Tag: Ridgewood Moms and dads

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Tuition rate estimates for the 2007-2008 school year were approved by BOE members during Monday night’s meeting:

* Half-day Kindergarten: $9,300
* Grades 1-5: $12,200
* Grades 6-8: $13,300
* Grades 9-12: $12,200
* Learning/Language Disabled: $27,300
* Full-Day Preschool Disabled: $27,600
* Kindergarten Resource Center: $22,700
* Resource Center, Grades 1-5: $25,600
* Resource Center, Grades 6-8: $26,700
* Resource Center, Grades 9-12: $25,600
* Autistic: $63,000

Estimates are based on calculations required by the NJ Department of
Education and are subject to future adjustments.

>New Gross Building Area Regulations Adopted

The Village Council passed an ordinance on October 10, 2007 amending the land use regulations that limit the size of single family and two family residential buildings and accessory structures. The Floor Area Ratio (FAR) regulations are being replaced by Gross Building Area Ratio (GBAR) regulations. The effective date of the ordinance is October 30, 2007. Any construction project that has not had a building permit issued or an approval from the Board of Adjustment by the effective date is subject to the new regulations. The new ordinance can be viewed by clicking the title below:

Ord. No. 3083 Amend Chp. 190 – Land Use & Devel. – Gross Building Area Reg

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>The Village of Ridgewood is requesting bids to lease five off street parking spaces on Corsa Terrace.

Bid packages can be obtained at Village Hall, Manager’s Office. Bids will be opened Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 10:00 a.m., Village Hall, 5th Level Conference Rm. Minimum bid is $125 per month per reserved space. There were a total of six spaces available; one space has already been leased for $126 per month.

Call 201/670-5500x 204 for bid package and further details.

One space has already been leased for $126 per month.

>I had a conference with my childrens’ Sommerville teachers recently and I asked them to specifically show me what they are teaching the children and what role traditional math instruction (rote memorization and computation) fills in their instruction. I explained that I have spoken with a number of very well respected math educators at secondary and college levels and with one of the most respected astrophysisists in the world about the subject or reform math. These true experts had varying opinions on the value of “reform math”. But, they all agreed on two things:

1) Traditional math MUST be a part of the instruction, particularly at the early grades (1-4 grade) to form a foundation, upon which other instruction can be built.

2) Reform math is not bad, when used as a supplement to traditional math instruction. It is only bad when as an alternative to traditional math instruction, at the expense of traditional math instruction.

As someone who deals with numbers everyday, I also explained that Everyday Math is NOT how math is done in the business world. I was pleased to hear that they agreed 100%. To these teachers’ credit, they go out of their way to ensure that their students are getting traditional math instruction to form a “base” with extra materials, beyond what Everyday Math teaches. Therefore, the real issue is what YOUR childrens’ teachers are teaching, not whether the school uses Everyday Math.

Although I am confident that my children are getting the math instruction I want and I have no problem with the more creative math instruction as an additive curriculum. I am concerned that Somerville has adopted Everday math as its official curriculum. I would be much more comfortable if the school’s position was that Everyday Math is clearly a “supplement” to the core curriculum.

>An Open Public Records Act request was filed with the district in the summer, but the information requested is still being gathered.

Public Comment. Discussion around the table. The math issue still exists regardless of some homework seeming to be genuine in its mathematics. Inside the classroom, the TERC materials still rule the math hour for students at Travell and Orchard. If it is quality curriculum material, then why isn’t the district sending home with the children their TERC 2nd edition Student Activity Book and why hasn’t the district provided the children with TERC 2nd edition reference books? I mean if children and parents have difficulty with the new pedagogy espoused by the TERC materials, wouldn’t those books help to build a strong home to school connection? Or is the district afraid the pictures within such books are “worth a thousand words”? Would none of those “pictures” be complementary to the program. Just how much money did the BOE authorize and the district spend on TERC? How long of a term is our licensing agreement with the TERC publisher and the CMP2 pubisher? Answers to those questions will inform parents as to how long this reform math mess will exist in their neck of Ridgewood.

Parent with a PhD Chemical Engineering offers some sage words to the BOE

Parent returns with questions asked before and so much more for the BOE

Final Thoughts

Visit the Math Help For Kids section of this website. Houghton Mifflin has eBooks of its 2005 math series. Download it. Print it. Follow it. Teach it to your child. Content matters in mathematics. If you can’t purchase Singapore Mathematics or Saxon Mathematics for home schooling your child, try the material from Houghton Mifflin.

Mathematics is the one subject where content matters. And Singapore Mathematics and Saxon Mathematics honor the scholarly body of work that is mathematics – it honors its precision, its algorithms, and its appropriate sequence. So if the focus isn’t on the very algorithms of the body of work called mathematics; then in the words of the Ph.D at this evenings BOE meeting: the algorithms are being short shrifted. And my own comment, within those algorithms lie a world of learning.

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The marquee at Clearview Cinema’s Warner Quad Theatre now carries this rather eerie message: “Closed For Renovations.”

Opened in 1930, this Art Deco neighborhood palace was originally part of the Warner circuit. The Warner later became part of the Stanley-Warner chain and then the merged units of RKO-Stanley-Warner.

As the decades worn on, the Warner lost its grand, signature Warner sign. In 1981, Cineplex Odeon purchased the theater and it has since been converted into a four screen house.

Part of the Clearview Cinemas circuit since 1998, the Warner Quad offers a healthy diet of first run commercial and art house fare and its asymmetrical Deco facade continues to highlight Ridgewood Avenue.

The Fly certainly hopes that this historic facility will soon reopen.

PS. A phone call to the Village’s building and zoning department revealed that no building permits have yet been issued for interior demolition or new construction.

I ask you; who in their right mind would close up shop “for renovations” without having a building permit in hand?

>What is with it, with all this referral to ballot stuffing anyway? It was quite Clear that residents rights to respond to the CMX field survey, per each household, were exercised in a free government format of the people, by the people and for the people. By the way, This is America – U.S.A.! Clearly people have that right to voice their individual opinions and they were submitted in response to that survey! Responses as revealed by the CMX consultant Clearly demonstrate the Outcry by people to save the natural nature Grove Park for and under its natural open space agenda to PRESERVE it.

This Outcry of the people, by the people who DO Care for PRESERVATION, was in response to the November public meeting proposal to build sports ball, soccer fields, picnic structures, and parking structures, in Grove Park, because of the pressing need for more sports programs and lack of field availability. I do believe those issues have been addressed in the draft proposal, and agree it is clear that Priorities are needed for sports fields such as at the High School and BF fields.
However, the response shows 105 individual households from the Hawes area responded – because they Care, just as they Cared against sports fields being built, back 12 years ago when a very large crowd of All Concerned residents showed up at city hall council meeting, and spilled over into the hallways, to oppose the sports council prepared agenda of proposed engineered drawings of sports playing fields in the Grove Nature Park Preserve, it was decided at That time, there would be No development of sports fields of any kind and to leave the Nature Park alone.

The natural nature Park Preserve, already has natural earthen trails, that over time has from floodings and fallen trees, does need maintenance, attention for preservation should be cared for and given it. Already joins the county bike path, the draft suggests 2 new additional linkings to bike path which need to be co-ordinated with Paramus and County. Maintenance for preservation should be ongoing and not neglected and Does require money.

Nature is a Gift that should be appreciated, enjoyed, studied and preserved by ALL now and for the future generations. I agree that resonable discussion should be considered by the VOR and without an “eggtimer”. Thank you for your reconsideration.

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From the Common Man Digest

Go Ann Arbor!!

A recurring theme of this blog is being green. Today’s news wires are carrying a story that is very exciting!! It seems that the city of Ann Arbor, Michigan is going to replace all of its street lights with LEDs. As we’ve discussed previously in this blog, the LED saves a significant amount of electricity (which equals $$$$$) and lasts approximately 10 years to a 2 year life for a regular incandescent bulb. According to the story, the city expects to recover its costs of installation through energy savings in just 2 years!! This means that the next 8 years of operation (the expected life of the LED) will be money in the taxpayers’ pockets. In addition, it will reduce greenhouse gas production in an amount equivalent to taking 400 cars of the road! Where is the downside on this? Why aren’t all towns and cities looking at doing this?Thoughts anyone?

>Yes, the turn-out was good, seats packed full, standing room only on the sides and in back. We patiently listened to all of them; consultant, mayor, opening statements, each and every one of the comments by the BOE and council, many of them several commenting, especially Kim Ringler-Shagin -over and over.

Kim asked several questions, and the consultant wasn’t quite coherent, none of us knew exactly what she was asking.

It seems that their (The BOE and VC) minds are made up to concentrate on the HS, BF junior HS- expanded gym and fields and the other junior HS (GW). Lots of discussion about Habernickle too- the recommendation from Schoor-Depalma (now CMX) was to build and indoor gym. Also there was a lot of focus on Graydon. Their minds also seem to be made up on installing a parking lot at Grove Park and paving over Dunham Trail.

It was ‘their’ meeting – sort of like a tea party – full representation from BOE and council officals, John Q. Public was kept at a distance. And when we finally spoke after 2 hours of attentive listening we were told by the mayor to keep it brief – 3 minutes or less. Many of us were ‘cut off’, told to ‘wrap it up’, finish up – very rude of Mr. Pfund.

The elected officials babbled on for 2 hours before allowing the people a very limited window for comment. Also In the beginning the mayor commented that he heard a flyer was going around saying its going the cost $28 million and it would affect the public’s taxes – he stated that’s not so, and this is just an input meeting on the ‘draft’ and it will need to be reviewed, and then resubmitted , – sometime later – December 2007, then Jan/Fed put on agenda for public comment.

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>Parents selected by lottery from Travell and Orchard all gathered as scheduled for the math focus group last night but the conflict resolution moderator was a no show. The group disbanded after forty minutes with not a clue as to why they were stood up by Ms. Beth Fisher-Yoshida of Teachers College. Not even Interim Superintendent Tim Brennan could solve the mystery for parents who were at a loss to explain the irony that this group in particular (Travell and Orchard) would be made to suffer such an indignity. Brennan promised that the group would be rescheduled. Still, parents don’t understand why this conflict resolution effort is taking place between parents when it rightly should be between parents and the BOE. It seems that the verdict is in: TERC math is “denuded of content” and “illiterate,” as wisely spoken by esteemed math professors from the very best universities. The question on everyone’s mind is, why is the district pursuing it in the face of such tenacious opposition from the parents of the children most exposed to it?

>10/23/07 8:00pm Board of Adjustment Available

10/24/07 7:30pm Village Council Work Session

11/07/07 7:30pm Village Council Work Session

11/28/07 8:00pm Village Council Public Meeting

12/05/07 7:30pm Village Council Work Session

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