Superintendent and Board Host Coffee and Conversation on May 24
Ridgewood NJ, The Board of Education and Superintendent will host residents for Coffee and Conversation on Tuesday, May 24. The public is invited to drop in at the Education Center at 49 Cottage Place, floor 3 between 7 and 8:30 p.m. to ask questions and share suggestions and concerns.
2016-2017 School Budget Information
Click here to view the 2016-2017 User Friendly Budget.
Click here to look at a 2016-2017 budget summary sheet.
Click here to view the latest information on the budget, updated on May 2, 2016.
BOE-REA Negotiations
Click here to read a Letter to the Editor of The Ridgewood News, published on April 8, 2016.
Click here to view the Ridgewood Board of Education’s Post Hearing Fact Finding Brief and attachments.
Click here
to view an analysis of “Unused Funds’ identified by the REA during Fact Finding Proceedings, presented at the March 7, 2016 Regular Public Meeting.
Click here to read a Letter to the Editor of The Ridgewood News, which appeared in the paper on March 4, 2016.
Click here to read the Ridgewood Board of Education’s Fact-Finding Presentation with The Ridgewood Education Association.
Click here to view the backup for the Ridgewood Board of Education’s Fact-Finding Presentation with The Ridgewood Education Association.
RIDGEWOOD, N.J. ,On Friday, May 13, Ridgewood High School’s award winning jazz ensembles will present an evening of big band jazz at their annual “Jazz in the Wood” dinner-concert to be held at the Woman’s Club of Ridgewood. The bands will be joined by special guest artist Mark Friedman, a renowned jazz saxophonist and Wyckoff resident, and longtime friend to the Ridgewood Music Program. Friedman will be the featured soloist with the RHS Big Band and Jazz Lab, playing music ranging from swing to bebop and Latin to funk. This gala event marks the culmination of Friedman’s three-month collaboration with the RHS jazz bands.
The dinner portion of the program will feature a three-course meal catered by Dawn’s Catering of Ridgewood, and will include a menu of salad, pasta, chicken and dessert with gluten-free and vegetarian options available. For children 12 and under, a kid’s menu option includes chicken tenders, and fries.
Having taught private lessons to flute, clarinet and saxophone students in the area for more than three decades, Mark Friedman has gained a reputation as one of the premier teachers in Bergen County. His students have been accepted to the most prestigious conservatories and universities in the country and are regularly selected to perform in honors ensembles at the County, Region, All-State and All-Eastern levels.
Mr. Friedman received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Education and Jazz Performance from Jersey City State College (now New Jersey City University.) His teachers include Dick Volkart, Walt Levinsky, Dr. Richard Scott, Dan Trimbole, Dr. Alvin Fossner, Emile DeCosmo, and the great jazz legend, Phil Woods, whom he considered his mentor.
Mr. Friedman is the director of the Indian Hills High School Band, and is on the music faculty at Ramapo High School.
The RHS Big Band and Jazz Lab are directed by Gary Fink and Jeffrey Haas, respectively, and feature many talented student musicians, including six who recently performed with the New Jersey Region I Jazz Ensembles. The bands will present songs in a variety of styles, including swing, bebop, New Orleans, Latin, rock and funk. Well known songs such as Earl Hagan’s Harlem Nocturne, Duke Ellington’s Perdido, Sonny Rollins’ St. Thomas, Joe Zawinul’s Birdland, and Phil Woods’ Randi will all be performed, and will feature Friedman along with several RHS soloists.
Dating back to the mid-20th century when such legendary jazz artists as Nelson Riddle, Sonny Igoe, and Red Mitchell could be heard in the music rooms, Ridgewood High School has enjoyed a long and distinguished history of excellence in jazz performance. With two big bands, a vocal jazz ensemble and various combos, the jazz program at RHS introduces students to music of different styles within the jazz genre. The Big Band and Jazz Lab have both been recognized with awards for excellent or superior performance at the NJAJE state jazz ensemble festivals, and have performed at venues around the country including Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge, MA, Steamers Jazz Club and Café in Fullerton, CA, Bohemian Caverns in Washington, DC, the Town Centre in Virginia Beach, VA and Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood, CA. Guest artists who have worked or performed with the jazz program include: Darmon Meader, Byron Stripling, Conrad Herwig, Wayne Bergeron, Jeff Jarvis, Marvin Stamm, Ingrid Jensen, Dave Bargeron, Dave Stryker, Don Braden, Tom “Bones” Malone, Michael Philip Mossman, Andy Martin and many others.
There will be a seatings at 6PM and 8:30PM for “Jazz in the Wood,” and tickets are $40 per adult/$20 for children 12 and under. Tickets for the event are only available in advance, and can be purchased online at https://jazzinthewood2016.brownpapertickets.com. For more information, contact Nick Trent at (201) 805-8789 or via email at [email protected].
2nd Annual Recycle – Your – Bicycle May 13th and 14th Sponsored by George Washington Middle School 7th Grade Community Service 155 Washington Place Ridgewood, New Jersey
Have an old bike taking up space? Need a “new” bike? Come to the 2nd Annual Recycle-Your-Bicycle event at George Washington Middle School in Ridgewood on May 13th and 14th. Here’s how it works: Donate your old bike on Friday, May 13th from 5:00 – 7:00 PM and receive a voucher to return the next day from 9:00 – 11:00 am to buy any bike for $10.00. If you don’t have one to donate, you can still buy one for $30.00. All left over bikes and all the money generated will be donated to Charities for Children in Paterson who provide food and services for some of the areas neediest people. Everybody wins! Email Nicole Richards at [email protected] or Wendy Columbus at [email protected] with any questions. You can also visit our website https://recycleyour-bicycle.weebly.com or “like” us on Facebook!
Ridgewood NJ, An early afternoon wind gust felled a very large rain soaked tree limb on the property of RIdgewood High School, 627 East Ridgewood Avenue, RIdgewood on Sunday, 05/08. RIdgewood PD & FD personnel responded due to a report of wires being entangled in the felled branch. Firefighters were able to reattach the downed cable to an outside building wall, and a private tree contractor was called to remove the limb.
Ridgewood NJ, All are invited to the recognition ceremony, which will be held on Tuesday, May 10 at 7 p.m. at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place.
Teacher Recognition Award Winners are Named
The Board approved the nominees for the 2015-2016 Teacher Recognition Program, listed below. The Ridgewood Teacher Recognition Award reception will be held at the Education Center on Tuesday, May 10 at 7 p.m. for the award recipients, their families, school parents, teachers, and friends. Each of the award recipients will receive a stipend $500 ($250 awarded by the individual Home and School Association and $250 awarded by the Board).
Educational Services Personnel Kevin Feeley Hawes School Deborah Gregory-Fink Orchard School Amy Schaffer Ridge School Molly Sher Somerville School Elizabeth Janowski Travell School Joan Kelly Willard School Carol Petitt Benjamin Franklin Middle School Meredith Wearley George Washington Middle School William Oswald Ridgewood High School John Domville
OPPORTUNITY: Global Learning is Still Looking for Host Families
May 4,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood
Ridgewood NJ, This June, RHS is serving as the host country for the annual Global Learning Conference, held from June 9 through June 19, 2016. Host homes are needed to help house our nearly 100 international visitors. Students and staff will be coming to Ridgewood from Australia, the Czech Republic, Germany, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, and Sweden. If you are interested, please contact Greg McDonald at [email protected] or at 201-670-2800 ext. 20506, or Adam Brunner at abrunner@ridgewoo d.k12.nj.us or at 201- 670-2800 ext. 20583.
Ridgewood NJ, RHS Deca students excelled at the International Career Development Conference in Nashville this April. They competed in role-play and presentation events against students from other states as well as Canada, Guam, Spain, Mexico and China. Kathryn Zhou placed in the top 10 of her event. Additionally, the stock market team and solo stock market competitor, Justin Choy, made it to the finals of their competition.
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Health Department would like to remind residents of the annual FREE dog rabies clinic on Wednesday, May 11, 2016 from 6 pm until 7 pm at the Recycling Center on Glen Avenue. All dogs must be accompanied by an adult and leashed or contained in a carrying case.
Supervisor of Health, Dawn Cetrulo would like to remind Village of Ridgewood residents that 2016 dog license renewals are due during the month of June. A $20 late fee will be charged for all renewals received after June 30, 2016.
The health department will be sending renewals via email. If you do not have an email address please call our office and request a renewal to be mailed to you. Renewal applications may also be obtained by visiting our website at
www.ridgewoodnj.net or coming in person to the Ridgewood Health Department, 131 North Maple Ave. The office hours are Monday to Friday from 8:30 am until 4:30 pm. Please call 201 670-5500 ext 503 with questions.
New Jersey law requires owners of all dogs seven months of age or older to be registered with the town they live in. In order for the license to be issued, the owner must present proof that a licensed veterinarian has vaccinated the dog
against rabies and that the duration of immunity from that vaccination does not expire before May 1, 2017. To receive the discount for a spayed or neutered pet, proof must also be provided.
In conjunction with the rabies clinic, the Responsible Pet Ownership Committee will also be facilitating free micro-chip implantations and registration to the first 75 dogs at the clinic. Please direct any questions regarding the micro-chipping to
A Senate panel approved legislation Monday that would allow pharmacists to dispense contraceptives to women and girls without a doctor’s prescription. Susan K. Livio, NJ.com Read more
All public schools will be tested for lead contamination, Governor Christie announcedMonday in response to sustained concerns over the safety of drinking water since Newark and other districts have discovered elevated levels of lead in their water supplies. Dustin Racioppi, The Record Read more
Ridgewood NJ, Despite lingering contract talks the public does not seem to be engaged in the Board Of Ed contract dispute with the teachers union, the REA. Since so many things in Ridgewood seem dependent on the quality of education of the Ridgewood public schools ,the public’s lack of interest is to say the least surprising. In the past education issues have loomed large on the blog ,this time not so much.
“shouldn’t our schools and our teachers, one of THE biggest selling points of this town, be a top priority? that one sign says it all…’no contract = no future for ridgewood’. not feeling optimistic about any of it frankly”. Marata Maas (it takes a village Facebook page)
“May 10th is very, very important to Ridgewood, thus these topics are all particularly hot items right now. Voter turnout is always very low, so every vote becomes very important. Next, consider the environment that half of the students who will ultimately populate our high school will be subjected to if we dont get the right solution to the Valley Hospital expansion. Perhaps you are unaware of the other near misses Benjamin Franklin Middle School had with Valley which were resolved in the students’ best interests because of resident involvement. The high density housing issue could crowd up the schools and place an even heavier burden on taxpayers. And the safety and aesthetics of our downtown are certainly an important part of our village. And last, but certainly not least, we can directly influence the destiny of these issues with our votes on May 10th. We do not have that power in the case of the teachers’ contracts.” Laurie Bender (it takes a village Facebook page)
The Village is faced with what many perceive rightly or wrongly as even bigger issues that could potentially harm the quality of life and the quality of education in the Village of Ridgewood . So it looks like until May 10 the focus will be else where.
BOE-REA Negotiations
Click here to read a Letter to the Editor of The Ridgewood News, published on April 8, 2016.
Click here to view the Ridgewood Board of Education’s Post Hearing Fact Finding Brief and attachments.
Click here
to view an analysis of “Unused Funds’ identified by the REA during Fact Finding Proceedings, presented at the March 7, 2016 Regular Public Meeting.
Click here to read a Letter to the Editor of The Ridgewood News, which appeared in the paper on March 4, 2016.
Click here to read the Ridgewood Board of Education’s Fact-Finding Presentation with The Ridgewood Education Association.
Click here to view the backup for the Ridgewood Board of Education’s Fact-Finding Presentation with The Ridgewood Education Association.
State education officials this week will launch a series of hearings to discuss whether middle and high school students should start the school day later in the morning. Associated Press Read more
Ridgewood NJ , Residents of school aged children are continuing to question concerned a week of interrupted instruction because of the seemingly useless PARCC tests. 7 days of testing fro 8th graders to get a reading and a math score really? If our kids can take an SAT for college admission in under 3 hours, what is the State of NJ doing? Testing is not teaching!
Maybe this is another reason we have so many “PARCC refuseniks” the lengthy tests take to much away from learning time?
Many teachers think PARCC a waste of time and needs to be eliminated. Teachers know better than anyone the progress of their students better than any testing can determine. Education is a local issue ,state and federal mandates are in no way indicative of what children’s specific needs are in a specific school district.
We learned this from “No Child left behind” , when it had more of a negative impact on a high performing district like Ridgewood .
The current PARCC tests seem to be pushing education to the lowest common denominator instead of encouraging individual growth and advancement.
Perhaps it’s time we move on from State mandated testing of any kind and truly get down to the business of educating students. Maybe if we didn’t lose all this time on nonsense like this we could focus on important things like civics, grammar, real math (not common core crap) .
Ridgewood NJ, BF has a history of squarely addressing the issue of teen suicide. Six years ago in the wake of the Clementi suicide BF hosted the following presentation (as mentioned on this blog on 10/4/2010). The Ridgewood district should probably host another such event at some point soon:
THIS Wednesday, October 6, [2010] 7:30 p.m., Benjamin Franklin Middle School Auditorium, 335 North Van Dien Avenue.
Parents, staff and adult community members are invited to this important presentation, given by Scott Fritz and Maureen Underwood of the Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide. Scott Fritz is a father who lost a child to suicide, and a founder of the society. Maureen Underwood is a clinical social worker and nationally recognized expert in youth suicide prevention.This presentation is for adults only and will include an opportunity for questions.
For more information contact Dr. Fishbein’s office at (201) 670-2700, ext. 10530. Information about the Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide can be found at https://www.sptsnj.org .
New Jersey’s state colleges and universities have long saddled students with fees that have helped make the colleges among the costliest public schools in the country, and on Wednesday the state singled out three of them for not making it clear how the money was being spent. Patricia Alex, The Record Read more
