Press Releases

Newark Public Schools Receives $100 Million Commitment to Address City’s School Facilities

SDA Commits $100 Million to Begin Bringing Newark Public School Facilities into the 21st Century
[December 20, 2013 – Newark, New Jersey] — Newark Public Schools (NPS) announced today a $100 million commitment from the New Jersey Schools Development Authority (SDA) to begin addressing long-needed school facility issues.  The One Newark plan released this week prioritizes buildings that can – with significant investments – become 21st century learning environments.  It is estimated that NPS would need significantly more funding to address all NPS facility needs.  The $100 million commitment from the SDA represents a key first step to ensuring Newark students are attending excellent schools in buildings that are not only up to acceptable standards, but are 21st century learning environments.

Today’s announcement highlights One Newark – a community-wide agenda to ensure all students are in excellent schools and thriving communities, and are on the path to excel in college and 21st century careers.  Over the last few months, One Newark initiatives, such as the facilities investment plan to modernize NPS buildings, have brought together leaders, community advocates, educators, local clergy, and friends across public charter and district schools.  Together, we’ve made a promise to Newark families: we must embrace a bold, unified, city-wide plan to build and support 100 excellent schools and ensure equitable access for all students.

“Half the public schools in the district were built between 1851 and 1950 and have suffered from tremendous under-investment.  As part of One Newark — we need to level the playing field – it is simply unfair to have some students in beautiful facilities and others in terrible conditions,” stated Newark Public School Superintendent Cami Anderson.  “You cannot communicate high standards in a classroom with ceiling leaks and crumbling walls.  We must make significant investments and this is a step in the right direction.  We fought hard for this — with support from many advocates including the School Advisory Board — and we will keep fighting until every building gives students what they deserve.”

“Superintendent Anderson understands that a pathway to creating 100 excellent schools is through state and local partnerships,” stated New Jersey Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf.  “For the last year, the Superintendent has come to Trenton on numerous occasions to make a case for a unique investment in Newark.  While this funding is only a start in building solutions, it will go a long way in making sure that students have safe, modern facilities for learning.”

“The Newark Public Schools District has taken a huge step forward in the battle to improve school facilities,” stated Newark Board of Education Rashon K. Hasan.  “Having great educational facilities is a key ingredient to providing a quality educational experience and it’s no secret that many Newark Public School facilities are standing on their last leg. The Newark Public Schools District has accomplished something that no other school district in the state of New Jersey has been able to do.  I may not agree with all of the decisions that are made by the NPS leadership, but I applaud them for doing what so many others could not, or would not do for so many years.”

“Now more than ever the Newark Public Schools must become more attractive than any charter school within the city.  With today’s announcement Superintendent Anderson delivered on her promises to improve our dated buildings and we deeply appreciate it,” stated Gemar Mills, Principal at Malcolm X Shabazz High School.  “For many years Malcolm X Shabazz High School has needed major repairs.  It’s only right that our facilities are State of the Art like many of the recently built charter schools in Newark. By receiving 100 million dollars our families and communities will find the schools more attractive.  The funding is a testament to the Superintendent’s commitment to provide our students with facilities that are 21st Century ready.”
Foundation for Newark’s Future, Prudential Foundation, and Victoria Foundation supported the citywide facilities plan that supported this overall request to the SDA.

Newark Public Schools Issues Implementation Report on Historic Contract With Teachers Union

Over $50 Million in Additional Compensation Provided to Teachers Throughout the District in the Last Year

[Newark, New Jersey – December 12, 2013] One year after the Newark Public Schools (NPS) and the Newark Teachers Union (NTU) forged a historic agreement transforming accountability throughout the school district, NPS has released a report detailing activities and results over the last year to implement that agreement.

Today’s announcement highlights One Newark – a community-wide agenda to ensure all students are in excellent schools and thriving communities and are on the path to excel in college and 21st century careers.  Over the last few months, One Newark initiatives — which includes bringing accountability into classrooms and investing in great teachers — have brought together leaders, community advocates, educators, local clergy, and friends across public charter and district schools.  Together, we’ve made a promise to Newark families: we must embrace a bold, unified, city-wide plan to build and support 100 excellent schools and ensure equitable access for all students.

“Over the last year, the District and the NTU have come together to create accountability in our classrooms and successfully implement real change,” Newark Public Schools Superintendent Cami Anderson stated.  “As the report details, in less than one year, Newark has basically reinvented the wheel.  There is still work to be done, but we are demonstrating to our families and community that we are committed to implementing bold plans that keep kids at the forefront of our decisions. While we continue to have robust debate over the future of our city, I want to credit Joe Del Grosso for his vision and leadership on this issue.  Contract or no contract, his help during the last year of implementation ensures a new system focused on putting great teachers in front of our children.”

“What we accomplished in less than a year in terms of implementation is amazing,” stated Newark Public Schools Chief Talent Officer Vanessa Rodriguez.  “For years, Newark did not have a consistent way of evaluating our teachers, so we created new systems and organized new trainings to support educators and fairly assess performance.  Teachers are empowered to be a part of the actual review process and evaluations are communicated each semester. We have more work to do but we are off to a great start. This administration is fiercely committed to continuous improvement.”

Comprised of best practices from around the country tailored for the Newark community, the contract established groundbreaking reform within the City and unified NPS and the NTU around the core principles of accountability, innovation and results.  Most notably the contract, which was ratified by over 60 percent of Union members, was the first contract in the state of New Jersey to tie the pay of public school teachers with classroom performance. In short, the contract rewards good teaching.

The report details the major accomplishments of the contract over its first year of implementation, including:

  • Newark replaced an antiquated teacher compensation system where salary increases were automatic, to one that actually rewards performance.  All teacher salary amounts for 2013-14 were – for the first time ever – determined in part by their evaluation rating from 2012-13.
  • $1.3M was awarded in bonuses to highly effective teachers. 190 teachers received bonuses ranging from $5,000 to $12,500, with greater bonuses going to teachers in hard-to staff subjects and the lowest-performing (25%) of schools.
  • NTU members received over $50 million in additional compensation as a result of various stipends, one-time payments, and bonuses outlined in the contract.
  • Newark’s new teacher evaluation system was developed with extensive input from teachers and created innovative approaches for empowering teachers such as peer validators, a Peer Oversight Committee, School Improvement Panels, and new staff roles such as Special Assistants of Teacher Quality.
  • 18 schools took advantage of extended learning time. This provides students more productive learning time and teachers with a greater ability to work collaboratively.
  • The district office built new data systems and streamlined processes to support 23,000 new transactions related to payment of stipends, salaries, and bonuses.

While the district has been working to ensure all of these aspects of a new contract are well executed, true success comes down to support from teachers themselves. “The implementation of this new system means that those teachers who work diligently to ensure the highest level of student achievement will not go unnoticed,” stated Madison Elementary teacher Tracey Roudez. “Additional incentives may serve as a catalyst to propel others to go beyond the ‘call of duty’ to ensure the success of our students.”

“As someone who has transitioned from the board room to the classroom, I am not a newcomer to performance bonuses,” stated Hawthorne English teacher Bruce Fryer. “Individual success in any position can be attained in a myriad of ways. But one thing that all highly effective employees have in common is that they produce the best numbers. I teach because I love to see my students excel. I teach in Newark because the district values my accomplishments and is willing to put their money where their mouth is. That makes for a great partnership.”

“I know this is hard for many to understand, especially teachers who have been working in the district for a long time, but something had to be done,” stated teacher of mathematics at Newark Early College High School Priyank Bhatt. “While I know it is hard—especially hard for those who did not get bonuses in this first year—the merit increase is substantial, it’s a lot of money and it’s a needed incentive.”
Supporting Documents

Newark Public Schools and Newark Charter Community Unite to Provide Equity to All Newark Families in the 2014 School Year

One Newark Enrolls to Provide Strongest Universal Enrollment Plan in the United States
Announcement Culminates Months of Collaboration Between NPS, the Newark Community and Newark Charters
[December 10, 2013 – Newark, New Jersey]  Newark Public Schools (NPS) and sixteen of Newark’s twenty-one charters announced today an historic agreement creating a citywide enrollment system that includes 80.3% of charter seats. This new system will provide all Newark families the ability to access the city’s best district and charter schools.

One Newark vision:All students in Newark are in excellent schools in thriving communities and are on the path to excel in college and 21st century careers.  Over the last few months, One Newark initiatives – like Universal Enrollment — have brought together leaders, community advocates, educators, local clergy, and friends across public charter and district schools.  Together, we’ve made a promise to Newark families: we must embrace a bold, unified, city-wide plan to build and support 100 excellent schools and ensure equitable access for all students.

One Newark Enrolls will create the strongest universal enrollment system in the nation, specifically creating a preference structure that ensures high need students gain access to high performing schools, while also prioritizing equity, transparency, and access for all students in the City.  Today’s announcement culminates months of collaboration between NPS and Newark charters to create a new,customized enrollment process that will improve the experience for families.  Specifically,NPS officials conducted nearly 50 one-on-one meetings with charters, sought feedback from Newark’s School Advisory Board and city community leaders,attended board meetings at 10 charter schools, and co-hosted monthly town halls in partnership with the Newark Charter School Fund.  NPS also organized various informational calls, forums and meetings to learn from other cities that embarked on a similar path, including New Orleans, Denver and now Washington, D.C.  These engagement efforts are continuing as NPS – serving in the role of system administrator – transitions to implementation.

This new enrollment structure will provide all families:

  • A single, fair, user-friendly application that will break down barriers so all families have the opportunity to apply to high quality schools of their choice.
  • The ability to rank schools that they believe will best serve their own children.
  • Clear and consistent information about all participating schools in Newark through events, marketing materials, and open houses on a shared citywide timeline.
  • A centralized way to voice concerns and receive support to ensure their children secure enrollment in a school that meets their needs

Under One Newark Enrolls,every student will have the ability to change schools, though those who are content with their current school will remain there.  The system will focus on grades where students enter or change schools: Pre-K, Kindergarten, Grade 5 and Grade 8.  In addition to all of Newark Public Schools, the following charters have agreed to participate: TEAM Charter School, Uncommon/North Star Academy, Merit Preparatory Charter School of Newark, Visions Academy Charter High School, Newark Prep Charter School, Newark Legacy Charter School, Lady Liberty Academy Charter School, Great Oaks Charter School, People’s Preparatory Charter School, Greater Newark Charter School, University Heights Charter School, Roseville Community Charter School, Philip’s Academy, Paulo Freire, Marion P. Thomas Charter School, and Newark Educators’ Community Charter School.

“At its core this amazing achievement represents a very simply goal – to ensure that all students in Newark can attend an excellent school,” stated Newark Public Schools Superintendent Cami Anderson.  “Together, public and charter school leaders have agreed to something quite profound – to move beyond individual priorities and achieve a true coalition to fight for equity and excellence for all of Newark’s families.”

“The collaboration across district and charter schools to create a universal enrollment plan for city students is an essential priority of One Newark,” stated the CEO of Newark Charter Fund Mashea Ashton. “We congratulate and thank the 16 public charter schools that have signed on to universal enrollment – reaffirming their commitment to transparency, equity, and access. We look forward to supporting collaboration between the entire public charter school sector and the district to address the questions that remain and continue to shape a universal enrollment plan. Through universal enrollment, we’re making sure public charters chools are a part of the solution to provide every student in Newark access to a quality public school.”

“TEAM Schools is thrilled to participate in the Universal Enrollment System, as it will increase opportunities and choices for all kids in Newark, regardless of their zip code or a family’s economic circumstances,” stated Founder and CEO of TEAM Schools, Ryan Hill.  “All families deserve to be able to choose the school their children attend, and this both opens new doors and streamlines the enrollment process to make abetter, fairer, and easier process for everyone.  TEAM has long been committed to serving the kids who need us most, and this will further our efforts – and the efforts of all schools in Newark – to do so.”

“The Universal Enrollment proposed by the Newark Public Schools Superintendent’s office is a major step towards equity, convenience, and equal access,” stated Ronald Slaughter, pastor of Saint James AME Church, which runs Visions.  “The most significant contribution of the Universal Enrollment Program is in the area of equity. This program for the first time will level the field of education in the city of Newark. Children with disabilities will no longer be overlooked but will receive the same quality education as others. Schools will no longer have the option of taking what they want and leaving others to suffer. Universal Enrollment ensures that every student is a “priority” and every student is entitled to maximize their God given potential. Universal Enrollment will change the landscape of education in the city of Newark.”

“We are looking forward to helping to make sure Newark families have choices and equal access to schools,” said Paul Bambrick-Santoyo, Managing Director of Uncommon Schools Newark, which is composed of nine North Star Academy schools serving over 2,600 students in Kindergarten through 12th grade.  “We are grateful for Superintendent Anderson’s leadership in running a thoughtful and comprehensive process to develop an enrollment system that is fair, transparent, reliable, and provides priority for Newark’s highest need students.”

“We are investing a great deal of time and energy in ensuring that all our charter partners are fully aware and informed of everything it takes to implement this system and make it a great experience for Newark students,” said Gabrielle Wyatt, Executive Director of Strategy – Office of Strategy and Innovation at Newark Public School District. “This means every detail counts, and we are relying on our charter partners’ experience and feedback to continuously improve the execution, and therefore family experience in real-time.  I think we all, as partners,are committed to making this successful because it means greater access to excellent schools for all kids, and at the end of the day, that’s what we all really care about.”

With the adoption of OneNewark Enrolls, NPS will now provide charters with ongoing operational support through the creation of user manuals and toolkits, informational materials, trainings, office hour phone conferences, and webinars for those charters that have opted in, as well as training for those charters that have not opted into the system to ensure that their students who will have to use this system also have a positive enrollment experience.

Stage I – 

One Newark Enrolls: Now – Mid January

School Options

  • Parents will determine whether their student needs a new school and learn about the participating schools, attend School Fairs, visit schools during a normal school day, and talk to their child about new school options.

 

Stage II – 

One Newark Enrolls: Beginning January 11, 2014

Apply for Enrollment

  • Parents will choose up to 8 schools that they would like their child to attend and ranking schools accordingly. They will fill out the common application at home or complete and submit an application at any participating school.

 

Stage III – 

One Newark Enrolls: April 2014

Receive Your School Match

  • Parents will receive a letter matching their child to one school in April 2014.  All students are expected to attend their matched school for the 2014-2015 school year.

Citywide Parents’ Conference Focuses on Scholars Striving for Excellence

Parents and school administrators collaborate for student success

[Newark, NJ – November 20, 2013] – More than 500 parents and families of Newark Public Schools (NPS) students gathered for the 27th Annual Title I Citywide Parent Conference at the Airport Marriott Hotel on Monday. Titled NPS Scholars Striving for Excellence this year, the conference allowed families to learn about nurturing successful students. The annual parent driven conference is organized by the Office of Family and Community Engagement and reinforces the values of Joyce Epstein’s six pillars of parental involvement, including parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision-making, and collaborating with the community. Ms. Epstein is a sociology research professor at John’s Hopkins University.

The conference exemplified the values of One Newark, a collective agenda to ensure all students thrive in excellent schools. NPS Superintendent Cami Anderson welcomed participants and stressed the importance of partnerships between schools and parents. “We are partners in ensuring that our children strive for excellence: Newark Public Schools delivers and you deliver,” she said and added, “Parents are their children’s first teachers: praise them when they do the right thing, converse with them, ensure there are books at home and that they read a lot, ensure they go to bed on time, that they eat the right foods, attend school, and support them, especially through the challenges.”

“The NPS Title I Citywide Parent Conference is one of the largest events for parents in the state. This year we offered a new venue and provided an opportunity for parents from all over the city to come together, share experiences and learn new techniques on how to academically, socially and emotionally support their children,” said NPS Chief Family and Community Engagement Officer Tia Morris.
Following the Superintendent was the conference’s first-time student keynote speaker Jordan D. Thomas. A University High School senior who is the Student Representative on the NPS Advisory Board, Mr. Thomas spoke of how supportive parents helped him become a successful student. “Parents are a powerful force in shaping student success. My parents always encouraged me and attended school events, which was essential to me being who I am today.”

Participants attended a variety of workshops that together, addressed the holistic needs of every child. As a follow up, parents and families who attended the conference were also responsible for sharing information and materials with other parents and families of their school community.

Workshops included:
  • Academic issues – National Common Core Curriculum, Requirements for High School Graduation, College Going Culture (Navigating the steps to college and career readiness)
  • Early Childhood – Language Development with Pre-Schoolers, Asthma in Early Childhood,
  • Parental Involvement – Title I Schoolwide Programs and School Improvement, Helping Our Children Succeed in School
  • Addressing the needs of English language learners – Common Core for Bilingual Students
  • Special needs students – Behavior Management at Home and in the Classroom
  • Supportive strategies – Preventing Substance Abuse by Our Teens in the 21st Century, Depth to Heights – Grief Management, Depression –A Brief Overview of the Disorder in Children.
In addition, retired NPS Community Relations director Ruby Greene was posthumously granted the Community Service Award. Nominated by parents, Ms. Greene’s career with NPS, first as a teacher and then as an administrator with responsibility for parental involvement, was commemorated.

NPS Attendance Campaign Captures the Imagination of Principals, Teachers and Parents

– Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow Campaign Gains Momentum as Newark Schools Develop Customized Approaches to Tackle Absenteeism –
[Newark, NJ – November 18, 2013] – During September, in conjunction with the start of the school year, the Newark Public Schools (NPS) launched its “Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow,” campaign, an ambitious attendance improvement program to address a Newark epidemic evidenced by more than 300,000 absences for elementary students and 60 percent of high school students absent more than 20 days during the previous school year.

With the goal to cut absenteeism by 50 percent, NPS has made sweeping changes to the city’s attendance expectations, mandating each school principal to work in conjunction with that community, the assistant superintendent’s support teams and the Office of Family and
Community Engagement to build individualized strategic plans of accountability.

“NPS is so pleased with the results we are seeing from each school,” stated Superintendent Cami Anderson. “This campaign is showing the power of the One Newark concept. Together, we have emphasized the impact attendance has on academic performance, but individually we are seeing tremendous activity and creativity and accountability to address this common goal. School teams, which include staff, parents and students, have been empowered to build plans that address the needs of their students. As a result of these collaborations some schools such as Newark Early College High School are seeing their attendance rates rise to 96.7% and higher at nearly every grade level.”

Principal Sylvia Esteves at Park Elementary School said, “What we have done in the past to promote exemplary attendance and timeliness is clearly not enough, so we must change and look for modern solutions. The Superintendent has provided a clear mandate as it relates to reducing absenteeism, along with the tools that are required for us to construct effective solutions. As a result of her guidance we have developed a program that is multifaceted and is informative for all our stakeholders.”
Some of the highlights of successful programs that have been launched in the last month include:

The Buddy System

NJ Regional Day School staff and students have formed a Buddy System, which is part of an accountability system that holds students and staff responsible for individual attendance. Emphasizing attendance as a behavior, the program includes a committed Support Team that meets with students at the first indication of an absenteeism issue. Students appear before the team, which includes one or two peers, a teacher, social worker and the principal to talk out issues. The Buddy System is founded on the school’s 3 A’s belief system which include Attendance, Appearance and Attitude.
Marta Battle, the school’s social worker said, “We have experienced great success with students correcting their behaviors and teaming up with buddies who serve as role models and provide support for improved behaviors.”

The Golden Apple

Oliver Street School has developed an incentive program called the Golden Apple for classes that achieve perfect attendance by the week and for the month. The first week that classes achieve perfect attendance, a red apple with the classes’ room number is placed on a life size tree in the main hallway. After four consecutive weeks, the class receives a poster with a golden glittery designed apple for their doorway and the red apple on the tree is replaced with a golden apple.
Principal Douglas Petty said the golden apple has created a healthy competition and sense of pride, “I recently overhead a teacher encouraging her class to remember they too can receive a golden apple. She said, “Let’s watch our absences, think how beautiful that poster will look on our classroom door.”

The Data Dashboards

Maple Avenue School teachers and administrators have built out a data dashboard that reveals daily numbers to improve attendance, school culture and discipline. Each day a team of teachers and administrators log in tardy rates, absences, and unofficial early departures. The data allows the team to dig deeper and analyze which students are experiencing problems that will lead to chronic absences.

Principal Deneen Washington noted that during an orientation with her staff, they agreed the following observation would be their motivating factor, “A student who is late 15 minutes on a regular basis misses 15 minutes of instruction a day, that amounts to 75 minutes a week, 150 minutes biweekly and 300 minutes per month, which is equivalent to one whole school day of missed instruction.”

The New Student Tracking System
Park Avenue School has developed a new student tracking system that allows teachers and administrators to monitor students’ daily attendance, tardiness, home communication, student communication and medical excuses. The information is then discussed at weekly School Support Team Meetings. Parents are notified about the data via written communications, phone calls and regular meetings.

Paulo Sociedade, a Park Avenue School Teacher said, “The attendance tracker helps us to focus on underlying causes and address chronic attendance.”
The district wide momentum has also captured the interest of downtown area businesses popular with students. Establishment owners at Halsey Deli, Dario’s, Mama’s Pizza, Pages, Blimpie’s and Harvest Table are helping by displaying posters and in some cases providing incentive programs.
Based on the belief that absenteeism can be reduced through targeted strategies that measure, monitor and act, the launch of the Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow campaign serves as a public rallying cry to cut absenteeism and tardiness in half over the next three years, adding a million hours of instruction. Specifically, the initiative mandates each school principal to work in conjunction with his/her community, the Assistant Superintendent’s support team and the Office of Family and Community Engagement to build individualized strategic plans of accountability. Each school must include a:
  • Calendar of events to track and celebrate progress throughout the year,
  • Components to support teachers and other school staff to reach out to families more regularly and proactively regarding attendance,
  • Public display of the school’s past attendance data with clear goals—for all families, community members, and visitors to see,
  • Strategy to re-engage and support the families of chronically absent students from the following year,
  • Reward system for students and schools with strong attendance records – and demonstrated improvement, as well as,
  • Community activities to engage neighborhood partners, including faith-based institutions, community organizations and local leaders.

Newark Public Schools Launch 2013-14 Academic Year with Ambitious Grassroots Attendance Campaign

Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow to Cut School Absenteeism By Half in the Next Three Years

[Newark, NJ – September 5, 2013] – The Newark Public Schools (NPS) opened the 2013-14 school year with the launch of Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow, an ambitious campaign to highlight and build solutions around the alarming issue of absenteeism. In conjunction with the campaign‟s rollout, NPS released the first of its kind analysis of absenteeism by school and by ward. The study reveals what amounts to be an epidemic, with the district‟s K-8 students missing over 300,000 academic days last year and with 60 percent of students from the city‟s largest high schools absent more than 20 days during the year.

“What we have done in the past to promote exemplary attendance and timeliness is clearly not enough,” stated Newark Public Schools Superintendent Cami Anderson. “Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow provides sweeping changes to our attendance expectations by promoting the direct link between attendance and achievement and stressing accountability for students,school staff, and families. Most of all, the campaign will empower each community to build customized initiatives to ensure this issue is addressed. The bad news is that Newark students are missing out on thousands of critical instruction hours. The good news is that the community can and must come together to change that. We are One Newark and together we can tackle this issue.”

“If we are successful in our goal to cut absenteeism by half, we will add significant hours of instruction to our students‟ lives,” stated Antoinette Baskerville-Richardson, Newark Public Schools Board Chair. The Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow campaign will make sense to our students and parents, because it draws a direct correlation between today‟s attendance and tomorrow‟s successes. Our schools must address the issue of attendance improvement strategically and comprehensively. I commend the district for making attendance improvement as a priority and for creating a campaign to support schools and assess our progress. ”

“We know that attendance is a key lever in a student‟s success and the Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow campaign prioritizes this fact,” stated Keith Green, President and CEO of the United Way of Essex/West Hudson. “The report released today is sobering, but by bringing various community leaders and organizations together to join this cause, we are finally shining a light on this important community issue.”
Reverend Eric Beckham, Pastor of Clearview Baptist Church stated, “The faith-based community is a proud partner in this important campaign. Our students must achieve and that starts with coming to school every day and on time. The community needs to step up to make this happen and we applaud NPS for bringing us together around a concrete goal.”

“As a grandparent supporting several students who attend public schools in Newark, this campaign is refreshing and informative. The Superintendent has challenged us to “step it up” not only by getting our kids to school on time, but also by starting attendance clubs, setting school goals, and helping out our neighbors. A little goes a long way,” stated Doris Holloway.

Based on the belief that absenteeism can be reduced through targeted strategies that measure, monitor and act, the launch of the Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow campaign serves as a public rallying cry to cut absenteeism and tardiness in half over the next three years, adding a million hours of instruction. Specifically, the initiative mandates each school principal to work in conjunction with his/her community, the Assistant Superintendent’s support teams and the Office of Family and Community Engagement to build individualized strategic plans of accountability. Each School plan must include a:
  • Calendar of events to track and celebrate progress throughout the year,
  • Component to support teachers and other school staff to reach out to families more regularly and proactively regarding attendance,
  • Public display of the school‟s past attendance data with clear goals – for all families, community members, and visitors to see,
  • Strategy to re-engage and support the families of chronically absent students from the following year,
  • Reward system for students and schools with strong attendance records – and demonstrated improvement, and
  • Commitment to actively engage neighborhood partners, including faith based institutions, community organizations and local leaders.
Today’s Announcement joins a series of initiatives being developed under the Newark Public Schools’ One Newark agenda, a collective set of priorities focused on ensuring every student in Newark has access to an excellent school. The hallmarks of One Newark is highlighted in the “Success” acronym, showcased during its launch last June: System-wide accountability, Universal enrollment, City-wide facilities and technology plans, Codified practices, Equity and access for all students, Shared vision for excellent schools and Systemic conditions of success.