Five students were recognized for their artistic excellence, displaying artwork at Kean University’s James Howe Gallery

[Newark, NJ – February 10, 2017] Newark Public School (NPS) students were recognized at an awards reception for the 29th annual Art Administrators of New Jersey (AANJ) Emerging Artists Exhibit at Kean University on Sunday, January 29. This year, the Emerging Artists Exhibit recognized five NPS high school students, along with 37 other high school students from 30 different high schools across New Jersey, for their artistic achievements. Each student’s artwork was on display at the James Howe Gallery at Kean University for the public to observe from January 9 through the 29.

“Congratulations to the five scholars from our Newark school community who were selected to participate in this year’s Emerging Artists Exhibit for their outstanding artistic talents,” said Christopher D. Cerf, Superintendent of Newark Public Schools. “Art education plays an important role in every student’s educational experience and we value the Art Administrators of New Jersey for showcasing the incredible work of Newark’s young artists and continuing to promote artistic expression across New Jersey’s schools.”

The five artists from NPS selected to participate in this year’s AANJ exhibition were:

• Mariama Saysay of American History High School
• Melissa Tapia of Arts High School
• Matthiu Doliscar of Central High School
• Gianna Torres of Science Park High School
• Jalen Arline of West Side High School

Students, family members, friends, teachers, administrators, and policy makers came together to celebrate these young artists at the reception. All student artwork was selected and submitted by current secondary art educators at each student’s respective school, and each chosen Emerging Artist was presented with a Certificate of Participation from the Art Administrators of New Jersey (AANJ) during the awards ceremony.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for Newark students to share their artistic creations in a public art space and connect with one another about their creative process. The range of media and approach to subject matter is a testament to their engagement with arts instruction and learning,” said Margaret El, Special Assistant for the Arts of Newark Public Schools.

2017 marks the first year that students from multiple NPS high schools participated in the Emerging Artists Exhibit. Students from Arts High School have participated in the annual competition since 2011 and have been recognized with two honorable mentions and one merit award over the years.

Established in 1988, Emerging Artists seeks to highlight the artistic achievements of New Jersey’s high school students and simultaneously expand public awareness of art education across the state. Each year, selected student artwork is judged and four merit awards and four honorable mention awards are presented to individual students. Merit and honorable mention award recipients are also eligible to submit a portfolio of artwork and compete in the Art Administrators’ Achievement Award program, through which one student is selected to receive a Governor’s Award, as well as a monetary reward, in the spring.

 

[Newark, NJ – January 24, 2017] – Newark Public Schools (NPS) hosted a special event at CityPlex12 in Newark yesterday with 300 high school-aged young women to encourage them to pursue a career in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.  The event began with a screening of the recently released hit film, Hidden Figures, which profiles three inspiring African American women at NASA who became trailblazers in their fields.  The film was followed by a panel discussion focused on the role of women in STEM in college and careers.

“Newark Public Schools assembled an impressive group of women who are leaders in their fields to inspire Newark’s talented young women to consider pursuing a career in STEM,” said Superintendent Christopher D. Cerf of NPS. “There are incredible opportunities for women to make a difference in the STEM fields, and Newark Public Schools is committed to helping all of our students pursue their academic and career goals.”

The invited guests and panelists included local community leaders and women working in STEM fields such as: State Senator M. Teresa Ruiz, Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor-Marin, Council President Mildred Crump, Councilwoman Gayle Chaneyfield-Jenkins, School Business Administrator Valerie Wilson, Science Special Assistant Ivory Williams, Mathematics Special Assistant Babita Kukreja,Tamara Waye of Goldman Sachs, CEO of Usable Tech Lindsey Holmes, Jessica Chamoun of PSE&G, Adah Steward of PSE&G and Melissa Jackson of Rutgers Business School.

Superintendent Cerf spoke with students about their future roles in the STEM fields. Panelists discussed the critical role women play in STEM fields and the difference receiving a higher education has on pursuing future career opportunities.

“I would like to thank the Newark Public Schools district for supporting this trip to the CityPlex12 Theater to see Hidden Figures,” said Laura Dawn Gould, an NPS Student Advisory Board Member. “The issues discussed in the film, including overcoming sexism in STEM fields and racism in the workplace, are relevant everywhere. But there is no place I can think of that they’d make more of an impact than here in Newark, where our district serves an extremely diverse population of women of color.”

[Newark, NJ – January 23, 2017] Newark Public Schools (NPS) is partnering with Montclair State University to offer a Bilingual Bicultural Certification Program for its teachers. In response to the high demand for bilingual educators throughout the district, NPS worked with Montclair State University (MSU) to develop a program that enables current teachers who are proficient in a language other than English to obtain the New Jersey State Bilingual/Bicultural Certification (BBC). The first cohort of educators in this program completed their opening semester of course work in December.

“We are so grateful to the team at Montclair State University for helping us successfully develop this bilingual certification program,” said Superintendent Christopher D. Cerf of NPS. “We are lucky to have so many talented teachers in our community, and with help from our partners at Montclair State University, we can utilize existing talent in our classrooms more effectively in places where they can have an even greater impact for students.”

The non-degree program is taught by full-time MSU faculty and consists of four courses for a total of 12 credits. The program is offered on-site at Luis Muñoz Marin Elementary School in Newark after school and online. Participants attend class in-person every other week and complete their coursework online at home the other weeks. Course material is accessible on MSU’s online management system.

“In today’s increasingly global society, bilingual education is integral to student achievement,” said Maria Ortiz, principal at Luis Muñoz Marin Elementary School. “We have some of the best and brightest educators and this program makes it convenient for our hardworking educators to become certified in bilingual education by bringing the program right here to Luis Muñoz Marin. The Newark Public Schools and Montclair State University partnership is helping us invest not only in our teachers but in our students to meet the growing demand for bilingual educators in our community. I look forward to seeing this partnership produce results for our students in the classroom.”

The four, three-credit course requirements include:

• READ 520: Language Acquisition and Bilingualism
• ECEL 529: Sociocultural Foundations of Teaching Bilingual Learners
• READ 521: Literacy and the Bilingual Learner
• ECEL 527: Teaching Content in the Bilingual and Sheltered English classroom

Teachers who participate in the program are being reimbursed for a significant portion of the costs by Newark Public Schools. The district’s goal is for the success of this initial cohort to lead to an on-going and sustainable pathway into bilingual education for many more Newark educators. District leaders look forward to continuing the program in the 2017-18 school year.

New Jersey Department of Education releases data that shows Newark’s graduation rate is up for the fourth consecutive year, complementing other recent data that shows significant learning progress being made by Newark students

[Newark, NJ – January 17, 2017] The New Jersey Department of Education released data last week showing that Newark’s high school graduation rate increased to 73.5 percent in 2016, up four percentage points from 2015. This data also showed that this is the fourth consecutive year this rate has increased in Newark. Newark’s graduation rate is up nearly 15 percentage points since 2011.

News of the graduation rate increase follows PARCC results released by the Department in August showing that Newark students made significant gains in both Math and English Language Arts (ELA) across the district. ELA results in particular show that according to student growth percentile (SGP), Newark students outpaced their peers across the state for the first time in 2015-16.

“The outcomes we are seeing now are the result of the hard work this community has done over a number of years to significantly change Newark’s schools,” said Christopher D. Cerf, Superintendent of Newark Public Schools (NPS). “While increasing graduation rates are not the only relevant measure of progress, statistics show that students with a high school diploma are much more likely to lead a successful life. This progress, along with substantial increases in reading and math scores in recent years, makes it very clear that the arrow is pointed up here in Newark. Students have a much better chance at success after they leave our schools then they did just a few years ago.”

Newark high schools that stand out with greater than a 90 percent graduation rate include:

• Arts High School (90.91 percent)
• Science Park High School (97.42 percent)
• Technology High School (96.85 percent)
• University High School (96.12 percent)
• Bard Early College High School (95.59 percent)

Schools that showed significant progress in the graduation rate from 2015 to 2016 include:

• Barringer Academy of Arts and Humanities (increase of 24 percentage points)
• Central High School (increase of 9 percentage points)
• Bard Early College High School (increase of 9 percentage points)
• Technology High School (increase of 5.5 percentage points)
• Weequahic High School (increase of 5 percentage points)
• East Side High School (increase of 4 percentage points)

“This improvement reflects thousands of hours of coordinated efforts by our hard working educators and school leaders to make sure that more students leave their schools with a diploma in hand,” noted Brad Haggerty, Chief Academic Officer at NPS. “While we still have a ways to go, you can not underestimate the difference a high school diploma makes in a young person’s life. When you examine these numbers, the important thing to understand is that this means that over the last few years hundreds more individuals here in Newark were eligible to continue their education in college, or were able to enter the workforce with a credential that nearly all employers view as essential.”

Recent PARCC data underscores that the district is making significant progress in the following areas: the percentage of students meeting or exceeding expectations across the district was up 6.0 percentage points in ELA and 2.5 percentage points in Math; 48 of 57 schools are showing improvement in ELA, and 40 of 57 schools are showing improvement in Math; 3 NPS high schools and 5 NPS elementary schools beat the state average in either ELA or Math, or both. In addition, the district’s average SGP score in ELA moved above the 50th percentile in the 2015-16 school year, which shows that Newark students outperformed their peers across the state.

Earlier this year, Newark Public Schools announced key investments the district is making in their strategic plan to help educators and students build upon and accelerate progress. The combination of policy changes made in recent years, these academic commitments and the progress being made as a result have all been cited by the State Department of Education as integral factors to Newark regaining local control of district schools in the near future.

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Newark’s high schools see overall boost in graduation rates | “The city’s public schools saw an overall increase in the percent of graduating high schoolers — continuing a steady rise since 2011, according to numbers released by the state Department of Education Thursday. In Newark, 73.5 percent of traditional public school students graduated in four years, compared to 69.6 percent in 2015. Statewide, 90.1 percent of students graduated within four years, a slight bump up from the 89.7 percent graduation rate in 2015…’This progress, along with substantial increases in reading and math scores in recent years, makes it very clear that the arrow is pointed up here in Newark, and that students have a much better chance at success after they leave our schools then they did just a few years ago,’ said Christopher Cerf, Superintendent of Newark Public Schools… ‘While we still have a ways to go, you cannot underestimate the difference a high school diploma makes in a young person’s life,’ said Brad Haggerty, Chief Academic Officer for Newark schools.’When you examine these numbers, the important thing to understand is that this means that over the last few years hundreds more individuals here in Newark were eligible to continue their education in college, or were able to enter the workforce with a credential that nearly all employers view as essential,’ he said.” (NJ.com, 1/13/17)

More than 2,000 student and family members attend fair to learn about school options

[Newark, NJ – January 12, 2017] Newark Public Schools (NPS) launched a citywide enrollment campaign and opened the enrollment application process for the 2017 – 2018 school year on Saturday. The enrollment campaign kicked off with a School Fair at the Family Support Center that was attended by more than 2,000 students, parents and school representatives.

The school fair showcased information about Newark schools and the enrollment process, which is open until February 28, 2017. The school fair also featured student performances, including the marching bands of Weequahic High School and Malcolm X Shabazz, Arts High School’s Latin jazz band and East Side High School’s chorus, as well as a photo booth, pizza, and other activities for students and families. In addition to the school fair, parents have access to new resources and tools that will help them learn more about the enrollment process and their school choices, including a new website, revamped application, and detailed school guidebook.

“Newark has so many great schools, and we want to make sure families have all of the information they need to make the best decision about their child’s educational future,” said Superintendent Christopher D. Cerf of NPS. “This year we are providing more resources than ever before through school fairs, a citywide enrollment campaign, a mobile-friendly application, a new-and-improved website and school guidebook to improve this process. We are committed to making this year’s process a positive experience for all of our families and will do everything we can to match students with a school that meets their needs.”

Last year, NPS collected feedback about ways to improve the enrollment process from a range of school and community members. After reviewing the feedback, the district made the following enhancements to the enrollment process for the 2017–2018 school year:

• Adding audio instructions to the application in English, Spanish and Portuguese
• Making further improvements to how siblings are matched to ensure siblings are placed in the same school whenever possible
• Embedding a distance calculator into the application which automatically calculates the distance between a school and home address so that families can more easily take travel time into consideration as they select their preferred schools
• Launching a new-and-improved Newark Enrolls website with more resources and information than ever before

“The school fair was the beginning of a comprehensive citywide enrollment campaign to help get the word out to parents and guardians about the wonderful educational opportunities Newark has to offer,” said Gabrielle Ramos-Solomon, Executive Director of Enrollment. “The district is reaching out to more families than ever before to educate them about their school options. Over the next few months, the district will work hand-in-hand with our families to make sure our students are matched with the school that is best-suited to meet their individual needs.”

The district has taken additional steps to provide parents with the information they need to make informed decisions about their school options, including:

• A more comprehensive enrollment guidebook at www.newarkenrolls.org that provides detailed information about each school and the support services and programs that are available
• More community information sessions and school open houses so that families can learn about their options directly from school staff
• Videos that showcase the unique learning environment each school has to offer
• A citywide campaign to inform families about the application process through advertisements and community grassroots efforts
• A survey at the end of the application to gain insight into what factors are most important to families when selecting schools that will be used to inform future policies

Students who are eligible to participate in Newark Enrolls include: students in the last grade of their current school, pre-K4 students in Early Childhood programs, students enrolling in a Newark public school for the first time, and students who would like to enroll in a new school in September that better meets their needs. If children would like to remain in their current school next fall or do not fit the above criteria, parents do not need to submit an application in the enrollment process.

Families have until February 28, 2017 to submit an application for school enrollment at www.newarkenrolls.org. Applicants will receive their match letters in spring 2017. The match letter will provide families with next steps to register and confirm student placement in their match school.

Families interested in learning more about school enrollment should visit www.newarkenrolls.org or contact a member of their school’s enrollment team or the Contact Center at 973-733-7333.