Toni Yates has more with Dr. Roger Leon as they look ahead to the next school year in Newark.
News
New Chromebook Distribution Formula Will Lead to Student Ownership
The district has established a Chromebook distribution formula that will provide students entering grades K, 5, and 9 with new Chromebooks. Students in the noted grades will be able to keep the assigned Chromebooks and use them at home and at school as their day-to-day school devices until the devices reach their shelf life which is typically 5 years. Based on this new strategy, students in grades K, 5, and 9 will keep their assigned devices until they reach grades 4, 8 and 12, respectively, at which point they will not only get new devices, but can also take ownership of the aged Chromebooks and keep them as personal devices if they choose to do so. Under this framework, students starting in Kindergarten in the district will be able to own up to 3 devices by the time they graduate from High School in the district.
Families: Connecting Home and School
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires all Title I schools to engage in two-way communication with parents. To support these efforts, the district has parent liaisons at each school who receive monthly professional training to develop skills and knowledge of how to engage and work with families to support student success. Please connect with your school’s parent liaison to see how you can get involved in your child’s school.
Through SchoolMint, families will be receiving the Home School Compact. This document explains the responsibilities of those involved in a student’s success - Principals who Lead; Teachers who Care; Parents who Love and Students who Learn. We look forward to a successful 2022-2023 school year!
Finance: Successful Close of 2021-2022 Fiscal Year
The Newark Board of Education brought the 2021-2022 Fiscal year to a successful close. All accounts were in a positive financial status and the district’s financial health is good. The district is preparing for the 2022-23 school opening and ensuring that procurement contracts are awarded to support the proper expenditure of federal and local funds in accordance with state and federal regulations.
The Finance and Operations groups sponsored two district wide events in August prior to school opening. These meetings provided Principals with an opportunity for one-on-one interaction with department heads from several areas for conversations surrounding school specific information. It was the first time a “Round Robin” had been offered to Principals. The attendees expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to meet individually and get answers to questions, resolve issues and request additional services, where applicable. The sessions included other departments from across Teaching and Learning. It was well received by both participants and attendees. This event will become a part of the annual calendar with several modifications.
Principals received a full day of training in the areas of Operations and Finance with detailed presentations from several department heads. The presentations covered a wide range of topics and focused on the important information to help schools navigate the services needed for successful operation of schools. NJQSAC, Middle State Accreditation and ESSER Funding were all discussed. Principals were attentive, fully engaged, and several departments provided additional resources using QR codes.
Facilities: Summer Projects 2022
Over the summer, Facilities embarked on several major projects to address the most urgent needs. Roof replacements and building envelope repairs have begun at West Side High School, Dr. William H. Horton, and Sir Issac Newton. Barringer High School, Arts High School, and Weequahic High School have new classroom unit ventilators and Air Handler Units as part of the district’s ESIP program.
Playgrounds at Peshine Avenue school, Cleveland, Thirteenth Avenue, and Hawkins Street school have been resurfaced for students. John F Kennedy school had its gym renovated in addition to repairs and minor renovations at Ironbound Academy. The Facilities Department will continue to work to improve school facilities throughout the 2022-23 school year.
John F Kennedy Gym Renovation
Football Teams Return to Camps
After a 4-year hiatus, four of our district’s football programs were again afforded the opportunity, to leave behind the hustle and bustle of city living, for a few days and nights of breathtaking landscapes in the Endless Mountains region of Pennsylvania.
Camp Tioga hosted Barringer, Central, Weequahic and West Side for a little team bonding mixed in with practices and scrimmages.
Teams woke up at 6am in their housing cabins and then went for runs in the woods. Followed by that, they experienced two to three practices a day, enjoyed hearty meals, spent time together, studied their playbook and relaxed while playing games in the large media room.
Coaches enjoyed the time spent with their teams out of the city because the experience removes outside distractions and allows for both staff and students to build stronger connections. Football camp isn’t as much about football as it is creating that sense of community you only get when you spend time together as a family working toward established goals. An added bonus was that all of the football programs developed a mutual respect for each other as they had to share common areas and scrimmaged each other.
East Side will be the fifth program going to camp in the coming week.
The Blue Devils of Central High School take in the scenic view at Camp Tioga while trekking their gear to football practice.