Superintendent and Board Host Coffee and Conversation on March 29
Ridgewood Nj, The Board of Education and Superintendent will host residents for Coffee and Conversation on Tuesday, March 29, 2016. The public is invited to drop in at the Education Center at 49 Cottage Place, floor 3, any time between 7 and 8:30 p.m. to ask questions and share suggestions and concerns.
The remaining date for Coffee and Conversation this school year is Tuesday, May 24, 2016.
The consensus of the Board is to proceed with Full day Kindergarten recommendation.
Click here to view the presentation given at the March 21, 2016 Board of Education meeting of the preliminary School budget
Ridgewood Nj, 2016-2017 School Budget Presentations are Set for April 6, and April 19 2016
Two opportunities are offered to residents to hear about the proposed 2016-17 school budget. Board members, the superintendent and the district business administrator will be at George Washington Middle School auditorium on Wednesday, April 6 and at Benjamin Franklin Middle School auditorium on Tuesday, April 19, from 7:30 – 9 p.m. They will review the proposed budget and answer questions.
Click here to view the presentation given at the March 21, 2016 Board of Education meeting.
Ridgewood NJ, Parents of High Schoolers are concerned that the School system is not being forthcoming or consistent with its message on the PARCC tests . If you are going to “refuse testing for the PARCC test” do not have your child sign on to a computer for the infrastructure trial this Wednesday morning. There has been speculation thats students who signed on for trial purposes have then have accidentally been coded as a “zero” NOT as “refusal to test.”
This can be problematic for students in the future. In addition, you will not know until your student comes home what questions they will be asked during the trial – they may be asked sample PARCC questions which may be used by the PARCC folks to pre-screen test questions. They may also be asked personal questions like do you get extra help in school or what kind of student are you? The questions asked and what students will be asked to do is not controlled by the district, but by the folks that have a vested interest in the PARCC and in selling your data and curriculum materials.
Calling it a trial makes it sound harmless enough like a “see if your computer works” session, but I know from other districts that I work in that this is not the case in those districts. I was told by an administrator in a town close to Ridgewood regardless of what the district say, there is no reason for a student to do a trial if the student will not be taking the actual PARCC test. I was also told that the trial in that district was not anonymous and that he was “fairly certain” that PARCC sample question data as well as data on each student was sent to PARCC and to the NJDOE.
When Natalie landed a 1400 on her SAT and later graduated from an Ivy League school in 2010, she assumed it was the golden ticket to a corner office and shares in a Hampton house.
“I was the ultimate high achiever,” says the 28-year-old former National Honor Society member, who asked that her last name not be used for professional reasons. “What I didn’t know is that I was going to get fired from my first job out of college.”
After graduating cum laude from Brown University, Natalie landed a sales job downtown. She found it difficult to socialize with her colleagues and wine-and-dine clients — part of the job requirement — and started falling short of her monthly sales quotas. She was canned 13 months after taking the job.
While she was devastated — this was her first “F,” after all — Natalie bounced back and landed an analytical role in human resources.
But looking back, the Chelsea resident wishes people-skills were part of the curriculum at Brown — or that she’d at least taken classes outside of her major that allowed her to learn new skills and interact with a more diverse group of students. “In hindsight, I would have done things differently and given myself room to socialize,” she says.
Natalie isn’t alone. According to a new report, high-achieving students are at risk of becoming terrible employees.
Ridgewood Nj, Moms and dads determined to raise children who love to learn and who respect others might do well to skip the latest parenting guides and turn instead to Socrates and Confucius.
They and other great thinkers who lived hundreds or thousands of years ago still offer surprisingly relevant advice that one generation can pass on to the next.
“The search for knowledge and how to lead a meaningful life is nothing new,” says Dean Chavooshian, author of The Pursuit of Wisdom(www.thepursuitofwisdom.net), which explores more than 80 great thinkers in philosophy, religion and science.
“If parents introduce children to these ideas from the past, they will have a better understanding of how to live, think and make decisions in the world today.”
Of course, skeptical young people might doubt that anyone who predates the Internet has much to offer in the 21st century.
They are wrong, Chavooshian says.
“These ideas are relevant whether people are wearing togas or jeans,” he says, “and they have practical applications that can help all of us.”
Examples of everyday advice these extraordinary minds left us include:
• Ask questions to understand other viewpoints. When people hear an opinion that differs from their own – whether it’s about politics, religion or the merits of a favorite entertainer – their immediate reaction is to argue for their side. But Socrates’ favorite method for weighing the validity of someone’s argument was not to counter with his own arguments. Instead, he posed questions. Lots and lots of questions – hoping to lead to a broader understanding of issues. • Treat others well. Good manners aren’t just empty gestures you reluctantly agree to because your grandmother expects it. Roughly 2,500 years ago, Confucius stressed the importance of paying attention to rules about politeness and decorum. How you treat others really does make a difference in how they treat you. Confucius’ disciples marveled that he made his point “by being cordial, frank, courteous, temperate, (and) deferential.” • Nurture your curiosity. The world is filled with endless topics to study. You should never stop learning. Chavooshian suggests young people look to Leonardo da Vinci for inspiration. “He was fascinated by just about everything,” Chavooshian says. Da Vinci’s journal pages were practically an encyclopedia of conceptual inventions and observations in the fields of architecture, engineering, astronomy, zoology, biology, geology and hydraulics. Somehow, he also found time to paint “The Mona Lisa” and “The Last Supper.”
“We all have a hunger to unravel the mysteries of life,” Chavooshian says. “But it’s important to remember that you don’t have to start from square one. A lot of wonderful thinkers have already laid an excellent foundation for us.”
About Dean Chavooshian
Dean Chavooshian is author of The Pursuit of Wisdom(www.thepursuitofwisdom.net). After earning a degree in Theology/Philosophy, Chavooshian received a Master’s Degree in Architecture and over 30 years worked with prominent New York architectural firms and international real estate developers.
The PARCC tests are scheduled to be administered in Ridgewood starting in April. Given that Governor Christie has clearly stated that the Common Core State Standards have been eliminated in New Jersey, and given the fact that the PARCC exams test close adherence to the Common Core State Standards, it is hard to understand how the New Jersey Department of Education could possibly expect any thinking person to permit his child to sit for these exams.
A state commission looking at the issue of college affordability is likely to recommend that high school seniors graduate with at least a semester of community college credits, the panel’s chairman said Wednesday.
The students could continue on at community college before heading off to a four-year school – a strategy that could reduce the cost of a baccalaureate degree from a state college by more than half to around $20,000, said Fred Keating, the chairman of the commission and president of Rowan College at Gloucester.
Ridgewood NJ, Fishbein presented a recommendation to the Board on bringing full-day Kindergarten to Ridgewood. His proposal is to fund a full-day program through a tax increase approved by voters this November in a second question.
While is seems an obvious great deal for parents , shifting costs away from baby sitters , the NJEA more teachers , the Ridgewood blog has yet to hear a definitive answer on how this is going to help the kids?
A study from Chloe R. Gibbs at the University of Virginia holds some preliminary good news for proponents of full-day kindergarten.
“Though many of the most important implications of the study won’t be clear until the students studied are much older, the first-of-its-kind randomized trial of full-day kindergarten shows sizable learning advantages for full-day students at the end of the kindergarten year.” https://www.edcentral.org/fullday-k-research/
While in the past the longer day seems to have far greater impact in districts in lower social economic standing than Ridgewood .
Same study ,”As a result, any difference in the groups’ outcomes may be due to full-day kindergarten or may be caused by other differences in their lives outside the classroom — such as disparities in access to learning opportunities and academic support at home — typically associated with living in poverty.” https://www.edcentral.org/fullday-k-research/
Residents have till now expressed concerns over costs , and what some parents have characterized as the “loss of childhood” . While others have felt it necessary given this era of overuse of standardized tests , but many are just not sold on the notion that longer hours equal better education .
Ridgewood NJ, here is a video of Village Council Candidate Jeff Voigt, regarding his views on the high density issue. Jeff’s perspective is thoughtful and I believe reflective of how many of us see it.The video was filmed by resident Dana Glazer .
It’s so important that people understand what is at stake here and how important it is for all of us to be present at Ridgewood High School on the night of March 23rd for the vote on this issue.
It doesn’t matter where new residents come from. It doesn’t matter if they are here for years or here for just one year. What is important is our town’s ability to provide a great education for each and every student, no matter how new or how old that student is to our district. With a state imposed cap on our school budget that is only allowed to increase by 2% per year, our district may not be able to handle a large influx of children without stressing already large class sizes. More kids does not lead to the hiring of more teachers and additional classrooms, the 2% cap won’t allow for this. If these new zoning approvals to build at 35 units an acre are the beginning of a new development trend in Ridgewood, then the residents deserve to know how this new trend will impact our schools and how will we pay for it? The good news, your taxes won’t go up because the state-imposed 2% cap will not allow for a tax increase. The bad news, you will pay for it with larger class sizes. 200 plus units today will look like a drop in the bucket 5 or 10 years from now when all of this expands throughout our CBD.
Ridgewood NJ, The Village Council has planned a public hearing and possibly a vote on March 23rd on High Density Housing Issue. It’s widely expected the three outgoing council members are going to vote to increase the residential density in some downtown lots from the current 12 units per acre to 36 units per acre, while the residents have asked them to consider 20-24 units per acre.
This is a big change for Ridgewood, which will probably alter our village forever. The local newspapers have so far reported from the press releases issued by the village administration or from the commentary of what happened at the meetings. Proactive journalism on this issue has been missing so far.
Residents have asked the reporters:
1. When are they going to cover the conflict of interest on the garage vote by Tony and Jim at HPC?
2. When will they be talking to taxpayers ahead of the 3/23 vote to measure opinions?
3. When will they be asking the candidates for VC office to state their positions on the 3/23 vote?
4. When will they talk to the superintendent about class sizes at the middle schools and high school which were not covered by the studies?
5. When will they ask Orchard and Ridge School principals if they can accept the increased class sized?
6. When will they ask the consultants (Ross Haber Associates) on how did he reach to a conclusion of 63 new kids from 4 new developments, while similar sized apartments in the village and the number of school aged children from those apartments suggest that it can be close to 225 new children in the Ridgewood schools?
7. When will they ask and report on the question of ‘what happens to all the 1 acre or more lots that are available in Ridgewood downtown and are waiting for these first four to be approved”?
8. What are the financial impacts to the taxpayer (police coverage, etc.?)?
If you would like our local reporting to question our village government on these very important questions, before next Wednesday’sMarch 23rd VOTE, see below for contact information.
BOE-REA Negotiations
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.
BOE Meets on March 21 at 7:30 p.m.
The Ridgewood Board of Education will hold a Regular Public Meeting on Monday, March 21, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.
The public is invited to attend the meeting at the Ed Center, 49 Cottage Place, Floor 3. The meeting may also be viewed on FiOS channel 33, Optimum channel 77 or from computers via the “Live BOE Meeting” tab on the district website.FiOS channel 33, Optimum channel 77 or from computers via the “Live BOE Meeting” tab on the district website.
Click here to view the agenda for the March 7, 2016 Regular Public Meeting.
Click here to view the Full Day Kindergarten Recommendation presented to the Board at their March 7, 2016 Regular Public Meeting.
As we move closer to full-day kindergarten, we need to look at developmentally appropriate practices. Young children thrive in an environment that fosters their way of learning. That means that they need to handle objects; feel textures; talk with one another while they explore an idea; count objects that they hold; play with one another; and express themselves through art, music, and P.E.
BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
RIDGEWOOD – While Ridgewood teachers continued their quest for a new contract at Monday’s Board of Education (BOE) meeting, Superintendent Daniel Fishbein switched gears to kindergarten, recommending a full-day program starting in 2017.
BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
RIDGEWOOD – Strong words were spoken at Monday’s Board of Education (BOE) meeting, as members of the Ridgewood Education Association (REA) continued to request a contract agreement they deem fair.
A number of parents spoke on behalf of the teachers, some of them noting the effect that the educators have had on their children.
Resident Jennifer Rupprecht extolled the virtues of the educators, saying that her classified son “has flourished under the guidance of these teachers” while also noting that he made honor roll as a result of their help.
She explained at the March 7 meeting that she moved to Ridgewood in order to get the best education for her children, regardless of the taxes, and said the teachers should get paid according to their value.
“They’re worth it,” Rupprecht told the BOE. “I can’t thank these people enough.
“I trust you to take care of the people who are taking care of our children and the whole future of our town.”
Resident Marlene Burton said she “fully” supports the teachers in their quest for a settlement.
“The anguish they are experiencing, being without a contract for 12 months, is in full display,” she said. “It is imperative that an agreement be reached soon.”
Not all the speakers were upset with the BOE, however.
Resident and former BOE member Bob Hutton spoke up in defense of the group, reminding the members that they took an oath to uphold the laws of New Jersey when they were sworn into their positions.
“Within litigation and so forth, those laws are the guidelines you have to live by,” he said.
