##VIDEO ID:jHBsFF2AaOw## 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 and will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community our mro we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community you just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors what keeps me coming back here every morning hugs from kids you know I love being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal so yeah I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy their willingness to 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 Copeland middle school so great is truly the people 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 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 De is special because we don't have walls I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child if you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other one of the things that I love the most about this position and this job is that I get to work with students of all ages now that we house preschool students here I see every single student in the building from preschool all the way through fifth grade and I get to work with them on a deeper level on a way that inspires them not just to be confident in themselves but in what they love after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are that relationship that we bu together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to [Music] come so we always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard like a harder task and I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder task than all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier our goal here is that every child is as comfortable in class as they are at home and if they're ever in trouble or ever concerned or worried that they have the tools available to them to be successful and to help each other be as successful as we know they can be we have really seen over the years an incredible increase in their emotional maturity and in their abilities to deal with issues both in the playground and in the classroom and I really believe it's because our District's 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 evening I'd like to call the meeting to order at 601 I an attendance roll call pleas Mrs Anderson Mrs coru Miss mcir here Mrs mzik here Mrs Smith here Dr tomasini here Mrs Shields here EXC open meeting was passed to the right of the public to have advanced notice and to attend the meeting of public bodies in which any business affecting their interest is discussed and acted upon in accordance with the provisions of the act the Rockway Township Board of Education has caused notice of the date time and place of said meetings to be published in the Daily Record The Star Ledger can be posted in all schools in The District in the municipal building of the Town ship and the Township Library do 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 this agenda are available for the public review and comment members of the public are invited to come to the Board of Education building off Green Pond Road during the regular business hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4 P P.M Monday through Friday they wish to inspect any of reference items I have a motion to wave The Pledge until Open Session Alison resolve that in accordance with the open public meeting act the rock countship Board of Education will meet in Clos session to discuss matters involving Personnel litigation acquisition of Real Estate Security negotiations and receipt of government funds the content of said discussions will be disclosed to the public at such time and extent as required by law I have a motion to go into close session please so mov second Alison and Lissa show up hands session starts at 603m see you all back out here at 7 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 Tony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visit us in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is second to none they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involved School Community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District and will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community our 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 scopel middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better place I come here for the students I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do I'm proud to be the superintendent of Rockway Township Schools and we are thankful for all the support we have from our [Music] community I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at deire is special because we don't have walls 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 if you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other one of the things that I love the most about this position and this job is that I get to work with students of all ages now that we house preschool students here I see every single student in the building from preschool all the way through fifth grade and I get to work with them on a deeper level on a way that inspires them not just to be confident in themselves but in what they love after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to [Music] come so we 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 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 on SE 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 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 do every day so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what awesome is about being in Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing B go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DB yeah my name is Rea I'm in first grade being at 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 teach is us stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss tus 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 my name is quen k I'm in the fifth grade hi my name is Aria I am in second grade what makes our school awesome is all the teachers we have here they help us every day all the jamers keep our school nice and clean all my friends that help me S kindergarten and everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good Community because of my friends the teachers and the principal like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened in that story math is my favorite subject because the teachers always help us and it's fun but it can be complicated but it's still really fun my favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have fun activities to do and their stories my first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books and juny B Jones my favorite subject is science in science you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun every day I'm like happy at school when I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my 7th grade La teacher I used to just like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe the school is probably heart honesty empathy acceptance and respect and [Music] trust this is probably one of the most special places I've ever worked it is the staff the teacher 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 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 want walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other Birchwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended birwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be I commute an hour or more every day and I've been given the opportunity to work in another District but I've been here 7 years and I will drive that hour because the community the parents the teachers our principal are incredible we're just so happy to have such a loving nurturing community that is so vested in our school We are family and once a bulldog always a bulldog I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at deire is special because we don't have walls our Mantra we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community you just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors I like to tell people that when you're here it's like learning at home you're in your kitchen but you still know what's going on in the family room it builds like this you know codery amongst not only the students but also the faculty that work here we call ourselves a dwire family Mr McGovern he seldom calls us a school and we really all live by that we treat each other like family and we emulate that for the kids I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe this school is probably heart honesty empathy acceptance and respect and Trust I have been teaching art here in Rockaway township for 16 years I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child I get the privilege of going into every single class once a month where I do a guidance lesson the best part of my job is when one of them is having a tough day and then they feel better and it's because of me the people I work with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job with in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community I am the steam teacher at copela middle school I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class when I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my 7eventh grade La teacher I used to just like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day we are making sure kids are prepared for the future and that means making sure that they have access to technology every single classroom has interactive boards kids get a Chromebook in the fifth grade they work as a team towards a common goal they overcome challenges we connect with the community through our concerts which are very well attended Vanda Copeland is truly an all-inclusive experience for all of the students here I try to get everybody involved so that they can make a positive impact in the future I teach us history and I come to work every day excited I get the opportunity to mold the Next Generation the thing that makes 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 we do we try and relate back to our core values one of the things we are working on right now is positive behavior system I don't like to address anything negative in my office because I want kids to be able to trust me and to be able to come down as a leader of the building so we're really working on being kind and yes academics are important but one of the main things for us is that we raise good kids the main message is to be kind because above all else we want our kids just to be kind my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to dbf yeah my name is Rya I'm in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss tus cuz drawing is my favorite thing what makes DB 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 this is something about the building and the and and the community that we Foster here at dbo and I'm really grateful to be part of that being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks so yeah I I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other what really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset just because we can't do something right now doesn't mean that we're never going to be able to do it and that's what I teach all of my students my favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have fun activities to do and their stories my first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books and juny B Jones my favorite subject is science in science you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun every day I'm like happy at school we identify the interests of students you know what motivates them so students feel more comfortable and confident in their learning environment moving them forward from one learning experience to another every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy their willingness to support and grow with one another 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 and they really put the kids first all the time and our students arec exceptional as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involved School Community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well inside school I really try to be involved in as many things as I can my children also go to school in this District at one of the other schools and I'm really proud of what we put forth for our children any type we can bring togetherness and have us all work together both in our community and out it's really going to help everyone raise their own level of abilities to really increase the success of our community so we us always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might 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 Al rather than in a bigger classroom you can build more of a rapport and relationships with them I like them to become successful not just academically but also social emotionally my name is Queen K I'm in the fifth grade hi my name is Arya I am in second grade 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 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 I've 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 the school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before Tony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visit us in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is second to none they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is 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 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 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 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 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 if you've never taught another school and you come to Birchwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other one of the things that I love the most about this position and this job is that I get to work with students of all ages now that we house preschool students here I see every single student in the building from preschool all the way through fifth grade and I get to work with them on a deeper level on a way that inspires them not just to be confident in themselves but in what they love after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to come [Music] 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 yeah our goal here is that every child is as comfortable in class as they are at home and if they're ever in trouble or ever concerned or worried that they have the tools available to them to be successful and to help each other be as successful as we know they can be we have really seen over the years an incredible increase in their emotional maturity and in their abilities to deal with issues both in the playground and in the classroom and I really believe it's because our districts Focus onal over the last several years I am the steam teacher at copela middle school I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class years ago I had a sixth grade student who was 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 BR go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to dvf yeah my name is Rea I'm in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss Takis cuz drawing is my favorite thing what makes Dio unique is that everyone is so kind 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 jamers keep our school nice and clean all my friends that help me since kindergarten and everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good Community because of my friends the teachers and the principal like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened in that story math is my favorite subject because the teachers always help us and it's fun but it can be complicated but it's still really fun my favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have fun activities to do and their stories my first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books 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 7th grade La teacher I used to just like like reading and writing and and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe the school is probably hard honesty empathy acceptance and respect and [Music] trust this is probably one of the most special places I've ever worked it is the staff the teachers uh they are loving they are caring the energy here is just great it's wonderful to work with a group of men and women who truly love what they do their heart passion and soul is for students and to see them succeed I try to find a way for them to want to be here even if they're sad or even if they don't want to get out of the car in the morning if I say hey let's go wander in the library and they bounce out of the car right away which actually happened then I've done something right that I have found a way to make them feel like this is home for them because that's kind of how I feel I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what awesome is about being Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day our doors are always open we are truly a family here our kids are just everything if you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other birwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended Birchwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be I commute an hour or more every day and I've been given the opportunity to work in another District but I've been here 7 years and I will drive that hour because the community the parents the teachers our principal are incredible we're just so happy to have such a loving nurturing community that is so vested in our school We are family and once a bulog always a bulldog I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at deire is special because we don't have walls our Mantra we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community you just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors I like to tell people that when you're here it's like learning at home you're in your kitchen but you still know what's going on in the family room it builds like this you know codery amongst not only the students but also the faculty that work here we call ourselves a dwire family Mr McGovern he seldom calls us a school and we really all live by that we treat each other like family and we emulate that for the kids I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe this school is probably heart honesty empathy acceptance and and respect and Trust I have been teaching art here in Rockaway township for 16 years I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child I get the privilege of going into every single class once a month where I do a guidance lesson the best part of my job is when one of them is having a tough day and then they feel better and it's because of me the people I work with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community I am the steam teacher at copela middle school I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my class classro and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class when I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my 7eventh grade La teacher I used to just like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day we are making sure kids are prepared for the future and that means making sure that they have access to technology every single classroom has interactive boards kids get a Chromebook in the fifth grade they work as a team towards a common goal they overcome challenges we connect with the community through our concerts which are very well attended Vanda Copeland is truly an all-inclusive experience for all of the students here I try to get everybody involved so that they can make a positive impact in the future I teach us history and I come to work every day excited I get the opportunity to mold the Next Generation the thing that makes scopel middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better [Music] place our core values are the same as Rockaway Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and Trust us so we can focus on particularly on being kind by being kind to a friend helping them out helping teachers being 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 Rya I'm in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss Takis because 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 to achieve success and for every student that's different there are other ways that we can really show student growth Student Success I'm not trying to be cheesy or anything it's it really the staff here um we have built a family and I think that says something about the building and the and and the community that we Foster here at dbo and I'm really grateful to be part of that being outside in the morning at bus Dy and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks so yeah I I think for me it's just being a part of something think being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other what really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset just because we can't do something right now doesn't mean that we're never going to be able to do it and that's what I teach all of my students my favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have plun of 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 we identify the interests of students you know what motivates them 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 [Music] come bony Brooke is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's fulltime or visit us in the building just for a day 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 Tye 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 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 report and relationships with them I like them to become successful not just academically but also social and emotionally my name is Queen K 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 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 dony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visit us in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is second to none they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involved School Community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District and will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community our Mantra we live by 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 have having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal so yeah I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy their willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious the people I work with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world the thing that makes scopeland middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better place I come here for the students I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do I'm proud to be the superintendent of Rockway Township Schools and we are thankful for all the support we have from our [Music] community I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at duer is special because we don't have walls I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child if you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other one of the things that I love the most about this position and this job is that I get to work with students of all ages now that we house preschool students here I see every single student in the building from preschool all the way through fifth grade and I get to work with them on a deeper level on a way that inspires them not just to be confident in themselves but in what they love after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mind mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to [Music] come so we always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard like a harder task and I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder task than all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier our goal here is that every child is as comfortable in class as they are at home and if they're ever in trouble or ever concerned or worried that they have the tools available to them to be successful and to help each other be as successful as we know they can be we have really seen over the years an incredible increase in their emotional maturity and in their abilities to deal with issues both in the playground and in the classroom and I really believe it's because our 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 class 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 puzzles of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DB yeah my name is Rya I'm in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss Takis CU drawing is my favorite thing what makes Deo unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other my name is Queen K I'm in the fifth grade hi my name is Arya I am in second grade what makes our school awesome as all the teachers we have here they help us every day all the janitors keep our school nice and clean all my friends that helped me since kindergarten and everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good Community because of my friends the teachers and the principal like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened in that story math is my favorite subject because the teachers always help us and it's fun but it can be complicated but it's still really fun my favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have fun activities to do and their stories my first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books and juny B Jones my favorite subject is science in science you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun every day I'm like happy at school when I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my 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 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 carrying 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 re my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day our doors are always open we are truly a family here our kids are just everything if you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other Birchwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended Birchwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be I commute an hour or more every day and I've been given the opportunity to work in another District but I've been here 7 years and I will drive that hour because the community the parents the teachers our principal are incredible we're just so happy to have such a loving nurturing community that is so vested in our school We are family and once a bulldog always a bulldog I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at deire is special because we don't have walls our mro we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community you just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors 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 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 Trust I 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 is 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 and will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community I am the steam teacher at copela middle school I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class when I came into sixth grade in copin where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she's still still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my 7eventh grade La teacher I used to just like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day we are making sure kids are prepared for the future and that means making sure that they have access to technology every single classroom has interactive boards kids get a Chromebook in the fifth grade they work as a team towards a common goal they overcome challenges we connect with the community Through our concerts which are very well attended Vanda Copeland is truly an all-inclusive experience for all of the students here I try to get everybody involved so that they can make a positive impact in the future I teach us history and I come to work every day excited I get the opportunity to mold the Next Generation the thing that makes 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 [Music] place our core values are the same as Rockaway Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind by being kind to a friend helping them out helping teachers be nice to them be respectful and don't interrupt the teachers and everything we do we try and relate back to our core values one of the things we are working on right now as positive behavior system I don't like to address anything negative in my office because I want kids to be able to trust me and to be able to come down as a leader of the building so we're really working on being kind and yes academics are important but one of the main things for us is that we raise good kids the main message is to be kind because above all else we want our kids just to be kind my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DB yeah my name is Rea I'm in first grade being at d is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss tus CU drawing is my favorite thing what makes diio unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and and everyone cares about each other if I had to describe our building in one word I would say we're a little unconventional we're always trying to have our teachers and our students look at other ways to achieve success and for every student that's different there are other ways that we can really show student growth Student Success I'm not trying to be cheesy or anything it's it really the staff here um we have built a family and I think that says something about the building and the and and the community that we Foster here at and I'm really grateful to be part of that being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks so yeah I I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other what really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self self talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset just because we can't do something right now doesn't mean that we're never going to be able to do it and that's what I teach all of my students my favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have fun activities to do and their stories my first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books and juny B Jones my faite subject is science in science you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun every day I'm like happy at school we identify the interests of students you know what motivates them so students feel more comfortable and confident in their learning environment moving them forward from one learning experience to another every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy their willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to [Music] come Tony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's 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 incredible 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 Ty we can bring togetherness and have us all work together both in our community and out it's really going to help everyone raise their own level of abilities to really increase the success of our community so we 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 relationship ship with them I like them to become successful not just academically but also social and emotionally my name is Queen K I'm in the fifth grade hi my name is Arya I am in second grade what makes our school awesome as all the teachers we have here they help us every day all the janitors keep our school nice and clean all my friends that help me since kindergarten and everybody just helps us here cuz we are 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 CU 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 element elent schools but I also like how I felt like that I fit in with the Sony Brook mentality the Sony Brook mentality is something where we all feel and have the same idea of supporting students the kids understand that everyone makes a mistake everyone has a bad day and I think that it gives the opportunity for kids to grow and not feel like penalized I love that we have a great principal I love the teachers and the morale as soon as I started coming up here since I am from South Jersey I felt welcomed and included right away my name is Dr Richard Corbett and I am the proud superintendent of Rockaway Township Public Schools I was just waving to some of our wonderful students as they were walking by and I'm so happy and pleased to say that when I walk through these halls and talk to these students in these six different schools I see students that are learning and having fun and to me those are two very important qualities of a very very effective education birwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended Birchwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be our core values are the same as Rockaway Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind what really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before Tony Brooke is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visit us in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is second to none 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 involve 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 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 scopel middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better place I come here for the students I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do I'm proud to be the superintendent of Rockway Township Schools and we are thankful for all the support we have from our [Music] community I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at deire is special because we don't have walls I think social emotional learning is okay Mike can you hear me now hold on a second all right I'm going to try one of the other microphones okay try speaking one more time can you hear me from here I think I lowered your voice too much were you able to hear me from that microphone like from the okay I'm going to say uh number you tell me if you hear the number okay Mike 7 Mike S can you hear me on Mike S all right the last thing I got to test is to see if um I'm picking you up on the recording which would mean that you're showing up on YouTube um I do get feedback when I speak in this microphone because I'm picking up the audio coming from one second let's see does that no I still hear it so I still get feedback if somebody's at the podium and you're there all right thanks let me see let me try one more thing trying to think where the audio would be coming from because it's got to be something on uh the desktop side oh you know what I probably have to mute myself all right you can disconnect I'll reconnect with you later my name is Dr Richard Corbett and I am the proud superintendent of Rockway Township Public Schools I was just waving to some of our wonderful students as they were walking by and I'm so happy and pleased to say that when I walk through these halls and talk to these students in these six different schools I see students that are learning and having fun and to me those are two very important qualities of a very very effective education Birchwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended Birchwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be our core values are the same as Rockaway Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind what really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before Tony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visit us I have a motion to adjourn close session so moved pleaseing clst session ends at 7:31 reconvening public session at 7:31 can everyone please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance good evening everyone during the course of the board meeting the rock Rockway Township Board of Education offers members of the public an opportunity to address issues regarding the operation of the Rockway Township Public Schools the board reminds those individuals who take this opportunity to identify themselves by name and address and to limit their comments items listed on the agenda and or items directly related to the operation of School District issues raised by the Me by members of the public may or may not be responded to by the board all comment will be considered and a response will be forthcoming if and when appropriate board asks that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of other individuals when speaking specifically comments regarding students and employees of the board are discouraged and will not be responded to by the board students and employees have the specific legal rights reported by the laws of New Jersey the board Bears no responsibility nor will it be liable for any comments made by members of the public members of the public should consider their comments in light of the legal rights of those affected or identified in the comments and be aware that they are legally responsible and liable for their comments in accordance with policy 0167 public discussion is limited to 15 minutes with a three minute limit per member of the public board president the right to modify the length of public discussion as she deems appropriate I have a motion to open public comment so moved second and Lissa show of hands please if anyone from the public would like to speak you're welcome to come up okay I have a motion to close public comment so move second Alison and christe show up hands please Communications there is an email from Sandy Stella regarding Cub Scout meetings that was sent to board mail um there was an email received last night which will be on the next agenda uh can I have a motion to approve minutes so moved Arin second Marissa and this will be the minutes from July was the board retreat in July 17th I have a roll call vote please Mrs Anderson coru M McGary yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Dr tomasini Obin and Mrs Shields I say yes motion carries thank you and just so everyone notice the new board goals which were done at the board retreat are on the agenda for today since they were approved at last meeting reports thank you Mr Shield uh in addition to the standard School maintenance some projects around the district includ fence installation of ston Brook KDM which completed July 19th and the 21st respectively repairs were completed Aug open August 10ths begin a 12 ATM Sol panel foundations are beinged 29th a Renovations of girls bathroom at BIR the gy was completed on a uh KDM water we hoping weeded for on August 21st the PTA General s was held yesterday with 26 attending every District represented also there with M shield and discussions included fifth grade graduation this is just some examples KDM water the dwire sign before and after care there are concerns about the loss of the Shabbat and the little learner as before and after care providers furthermore the YMCA currently I understand has a waiting list be calling the YMCA tomorrow toes participants agreed to meet three times per year November March and during the summer the extended school year program ran at ston Brook this summer and concluded on Friday August 12 135 special ucation students participated for a total of four weeks Sumer programs includ small FR program academic enr ml prra provider safe online learning environment Mr Elder has developed guidelines and safety practices meeting last month these were explained also in a letter that was sent to parents remind we have some important up events AUST 19ls in the morning at 9:00 a.m. at time principles the ATM retreat office on 20th of August to 23rd of August books will be a cop on a 21st 63m our new teacher orientation 27 C 7:4 a.m convocation thank you any questions or comments a little bit I think Noel's still trying to get in's okay I M we interrupt the meeting for that purpose so from the operation side of the house what we were talking about was continuing the utilization of the the public comment from at home to be able to dial in and communicate with the board if you have a question or you want to make a comment um so in order to see the efficiency of that we wanted to do a test call to see if this is something that we can continue and that endeavor um be something that doesn't completely disrupt us or is not actually feasible because when we were doing this prior um we were having individuals come on early state that they uh they had it by four o'clock they had to uh sign up and then they were sent the zoom link what we wanted to try and do is not have the sign up and just have the ability to be able to to call in if that's something that's we can work so we're going to try a a test of that or we could do the T yes we had somebody ready to call in we could do the test at the end of the meeting though too we have public during committee reports or under new business or old business wherever we'd like to place them that was just for the in let's do it at the end report good evening everyone uh I'm Alonso ganella director of curriculum and instruction I'm pleased to announce that there over 40 curriculum documents up for approval this evening in the coming months an additional 30 or so documents will come before the board for approval i' just like to give you a couple curricular highlights that we undertook this year one of the uh key District goals was creating coherence amongst our schools specifically in our elementary schools with programming happy to say in this cycle uh all of our K2 across the district will have super kid science of reading program grade three will have magnetic reading which is another science of reading program grades four and five will have more of a balanced approach I'd like to thank all of our curriculum writers our curriculum revision teams principals superintendent education committee uh everyone who helped us move this forward I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to miss Lissa Smith and Miss Noel Anderson who's here virtual tonight for their exceptional efforts in reviewing all of these documents that are up for approval and the ones that are forthcoming this process has been a colossal undertaking their dedication and meticulous work have been invaluable in ensuring the quality and effectiveness of this process uh the entire process has been collaborative and your insights have fostered important conversations on how we continually assess and improve our practices and I just from you know a sincere thank you the amount of time that Noel and Lissa in particular put in uh to leaving no stone unturned um so just thank you so much have a good night everybody any questions or comments for Mr Canelo before he runs off I just wanted to comment um and say thank you so much to all of the staff um who we know worked so hard on all of these documents um you know the reviewers um all of the administration that helped out um Mrs Young was helping um Mrs Waxman and Mr ganal um as well in making sure um that all of these documents um were able to be um created in a way that was going to be teacher user friendly um and include the rise standards along with meeting the qac requirements as well so it's very much appreciated thank you rep um sure the committee report is going to include that our next education committee meeting is going to come up on the 22nd at 3:30 um in that next committee meeting we are planning to continue to review additional curriculum documents additionally look at resources um that go along with the documents as well something that I just wanted to note in this process of going through um the various curriculum documents um we were really looking for um consistency and I know this is something that you know was uh helpful in aligning you know all the schools um consistency within and among documents whether it's from the same content area or different content areas um also paying attention to the details um grammar punctuation um all of those kinds of fun things um and then um um also we've been made aware that you know as we know curriculum documents are living documents um so definitely if there are things that come up that anyone sees in the future um notify you know me or the future Ed committee chair Dr Corbett um just to let them know that you see something questions um feedback and or suggestions a question if so for the next uh Education meeting we're part of the curriculum review are we do we still have that lead being reviewed the curriculum and the grant making sure that it's up to date so for lead I understand that um perhaps the police department gets a grant for it but I understand that PE teachers are teaching it um and not the police department and then as well I just wanted to check because I know that the curriculum was recently updated and so I just want to make sure that we're teaching the most recent curriculum so as far as lead lead was not on our agenda for the next meeting but that's something that I will add to our agenda can bring up definitely look into that fur I just want to make a comment you know um I reviewed a lot of these um most recently I had been doing it for a while but it's a huge undertaking I just want to Dedicated that much time into it operations the operations committee met uh so the operations committee met on July 30th at 4M uh we conducted the meeting virtually present for the meeting was Mrs mzik Mrs Anderson Dr Corbett and myself uh with that topics that were discussed was the remote participation with that this evening we're going to have a uh seeing to do a test run uh to see if again the uh we can call in uh spontaneously and have that work towards our system being granted access into the room uh additionally we discussed the email responses coming into board mail and some recommendations uh for future feedback uh we also discussed the status of the KDM water treatment which we've now have been disclosed so no further needed on that we also discussed the other summer project statuses to include the signage uh for dwire uh as well as the Birchwood Roofing projects the Copeland Middle School uh Roofing solar panels and then uh kdms roofing project um lastly we discussed the uh the class 3es uh an additional conversation with the town which we now have rectified uh as far as their their rates and what it looks like in that Mo MOA uh next meeting looking to have it on the 27th committee members 4M either at the central office or virtual both options available right now Mr roer's got it all set up on the to call okay then why don't we I rather do it now because I don't want to know hold him any longer are you ready for that know at the end just double check so you're asking about the 27th of August correct at 4 P.M normal time Mrs Anderson you hear us Noel I can just text her later to confirm we we'll go with it we'll put it on the calendar and then okay got answer we put it on the calendar then she's doing a thumbs up we got a thumbs up okay there I'm sorry I didn't mean to blow to drop that on if you want to wait till the end I just don't want to keep mic any longer than it needed to be it's no problem okay I'm sorry community outreach committee we met on August 13th which was yesterday at 4M in attends for me Aaron Allison Dr Corbit um two of our Architects Peter kimano Michael Bryson Liam goldrick from the Donovan group Mark Vini and Tony sapio from the tnm associates which is our Engineers the committee met virtually with all these people to uh review the environmental impact of possible construction projects through Community engagement the committee has reviewed materials for community outreach we'll be launching a postcard mailer with a QR link inviting the community residents to participa in a survey regarding a referendum we expect these to be received by the residents during the week of August 26 our next committee Outreach meeting will be September 3rd at 4M at central office so while we're waiting just to reemphasize what the the need is for the trial call so we haven't had anybody participate now in a couple of years but we we continue to ask is there anybody at home that wants to participate ultimately the procedures that we had in place were that you had to sign up prior to in order to be able to to speak what that does is it limits and individual's ability if they haven't read the agenda prior to or haven't heard the comments how would they know that they wanted to sign up so ultimately we're trying to streamline that process to either where we have the we're able to support an individual participating during the board meeting hearing something and wanting to participate or we're saying that hey the meeting is still going and everything just as it is but we can't support the Callin that's all we so we have a more well-informed decision on on where we move step forward don't meeting open to correct we do not we do not have to do it it's just nice to be able to provide both the uh continuous virtual live stream and on top of that to engage with individuals who can't be physically present if we can support it it's Our intention to support it but we are going to find out if Mike's been listening to our meeting yes he's like I got a question comment not a question a comment he would like to he would like to come in so we have our facilitator is Mr Elder he's back there working all of our our pieces here to include uh both audio and visual one of the things that we're seeing is that feedback loop that was coming through that we were getting that kind of continuous that's because we have multiple things going at once audibly and it's being picked up by our speaker systems here and it's going into that Loop so when we had that Echo Dr Corbett that you had said that is what's causing it is being on the zoom on that screen simultaneously while live streaming the virtual we want to see how all of that is going to play out and we're better than in a public setting because if we're going to say that we can support it we should see it if we say we can't support it we should see it as well so can I ask please state your name and address for the record please state your name and address for the record please what's the special at luchina tonight we want to hear you sing a song Mike thank you Mike I appreciate your participation in this have a nice evening responded back to him he wer able to our response a lot thank you yep we can hear you now can you hear us no I was just asking if you could hear us oh she yeah so we'll we'll continue to discuss this in the operations committee before we bring any recommendations on to where this goes further but I think again it gives us a a good assessment here of that we're utilizing multiple platforms simultaneously and trying to get them to all talk to one another but it is creating a lag and feedback issues as we're continuing to move forward so it just may be a future discussion point for us the live stream is still continuing the recordings of it and the retained recordings of it that we have on the YouTube channel nothing is changing there it's just the case of whether we have interative interactive feedback virtually from home um or if we are going to maintain it as you can watch but you can't necessarily without coming here speak thank you moving on recommended for board action can I have a motion to approve Personnel items oh moved Aon and christe start on page the to of page nine have roll call vote please Mrs Anderson I'm going to look for your thumbs up as everybody else goes through Mrs kuralu yes Mrs mcgi yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Dr tomasini yes Mrs Shields yes motion carries Mrs Anderson if you could give a thumbs up on the roll call Vote Yes yes thank you finally the audio is working again it was only when Mike Mike was on before moving on to education have a motion to approve education recommendations so moved Al the curriculum any board discussion I'm not comfortable Ving on the quoting on the curriculum because we only received it on August 10th which is only four days I just wanted to note [Music] that other comments I can open to the public if there's any comments on curriculum I have a motion to open public comment please so moved Aaron and Lisa show of hands good evening Don Mar cinski one Lake Shore Drive in regards to the curriculum I know that this has been going on for a little bit and I was wondering from what my understanding is the parents and the residents that pay taxes are supposed to be able to review the curriculum before it's voted in that has not been given [Music] it is there print it out um but it is I don't think it has we've actually asked for it to be looked at and it's I mean it's not open I mean it's not to the public until it gets voted on tonight and then so if there was something like that would be a problem from that injunction I spoke about last meeting that's put into that curriculum we're not entitled to look into it before it's voted on as a parent child going in the school School District I mean I think I'm entitled to review the curriculum when anything is in draft it's not up to public okay so if it's approved by the board that means it's implemented in the school correct yes okay how is it that I am not entitled to look at that curriculum before my child gets taught it the process requires the Board of Education to implement something before any sort of implementation if is issue that arcul is and ability child instruction abity how would that work if the whole curriculum is implemented and it might not go I can't provide you okay all right but I was actually told by an attorney that we do have that right to look at it before it's voted on so I'm just telling you know okay and again I have a feeling it might be against that court injunction that we spoke about last time I'm just letting you know thank you other comments I have a motion to close public comments so moved secondar and R of hands please so I just want to double check I guess in response I am seeing that it is attached to the agenda that is posted online and there is a link for it it should have been made available the draft can I have a roll call vote please on education items Mrs Anderson I will look for a thumbs up when you hear us thank you Mrs Karu no Miss mcgi yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Dr tomasini yes Mrs Shields yes motion carries voted yes the special education can I have a motion to approve special education items so moved second Allison and Christie on page 11 and 12 I can open to public comment for special if anyone would like to speak to it any board discussion on special education items I have a roll call vote please on special education items Mrs Anderson I will look for your hands up Mrs cararo yes Mrs mcgi yes M mcgi Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Dr tomasini yes Mrs Shields yes Mrs Anderson I'm still looking for a hands up thank you record show Mrs Anderson said yes Administration motion to approve Administration items so moved seconded it was me Lisa and any board discussion on Administration items can open to the public if anyone has any comments can I have a roll call vote please on Administration items Mrs Anderson I'll be looking for a thumbs up thank you thumbs up on record Mrs kureru yes M McGary yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Dr tomasini yes and Mrs Shields yes thank you motion carries Finance items can I have a motion to approve Finance moved Lisa and board discussion I went into the office yesterday and signed off on the bills and just spoke of earlier item number 10 it does show correctly on our version here it's t and M as in Mary Associates um just want to bring that up I know earlier versions it said TN T I appreciate the uh the revisions of the shared service agreement for the class three officers now with the corrected salaries that are on there what they should be going open to public if there's any comment on finance have a roll call vote please Mrs Anderson looking for a thumbs up thank you let the record show thumbs up Mrs Carillo yes Miss mcir yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Dr tomasini yes Mrs Shields yes motion carries policy can I have a motion to approve policy recommendations no moved seconded christe and this is a second read on policy 01646 and 2260 any board discussion can open to the public if anyone has anything to comment on policy motion to open to public comment move second Aaron show up hands please Donna marce zinski one Lake Shore Drive my comments for policy 2260 with the recent court filing for the title 9 injunction including Stoneybrook in the Rockaway Township School District wouldn't it be wise to hold off on voting for this particular policy I will send the ruling if you guys didn't already review it for's knowled I have not received ored all schools in New Jersey have been served with this injunction and I will be more than willing to email it to you okay but like I said it would be very wise to not vote on this right now because my daughter is in ston and Brook and I'm part of this injunction it's listed as an M as a mandate however obviously the policy was written by you guys okay and it doesn't have to be voted yes on I'm just saying that thank you any other public comment I have a motion to close public comment so moved second Aaron and Allison show of hands please can I have a roll call vote please on policy Mrs Anderson let the record show thumbs up Mrs killu no Miss mcari yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith um I don't see Harmon actually recommending that we table it just to take a further look at it I understand don't if I can make that motion I'm G to say no Dr thini yes Mrs Shields yes motion carries in accordance with board policy 0167 public discussion is limited to 15 minutes with a three minute limit per member of the public the board president shall have the right to modify the length of public discussion as she deems appropriate motion to open public comments so moved christe show of hands please anyone from the public would like to come up good evening Board of Ed and all that are watching this evening uh at home my name is Jackie Richardson I live at 54 Cherokee Avenue and as you may already know I'm running for the Rockway Township Board ofed my goal uh a lot of it was spoken about tonight uh as a board member uh potential board member would be to um help Drive academic excellence and I know that we reported uh your um member of the Board of Ed I think a couple months ago reported out and the school is doing amazing things with the school with the testing and and doing very well so um but my goal as a board member would be to help Drive academic excellence in all the Rockaway town schools and we all know that a strong school system is key to driving our property values up and our taxes down my 33 years in public Ed education uh 17 of those in administration make me qualified to assist the board with this goal I'm pretty sure that every Community member no matter their political affiliation or if they have children or not in the school district want Rockaway Township Schools to be successful so we can minimize tax increases for residents um lastly I want to thank Dr Corbett and his team I attended the focus groups that were held and I learned a lot from the discussions that were at those focus groups and I look forward to um the board reporting out on those findings from the focus groups I also look forward to the uh possibility of working with you all to make Rockaway Township Schools even a better uh place than it already is um I believe Jamila Tor will also be speaking this evening she and I are running side by side with the same values and goals for our residents uh I will let her speak for herself but I want to thank you so much for the opportunity to speak this evening and I look forward to sharing thoughts and ideas with all of you thank you for all the work that you do thank you good evening I'm Jamila Toren of 60 West Lakeshore Drive tonight my concern is for the upcoming election and some of the candidates running moms for Liberty is classified as extremists Nationwide movement with an anti-student inclusion agenda I'm disappointed to see that they are attempting to get our upcoming board seats to promote hatred and exclusionary policies here in our amazing Community I believe Rockaway Township stands for kindness inclusion and appreciation for diversity that is why I am running for an open board seat to make sure that the board is representative of the values of our community one one that supports our students staff and works to achieve academic ex Excellence together for our educational system our students shouldn't have to worry about these Nationwide movements impacting their education or being treated equally and fairly we don't need polarization we need community thank you public comment I have a motion to close public comment so moved second any old business any new business go ahead Lisa okay I just wanted to remind the board of the uh New Jersey Schoolboard Association Workshop that takes place in October um we should discuss this um and hopefully you guys can attend I know there's a lot of valuable training there but every year I've gone I've been able to get a lot out of it um I know we get a discount on M I can't remember the top my head so obviously that's open to administrator thees what are the dates this year I believe no um but I think sooner is better if you want to get a good hotel 21 you hear me chy yeah I heard you okay oh you could still you could still call an in the business office and she'll take information all right and then we'll start the process so that is important to get lodging down there so you want that written it's written down in email email that correspondence to for attendance or requesting attendance you want do you want me to email requesting attendance or is a verbal I guess if everyone by Friday could email in at the board office if you're going or not and what days people are going it makesou individually I recommend Megan on the email just so she's aware of it this is an's first timeing this oh you can copy me on the email too by way I would like to know you're copying everybody yeah not I won't be it's a blast let me tell you something very a great time I love Atlantics any other new business just to Echo Dr Corb sent we had the PTA General Assembly which was it was so great to see so many members from the PTA there um I just want to go over our Liaisons to the PT because I did let them know last night for virtuit I have Allison with Lisa as her backup I yeah Noel with me as a backup yeah it's myself and Aaron as the backup I have Aaron with Lisa as the backup ADM I has Noel with Aon as the backup dou Duty then Stony Brook I have L Lisa I'm okay with it okay I just ask that you reach out to the Executive Board of your respective when me are is it expected that you know you guys attend give um feedback as to what's going on in the district maybe focus on stuff you know concerning their I just ask out then bring back any maybe concerns or comments that they have yes I just want to pigy back off of what was mentioned previously regarding our upcoming education committee meeting um the uh curriculum documents that will be getting examined are coding and Robotics uh library media Steam um world's language um the drafts of these documents were shared um they are still included in that may folder um but with the new agenda new documents will also be you know or any of the revised documents will be included so um you may want to get a jump on reading againa yeah well when the agenda comes out it's going to have the folder again linked with it and then those ones will be there specific speically so you guys can get your read on um I also would be remiss if I didn't thank Lisa for doing um the additional level of um I guess full review as well um we appreciate your help thank our next meeting is September 4th 7:30 right here in Copeland cafeteria with new shiny floors uh can a motion to adj the meeting so moved seconds Lissa meeting adjourned at 8:15 thank you everyone and have a great evening I