Roger León

Today is the First Day of School: A Historic Day in Newark, New Jersey

Today marks a historic day in the City of Newark.  While there is so much going on in the world around us, the start of this school year is historic for many reasons.

Superintendent León said, “Today, we begin our first school year under local control in over two decades, we take our first steps in implementing the nation’s first ten-year strategic plan The Next Decade: 2020-30, and we launch over 80 new curricular documents focused on providing rigorous instruction to students.”  He added, “This is a historic start to this school year.”

In preparation for this school year, the district has outlined ingress/egress procedures, created and trained our own specialized facilities team utilizing a new intensive cleaning and sanitizing initiative, provided professional development to staff, distributed thousands of Chromebooks, digitized the registration process, and continued to distribute meals to students and families throughout the city. When students log on for remote learning today, they will be greeted by their teachers who now have new and updated curricula, digital learning platforms, digital books, and a variety of online assessments.

Since April of last school year, the Office of Teaching and Learning, along with classroom teachers, coaches, and department chairpersons have worked to create 89 new curriculum documents, as well as 22 new courses of study.  Students will be able to demonstrate their knowledge of mathematics, science, foundational literacy, reading, and language through online benchmark assessments.  In addition, we have revamped curriculum in civics and Amistad, and planned changes in Black and Latino Studies courses.  We have prioritized social emotional learning as critical to the success of our students and we will be assessing student needs beginning on day one.  All of this work will be complemented with progress monitoring assessments—very brief assessments that are used to better ensure students meet end-of-the-year learning targets.

Today is the first day of remote instruction, truly a historic day in Newark.

For more information, please contact:

Newark Board of Education
Nancy Deering, Interim Executive Director
Communications
973-733-6265

First Ever Virtual District Staff Convocation for Newark Schools

On September 1, 2020, Superintendent León and the Newark Board of Education hosted District Staff Convocation 2020.  The convocation is the annual celebration to the start of the school year where the Superintendent convenes all employees in one venue to share the state of the district, review multiple measures of data, celebrate accomplishments, set the tone for the new school year, and charge the staff.  As last school year ended in a historic way, so started this school year.  The District Staff Convocation 2020 was held virtually for all 6,300 employees.

Superintendent León charged the district “to continue to be flexible, exercise patience, build confidence, and demonstrate resilience” as we open this school year remotely.  He shared that last school year, prior to the emergence of the pandemic, attendance was the highest ever, student achievement was soaring, and record numbers of seniors were on track to graduate.  In spite of historic obstacles at the height of the pandemic, schools and homes joined forces unlike ever before.  Higher demands on students enrolled in advanced placement courses resulted in record participation numbers on AP exams, seniors in dual enrollment courses graduated with high school diplomas and associates degrees, and the Class of 2020 earned over $40 million in college scholarships resulting in the graduation rate reaching its highest level in Newark’s history.

Mayor Ras J. Baraka welcomed the teachers and staff to the start of this virtual school year and noted, “We are at a different moment, a different point in time in history.  We need you now, in this pandemic, to help encourage, inspire, to educate them, to advance them, to take care of their mental state of mind.”

“This is my 3rd Convocation, and it is a convocation like no other,” said Josephine C. Garcia, President of the Newark Board of Education.  She continued, “We know that out of adversity, comes opportunity.  We have the opportunity to improve on the great instruction that we have been providing over the past couple of years, we have the opportunity to strengthen relationships with our community partners, and we have the opportunity to be second to none!  Staff, you are seizing the moment, and together, we will continue to show everyone how it’s done, because we are NEWARK STRONG.”

During the last few months, the district created the NBOE Task Force for the Reopening of Schools who prepared an executive summary, established ingress and egress procedures, outlined intensive cleaning and sanitizing protocols, piloted in-person summer school at two locations, identified Pandemic Response Teams at each school, curated curriculum featuring social emotional learning, reviewed metrics for virtual learning to ensure rigorous instruction, continued to train staff to ensure efficient implementation, and began the return to in-person operations.

The first day of remote instruction for students is Tuesday, September 8, 2020.

For more information, please contact:

Newark Board of Education
Nancy Deering, Interim Executive Director
Communications
973-733-6265

 

4th Annual Acts of Kindness Tea Party at Abington Avenue School

abg-actsofkindnessteaparty3

Random Acts of Kindness are done on a daily basis, and the 15 student leaders serve as role models for the rest of the students during different monthly initiatives like today on the 100th Day Celebration at Abington whose theme was “Showing our Love for learning!” These student leaders have also served a key role in Abington’s Respect Week in the fall. Throughout the school year, the Tea Party Girls spread the word of kindness and respect by modeling each day as well as lead in classroom presentations.

February 14th - Valentines Day marked the 4th Year Anniversary of the Acts of Kindness Tea Party where the student leaders pledge to show kindness and respect. Superintendent Roger León was a special guest while the students honored Sharon White, Custodial Worker, who came up with the idea. Her idea of how we can be kinder and more respectful as a community by having a Tea Party and discussing how we can all be Friends while resolving any conflicts with one another through acts of kindness. The Tea Party and the student leadership group is now an Abington staple with Future Female Leaders of Kindness!