Category: Village of Ridgewood

>RHS Should Join Forces with Wikipedia
Peter Coti
RHS Student
Wikipedia Editor

As we all know, Ridgewood High school is a top national school but it still lacks in many areas. One area it lacks in is the ability to integrate computers into classrooms. Some of the issues that have been raised is the cost of programs that could be integrated and the benefits it would have. I feel that in order for Ridgewood High School to remain progressive and prestigious it requires integration of the Wikipedia Ambassador program.

The Ambassador program has been used in schools such as Yale, NYU, and Columbia. If RHS were to partake in this program it would become the first high school in the world to join in and it would be on the same field as Ivy league colleges.

The program would also allow for new ways for students to learn. Wikipedia can help teach neutral point of view writing which is something that is not often taught to students even though it can be quite useful in certain professions. This neutral point of view aspect will also encourage critical thinking as they will need to boil a topic down to its bare basics to contribute to Wikipedia. The implementation of Wikipedia would also justify effort into a project as they will not simply have the satisfaction of a grade, their hard work will be visible to the millions of unique visitors of Wikipedia monthly.

The costs of running this program at RHS would be minimal. Already 140 “Welcome to Wikipedia” brochures are on standby nearby and already there are class materials published online for educations (https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Education/Materials_for_Teaching ). The only cost will be the hours it takes to orient teachers to the project and the basics of Wikipedia that they can then pass on to their students.

The combination of the low cost, and potentially high benefits leads me to believe that if we were to have an Ambassador program run from RHS it would be successful and a benefit to the school.

>Incident on November 26
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

In an interesting turn of events the Superintend of Schools Daniel Fishbein has sen out an email blast to parents on an incident unrelated to a student in the Ridgewood school system.

The Ridgewood Police Department has received  a report ,that on Saturday November 26th  a women jogging on North Pleasant Avenue near Wyndemere  Avenue around 9:30 am  , was stooped by a white male approximately 45-55 years old asking for directions to Route 17. The women said the male then made inappropriate comments to her of a sexual nature and drove off.

The Ridgewood Police Department investigation of the incident is still ongoing If you have any information on this incident plaese call the Ridgewood police department at (201) 652-3900.

>RHS athletics: Money and Sports 

I have asked about this before, but it would be great to see the budget for extracurricular activities. How much is spent on football and the DECA club? What do the various programs cost? Do sports cost more than academic, arts and leadership clubs?

Football has the biggest roster that I have ever seen. Everyone gets to suit up and stand on the sidelines. It is not a matter of how many scholarships students receive or even how well the teams do. Why does our BOE (and most schools) value sports over other achievements? This culture of sports gets us nowhere. We need to focus on programs that are open to all students; taxes are paid by all residents. A lot of money was spent creating a stadium – and repairing it – for whose benefit? The PE classes did just fine with the old field. Let’s not pretend that we have created some award-winning PE program. The money was spent for sports. RHS is a college prep high school and some residents and BOE members seem to have lost sight of that. We have limited funds and we need to remember that it is Ridgewood High School, not the Ridgewood Sports Bubble.

>Courts Gone Wild: New Jersey has almost forgotten what it was like to live in a state governed by laws, rather than men.

Senator Doherty has really been taking his Fair School Funding show on the road in a big way. Last night, I learned that Ridgewood is about the fiftieth municipality he’s visited so far in an effort explain his fair school funding plan.

Most residents, voters, and taxpayers not steeped in the fine points of municipal law in New Jersey are probably not aware of the extent to which the Supreme Court has been blatantly legislating from the bench. In fact, the Supreme Court has been usurping the power of the New Jersey legislature for so long, and with so little effective criticism, that almost the whole body of lawyers in this state can be considered complicit.

New Jersey’s two law schools, Rutgers School of Law|Newark and Seton Hall Law School are not immune from criticism either. The professors in these schools know that the Supreme Court has overstepped its authority. Nevertheless, because they agree politically with the policies, they refuse to say what they know.

Really–politically (if not economically) speaking, it’s as if we live in North Korea. The populace of New Jersey has almost forgotten over the course of two generations what it was like to live in a state governed by laws, rather than men. The New Jersey Supreme Court has no right to mangle or reinvent our state constitution for its political purposes!

Don’t forget that the Supreme Court’s “Mount Laurel Doctrine” is based on its having found in the New Jersey state constitution a right to affordable housing. The fact that no such right exists in the Constitution was no impediment to the Supreme Court inventing and enforcing it.

The current school funding problem is the child of similar misbehavior on the part of the New Jersey Supreme Court, dating back at least to 1985, when the NJ Supreme Court issued its first ‘Abbott’ decision. In that decision, the court ruled that to satisfy the New Jersey Constitution, the State must assure urban children an education enabling them to compete with their suburban peers. The weak-kneed response by the New Jersey legislature to this Abbott decision, and to the some twenty further Abbott decisions that the Supreme Court has issued since, has been to simply raise state-backed per-pupil spending on urban children through the roof while allowing state-backed per-pupil spending on suburban children to dwindle almost to nothing in school districts like Ridgewood.

Not that the New Jersey Supreme Court would ever agree, because it is so full of itself it can’t bear to be criticized, but the school funding formula that is used now is clearly unconstitutional. It mandates hugely unequal spending.

By contrast, Doherty’s plan to equalize state-backed per-pupil spending is clearly constitutional. It is also easy to explain. Best of all, it is eminently fair. Ridgewood’s VC and Board of Ed should both pass resolutions in support of it

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>STORM RELATED EMERGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT

Sunday October 30, 2011 5:00 PM-  Due to storm cleanup and continuing power outages throughout the Village of Ridgewood, the Ridgewood Public Schools will be closed Monday October 31.
Updates will be posted as we are able.  Please help to spread the word that the Ridgewood Public Schools will be closed Monday October 31st

.https://ridgewood.schoolfusion.us/modules/cms/announce.phtml?sessionid=8c67b1a3128d51613b7b13b576d45cab

photos courtesy of Boyd Loving

>September 27, 2011

Dear Ridgewood Parent or Guardian,

Today at  Somerville Elementary School a male adult  was observed on the back field of  the school  at lunchtime. It appeared that this man was holding a camera and possibly taking photographs in the direction of the children playing on the field.

Adults who were supervising the children observed this activity and immediately reported the incident to Principal Lorna Oates-Santos, who in turn notified the Ridgewood police. At this time the police are investigating the incident.

I am writing to assure you that the safety of the children is always the top priority of Ridgewood Public School officials. Any incident that might jeopardize that safety is taken very seriously and thoroughly investigated. Please do not hesitate to report any suspicious activity to your school principal, and encourage your children to do the same.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Daniel Fishbein, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

>
The Time is Now

The Valley Hospital has met the healthcare needs of Ridgewood residents because of more than 50 years of periodic reinvestment.

Renewal is focused on modernization of existing facilities, not on adding more hospital beds. The emphasis is on critical new standards like the creation of single-patient rooms, larger operating rooms, and diagnostic facilities to accommodate new technology and evolving healthcare practices. Just like the important investments we make in our schools to preserve their effectiveness, healthcare facilities must evolve. Without doing so, Valley will experience a noticeable deterioration and likely become a hospital you would no longer choose for you and your family.

In short, the highly capable, award-winning hospital that Ridgewood has proudly called its own for more than half a century would, over time, no longer be capable of providing the level of care everyone expects of it. The time to renew is now.

Quality Patient Care and Service
The Valley Hospital now faces the question of how to preserve its ability to provide quality healthcare services in a time of rapid change. Implementing medical and surgical technology advancements of recent years requires more space, meaning larger operating rooms and diagnostic procedure areas.

Renewal also means more space for our patients. The single greatest square footage increase of the plan calls for single-patient rooms, which have become the state-mandated healthcare standard for new healthcare construction. (This standard was devised by the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and included the contributions of physicians, nurse, and other professionals). Currently, the average room in the Phillips Building is approximately 200 square feet and accommodates two patients. Rooms under Renewal will be approximately 275 square feet but will be dedicated to just one patient. Click through to view image.

Research indicates that single-patient rooms provide greater privacy, a reduced rate of hospital-acquired infections, fewer medication errors, fewer sleep disturbances and greater involvement of family members in a loved one’s recovery. Overall, patients cared for in single-patient rooms have far better clinical outcomes.
Why Renew?

If Valley had not been able to update itself at pivotal times in the past, we would not be the hospital we are today; Valley would have fallen dangerously behind. This is, again, one of those pivotal times. Our situation is analogous to education and our local schools. Improvements to facilities, technology and new standards in the schools is of the utmost importance, and is routinely supported by our community. The Valley Hospital is no different.

The residents of Ridgewood and the surrounding community deserve the highest level of care, access to advanced diagnostic and therapeutic technology and comfortable single-patient rooms in which to recuperate.

To ensure Valley’s future ability to care for you, your family, and all residents of Ridgewood, the Hospital must renew.

https://www.thevalleyrenewal.com/why_renew.htm

>

CLEANUP OF GYPSY POND October 2nd

“Hey folks, Gypsy Pond is in Ridgewood, sure anyone who wants to organize another cleanup, let me know! Gypsy Pond is located directly off the Rock Road extension; adjoining the rr tracks, there will be signs. 


Would love more folks to organize cleanups of all our ponds, etc. Let me know your name, and we’ll be happy to work with you. 


In a couple of hours, a group of volunteers, with the Village’s help and equipment, can do wonders.


We all live in the community, lets all help to clean it up.


The only caveat: if you are cleaning waterways, etc that belong to the Village, you actually do need permission, and then you get equipment (bags, rakes, and pickups) from the Village which is more than willing to help out. “


Ellie Gruber 


Ridgewood Wildscape Association

What is the Ridgewood Wildscape Association?

Dr. Ann Dunham was a Ridgewood resident for 60 years and a nature consultant for the public schools.  As a living memorial to her, the R.W.A. was formed in 1976 .

 The purposes of the Association are:

1) To promote, in cooperation with the Village of Ridgewood and the Board of Education, the  preservation and maintenance of undeveloped Village-owned land

2)  To provide nature education services and enjoyment for all Village residents and friends

To support these efforts by joining the R.W.A. and receiving the newsletter,

You may send a $5.00 Annual Membership fee to:

Andrew Antista, 139 Liberty Street, Ridgewood, NJ  07450

Ridgewood Wildscape Association : https://www.ridgewoodwildscape.org/

>Valley’s latest full-page (s)ad

Occupying the entire back page of the first section of the September 16 issue of the Ridgewood News (and maybe other publications? don’t know) is an ad from Valley Hospital, stating that it was paid for by the group of people co-opted by Valley Hospital and listing “625 registered supporters–and counting!” who favor the Valley Occupation.

With each family member listed separately, including matching lists of non-Smith, non-Jones surnames totaling up to six per name, the total may be something of an exaggeration; but let’s say every individual resident matters and every spouse or child truly and deeply agrees with the prevailing spouse or parent regarding Valley’s hopes and dreams. Among signers listing their degrees, 21 are MDs, three are dentists, one is a podiatrist, and one is a psychologist. (This is not counting their listed family members.) Fine; it’s not surprising that health care professionals want the hospital to expand.

Here’s the trouble with such lists and expensive ads: this issue is never going to referendum. The number of residents who want things to go one way or the other is not relevant. Those in charge must do hard research, reread their notes, and base their decisions on their findings and their own best judgment. Feeding that judgment will be facts, if they can be discerned in such an overwrought environment, and the leaders’ vision of how changes such as those proposed by Valley might affect the immediate and distant face and future of the Village.

If one Friday we should open our copies of the paper to find that the entire issue had been bought by Valley and was bursting with a list of 24,000 residents of the Village, ages one day to 110 years, it should have no effect on what the right decision regarding the proposed expansion would be. Even if every resident of the town wanted Valley’s petition to succeed or fail, we are only the residents of today. We are not talking, say, about how to celebrate next July 4, whose effects would end after the cleanup on July 5, and in which current residents’ opinions would be of interest. We are talking about how permitting the erection of a gigantic edifice in a residential neighborhood surrounded by schools and with endless traffic would affect the residents of tomorrow and beyond, from Phase One to Phase 101 or however many Phases were required to get the Taj Mahal in gear.

We vote people into positions of authority and power because we trust them to do the right and best thing, not the popular thing–not that we really know precisely to how the town is split on this issue. But it doesn’t matter. Even the popular thing, and even when its supporters are worthy people or many people or medical people, may be the wrong thing for the Village at large.

Most heartbreaking is the absurd waste of funds–and it will probably get worse as the hearings proceed–on publicity and marketing, surveys, attorneys’ fees, and other attempts to sell us the hospital’s requests. Those millions ought to have gone to patient care, or indigent care, or reasonable hospital upgrades–or taxes.

>DONNA PEDERSEN IS ASHBY AWARD WINNER

The 2011 winner of the coveted Ashby Award is Donna Pedersen, First Grade Teacher at Ridge Elementary School. Donna has been with the Ridgewood Public Schools since January 1, 1983, when she first entered the teaching profession.  Donna received a B.S. in Elementary Education and Rehabilitation from Springfield College, and an M.S. in Special Education from C. W. Post. Congratulations, Donna!

Click here to read Dr. Fishbein’s remarks at the Ashby Award presentation at Convocation on September 1 : https://tinyurl.com/3gq69gf

>With Rising Property Taxes, Should Non-Profits Now Pay Their “Fair Share”?
( its a little old  but it still seemed very relevant, the staff of the Ridgewood blog ) 
Posted by Matthew Brian Hersh on August 4, 2008

It’s tight here in New Jersey.

And it’s because it’s crowded. With 8.7 million people, we are 11th in the country in population, but first in population density in the Union with over 1,100 people per square mile. We’re also wealthy—2nd in the country—but you wouldn’t necessarily know it by looking at those areas that make us the most densely-populated state in the country.

The Garden State, as it so happens, also as the highest imbalance of any state in the country in terms of what it gives and receives to and from the federal government. According the the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, the Garden State gets back just less than two-thirds of every dollar it sends to Washington.

So there are demands here. There are spatial demands, housing demands, demands for resources, infrastructure, you name it. As such, New Jersey is often at the vanguard in dealing with all kinds of issues facing the nation. The state hits a major stumbling block, however, when it comes to property taxes.

In New Jersey, where we rely on a property-tax-based system to largely fund our public schools and governments, rising municipal costs are taxing people out of towns. The state has mandated a four percent cap on municipal budget increases, and as home values are reassessed and towns are revaluated, property tax rates will adjust—either up or down. But obviously the worst-case scenario is an increase, so that’s what we’ll examine.

https://www.rooflines.org/1061/with_rising_property_taxes_should_non_profits_now_pay_their_fair_share/