19th December 10th additionally we scheduled um a meeting before the new board will change over and that will be on January 7th finally uh we had a h virtual uh meeting only with the committee members p toaso and Liam Buri spoke about the uh frequently asked questions for the website spacular on October 26 and Dr Corbett would be there heard from 247 marketing ing the text messages Community Forum Dr horb will select dates in January and February um have forums to meet with the community spoke about a slideshow um that would need to be done by October 26 spacular so Dr cor have material to share next community outreach meeting will be October 29th at 5 o' any comments or questions would you forward all those meting to wish she limit it to one next time you limited to one next time made it um Hopeland P meeting the mayor presented a QR code card to all the parents there and he said it's QR code for new residents that brings them to Township staff but I wonder if our referendum information can also be on that that site or his QR code so that residents who are looking might go there and not just the Board of Ed page not that they're not that they wouldn't have to I know that the take time and just present the information I know there was an issue with the township website at some point that the link that was provided was not going to current one okay it still doesn't it still doesn't you go to government and you go to board of ed and you click it you go nowhere so okay would be a good place to link it to our website we'll talk about so on September 24th at 4 o'clock virtually the operations committee met uh in attendance was Miss slam Dr Corbett uh Miss Anderson Mrs messic and myself uh topics that we went over uh we disc discussed uh student residency uh as well as status of our current projects uh to include the KDM roofing project uh we talk transportation and some of the transportation concerns uh that have been raised additionally we looked at uh Safety and Security planning and some of the initiatives that we have coming up uh as well as correspondence to incidences and how uh information is getting out and then finally we talked about uh thewire sign and a current status so we're we're continuing to work on it years we're continuing to work on it but that is the uh the Highlight our next meeting is going to be on uh October 29th right before the community outreach meeting y it's hard to tell with all those dates because we do meet community outreach every week but uh we're we're pushing that meeting to five o'clock so operations can meet at 4 so it's a it's a double meeting you become the new policy we really like meeting any comments or questions for operation yeah I have a question the next meeting is October 29th October 29th what time 4 four o'clock yes yes we're confirming that definitely want that we want that time right before community outreach I was actually thinking of a question because you mentioned student residency and I don't know where the sit has forgive me for that but I do understand that there are times where families move move out of District but are still allowed to district schools and I was just wondering as we go through this referendum and all that like what the percentages of that what the cost is of that I just think that would be information to have so I don't know where that sits we can definitely look into that but what I will say is it's it's very very rare that we have anybody that is allowed to continue to attend and it's usually for very short period of time U barwing extenuating circumstances um for example we did have um they were given leniency for that reason but Dr Corbin and I are very good about enforcing the statute which is you have to attend the school in dist The District in which you live um so yes there's very very few times that there are exceptions made and those exceptions are not person but I can look into if we have anybody that falls into that category currently I think that the last the last case that I know of has been resolved they've moved back and that was the family that suffered the fire theyve moved into a new location within town so the time frame that we gave them was sufficient yeah I just want it's I think it's it would be important for us to have the information especially as we think about the cost per per child uh to educate them in a district and then we're asking for referend I just feel like we should have that information available absolutely thank you other committees okay moving on to recommended for board action person can I have a motion so moved page have a roll vote please Mrs Anderson yes Mrs KIRO yes M mcgi yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Dr tomasini yes Mrs Shields yes motion carries Mrs Shields oh I'm sorry oh you were going no you do I was going to say number 11 on that list was uh Mr Michael Martino our new supervisor of faili and Safety Management and I think You' like to come up and say a few words congratulations welcome to the district thank you I'll make it nice and short and sweet I have over 25 years experience in facilities the last 15 years years has been with the summit Public Schools I understand the significance of the position and responsibilities and I look forward and that to come with it I'm fully committed to the meeting the district's expectations and I look forward to making everything work thank you so much again thank you thank you thank you Mike and congratulations um we're all very excited for you to be joining the team I think I'm the most excited because you're joining my team um which I I take a lot of pride in and I know that our our guys are very excited for you to be joining us as well and Kathleen thank you for letting him come here I know I I I figured on Section B is hi there's no action to be taken tonight there are currently two investigations those will be voted on at next board meeting education can I have a motion to approve education recommendations go moved seconded it's okay I'm gonna give it to Lissa you're not getting that one no well starts on P go page n is there any discuss no I'm just really excited to approve Mr McGovern and Mrs Myers for their trip to Washington DC I had the privilege of reading reading some of the um materials that they sent forward to um the whole Blue Ribbon piece and the amount of work that that staff put in just to for the application was Unreal and I'm excited for them they've done a great job and just even as a district when you see all of what they do on a daily basis and that's happening in all of our schools it just really makes you proud to be part of this school district I can open to the public if anyone wants to comment on education items okay let's do a roll call vote on education items please Mrs Anderson yes Mrs k yes M McGary yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Dr Thomas cini yes Mrs Shields yes carries I have a motion to approve special education recommendation so moved just on the bottom of page n is there any board discussion to the public if anyone wants to comment on special education items only I have a roll call vote please on special education items Mrs Anderson yes Mrs karoo yes M mcgi yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Dr tomasini yes Mrs Shields yes motion carries I have a motion to approve Administration recommendations so moved second Christie page 10 going to the middle of page 11 any board discussion open to the public to comment on Administration items I roll call vote on Administration items please Mrs Anderson yes Mrs Karo yes M MGI yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Dr tomasini yes Mrs Shield yes carries I a motion to approve Finance recommend seconde on page 11 and 12 I did go into the board office and sign off on all the bills yesterday any other board discussion open to the public comments on financial items roll call vote please on finance items Mrs Anderson yes Mrs kir Laro yes M mcir yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Dr thini yes Mrs Shield yes Carri I have a motion to open second public comment please so moved second Lissa hands please from the public would like to speak hello April matao 14 dudak Road um I just want to thank the board for the signup sheet the QR code as well as the other Outreach options mentioned tonight to keep the public informed about the upcoming referendum um also as we quickly approach election day I just want to encourage everyone to get out and vote and also wish luck to all who are running thank you thank you good evening my name is Donna maray cinski I live at One Lake Shore Drive I want to say thank you to the board and the Rockway Township School's teachers for continuing to assist the children in the district who are still experiencing the effects of learning loss due to the covid-19 shutdowns as well as the masking mandates I also attended another virtual seatback meeting and I'm impressed with the level of support as a mom of a child with dyslexia I know how important it is to have a strong individualized plan for each child so they can succeed I also know how closely I worked with my daughter teachers that relationship was built on trust that the teacher and staff were going to help my child succeed but also keep me included in everything that made it possible for my daughter to be the success story she is today from what I've seen it looks like that same level of respect and working together with parents exists here and as a parent of a child in District I'm so very grateful since this is the last board meeting of Board of Education meeting before the election section I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone running good luck thank you Dana tabella 31 Omaha Avenue um I understand that the board president had directed directed uh at the PTA meeting to find candidates um information about the candidates on the Rockaway Township politics page which is a very controversial page and I'd like to suggest that if you're going to make a recommendation that they should you should direct them to the actual candidates page thank you that I need to comment back but I did say social media or reach out to the the candidates themselves so Brian Adams co-president of the Rockway Township Education Association representing the employees of the district including our uh teachers our staff assistants custodians maintenance and our secretaries and non-certificated staff would that being said I've got some great events coming up in the future that you're all invited to and uh our first one's tomorrow night which kind of sold out very quickly uh that's our annual Pumpkin Fest soon this room will be filled with pumpkin spice and it's so much in your eyes when you've got 125 families all carving pumpkins but we're looking forward to that tomorrow night we've got all the apple cider donuts ready to go and uh we're really looking forward to that uh we have a new event planned for December ginger head gingerbread house night and that's scheduled on December 12th also here at Copeland January 30th we've got our fleece tie blanket night where families make a blanket and they they take the blanket and they make one and we donate those to the Interfaith Food Pantry for those in need and this year we've got additional nights uh focusing on stem building night so we're looking at those in February and March so hoping to see everybody there and uh thank you thank you Megan oconor 64 Erie Avenue and I do appreciate everyone answering my questions a couple of my questions however uh were unanswered so I just wanted to repeat them has the school board looked at selling other school assets or delaying some construction to purchase a smaller Bond and in the language of the some of the communications regarding the referendum what is meant by unhoused students thank you I I will say this um in terms of sell selling other assets or instructing less to bring down the price of the bond I would refer you to the frequently asked questions which will be posted tomorrow so I'm not going to comment tonight but those are very legitimate and good questions and um I just want to make sure that the wording is correct before it stated in public and it'll be in writing okay so that's why I'm directing you to the FAQs on the website that's number one also on the FAQs on the site will be a definition of unhoused students you know in general I don't want to give a specific definition because somebody's going to say def find it wrong but there's a certain amount of students that the Department of Education says appropriate for the square footage of a school when you go beyond that number those students are considered unhoused and I think our um as a recall we have over 200 unhoused students in the district which means that we cannot we we we're beyond the physical capacity you know in a particular building to accommodate those students but again I refer you to the FAQs because both and those are very good questions and both will be addressed and I will repeat again that we have C codes for uh referendum Madam president can I make one comment just so we're um I I just want to reassure the public and and everybody that's that's part of this entire referendum the Board of Ed here takes this this job very very seriously the amount of time that's been invested in what is we're currently facing um we we're doing our due diligence to make sure that we are exploring every option that is out there everything um when uh Mrs mzik who is our community outreach President we are meeting weekly to discuss the referendum weekly to go over it and go over it and go over it so none of this has been taken lightly so I don't want anybody to think that we're not putting the work behind what's being proposed we're trying to do what's best for not only the students here in in Rockway Township but also the taxpayers as well we're considering everything um but just know that there's there's been a lot of hours and a lot of thought and a lot of experts and a lot of people that are coming forward to put these proposals together so I look forward to seeing more information coming through out and I'll I'll thank you for saying that by the way I'm very cautious because when we put out information it has to be quite deliberate because I don't want to put out inaccurate information what you read on Facebook whatever somebody might be reading may not be accurate because anybody can put information on Facebook but we're trying to be very deliberate and Discerning regarding what we put out there so it it takes us a little bit longer but as Dr Thomas cini said you know our intention is to be you know to reach out to the community to work hard to give the information to the community be totally transparent um regarding this process Megan oconor 64 Erie Avenue um just to address your comments I'm not doubting anyone's effort or their intent but as a taxpayer uh when I'm going to pay $15,000 over the next 30 years for these improvements I think I have a right to ask these questions I don't I don't take anything away from anybody in asking questions you can absolutely ask them and that's fine um I just want to make sure that everybody knows that the due diligence behind it this is not taken lightly whatsoever and by the way Miss OK Conor let me say and again it should not be a back and forth so I should say that too but I do want to say we're not at all offended by your questions fact the more questions you ask the better it is for the effort as far as I'm concerned because you'll probably ask a question that others want information regarding also I want to hear that question so I can address it even if ultimately we don't we don't agree I still want to hear the question and we will provide the answer to that question so thank you for getting up here thank you for coming to the meetings thank you for your emails to me which I received and thank you for asking the questions Donna Marie cinski one leak Shore Drive um I actually have a suggestion for the referendum because a lot of the seniors can't do the QR code and they might not be going on the Internet or getting the emails is there any way you could do like a print out and maybe somebody deliver it to the senior meetings just a suggestion a thought because they were very up and arms that they didn't even know so and yeah again they might have gotten the mailer but a QR code to a senior is very overwhelming and thank you Donna Marie and to that point um as I think was mentioned by um Mrs mzik we will be having Community forums um and my focus is to get as much information out to the public as possible including the seniors so um just and I'm asking a little bit of patience from the community because again getting the facts together is kind of a slow process because we got to make sure they're correct and they are factual so um we is when we get this information I'm more anxious than anyone here to get the information out to the public you know I want you to know that including the seniors and we have a lot of great information to give the seniors too I have a motion to close comments so moved seconded chti I said it but I think I think it should go to Noel because she didn't get the last one maybe my mic not let Noel have that one midle pressure but I wrote down Noel that's the official um old business that's Lisa just want make I know I forget anyone justk any new business I did want to bring up a suggestion um over the course of the year we've seen some um a number of Hib related cases um that all have to do with race and there are some members in the community that would like to have a discussion group um talking about what it's like to be a person of color and maybe microaggressions and help us be a little bit more aware and so I would like to propose an idea that we reach out to some of those interest in citizens and then create an a forum for everybody to kind of talk and hopefully um educate our students about what those the big words are but also what those little microaggressions are as well I think that would be a great idea I mean it's very disheartening to sit here as a board member and when we're discussing hibs and we hear some of the we don't hear personal information but we do hear background of the actual case it's it's it's very disturbing so miss Anderson I think that's a great idea and maybe we could connect you and I um and uh perhaps we can get the ball rolling with a couple interested parents start there and uh invite them to the board office at a time that's convenient to them so we can sit down and initiate this conversation in my opinion it's long overdue long overdue thank you for bringing this up building principles might have IDE to of what parents oh yeah oh absolutely okay I went to the Mars County School Board Association meeting on October 2nd uh the meeting topic was about uh Mental Health Resources for our school district so a lot of what was discussed was the um Mars County Sigma free communities initiative I'll share that information um to the education and just a reminder that next week is school boards um in Atlantic City um and I will be attending a part of the session I think Dr Thomas cini will be there part of the session I think Mrs mzik will be there part of the session all the sessions all the sessions excuse me I won't be there I will not be there meetings I will not be there so um so just just to bring that up that was our way of getting a break from the don't know we got we got an hour off had that conversation for commun well we had that conversation should we have it and then we were like that's a little too crazy oh yes Megan's in charge have you gotten a list of the the um classes and the presentations they giving or well there they have an app and so you can definitely select several on each day unfortunately right now now I'm like quadruple booked on one session so I have to I was just thinking if there was a referendum one oh yeah there's there's definitely I'm going toon for the Rockway Township substance AB use Alliance I just want to put out a reminder they're having a bingo night here at Copeland on Saturday there's still tables available so uh not do anything Saturday you know if we can can up at the door okay it's all cash prizes and they're doing a 5050 and this helps fund all these speakers that we have come here at all the celebrities anything else our next meeting is November 13th at 7:30 right here at ition the meeting moved second show of hands pleaseed at 9M thank you everyone have a great night [Music]