News

Unleashing Creativity: Exploring the Arts in NBOE Schools

The Office of Visual and Performing Arts celebrated Arts in Schools Month with four district-wide programs featuring 661 students in dance, music, theatre, and visual arts. On March 2nd, the department debuted the 2023 Young Artists Annual Exhibition at Newark Vocational High School. 114 students in grades 6-8 from 29 elementary schools presented artwork, dance, and theatrical performances based on the theme “Transition & Transformation.” On March 9th, 215 student dancers from 19 schools in grades 3-12 performed in the All City Dance Festival held at Arts High School. This was followed by the 2023 All City Music Festival, held on March 16th at Arts High School, with 231 musicians in grades 6-8 from 37 schools who performed in orchestra, guitar ensemble, concert band, or choir. Additionally, 101 high school students from 12 schools participated in the 2023 Teen Arts Annual centered on the theme “The Evidence of Who I Am.” This was held at the Newark Museum of Art and included artwork and performances in dance, instrumental music, and vocal music.

Each program incorporated arts knowledge and skills developed through Newark Public School’s arts curriculum. Throughout staff development days this year, arts educators have engaged in professional learning communities and workshops to examine curriculum and support their students’ artistic development. These efforts culminated in the outstanding performances and exhibitions of NBOE students in March’s district-wide programming. The Arts Office will present two additional performances this school year. Choral students in grades 9-12 will present the 2nd Annual High School Vocal Jubilee at Newark Symphony Hall on June 1st and fourth grade students will perform on recorder instruments at NJPAC on Tuesday, June 6th.

All City Music Band students enjoy a humorous moment during the concert March 16th; Arts High School Dance ensemble perform during the All City Dance Festival March 9th; Malcolm X Shabazz student artwork on exhibit with work from 10 high schools at The Newark Museum of Art through April 8th, and Young Artists Exhibit at Newark Vocational High School March 2nd
All City Music Band students enjoy a humorous moment during the concert March 16th; Arts High School Dance ensemble perform during the All City Dance Festival March 9th; Malcolm X Shabazz student artwork on exhibit with work from 10 high schools at The Newark Museum of Art through April 8th, and Young Artists Exhibit at Newark Vocational High School March 2nd

Nearly 160 Physical Education Teachers & Coaches Receive First Aid & CPR Certification

On any given day in this country, approximately 1,000 Americans experience a sudden cardiac arrest. According to the latest statistics released by the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation, only 10 percent of these people survive. Knowing how to perform CPR and using an automated external defibrillator (AED) can mean the difference between someone living or dying during a medical emergency.

The Newark Board of Education requires that all athletics personnel as well as Health & Physical Education teachers be certified to ensure the safety of students.The Office of Health, Physical Education & Athletics has been providing both coaches and teachers with opportunities to obtain and/or renew their certification in Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED. The blended learning course equips participants to recognize and care for a variety of first aid, breathing, and cardiac emergencies involving adults, children and infants. Since August 2022, staff have received coursework in which nearly 160 staff members obtained their certification at Science Park High School. These skills can be of great value should an emergency arise at school, work, home or in public places.

Through partnership with the Office of Health Services and University Hospital, this training will continue to offer more certification opportunities to any District employee who is interested in taking the course as well as any cohort of teachers and coaches looking to become instructors; enabling the District to have a greater impact in schools and the community.

NBOE staff participate in a First Aid & CPR session at Science Park High School
NBOE staff participate in a First Aid & CPR session at Science Park High School

NBOE Preserves the Architecture and Beauty of Its Aging Buildings

Sir Issac Newton was built in 1873 when Ulysses S. Grant was president of the United States; there were two additions built in 1900 & 1904. Over time, the gymnasium floor in this building showed signs of its age. The facilities team partnered with a wood flooring vendor that provided a new hardwood gym flooring system projected to last into the next century. Additionally, a flooring project was completed at Ironbound Academy; this school opened its doors in September 2022. The building was formerly known as Ironbound Catholic.

Since 2019, the District has replaced/restored 16 school gymnasiums to provide them with a modern look and maintain compliance with NJSIAA: New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association specifications where applicable. This also provides the opportunity for the District to preserve the architecture and beauty of aging buildings while providing the latest in products and innovation.

New gymnasium floor installed at Sir Isaac Newton and Ironbound Academy
New gymnasium floor installed at Sir Isaac Newton and Ironbound Academy

Cultivating Families Through Empowerment and Home Lending Libraries

NBOE Parent Liaisons team up with families using lending libraries
NBOE Parent Liaisons team up with families using lending libraries

This year, the Office of Federal Programs & Grants provided Home Lending Libraries to all NBOE parent resource rooms. This has opened the door for conversations about strategies that help bridge the gap between home and school. It has brought awareness to the importance of building knowledge in order to support students. Empowering families with information and experiences are key. From parental involvement, raising an emotionally intelligent child, and learning habits of effective families, these shared libraries help build capacity and strengthen home/school partnerships.

Parent Liaisons are taking the lead in collaborating with families as they build tool boxes and gain confidence, which further supports student success. Through effective community practices such as Home Lending Libraries, the District continues to encourage and promote learning for all.

NBOE Receives Additional State Aid for SY 23-24

On February 28, 2023, Governor Phil Murphy presented his annual Budget Address to the entire state. During the address, he announced the funding of $830M in state aid to local school districts. This is a $2.6B increase in education funding over six years. Included in that number was an additional $114M in Equalization Aid for the Newark Public Schools.

Prior to the Budget address and announcement of State Aid, the District completed a review of all school and central office budgets. The review included an analysis of all staffing, programs and initiatives. It coordinated the allocation of all funds (local, state and Federal) for all expenditures. The reviews began in December 2022 and concluded in February 2023.

The budget process is interactive and allows community input via committees. The schools are required to share the details of the school budget with their entire school community at a public meeting once their budget review is approved by the Superintendent. The Budget was advertised in the Star Ledger on March 24, 2023 and the Public Hearing was held at Science Park High School on March 29th. The Newark Board of Education voted to approve the budget at the hearing and the voters will be afforded an opportunity to do the same on April 25th during the School Board elections.

Modern Surveillance System Will Take School Safety to a New Height

The District is in the process of replacing its legacy analog surveillance system in schools with a contemporary IP based enterprise level surveillance system with advanced capabilities that will take the school safety to a new height. The current legacy system is based on an older analog coaxial cable-based technology that is managed at the school level without any advanced features, enterprise oversight, or access beyond the school building. The current system suffers from various issues including the inability to detect and address camera outages, cumbersome retrieval of videos pertaining to incidents due to local camera recording in schools, inability to add cameras with ease due to the need for power and coax cabling, difficulty in granting camera access to others such as principals, difficulty collaborating with law enforcement, and lack of any advanced features.

The new IP based surveillance system will not only address the shortcomings of the existing legacy system referenced above, but it will also offer contemporary features that will address the safety needs and concerns of NBOE schools for the years to come. The new system will be a centralized system that will be integrated with the District’s IP network and will incorporate centralized recording and retrieval of video footage on servers, and provide board access to the system from anywhere using multiple platforms including mobile phones, local and district level monitoring of cameras. Additionally, the system will supply live dashboards for ease of monitoring including a dashboard for offline cameras, automatic alerts for triggered events such as after hour suspicious activities, higher resolution cameras with night vision capability, ability to program cameras to detect specific objects such as vehicles, advanced video search and analytics. Furthermore, this initiative will also expand the number of cameras in NBOE schools from the current base of 2,200 analog cameras to 7,200 IP cameras, which will allow the District to provide surveillance coverage to critical areas of the schools that currently lack coverage.