News

School Community Garden Pilot Program Coming to Louise A. Spencer Elementary School

Louise A. Spencer’s Green Team engaged in an outdoor learning lab in preparation for the Schoolyard Garden
Louise A. Spencer’s Green Team engaged in an outdoor learning lab in preparation for the Schoolyard Garden

Newark Board of Education continues to grow its commitment to districtwide sustainability education by partnering with The Trust for Public Land, Natural Ground 1, The Energy Diamonds Sustainability Ambassadors Club, and the PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies at Montclair State University, to pilot a community garden program at Louise A. Spencer Elementary School. The project will provide opportunities for volunteers including community members from Grace West Housing, Newark Boys & Girls Club, Americorps, and the Empowered Schools Club. The Schoolyard Garden will serve as an onsite resource for growing fresh food and teaching students about urban agriculture, environmental science, and entrepreneurship. 

Students and members of the community will have access to the fresh food grown at Louise A. Spencer Elementary School. The program integrates urban agriculture practices, STEM education, and financial literacy. This project will serve as a model for outdoor classroom learning labs in school communities that serve student populations of black and brown leaders of tomorrow - today! The programming at the school’s community garden will follow an interdisciplinary approach in which teachers, students, student mentors, and community partners will participate in training and hands-on activities that show the connectivity between key concepts in Math, English Language Arts, and Earth Sciences and have fun doing so! The collective vision for the school garden is to partner with the neighboring district school, Newark Vocational, by which their Culinary Arts students can utilize the site as a teaching hub. The hallmark of the participatory design model is one that provides outdoor classroom exploration labs, mentorship and service learning project engagement year-round!

 

Newark Students Compete at the District’s FIRST LEGO League Tournament

Students built and programmed robots to complete tasks with LEGO blocks; Lafayette Street School earned the overall event championship
Students built and programmed robots to complete tasks with LEGO blocks; Lafayette Street School earned the overall event championship

On Saturday January 14th, over 300 students from schools across the district competed in the annual Newark Board of Education FIRST LEGO League Tournament. Students were able to showcase their work in building and programming a robot to complete specific missions with LEGO blocks. The teams also presented research projects based on this year’s “Super Powered” theme, which looked at sources of energy and how participants can solve the ever growing need for energy in the world.

Teams were judged on their innovation project, the success of their robots on the mission field as well as their team spirit, collaboration, and leadership. In a tightly contested event, Lafayette Street School earned the overall event championship, followed closely by Hawkins Street School and Ann Street School. Lafayette Street School will go on to represent the district in a major tournament at Liberty Science Center later this year. Teams across the district took home additional awards for robot design, team spirit, perseverance and excellence in research. Parents, teachers and other members of the school community came out to support the event held at Newark School of Data Science and Information Technology. This was the largest event the FIRST LEGO League teams have competed in and the district is anticipating an even larger turnout at the event in the 2023-2024 season!

Bridging the Gap to Improve FAFSA Outcomes

NBOE School Counselors preparing for changes in the FAFSA reporting process
NBOE School Counselors preparing for changes in the FAFSA reporting process

On Wednesday, February 1, 2023, the Office of Student Life’s High School Guidance team held  professional development for school counselors, in partnership with Bloomfield College President’s Office, Newark City Learning Collaborative (NCLC) and New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (NJHESAA). The training was focused on changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in the 2023-2024 filing year. The district’s school counselors received training from André Maglione and learned about the changes with the Expected Family Contribution (EFC), parent/guardian tax filing, NJ STARS II Scholarship Program, and the importance of students applying to the Equal Opportunity Fund (EOF).

Beginning with the Class of 2022, the Newark Board of Education amended the graduation requirements to include completion of the FAFSA or New Jersey Alternative Financial Aid Application (NJAFAA). During the professional development, Mr. Maglione assisted the school counselors in unpacking the FAFSA and NJAFAA application to further enhance their knowledge base and skillset to support students and families with post-secondary planning. A case study was used in the session to conduct a deeper analysis of the content and skills needed to assist applicants and their families.

For more information on completing the FAFSA, click here.

The Office of Special Education Launches Professional Development Series to Enhance Pre-K Curriculum

On February 3rd, the Office of Special Education (OSE) held its kick-off professional development for teachers of the Preschool Disabled Programs (PSD). The office is excited to provide teachers with professional development and coaching on modifying the curriculum to support preschoolers with developmental disabilities. As part of OSE’s initiative, all self-contained PSD teachers will attend five in-person professional development sessions followed by virtual and in-person coaching. The dates and topics of upcoming PD include the following:   

Date  Session Topic
February 24, 2023  Session 2   UDL and the Classroom Environment
March 24, 2023  Session 3  IEPs at a Glance and Writing Effective IEP Goals
April 6, 2023     Session 4  Data Driven Small Group Instruction
May 12, 2023      Session 5 Monitoring Progress to Goal


The first workshop was “Creative Curriculum and Effective Adaptations.” Feedback resulted in an average rating of 4 out of 5, with participants particularly appreciating how the facilitators connected curriculum adaptations to the GOLD levels the district already uses for progress monitoring in younger students. 

Teacher at Rafael Hernandez uses adaptations to provide students with grade-level instruction
Teacher at Rafael Hernandez uses adaptations to provide students with grade-level instruction

The Office of Bilingual Education Provides Ongoing Peer Coaching to Support ESL Teachers

The Office of Bilingual Education continues to provide English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers with Peer Coaching sessions that focus on helping teachers implement rigorous strategies and approaches shared during WestEd development sessions. This will help improve teacher performance and English Learner achievement.

Through the Peer Coaching initiative, teachers have improved their practice. These intentional planning techniques can be conceptualized in three moments: first, preparing learners for the learning embodied in the lesson text; second, scaffolding students' interaction with the text; and third, extending their understanding of the ideas in the text. Students learn best when engaging with their peers as this helps bridge what they can do independently and expand their knowledge of concepts, language, and cognition.

Peer Coaching session at Roberto Clemente alongside the Office of Bilingual Supervisor
Peer Coaching session at Roberto Clemente alongside the Office of Bilingual Supervisor

Student Artists Recognized at Kean University

Newark Board of Education students participate in the AANJ Emerging Artist Exhibit in the James Howe Gallery at Kean University
Newark Board of Education students participate in the AANJ Emerging Artist Exhibit in the James Howe Gallery at Kean University

Each year the Art Administrators of New Jersey (AANJ) encourage and support high school student artists through the Emerging Artists Exhibit held annually at Kean University. This year, twenty-eight students from across the state participated in the exhibit including five from Newark Board of Education. Students were recognized during the closing reception and award recognition ceremony Sunday, January 29th at the James Howe Gallery on the campus of Kean University.

Special recognition is given in the name of 4 Merit Awards and 4 Honorable Mentions during this program. Science Park High School freshman, Isanie Barthelus, received one of four Honorable Mentions making her eligible to submit a portfolio in consideration for the AANJ Art Achievement and Governors Award in the Arts. During the program, Isanie’s artwork was highlighted by Dr. Joseph Amorino, Kean University Coordinator of Arts Education. Isanie responded to questions from Dr. Amorino about the ideas and thought process in developing her artwork during the presentation.