[Newark, NJ - August 5, 2016] - Newark Public Schools (NPS) and the Office of Expanded Learning Time (ELT) hosted a Summer Sports Camp for Newark students from July 11 to August 5. Over 400 students in grades 3 to 11 participated in a variety of different sports camps including: basketball, cheer, football/track, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, volleyball and wrestling.
[NEWARK, NJ - August 2, 2016] - Newark Public Schools (NPS) opened the Family Support Center on July 18 to assist families in getting a school placement for the 2016–2017 school year. The district reports a smoother process for families visiting for enrollment support, which is due in large part to increased supports provided earlier in the school enrollment process. Wait times are also down from previous years and families reported they had a better overall experience during this enrollment period than in years past.
“Our staff and faculty are excited to welcome students to a new school year, and we are committed to making sure we provide high quality customer service to make sure parents have everything they need to identify and enroll in the school that is best for their child,” said Superintendent Christopher D. Cerf of NPS. “We know that most families have been able to resolve their questions prior to this point, but we have made additional enrollment coordinators available to walk parents through the placement process and make sure all children are ready for the first day of school.”
In response to community feedback, NPS made changes to enrollment policies this year to further prioritize neighborhood preferences, keep more siblings together when possible, and better match special education students to programs that meet their needs. These changes – combined with a longer, single enrollment window, better resources to assist families in selecting their schools and more individualized support throughout the application period – helped NPS match more families with schools of their choice earlier and more effectively than ever before.
“We welcome all families to utilize the Family Support Center whenever they have questions or need support,” noted Edward Hui, Chief Strategy Officer at NPS. “The family survey feedback at the Family Support Center in these initial weeks is a strong indication that the changes the district made to the entire enrollment process and at the Family Support Center are better serving the needs of Newark families.”
The Family Support Center has made improvements to the center that make it more welcoming for families including: shorter wait times; providing books, toys and beanbag chairs for children while they wait; and adding changing tables in restrooms. In addition, in order to meet the needs of all families with outstanding questions or concerns, the Family Support Center has outlined a timeline for support throughout the summer to ensure that staff is available to provide differentiated services for families with specific questions. These time periods include:
“Our staff is ready to help families with their enrollment needs and make the process as easy as possible,” said Juceyka Figueroa, Executive Director of the Family Support Center. “We are hopeful that our efforts will continue to make the Family Support Center a welcoming place where families, especially those who are new to the district, can come for help with enrollment questions, or other related placement needs. We look forward to continuing to learn from our experiences this year so that we can continue to improve the services we provide to all Newark families.”
The Family Support Center is open Mondays and Wednesdays from 9am – 3pm, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am – 6pm. It is closed on Fridays. In addition, to better serve working families, the Family Support Center is open one Saturday a month, from 9am – 12pm. For more information about the Family Support Center’s hours of operation and the timeline visit the Newark Public Schools website at https://newark.apppresser.com/.
In addition to the Family Support Center, parents enrolling their children in Pre-Kindergarten can also visit one of the many “pop-up” Pre-K enrollment support sites that will be set up throughout the city until August 11. For more information about pop-up Pre-K enrollment sites visit: https://newark.apppresser.com/departments/early-childhood/2016-pop-enrollment-sites/.
[Newark, NJ - August 2, 2016] Over 60 eighth grade students from Newark are participating in the Marion Bolden Student Center (MBSC) College and Career Exploration Camp this summer. The 21st century summer enrichment program is designed to help students develop the skills needed to be college and career ready and is hosted by the Newark Public Schools’ (NPS) Office of Expanded Learning Time (ELT), in partnership with Gadget Software, the Newark Chess Club and Newark Summer Plus.
“I am proud of and inspired by the ownership that Newark students are taking in their learning at the College and Career Exploration Camp this summer,” said Superintendent Christopher D. Cerf of NPS. “Summer is an ideal time for students to advance their learning through real-world enrichment opportunities, and I’m grateful that our students have access to this excellent program that will allow them to further develop the necessary skills to be successful in this increasingly global economy.”
The MBSC College and Career Exploration Camp is a project-based learning program in which students utilize the various technology and software skills they are learning to create a final project. The month-long program is in its first year and exposes students to a wide-range of learning opportunities related to web design, podcasting, mobile app creation, video editing, graphic design and dance choreography. The camp is being held at the Dr. Marion A. Bolden Student Center until August 5th.
“Summer Fun Friday makes learning fun and gives our children access to a wide variety of unique educational programs,” said Superintendent Christopher D. Cerf of NPS. “Thanks to the Victoria Foundation and the City of Newark, we are able to provide positive activities that help bring students and their families together during the summer months.”
Sponsored by the Victoria Foundation, “Summer Fun Fridays” take place every Friday from July 15th to August 5th. The Victoria Foundation is a private grant making institution that supports programs that impact the poverty cycle in Newark. Participating schools include: Hawthorne Avenue, Hawkins Street, First Avenue, Park Elementary School, McKinley, Belmont Runyon, Lafayette Street, 13th Avenue, Mount Vernon and Speedway Academies.
“Summer Fun Fridays” is run through Summer Plus, which is a free district-wide initiative to curb summer learning loss and provide enrichment experiences for students that will help advance their academics. In addition to Summer Plus, families have access to a number of programs offered by community organizations in Newark and greater New Jersey. In partnership with Newark Thrives! – a non-profit organization whose mission is to improve access to high-quality, out-of-school time opportunities for Newark youth – NPS provides an online catalogue of summer opportunities for students in grades PreK–12.
[Newark, NJ - July 14, 2016] Newark Public Schools (NPS) celebrated National Summer Learning Day today with students across the district, a day that highlights the importance of keeping kids learning, safe and healthy throughout the summer. In honor of National Summer Learning Day, NPS participated in an online movement that seeks to capture the importance of summer learning in the community through the use of the hashtag #SummertimeNewark.
“It is so important that our children continue their education throughout the summer months to make sure students don’t lose valuable learning time,” said Superintendent Christopher D. Cerf with NPS. “Through our Summer Plus program, along with help from partners like Newark Thrives and the Office of Expanded Learning Time, all Newark students have access to high-quality summer learning and enrichment experiences that help prepare them for a new school year in September.”
NPS students and families have access to Summer Plus, a free district-wide initiative to curb summer learning loss and provide enrichment experiences for students that will help advance their academics. In addition to Summer Plus, families have access to a number of programs offered by community organizations in Newark and greater New Jersey. In partnership with Newark Thrives! - a non-profit organization whose mission is to improve access to high-quality, out-of-school time opportunities for Newark youth - NPS provides an online catalogue of summer opportunities for students in grades PreK - 12.
National Summer Learning Day was created by the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA), a national nonprofit focused on closing the achievement gap by increasing summer learning opportunities for young people. NSLA offers expertise and support for programs and communities and advocates for summer learning as a solution for equity and excellence in education.
[Newark, NJ - July 12, 2016] - Newark Public Schools announced that the district has reached a new labor agreement with Local 32 Union that creates a new evaluation standard through which employees will receive annual salary increases and which eliminates an automatic step-up pay scale. The goal of the new contract will be to recognize and reward high-performing employees while also providing corrective support to foster the professional growth of low performing employees.
“With the new contract, Newark Public Schools will eliminate the automatic step salary increases and implement an evaluation standard that will reward our highly effective and effective employees while providing a corrective action plan with measurable benchmarks to support the growth of low-performing employees,” said Christopher D. Cerf, Superintendent of Newark Public Schools. “This an important milestone for the district, and I believe this evaluation standard will lead to significant improvements for our employees and students.”
Under the new contract, Local 32 members will receive one of the following annual evaluation ratings: highly effective, effective, partially effective and ineffective. Employees who receive a rating of highly effective, effective or partially effective will be eligible to move up one step on the salary scale and receive the corresponding salary increase. Employees who are rated as ineffective or receive two consecutive partially effective ratings will not move up a step on the salary guide or receive a salary increase. To assist employees in achieving a higher evaluation rating moving forward, low performers will receive the benefit of corrective support.
The new contract will provide a one-time flat nonbase payment of $3,000 to full time employees in order to cover a four-year retroactive period and salary increases for 2014-2015 and 2015-2016. In addition, this agreement:
Local 32 Union represents employees serving middle management positions including: principal fiscal analysts, principal auditors, supervising engineers, administrative secretaries, supervising clerks, heating system specialists, senior systems analysts, management information system specialists, network administrators and other professional administrative positions.
Performance-based pay ties salary and step increases to an employee’s evaluation rating rather than the traditional measurement of seniority. Newark Public Schools first negotiated performance-based pay for teachers with the Newark Teachers Union in 2012 and classified support staff with the Local 617 Union in 2015.
