News

Branch Brook Elementary School Named a 2018 KWN New Vision Award Winning School!


Panasonic and the KWN staff have selected Branch Brook Elementary School as one of three 2018 KWN New Vision Award Winning Schools for their “SM & Internet Safety for Kids” in the Eco-Effect Best PSA of the Year category!

This is a wonderful achievement for our students and we are very proud of them.

Students will attend a private awards luncheon and student exchange on Friday, May 11th at Panasonic HQ in Newark, NJ. As part of the weekend activities, students will also visit Glassroots.

Primary Schools – Human Interest Winners

  • Branch Brook School (Newark, NJ) – “SM & Internet Safety for Kids”
  • Marcus Garvey School (Chicago, IL) – “Overcome your Challenge”
  • Rancho Minerva Middle School (Vista, CA) – “Nurtured by Nature”

NFL Linebacker Tahir Whitehead Celebrated by Newark West Side Community

By: Mike Kinney | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com | March 23, 2018

Giving everything he’s got has always seemed to be a natural inclination for Tahir Whitehead in all matters football related.

Giving back, on the other hand, is an acquired gift.

The NFL linebacker has been known around the Newark West Side High community for some time now as a big-hearted benefactor of youth sports in his hometown – as well as a revered member of the school’s 2007 state championship football team who went on to some very big things in the sport.

Whitehead sponsors the Youth Annual Football Camp each summer for free to city youth Grades K-12 and he has purchased equipment for the high school’s weight room. Even though he now resides in the Atlanta area, Whitehead also still makes routine visits to his old stomping ground to offer insights on education and teamwork to current Roughriders hoping to follow his path to success.

The teamwork part? That’s always come easy for Whitehead, according to his high school football coach, Brian Logan, and to just about anyone else asked to comment on the football star Friday during Tahir Whitehead Day ceremonies Friday at the West Side gym.

But the education and the social benevolence aspects of his life? Whitehead thanks men like Logan for opening his eyes to those worlds.

“When I first got to high school and first met Coach Logan I saw how big of a heart he had,” Whitehead said. “That motivated me to come back and give back seeing how much he did for the guys on the football team and the people in the community. Not only was he a police officer for 25-plus years, but he was dedicated to being an amazing human being, and that motivated me to emulate that.”

Whitehead’s success and the generous way by which he has shared it motivated many to join hands and honor the former West Side and Temple University star. It began, first, by renaming the West Side weight room the Tahir Whitehead Fitness Center and then awarding him with numerous proclamations from city, Newark Board of Education and Essex County sources before his No. 4 high school jersey was retired before a cheering student body at the West Side gymnasium.

After helping West Side win the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 championship in 2007, Whitehead starred at Temple for four years and graduated one semester early with a degree in criminal justice in December 2011 (that point, incidentally, drew raucous applause from the students). He played the last six years for the Detroit Lions after being drafted by that organization in the firth round in 2012, and just last week signed a three-year contract worth $18 million as a free agent with the Oakland Raiders.

Wealth. Athletic fame. A beautiful family. An enviable package, for sure for a kid from the gritty streets of Newark’s West Side. And it seems that each new measure of success in Whitehead’s life brings a moment to reflect on the lessons handed down by Logan and his staff at West Side.

“Coach Logan (who now is head coach at Weequahic) showed us all that community service is key. And not just by telling us and having us going around the help the less fortunate, but by his actions,” Whitehead said. “Having young men that were struggling in their lives actually come live with him in his house with his family, that right there was big-time for me. This man taught us that giving back like that was always bigger than you personally.

“I made a promise to myself to do exactly the same thing. Help as many people as I can while I can.”

Whitehead showed great talent as a football player in his Pop Warner days, but existed in that world somewhat in the shadow of older brother Quaheem Whitehead, a Newark Pop Warner legend and West Side star himself who graduated in 2006.

The older Whitehead was part of the crew that brought respectability back to the Roughrider name on the gridiron. Tahir, Anthony Baskervile, Jonathan Quallis, Carlos Cox and others advanced that several steps further and brought championship hardware back to South Orange Avenue.

But widespread notability was no guarantee for Tahir, who was considered a touch too small for linebacker and perhaps an academic risk by most colleges. He received exactly one scholarship offer, from Temple University.

“I’ve always been an underdog, always had a chip on my shoulder,” Whitehead said. “It was my only offer, but it was an offer. I was gonna show everyone that I am good enough. I was gonna show them all that I could play at any school in the country.

“But it was a blessing in disguise. Going to Temple, I really felt appreciated there. They chose me and they could have given that scholarship to anyone else. I was grateful and went in there with the mentality that I’m gonna work my tail off and make sure I pay it back.”

Additional Media Coverage

Technology High School Students Visit West Virginia on College Tour

Technology High School College Tour 2018
On Thursday March 8, 2018 students at Technology High school left on a two day college tour. The first stop on the tour was Dickinson College, a private and highly selective liberal arts institution. All thirty five students had a brief breakfast and then took a tour of the campus. Most students were most captivated by the newly built, Kline athletic center and the close proximity between buildings. Before long, students were once again on the road to Morgantown but, not without stopping at noteworthy locations. This road trip featured a stop at Coopers Rock which is considered the Grand Canyon of the East Coast. Once students had arrived to Morgantown they were taken to the Marriott hotel to settle in for the night. The next day, followed with a long list of events to accomplish, as part of the West Virginia University tour. During the tour, the prospective medical students had a chance to tour the medical facilities and sit with the head of the medical department. While on tour students got to see the medical labs for surgery and the manikins that are used in other medical areas. The students whom were interested in forensics also had a chance to sit with the head of the Forensics Department and tour the forensic labs. This experience exposed the technology high school students to blood spatter analysis and how to properly process fingerprints. The prospective business and economics students got a chance to sit with the head of that department and talked about not only having business as your major but also as a double major. The prospective Engineer students got to see the 2018 Chevy Camaro rebuild and look at the robotics department while also seeing the Coal and mineral Departments. Later on, students visited the basketball hall of champions and stepped foot on the 65,000 seat football stadium on campus. They then had an opportunity to ride the PRT, which is a monorail system that goes from campus to campus. All in all the students had a great time visiting both schools. This sentiment is best captured below:

“I was originally very skeptical about the college tours and wasn’t interested in attending either. Part of my disinterest stemmed from the lack of exposure and information about the universities to begin with. My adventure began early on March 8 when I visited Dickinson College. There was a feeling that radiated from the campus itself. It was a small and suburban like atmosphere that felt like a stroll down a historical town. During the tour I learned about the exchange programs that are offered to multiple countries and a bit of the history behind the college. Even after leaving Dickinson, I knew that I had probably left a part of myself there. Dickinson college set the expectations and mood for the West Virginia University. Once I arrived at at Morgantown West Virginia campus, I realized that the impossible had happened. I was breath taken by the sheer size of the WVU campus. Every street and corner was another addition to the university or worked in partnership with it. As a biomed student at Technology high school, I took a tour of the medical school and was shocked at the state of the art equipment used by med students at the university. Everything about West Virginia peaked my interest and invited my curiosity. Although some may argue that the size of West Virginia University might be intimidating, I would say that there is still a hometown feel that exerts from the campus. Whether it was the personal transit system or the interactive touch tables, the campus was full of quirks that never ceased to excite me. In retrospect, I am glad and thankful to Mr. Truhan and all the people involved in planning and executing this trip, because it left a profound mark on me. Thanks to this trip I was introduced to information that may not have been available otherwise and saw both institutions in a more positive light than I did initially.” – Vilma Rodriguez

Ann Street School 7th Grade Student Receives Honorable Mention in the 2018 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

Ms. Sandy Ferreira, Lauren Oliveira, and Ms. Danielle Gonzalez
From Left to Right: Ms. Sandy Ferreira, Lauren Oliveira, and Ms. Danielle Gonzalez

Lauren Oliveira, 7th Grade Student from Ann Street School was honored at Rutgers University for achieving an Honorable Mention in the 2018 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

There were 350,000 entries nationwide. Lauren entered the journalism category for “Women’s Rights”.

Teachers Ms. Gonzalez and Ms. Ferreira both attended the event in support of Lauren.

NPS Students & Staff Participate in National Walkout to Protest Gun Violence

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=”38089″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_video link=”https://animoto.com/play/OXaSqEzC21qhftS64dDVNg” align=”center”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]On March 14, 2018 Newark Public Schools students and staff participated in a National Walkout protesting gun violence affecting schools in America.

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Media Coverage

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In Memoriam: Dr. E. Alma Flagg, ED.D.

NPS regretfully announces the passing of Dr. E. Alma Flagg on the evening of March 10, 2018, surrounded by family.

Dr. E. Alma Flagg
Dr. E. Alma Flagg, ED.D.

Dr. E. Alma Flagg was born in City Point, VA, to the late Hannibal Greene Williams and Caroline Moody Williams. She and her family, which included a sister and three brothers, later settled in Newark, NJ.

In 1941, Dr. E. Alma Flagg became a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Beta Alpha Omega Chapter. She married J. Thomas Flagg, an Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity man in 1942 and together they have two children and 3 grandchildren.

Dr. Flagg is a graduate of Newark’s East Side High School where she became a member of the National Honor Society, served as class poet and was voted most likely to succeed. After graduating from East Side High school, she attended Essex County Junior College, continued her education at Newark State College and earned a Bachelor of Science degree. In 1943, she received a Masters of Art degree at Montclair State College and the Doctor of Education degree at Teacher’s College, Columbia University in 1955.

Dr. Flagg’s full-time teaching career began in Washington, DC where the schools were still segregated and teachers were selected through competitive written and oral examinations. Upon completion of her examinations, she placed number one on the list. During her second year of teaching in the DC school system, she applied and passed the teacher’s exam in Newark and returned home to teach.

In 1964, Dr. Flagg was appointed principal of the integrated Hawkins Street School. She became the first African-American woman to hold that distinction. Her appointment as assistant superintendent in charge of curriculum services in 1967 was also a milestone.

Dr. Flagg had an extensive career in the Newark school system; she started as a classroom teacher; later as a mathematics teacher, remedial reading teacher, vice principal, principal, assistant superintendent of schools, before retiring in 1983 after 43 years of service.

Dr. Flagg has received numerous honors including the naming of a school in Newark, The E. Alma Flagg Elementary School dedicated in 1985. As cited on the E. Alma Flagg School website, Dr. E. Alma Flagg has been a trailblazer. The City News recognized Dr. Flagg in 1996 for being amongst the “100 Most Influential People in New Jersey” and in 1998, at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, she received the “Annual Kwanzaa Recognition of Newark Elders”.

As a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the first established sorority for African-American college women, Dr. Flagg held the position of president for Beta Alpha Omega Newark Chapter in 1948 and again in 1956. In addition, she has held the position of secretary, vice-president, parliamentarian, and historian. There is also an endowed Alpha Kappa Alpha Educational Advancement Fund scholarship award established along with her daughter, who is a member of the sorority.

A Street Dedication is tentatively scheduled for May 16, 2018.

If you would like to know more about Dr. E. Alma Flagg, you can listen to these interviews courtesy of The Krueger-Scott Oral History Collection through Rutgers University.