Crisis Text Line will help connect Newark residents with local resources, support

[Newark, NJ – March 29, 2016] – Through the recently launched Opportunity Youth Network (OYN), Newark Public Schools (NPS) and the City of Newark announced today that Newark residents will have access to a new, 24-hour support service called the Crisis Text Line (CTL). The CTL is an anonymous, free counseling service for people in crisis that will help connect Newark teens and adults with local resources.

“The Crisis Text Line is an innovative addition to our programs to help teens and families at risk. It is important at a time of crisis that people receive help quickly and effectively,” said Mayor Ras Baraka.

CTL is staffed by 940 trained volunteers throughout the country who are qualified to help families with a range of issues including suicide prevention, sexual abuse, housing issues, bullying, homelessness and substance abuse. Currently, there are 1,000 additional volunteers in training in various locations throughout the United States.

“The Crisis Text Line will serve as a critical resource for our students and families across the district,” said NPS Superintendent Christopher D. Cerf. “Many kids in Newark face serious challenges. The Crisis Text Line provides easy and effective tool to help our youth navigate these challenges with some assistance. Providing support services for our kids and families is a priority for the district and with the help of Opportunity Youth Network, we hope to better serve all our families in need.”

As of March 20th, anyone in Newark can text “NEW” to 741741 when in crisis anywhere, anytime. A live, trained crisis counselor receives the text and responds quickly. The crisis counselor helps individuals move from a hot moment to a cool calm to stay safe and healthy using effective active listening and suggested referrals – all through text message using CTL’s secure platform.

“The Newark Opportunity Youth Network is proud to partner with and provide volunteers for the Crisis Text Line,” said Khalil Murrell, Senior Strategy Officer for OYN. “It is important that all members of our community have access to counseling and support services they need to improve their quality of life.”

In order to participate in the CTL, the OYN is committing 25 volunteers from five community-based organizations including La Casa de Don Pedro, Urban League of Essex County, New Community Corporation, Rutgers TEEM Gateway and Leaders for Life, Inc. Each volunteer will receive over 30 hours of training to become a CTL counselor.

While the CTL is completely anonymous, NPS and OYN will receive data that CTL collects detailing the kinds of crises that Newark residents face most. This data will help NPS develop more targeted interventions, as well as create a focus for student groups and advisories.

The Opportunity Youth Network, launched in December of 2015 by Newark Mayor Ras J. Baraka, Newark Public Schools Superintendent Christopher D. Cerf and the Foundation for Newark’s Future (FNF), is an initiative to provide educational and support services to the city’s most vulnerable young people. FNF is expected to invest up to $2.5 million in OYN over the next three years.

Approximately 20 percent of Newark’s young people, age 18 to 24, do not have a high school diploma. Over 3,800 of Newark’s dropouts are either unemployed or under-employed. Nearly 1,000 students fall behind their classmates each year, placing them in danger of dropping out or not being able to find a job. The City of Newark, Newark Public Schools, Rutgers University-Newark, the Newark City of Learning Collaborative, the Prudential Foundation, the Victoria Foundation, and the Foundation for Newark’s Future partnered to form Newark Opportunity Youth Network to address this disengagement crisis and establish a network of campuses and programs led by local community based organizations (CBOs) to provide educational, social and job training services throughout the city.

OYN will help to strengthen the city’s workforce, reduce the rate of dropouts, and positively alter the life trajectory of thousands of school-aged youth.

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About Crisis Text Line
Crisis Text Line is free, 24/7 support for people in crisis via text. For more, visit www.crisistextline.org.

Newark Public Schools receives $250,000 grant from New Jersey Department of Education to partner with Pascack Valley School District to improve digital learning readiness in four NPS schools

 

[Newark, NJ – March 28, 2016] – Newark Public Schools (NPS) received a $250,000 Future Ready Schools – New Jersey (FRS-NJ) grant from the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) to implement a technology enhanced curriculum that ensures Newark students are college and career ready.  Under the grant, NPS will partner with Pascack Valley Regional High School District to develop an innovative and effective technology curriculum that enhances digital learning.

“Technology is an integral part of how our students think and learn in today’s global economy,” said Superintendent Christopher D. Cerf of NPS.  “It is so important to develop a curriculum that supports 21st century learning, and the Future Ready grant will help ensure that our teachers and their classrooms are preparing students for college and a successful career.”

FRS-NJ is designed to help students in elementary and secondary public school develop the digital learning skills they need to compete in today’s global economy.  The partnership will help both districts develop best practices that can be shared with teachers in other classrooms and schools to create student-centered learning environments that improve college and career readiness.

“Pascack Valley Regional High School District is proud to partner with Newark Public Schools to support student learning through technology,” said P. Erik Gundersen, Superintendent of Schools at Pascack Valley Regional High School District.  “Digital learning has transformed the way our students learn at Pascack, and we are looking forward sharing best practices to collaborating with educators in Newark to create a technology enhanced curriculum that will serve as a model for others.”

Over a period of six months, NPS and Pascack Valley Regional High School will collaborate through virtual Professional Learning Communities, virtual and in-person coaching and professional development trainings to develop and share best practices that will help improve and enhance their respective digital learning programs.  The grant will primarily focus on promoting digital learning in high need schools like Luis Munoz Marin Elementary School, Brick Avon Academy, Technology High School and East Side High School.

“The district has been working very hard to ensure our technology curriculum is giving our students an excellent 21st century education,” said Joshua Koen, Special Assistant for Technology in the Office of Curriculum at NPS.  “The Future Ready grant will help advance our work and ensure our teachers have the resources they need to create an innovative learning environment for our students.”

The FRS-NJ grant program was included in the FY2015-16 budget to assist schools with implementing a technology curriculum to create student-centered learning environments that are closely aligned with common core standards and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) exam.

“It is so important that our schools and teachers have the tools necessary to prepare students for a global economy,” said Senator M. Teresa Ruiz, who represents the 29th Legislative District and serves as chair of the State Education Committee. “The Future Ready Schools-NJ grant will help to transform Newark’s classrooms by implementing a technology enhanced curriculum that can be shared across schools. This is an innovative approach that will allow students to develop the skills they need to be successful.”

NPS is the largest school district in the state with 47 elementary schools, 16 high schools, 14 charter schools and two ungraded schools.  NPS has made a concerted effort in recent years to utilize technology to accelerate learning and help teachers strengthen the teaching curriculum.  The district recently purchased over 11,000 student Google Chromebook laptops with the goal of facilitating 21st century learning environments.  The district also announced last year it is partnering with Google’s Expeditions Pioneer Program, a new pilot program that allows teachers to take students on virtual reality field trips around the world.

Pascack Valley Regional High School District serves Hillsdale, Montvale, River Vale and Woodcliff Lake in Bergen County.  The district considers itself an “e-Learning School District” with over 12 years of experience incorporating technology into the curriculum.  Pascack Valley Regional High School District is an InnovateNJ district and a member of Digital Promise’s League of Innovative Schools, an organization that is dedicating to improving student outcomes through digital learning.

Water testing to begin this week to ensure that all faucets and water fountains in the district are tested for lead and any elevated levels remediated

[Newark NJ – March 16, 2016] – The Newark Public Schools (NPS) announced today that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has compiled and reviewed water test results dating back to the 2012-13 school year and that NPS will be making this data available to the public on the NPS website tomorrow morning.

The historical data was provided to both DEP and Newark Public Schools by the district’s outside laboratory last week upon discovering elevated levels in samples from the current year. The data shows that out of about 2067 water quality samples collected between 2012 and 2015, approximately 12% reflected lead levels above the federal action level of 15 parts per billion. This data is similar to those shared in the current year, where about 10% (of samples collected were above that level. Documentary evidence suggests that schools have been tested, and remedial actions undertaken, as far back as 2004. Different testing contractors provided the service between 2004 and 2012. Requests for those testing results are in process and will be released as they become available.

NPS and the NJDEP previously released the results for the tests conducted between December 2015 and February 2016. The 2012-15 results are generally consistent with this last round of testing. While many schools had no readings above the threshold of 15 parts per billion, a significant number did have at least one “point of use” that exceeded it. In virtually all cases, the affected schools detected lead in less than half of the tested sites, with most of those well below 100ppb. NPS has reviewed the location of the highest readings and found that nearly all appear to be in locations not typically used for drinking or food preparation (e.g. the highest sample detected, was at a “slop sink”). The DEP has previously confirmed that there are no risks associated with dish or hand washing.

Dating back to 2004, NPS addressed these concerns by issuing directives instructing facilities personnel to take various actions to remediate and mitigate elevated lead levels. A review of past documentation confirms that thousands of mitigation actions, including filter and faucet replacement, were completed pursuant to these directives. “While document review and personnel interviews continue, it is neither realistic nor possible to match every finding with every associated remedial action over a period that spans three superintendents dating back to the Bolden administration,” noted Superintendent Cerf.

“Since this concern first came to my attention last Monday, district staff, and government partners at the city and state have been working around the clock to better understand this situation and to ensure that it is handled cautiously and responsibly,” Cerf continued. “Without intending to criticize any of my three predecessors, when I learned of the 2015 test results, I decided to address the situation differently. Within an hour, I had notified state and city officials and directed staff to connect with the State Department of Environmental Protection. By the end of the day, NPS and DEP were working collaboratively to analyze the underlying facts. By the time school opened Wednesday morning, we were shutting off all water fountains and other affected sites at any school that had received a positive reading. In addition, State, County and District personnel had delivered 90,000 liters of water to 30 sites. That same morning, we disclosed to the public all of test results then in our possession and participated in a press conference in an effort to fully inform the public.”

“It is highly unfortunate,” continued Cerf, “that John Abeigon, the President of the Newark Teachers Union, sought to politicize these circumstances instead of working with city, school and community leaders on solutions. It is even more unfortunate that Mr. Abeigon chose to spread misinformation into a community that was already understandably deeply concerned as these circumstances arose. For example, he released unauthenticated pictures of filter housings with dates on them that he contends are inconsistent with timely filter replacement. We have since confirmed, however, that the dates on the filter housing do not necessarily correspond to the dates of the filter replacement. Equally irresponsibly, Mr. Abeigon has claimed that the district intentionally “concealed” previous information about water quality from the public. As the above history describes in detail, the District has handled this issue in the same way – via remediation protocols – since 2004. It was only this year, under my direction, that NPS changed course by bringing the matter to the public directly and by convening state and local experts to design appropriate remediation strategies.”

“As a parent, I too find the fact that the district has identified elevated levels of lead in water in each of these past years extremely concerning,” said Superintendent Chris Cerf. “Accordingly, when we learned the results of this year’s tests, we immediately directed the district to take the following steps to correct the situation – we shut off any filter with an elevated sample, brought water into schools, and made the public aware of the results. Since that time, we’ve worked to create an extensive new water testing plan with the DEP and are working with the city to provide extra capacity to offer additional blood level testing”

The sampling will begin on Saturday, March 17th. The sampling plan prioritizes the sampling of water in non-traditional buildings (for example, a transportation hub) where lead testing did not occur in 2015-2016. The district will then proceed to retest the 30 active NPS school buildings that recorded elevated levels of lead on certain taps in recent results.

The sampling plan calls for the proper collection of the water samples by State-certified testing laboratories, quality assurance, chain of custody and documentation.

“In addition to re-testing the sites of the most recent results of elevated lead levels in certain schools, the sampling plan also gives Newark Public Schools an opportunity to fully document comprehensive, baseline information across the entire district, and to easily refer to it for future testing and remedial actions going forward,” DEP Commissioner Bob Martin said.

Newark Public Schools is working with the city to create additional capacity for free blood lead level testing to ensure families who do not have access through a primary care provider will have access to these tests if they want them. On Thursday and Friday, city health officials will be offering these services directly at the two early childhood centers on the initial list of schools with elevated levels, and will arrange for additional sites to be available over Spring Break to other schools. The district and city will be sharing more specific information on these locations in the coming days.

Lastly, district officials will continue to make it their top priority that students and staff have access to healthy drinking water during this time. NPS is coordinating with outside agencies, including the Mayor’s Office, the County, and other State agencies to assure there is ample alternate water supply for students, faculty and staff. There is currently adequate water supply available through Spring Break – the week of March 21 – which includes water already delivered by the State, Newark City and Essex County. The district is also in process of having water coolers installed in various schools. “We can assure the community that adequate supplies of water will be available as long as circumstances warrant,” noted Cerf.

Teams from West Side High School and University High School will be competing for the NJSIAA Tournament of Champions title this week

[Newark NJ – March 14, 2016] – Three teams will represent Newark Public Schools in both the girls and boys basketball Tournament of Champions this week. The West Side High School boys’ basketball team enters into the tournament after winning the Group II Championship this past weekend, and both University High School’s girls’ and boys’ basketball teams won the Group I Championships to qualify for the tournament.

“On behalf of Newark Public Schools, I want to congratulate the West Side High School boys’ basketball and University High School’s girls’ and boys’ basketball teams on their successful seasons. We are so proud to have them representing Newark Public Schools in the NJSIAA Basketball Tournament of Champions,” said Superintendent Christopher D. Cerf. “Making it to the Tournament of Champions is a major accomplishment, and we wish them the best of luck in their upcoming games.”

All three teams will play in the Tournament of Champions at Pine Belt Arena in Toms River. The boys’ teams will play on Tuesday, March 15, 2016 and the girls’ team will play on Wednesday, March 16, 2016. The finals will be played at Sun National Bank Center in Trenton on March 21.

(16/P12) TRENTON – The Department of Environmental Protection has advised the Newark Public Schools system to temporarily utilize alternate water sources in 30 district school buildings after recent testing found elevated levels of lead at various water taps.

The Newark Public Schools system acted immediately on the recommendation and this morning began notifying school officials, parents and students of the results. In close coordination with the State and with assistance from Essex County, the District has also identified and delivered alternate supplies of water for drinking and food preparation as classes continue.

Parents should have no concerns about students’ water and food consumption at the school while the situation is addressed.

The DEP and the State Department of Health are working in partnership with the district in its efforts to resolve the issue. This includes a plan for immediate, coordinated sampling of all points of entry and taps for all public schools in the district, including charters.

The Newark Public Schools system has temporarily shut off all drinking water fountains at the schools where elevated levels of lead were recorded. This will remain the case until further tests can be conducted. It is also posting notices in restroom facilities to not drink water from the faucets. Replacement drinking water, from water coolers and bottled water, is available at all impacted schools.

On Monday, March 7, DEP was notified by Newark Public Schools of the results of recent annual testing. A total of 30 school buildings recorded levels ranging from non-detect to above EPA’s action level for lead, which is 15 parts per billion. The action level represents the threshold requiring additional testing, monitoring and remediation.

DEP has requested past test results from previous years from the school district to be able to do a complete analysis of the full data set. No building had more than four samples above the action level.

DEP has confirmed that lead has not been found within the Newark Water Department’s source water. In the vast majority of cases where lead is found in drinking water, it enters through the water delivery system itself when it leaches from either lead pipes, household fixtures containing lead, or lead solder.

Drinking water alone is not typically associated with elevated blood lead levels. It is the buildup of lead from all sources over time that determines whether harmful health effects will occur.

Children can be given a blood test to measure the level of lead in their blood. If parents are concerned, they can have their children tested for lead at the Newark Health Department.

A New Jersey Department of Health fact sheet on lead in drinking water is available at http://www.nj.gov/health/ceohs/documents/dw_lead_factsheet.pdf.

For more information on lead in water, visit: http://www.nj.gov/dep/watersupply/pdf/lead-water-faq.pdf.

For a list of Newark Public Schools’ most recent water sampling results, visit the What’s New area of the DEP’s Division of Water Supply and Geoscience page at: http://www.nj.gov/dep/watersupply/.

Contact:
Bob Considine: 609-292-2994
Larry Hajna: 609-984-1795
Caryn Shinske: 609-984-1795

[mdocs cat=”Drinking Water Resources”]

[Newark, NJ – February 29, 2016] – Over 200 people gathered at the Luis Munoz Marin School for Social Justice this weekend to celebrate Black History Month and encourage students and parents to learn more about culture and history. The event – hosted by the Newark Public Schools’ (NPS) the D.A.D. Network (Dads Are Dynamite) and radio personality DJ Naturalist – featured live musical performances, an interactive West African Dance performance highlighting Alvin Ailey, a step show, trivia contest, as well as educational and engaging activities and vendors.

“It is so imperative that parents and father figures are engaged in and supportive of their child’s education,” said Superintendent Christopher D. Cerf of NPS. “This event was a great opportunity for families not only to learn together but to celebrate Black History Month as a community.”

The City of Newark presented a resolution to the D.A.D. Network in recognition of their great work to inspire more male role models to become more engaged at home and within the community. The D.A.D. Network is an initiative designed and implemented by the NPS Head Start Program that focuses on strengthening and encouraging a network of fathers and father figures to become more self-aware, resilient and engaged in their children’s lives. The network continues to support members as they become stronger leaders within their homes and communities all while emphasizing the importance of education and family and community engagement.

“I like the D.A.D. Network. It has impacted my life because I never had a dad to do what I am able to do for my son. I enjoy every part of it,” said Hyidril Miller of Newark. “I would encourage more dads to be a part of the D.A.D. Network because it gives them a chance to be with their kids and see other fathers doing it too. It can inspire more dads to be even more active in their child’s lives.”

The event also featured a Black History Month Family Trivia Contest. Participants were given a study guide to prepare for the competition complete with 115 possible trivia questions and answers. After the show, families had lunch and participated in several contests.

“Our D.A.D. Network fathers made a powerful statement by envisioning and implementing this event that will forever live in the memories of their children, families and community,” said F. Nana Ofosu-Amaah, Executive Director of the Office of Early Childhood at NPS. “Our fathers demonstrated that they are deeply invested in their children’s lives and education by ensuring that the next generation is rooted in their culture and heritage. What a great way to end Black History Month this year.”

Families also visited with vendors that featured African print-making with the Newark Museum, coloring, face painting and health education, among other activities. Attendees left with a number of prizes and gift bags including books about African American history.

“We were so impressed with the number of families that came out together to celebrate Black History Month with us. We are lucky to have such engaged and dedicated role models participating in our community,” said Samantha Lott-Velez, Head Start’s Program Director. “We look forward to working with the D.A.D. Network to organize more events that encourage more families to take an active role in their children’s education.”

The D.A.D. Network is made up of fathers and father figures of children enrolled in Newark’s Head Start program, which promotes early learning, health and well-being in children ages three to five from low-income families. This is the third event the organization has hosted in the last year including a toy drive and day where fathers took their children to school.

“I am so grateful to be a part of The D.A.D Network. It is very productive and it supports dads not just from Newark, but from every walk of life,” said Rahmain Wilson of Newark. “I look forward to doing even more things for the community and throughout not just Newark, but the United States. It encourages other dads to be there for their child. We get to know each other and to enjoy each other’s company and enjoy good vibes. It helps us to have a strong bond and allows us to communicate with one another.”