Category: Ridgewood Schools

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Ridgewood High School Cambodia Club has new project

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MARCH 27, 2015    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015, 8:24 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Cambodia Club has new project

To the Editor:

Many would say that the Ridgewood Cambodia Club has been one of the most effective clubs in all of Ridgewood, and we would have to agree. The goal for Ridgewood’s Cambodia Club has been to build and enhance a school in a rural Cambodian village. Ridgewood students have been raising money and awareness to support this effort since 2007.

Our sister school, the Ridgewood Village School, was built through World Assistance for Cambodia, an independent nonprofit organization that is dedicated to improving opportunities for the youth and rural poor in Cambodia. The mission is to galvanize support for the people in Cambodia, where genocide occurred in the 1970’s. We are helping to rebuild the country through education.

With support from the Ridgewood community, the Ridgewood Village School was built in Cambodia and the dedication took place in February 2009. Since then, we have enhanced our sister school by providing the students with an English and computer teacher, an Internet connection, and a vegetable garden and outdoor kitchen. The garden and kitchen help to ensure that the students enjoy healthy lunches at school.

Our annual goal is to raise $5,500 to fund these enhancements. We have been successful in previous years and now the Ridgewood High School Cambodia Club is introducing our 55 Families Initiative to broaden the opportunity for more Ridgewood residents to get involved in our village-to-village effort. On top of the Ridgewood High School Cambodia Club, there are also active Cambodia Clubs at the George Washington and Benjamin Franklin Middle Schools. The Cambodia Club is not limited to just those schools though. All schools in Ridgewood are welcome to join us in our mission to help support the Ridgewood Village School in Cambodia.

Fifty-five Families is a way for caring members of the Ridgewood Community to be a part of the Ridgewood Cambodia Club. The 55 Families Initiative invites families to pledge $100 each to our club. Through this initiative, simply by engaging 55 families in a pledge, we can reach our annual fundraising goal. Any tax-deductible donation would be greatly appreciated and the students of the Ridgewood Village School in Cambodia would be on their way to a brighter future.

Checks can be made out to World Assistance for Cambodia with School #422 written on the memo line. Please send checks to: Liz Louizides, c/o Ridgewood Cambodia Club, 554 Linwood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ, 07450.

We thank you all for your kind consideration and generous contributions.

Elena Esteve and Simran Narula

Ridgewood High School Cambodia Club

https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/letter-to-the-editor-ridgewood-high-school-cambodia-club-has-new-project-1.1297338

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Ridgewood Schools Phase II Solar Proposal

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Ridgewood Schools Phase II Solar Proposal

March 30,2015

Phase II Solar Proposal is Presented at the March 23 BOE Meeting

Click here to view the Verterra Phase II Solar Presentation presented at the March 23, 2015 Regular Public Meeting.

• Eight Ridgewood schools have been receiving a portion of their electricity from solar power since late 2012/early 2013 • Ridgewood High • BF Middle • Glen • Hawes • Orchard • Ridge • Somerville • Travell • Total installed solar capacity of 841 kW • 2014 solar energy production of ~875,000 kWh • 2014 savings from using solar energy ~$70,000

Additional Solar Potential :

GW Middle School • 34.77 kW Rooftop Mounted System • $0.117/kWh year 1 PPA Price with a 3% Escalator • Year 1 Savings ~$3,500 • 15-Year Savings Potential >$50,000 BF Middle School • 329.4 kW Carport Mounted System • $0.125/kWh year 1 PPA Price with a 3% Escalator • Year 1 Savings ~$18,000 • 15-Year Savings Potential >$275,000

Click here to view pictures of BFMS with the proposed solar panels
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Readers challenge idea of a private corporation abridging students first amendment rights

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Readers challenge idea of a private corporation abridging students first amendment rights  

“The Ridgewood Public Schools guards our data and only shares with state and federal officials the information that is required by law. We make every effort to teach our students about good digital citizenship and with the beginning next school year, we will teach it more formally through a Digital Citizenship Curriculum, from kindergarten through Grade 12.”DANIEL FISHBEIN

Students in New Jersey were told repeatedly that they had no choice about taking a test(PARCC) which then resulted in their private information being given to Pearson and also restricted their first amendment rights.

I love how all the NJ DOE apologists are glossing right over the fact that our schools were being asked by a private corporation to discipline a student. What’s next? If a kid tweets that the school lunch is disgusting, will the school punish him on behalf of Aramark??
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Study by Niche Places Ridgewood High School as one of the 100 Best Public High Schools in New Jersey

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Study by Niche Places Ridgewood High School as one of the 100 Best Public High Schools in New Jersey
March 26 ,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, In a new ranking , Ridgewood High School came in at number 34 for its A grade in academics, A- in health and safety and A+ in teachers. The high school also received an A+ for extracurriculars and activities, an A for sports and fitness, a B+ for resources and facilities and a B- for student culture and diversity.  https://k12.niche.com/rankings/public-high-schools/best-overall/s/new-jersey/

Niche Best Public High Schools ranks 14,431 high schools based on dozens of key statistics and 4.6 million opinions from 280,000 students and parents. A high ranking indicates that the school is an exceptional academic institution with a diverse set of high-achieving students who rate their experience very highly.

An additional 834 schools received a grade but were not eligible for ranking. The list includes magnet, charter, and online schools. https://k12.niche.com/rankings/public-high-schools/best-overall/methodology/

Tenafly High schools came in 8th , Nothern Highlands  came in 21 , Pascack Hills came in 23 , Cresskill came in 24  , Nothern Valley 48 and Glen Rock 53 .

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RHS Latin Teams Excel

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Quo Vadis 1951

RHS Latin Teams Excel

March 19,2015

Ridgewood Nj, On Tuesday, March 17, Latin academic teams from 30 New Jersey schools traveled to Princeton to compete in Latin language, Roman life, Roman history and Greco-Roman mythology.
The Novice team fought hard and scored well in its first competition.  The Advanced team finished in first place and will advance to play for the State championship on April 25 against Ridge High School and PACTA, the second and third place teams.
Advanced Team members were Poyani Bavishi, Ben Bechtold, Charlotte Kahan, Elizabeth O’Keefe, James Psathas, Peter Psathas, Sophie Simpson,Anthony Tokarz and Chelsea Trattner.  Novice team members with media permission to be named were Desiree Bottigliero, Joe O’Keefe and Tommy Carver. The Latin Club advisor is Catherine Venturini.
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Stevens Institute Lauds RHS Honors Class

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March 23,2015

Ridgewood NJ, The Stevens Institute of Technology awarded National Science Foundation certificates to students in Dr. Lillian Labowsky’s Chemistry Honors class for the students’ efforts to create a three-dimensionally printed periodic table of elements.

Dr. Labowsky’s class created the chart on a 3D printed model over three months and individually printed all 118 interlocking element pieces. The height of each piece corresponds to the element’s electronegativity and the radioactive element pieces were printed with glow-in-the-dark material.

A 3D printer uses an additive process to lay down successive layers of material in order to create a computer printed object.

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Orchard School principal to leave ‘solid foundation’ in Ridgewood

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MARCH 24, 2015    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015, 11:28 AM

BY LINDSAY IRELAND
CORRESPONDENT |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Margaret “Peg” Loonam thought long and hard about how to break the news to her students.After more than two decades with Ridgewood Public Schools, Loonam, principal of Orchard School, will retire this August to spend more time with family.

“I am not sure what notions children ages 5 to 10 have about retirement, but I want them to know that I am not leaving because I am in any way unhappy,” Loonam said. “I am retiring because I want to spend more time with my four grandchildren and fulfill some of my own personal ‘bucket list’ items.”

Loonam said she also looks forward to having more time to enjoy the simple things in life after retirement.

“I am looking forward to cooking, visiting friends and family, exercising and watching an entire movie with my husband without falling asleep,” she said.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/education/orchard-school-principal-leaving-a-solid-foundation-1.1294473

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Ridgewood Schools Continues Curriculum Series on March 26 with Program on Exercise and the Brain

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Ridgewood Schools Continues Curriculum Series on March 26 with Program on Exercise and the Brain

New Date: Curriculum Series Continues on March 26 with Program on Exercise and the Brain
Parents and guardians are invited to join district Physical Education teachers Susan Kameno and Craig Mahler, along with Hawes School Principal Dr. Paul Semendinger for an informative session on the impact of exercise on the development of the brain. The program will take place on Thursday, March 26, at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, floor 3, from 7-9 p.m.

Click here to read the press release for more information.
Click here for the flyer.

NEW: The district has added a program, “All About Google Apps for Education,” a series of three stand-alone workshops designed to introduce parents and guardians to the world of technology in the classroom. These workshops will be offered on April 15 (elementary school level); April 20 (middle school level): and April 22 (high school level). Each workshop is limited to 25 participants and pre-registration is required.

Click here to go to the pre-registration page.

Click here for the flyer and more information.

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Reader asks can someone explain to me how Project Graduation is raffling off a parking space on Heermance Place to a student for the next school year???

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file photo by Boyd Loving

Reader asks can someone explain to me how Project Graduation is raffling off a parking space on Heermance Place to a student for the next school year???

can someone explain to me how Project Graduation is raffling off a parking space on Heermance Place to a student for the next school year??? I am crazy or is that a public street?? I know that the public was booted in favor of “teacher only parking” but now they are raffling off a spot to a student to raise money for a party when I, a taxpayer, cannot park there??? HUH??? Something just smells here.

We have not been able to confirm or deny the “parking space ” raffle , here are other events and information we have confirmed on the BOE website for Project Graduation .

Project Graduation 2015 Updates

The Fashion Show is April 19. The Committee is now securing donations for the auction. Click here for more information and the donation form. Items may be dropped off at Gail Mandell’s office, Life Opportunities Unlimited, 75 North Maple Ave. Suite 104 Monday – Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Fashion Show chairpersons are ShariHellman (201-310-6286 [email protected] and Gail Mandeli  (201- 248-2575 or [email protected]).

PG-15 upcoming monthly meetings: April 9 and May 14 at 7:30 p.m. in the RHS Library.

Dues are due. Make $165 check payable to “RHS Class of 2015” and mail to Sharon Walker, 94 Sherwood Road, Ridgewood, NJ 07450.

Class of 2015 Project Graduation Representatives
Chairpersons Tara Callaghan 201-803-7778 and Rosie McCooe 201-602-8097
Chairpersons email: [email protected]
Treasurer Sharon Walker [email protected]
Communications Jeff Coster [email protected]

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Former Ridgewood Baseball star excels north of the border

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Tyler Welence, a 2011 Ridgewood High School graduate, has made a seamless transition on the diamond at McGill University in Montreal, helping the school to the Canadian Collegiate Baseball Association tournament title last fall.

Former Ridgewood Baseball star excels north of the border

March 20, 2015    Last updated: Friday, March 20, 2015, 12:31 AM
By Matthew Birchenough
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR |
The Ridgewood News

The past four years have taken Ridgewood native Tyler Welence throughout the western hemisphere, but no matter where he’s gone, he has always been playing baseball.

The 2011 Ridgewood High School graduate made his latest mark on the diamond last fall playing shortstop for McGill University in Montreal, which won the Canadian Collegiate Baseball Association National Championship.

“This was the first time I was ever part of a team that ended up winning the highest honor possible, and the feeling was so foreign to me after we won, the sense of accomplishment didn’t set in for a few hours,” Welence said earlier this week.

For his performance during the Redmen’s run, Welence earned the tournament MVP.

“Honestly, I always just try my best to help the team win, whatever that means doing,” he said. “I was very happy I was able to play a role in getting our team the title, but it was truly a full team effort.”

Welence exhibited the same sort of team-first attitude in his years at RHS.

https://www.northjersey.com/sports/high-school-sports/boys-baseball/maroon-baseball-alum-makes-good-in-montreal-1.1292625

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N.J. to review student privacy concerns about test monitoring

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N.J. to review student privacy concerns about test monitoring

March 19, 2015, 12:53 PM    Last updated: Friday, March 20, 2015, 12:29 AM
By HANNAN ADELY
STAFF WRITER |
The Record

New Jersey’s education commissioner will review alleged cases of test-question leaks on the Internet to see if the state’s contractors violated student privacy when monitoring exam discussions online, officials said Thursday at an Assembly hearing.

The announcement follows days of public outrage over reports that the Pearson testing company scanned students’ comments and reported question leaks to the state Department of Education in what some people believe was a violation of student privacy.

At the hearing, legislators grilled education officials about the monitoring.

“I just find this to be unacceptable, to say we should monitor the social media of every student in New Jersey and to delegate it to a third party we don’t control,” said Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan Jr., D-Middlesex, chairman of the education committee.

He added, “I think the response is disproportionate to find two or three questions.”

But education officials continued to defend the actions Thursday at a hearing before the Assembly Education Committee.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/education-officials-defend-monitoring-of-social-media-over-standardized-tests-1.1292328

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STORM MESSAGE: EARLY DISMISSAL FRIDAY, MARCH 20

CHARLIE BROWN, LINUS

CHARLIE BROWN, LINUS

STORM MESSAGE: EARLY DISMISSAL FRIDAY, MARCH 20

Due to the winter storm forecast, the Ridgewood Public Schools will have an EARLY DISMISSAL / EMERGENCY MINIMUM DAY on Friday, March 20. Cafeterias will not operate and lunches will not be provided. Students will attend school as follows:RED Program: 9-11 a.m.

Kindergarten AM Classes: 8:45-11:20 a.m.

Kindergarten PM Classes: canceled

Grades 1-5: 8:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m.

Grades 6-8: 8:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

Grades 9-12: 7:47 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

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Chicago High School Superintendent: Teen Sexting Is a Police Matter

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Chicago High School Superintendent: Teen Sexting Is a Police Matter

Two teens send nude selfies. Police spend several weeks, interview 25 students to “investigate.”

Elizabeth Nolan Brown|Mar. 18, 2015 5:15 pm

From suburban Chicago, another tale of teens being treated like criminals for sharing sexually oriented photos with each other. Four students at Ridgewood High School, in the suburb of Norridge, now face possible charges for “dissemination of harmful material to a minor,” police said. Those charged include two girls, 15 and 17, who sent nude photos of themselves via Snapchat and two male teens who received the photos and forwarded them to others. Another student overheard classmates discussing it and ratted them out to school officials, who ratted them out to the police.

Why the sex lives of teens should be subject to school discipline is suspect enough, but it’s extra perplexing what interest the government has in such matters. We’re talking about teens using private phones and communications platforms to exchange photos. It may not be the most wise move to send nude selfies to your crush, but criminal? Surely police resources could be used in better ways?

https://reason.com/blog/2015/03/18/high-school-superintendent-teen-sexting

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Ridgewood Schools Budget and Strategic Planning Update

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Ridgewood Schools Budget and Strategic Planning Update

2015-2016 Preliminary Budget Information

Budget includes district staff, academic offerings, extra curricular activities, and transportation; as well as continuing to maintain and improve district facilities

 2.00% Local Tax Levy Increase – Within the current state cap
 2.04% Overall Levy Increase – Local Tax Levy + Debt Service Levy
 $2,566,160 in State Aid – down $37,124 from FY15 (Debt Service Aid).
 $1,694,488 Expenditure Increase

Click here to view the presentation on next year’s school budget, given at the March 9, 2015 Board of Education meeting.

Strategic Planning Update

Student Achievement
Communication
Technology
Diversity
Facilities

The Board of Education has approved strategic planning goals.Click here for details..

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Pearson Spy Scandal : New furor over N.J. tests as student privacy concerns raised

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Pearson Spy Scandal : New furor over N.J. tests as student privacy concerns raised

MARCH 17, 2015, 2:35 PM    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2015, 10:35 PM
BY HANNAN ADELY
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

The security of the state’s standardized tests is clashing with parents’ privacy concerns in the latest battle over the new exams.

Critics accused Pearson testing company of “spying” after it alerted the state Department of Education that a student leaked a test question on Twitter. Pearson said it was protecting test integrity and fairness, and an assistant commissioner of the state Education Department wrote a letter to school officials Tuesday strongly defending the practice, saying that Pearson is tracking content of posts not the students’ accounts.

Pearson’s reporting of the breach has generated a firestorm that’s tied to the larger controversy that has seen parents refusing to let their children take the tests amid growing concerns about student data privacy and overstressed children.

In the latest controversy, parents have flooded social media with complaints about the “spying” incident, news outlets have covered it and the chairman of the state Assembly Education Committee called for the company and the state education commissioner to explain their actions at a hearing Thursday.

“I find the accounts as reported very disturbing,” said Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan Jr., D-Middlesex, who asked state Education Commissioner David Hespe and Pearson to attend the 10 a.m. hearing. “This type of event has a chilling effect on parents and kids.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/new-furor-over-n-j-tests-as-student-privacy-concerns-raised-1.1290700