the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, in other Board of Education news, Dr. Fishbein presented the 2020 Opening of School Report, beginning with remarks about the success of the reopening of schools. He shared enrollment figures, which reflect a decrease in enrollment as compared to June 2020. Dr. Fishbein explained that some families of children who were beginning kindergarten opted to send their children to a private school for this school year with the intention of returning to the district the following school year. Over the summer, teachers worked on revisions to 34 courses. Additionally, five new courses were written: Soundology (grade 7), Theatre History, Algebra I Advanced, AP Capstone RAHP, and Global Citizen. There were 41 new hires, of which three are new positions (two school psychologists and one special education (STEPSS) teacher).
The remaining new hires were either replacements due to resignations or retirements or leave replacements due to maternity or illness. This summer, several facility projects were accomplished including the Orchard soil remediation project, the RHS Gym 3 floor remediation and replacement, the Stevens Field turf replacement, and work on the Somerville gym floor. Some of the funds that are typically used for various summer maintenance projects were used for COVID response items and personal protective equipment. Our Information Technology department is always busy over the summer, and this year was no different. Upgrades were made to the district internet connection to accommodate the increased demand for video conferencing and online applications. Also, new devices and online learning tools were purchased. Dr. Fishbein shared the current number of students by grade-level bands in the hybrid and remote models, as well as the transition request as of September 14, 2020.
Click here to view the PDF of the presentation.
RHS science teacher tested positive yesterday…
This is an amazing remark to put in a written update, “Dr. Fishbein explained that some families of children who were beginning kindergarten opted to send their children to a private school for this school year with the intention of returning to the district the following school year. “, Kindergarten is the grade that sets all of the coming years for a school, lose K and there are no rising 1st graders, etc. How much school funding is lost due to the decreased enrollment? What if anything will have to be cut, what programs? “What business says, my customers choose not to come to our establishment, no worries.” Don’t we want to know why they are choosing to pay for private school instead of coming to our schools at no cost? What are we not doing right? To say that families are opting for “private school” in a district that “supposedly ” highly regarded, is a bad sign. How does this get glossed over as a nutin-burger? Is this really all related to covid-19? or is this a trend.
I personally know of 4 people (7 children total) who have sent their children to private Catholic schools this year even though they were in RW schools and had no prior plans to pull their children.