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Navigating Campus Life: Tips for Ridgewood Students

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The journey through college is a unique experience, filled with moments of triumph, trials, and transformation. For students attending Ridgewood, the journey can be a thrill ride, filled with academic exploration, social networking, and self-discovery. As you navigate this journey, it’s essential to have a roadmap—a guide that can help you find your way, build confidence, and make the most of your campus experience.

Continue reading Navigating Campus Life: Tips for Ridgewood Students

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Friday Morning Bomb Threat at Ridgewood High school False Alarm

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photo Courtesy of Ridgewood Police Department

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police Department were summoned to Ridgewood High School late Friday morning  when  a bomb threat at Ridgewood high school phoned into central dispatch. Ridgewood police assisted by numerous agencies searched the interior and exterior of the school and confirmed this was a false threat. The Ridgewood Detective Bureau assisted by the Bergen county prosecutors office is investigating the call. There is currently no threat to the students.

 

Continue reading Friday Morning Bomb Threat at Ridgewood High school False Alarm

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Ridgewood Students Excel at 2021 National History Day Contest

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Photo by Audrey Larson
Left to right: Isabel Lee, Alice Zhang, Isabella Harelick, Paul Nasr, and Corrina Moss-Kelle

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Isabella Harelick, Isabel Lee, Paul Nasr, and Alice Zhang, students at Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, New Jersey, recently competed in the National History Day® (NHD) National Contest, held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, June 13-19. They were named as a top ten finalist group in the Senior Group Documentary category.

Continue reading Ridgewood Students Excel at 2021 National History Day Contest

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Easy Back to School Recipes for Ridgewood Students

peanut butter granola

August 25,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, According to Google Trends, “school lunches” and “school lunch ideas” were the top rated Google searches last summer and fall surrounding back-to-school recipes. With such a heavy search emphasis on lunch ideas for children, Kings created four easy-to-make recipes for fun lunchtime eats:

Do you have the next Chef Emeril or Rachael Ray in your house? Our Kings parent and child Cooking Studio classes offer top-notch, hands-on experiences your young chefs will love. New classes are released monthly so be sure to check out the Kings website and sign up before they sell out!

 

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Ridgewood Students Excel in Honors and Awards 2016-2017

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Honors and Awards 2016 – 2017 School Year

March 28,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood students continue to excel in March with awards going to Ridgewood High School Latin students,RHS cheerleading squad ,DECA students and Ridgewood swimmers.

(3.27.17 )This month the Ridgewood High School Latin students, under the direction of Stefanie Gigante and Jay Lucci, competed in “Certamen,” a quiz bowl-style game of classical knowledge. The upper level team, comprising AP students, took home first place in the northern division, and the Latin II team also took home first place honors. The winners will be moving on to the state level of competition at the convention in April.

(3.20.17)The RHS cheerleading squad won First Place in their division at the national championship in Virginia Beach. In addition, Alex Alberta won the High School Scholarship Award over hundreds of other contestants.

(3.9.17)Ninety-five DECA students attended the DECA State Conference in Atlantic City over February break. RHS students did well in the preliminary rounds and came in third place behind two larger schools. In each role play event, the top six students/teams, and the top five students/teams in papers will now go to ICDC in Anaheim, CA, with over 30 students qualifying to move to the national competition. In addition, Rusluan Diaz was also elected as an NJ State DECA officer for the 2017-2018 school year.

(3.9.17) Ridgewood swimmers this year broke nine previously held Ridgewood High School records. Senior Jessica Chau achieved records in four events, the 200 IM, 100 Backstroke, 100 Breast and the 100 Butterfly. Six others also set records in individuals and relays. Six RHS swimmers qualified to race at the NJSIAA Individual State Meet in Gloucester. Both the boys and girls dominated the Big North Freedom division, capturing first place finishes at the championship meet.

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Ridgewood students compete at national fencing tournament

Ridgewood students compete at national fencing tournament

by Beatrice Bravo

Ridgewood High School students Mitchell Saron and Roscoe Swartz earned gold and bronze medals, respectively, competing for the Bergen Fencing Club in the Cadets (16-year-old) saber division of the USA Fencing National Championships & July Challenge, in Dallas on July 2.

Swartz, who had placed third during the Junior Olympics event held in February 2016, bested California fencer Jared Smith to achieve a Top 8 showing at 15-12.

https://www.northjersey.com/sports/high-school-sports/fencing/fencers-from-village-medal-at-nationals-1.1633725
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Reader says We need to support the BOE and Ridgewood Students!

REA Members come out to greet our Board of Ed

We need to support the BOE and the Students. Everyone’s kids has suffered due to these teachers union this year. Class trips and after school programs are suffering. The private sectors healthcare is exploding also with no relief for us. Copays of $45, for each visit, teachers and all civil servants all need to pay their fare share and understand the pain and suffering that we are all paying more for. We are not getting raises to cover these increases nor should they. While we’re talking on this subject let’s move all to 401K plans. The system can’t handle all the retirees benefits. We will collapse soon, work 25 years then collect retirement for 35 years? Use them or lose them…no more taking $100,000s of dollars in unused sick time and vacation accrued, this is absurd. I support reasonable demands and expect our BOE professionals not to cave on unrealistic demands. Don’t get me wrong I do support teachers but can’t wait for those signs to go away!

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Standardized Tests like PARCC rob valuable instructional time from Ridgewood Students

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Tests rob valuable instructional time

To The editor,

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.

https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/ridgewood-news-letter-tests-rob-valuable-instructional-time-1.1526408

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Ridgewood Students to Perform with the New Jersey Choral Society

The Ridgewood Voices

Photo of The Ridgewood Voices courtesy of Ridgewood High School

Ridgewood Students to Perform with the New Jersey Choral Society

February 24,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Voices, a vocal ensemble from Ridgewood High School, will make a guest appearance in the New Jersey Choral Society’s Pops Spectacular, Crazy For You, March 5 and 6, 2016. The students will sing an arrangement of George and Ira Gershwin’s “They All Laughed” in this tribute to the incredible talents of the Gershwin song-writing team. Concerts will be held Saturday, March 5 at 8:00 pm and Sunday, March 6 at 3:00 pm at Immaculate Heart Academy, 500 Van Emburgh Ave., Washington Township.The Ridgewood Voices is under the direction of RHS choir director, Steven Bourque. The group performs both at RHS and within the Ridgewood community.

Last year, the Voices had the honor of working with the NY Voices on one of Darmon Meader’s arrangements and opened for the NY
Voices (along with the RHS Jazz Band) at a NY Voices Concert. Also making a guest appearance in Crazy For You are RHS faculty member and New Players choreographer, Jennifer Landa, with her husband, Tony, and three student dancers, performing in “Shall We Dance.”

Advance tickets are $25.00 for adults and $22.00 for students, seniors, and patrons with disabilities. (Add $5.00 at the door). Discounted group pricing is also available. Come one hour prior to performance time for The Inside Line, a complimentary lecture for all ticket holders that provides an intimate and entertaining preview of the music. For reservations or more information, visit www.NJCS.org or call the New Jersey Choral Society at (201) 379-7719.

Established in 1980, the New Jersey Choral Society is one of the state’s most prestigious choral groups, well-known for presenting outstanding and unique programs. Under the direction of Eric Dale Knapp, NJCS performs three major concerts annually in Bergen and Essex counties. They have performed at Carnegie Hall and the White House and have toured internationally in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, China, Australia, England, and France.Immaculate Heart Academy is wheelchair accessible. Funding has been made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.

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Ridgewood students get lesson on compassion, giving during service day

willard school

BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

RIDGEWOOD – Willard Elementary School held its second annual service day last week, allowing students to participate in volunteer activities while meeting and interacting with adult volunteers from various charitable programs.

The event was organized by the school’s teachers and Home and School Association (HSA), according to Principal Caroline Hoffman, who called it “a positive and meaningful experience for Willard.”

“It puts into practice the most-important lessons we strive to teach our children – kindness, compassion and giving of ourselves to help others,” Hoffman said. “To take a couple of hours off from what we usually do to teach this important lesson and talk about what’s really important is very worthwhile.”

The HSA introduced Service Day for the first time last year, according to Christine Chanley, HSA president.

“We were overwhelmed by the generosity of the Willard community and, based on that success, we expanded this year to include five organizations,” she said.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/education/teaching-compassion-and-giving-1.1514595

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A dog is a Ridgewood Students Best Friend

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Dogs help Ridgewood students lower stress levels

JANUARY 28, 2016    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2016, 11:41 AM
BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Ridgewood High School students in the midst of stressing over midterm exams were given a reprieve over the past couple weeks, thanks to the timely arrival of some therapy dogs.

Robert Bell, the district’s supervisor of wellness, worked in conjunction with a non-profit called Bright and Beautiful Therapy Dogs in order to bring five specially trained canines to the high school over four mornings, allowing students to relax between exams and forget about their studies for a while.

“It’s a great opportunity for the kids,” Bell said, noting that the students really seemed to be enjoying themselves, as evidenced by the laughter ringing up and down the hallway.

According to Bell, Ridgewood High School is the first public school to attempt such a de-stressing technique. The program is often used at colleges and universities.

“In all of our research, we haven’t found a public high school that has tried this,” Bell said. “We specifically went for professionally trained dogs, working with outside organizations, bringing in five dogs a day and putting them in different locations throughout the building.”

He explained that the high school’s version of the event is a litmus test, by which the district’s administrators will decide if it is worth bringing to other Ridgewood schools. He also noted that other public schools have contacted the high school about the program.

“We get a lot of phone calls about it, just how this process is working,” Bell said. “I think there’s interest out there at the public school level.”

While the program seems to be an enjoyable one, it is also economically feasible, according to Bell.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/education/dogs-help-ridgewood-students-lower-stress-levels-1.1501207

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Ridgewood students get a glimpse of career option at Valley Hospital

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OCTOBER 29, 2015    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2015, 10:04 AM
BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Last week marked the beginning of the 10th year of the Ridgewood Academy for Health Professions (RAHP) program.

During the kickoff on Tuesday, 36 Ridgewood High School sophomores took a tour of Valley Hospital in order to get an idea of what goes on behind the scenes, and of what kind of work they would like to pursue as part of RAHP.

“This is their first exposure to RAHP,” said Maureen Curran, manager of media relations and communications at the hospital. “This shows them all of the different aspects of the program, which lets them choose what they want to continue with.”

The program takes RHS students interested in working in medical professions and gives them firsthand experience in that field.

“It definitely looks good on their college applications,” said Sandra Kunzle, the RHS liaison to RAHP. She added that the majority of RAHP students pursue degrees in pre-med or other healthcare-related fields.

RAHP was created in 2005 by Peter Diestel, executive vice president of Valley Hospital; Sheila Brogan of the Board of Education; and Bob Hutton, a former Board of Education member.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/education/students-get-glimpse-of-career-option-1.1444189

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PARCC tests are not good for children

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PARCC tests are not good for children

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

New tests are not good for children

To the editor:

The Common Core State Standards and PARCC testing are expensive: lots of new technology, increased bandwidth, lots more technical support personnel, more administrators – and we the taxpayers are footing the bill.

That would be fine if all this were good for our children, but it’s not. Our children are learning less: they’re reading less classic literature because they’re reading more informational texts; they’re doing less math because they’re writing essays about math; they’re doing way less social studies and science because they’re spending endless hours practicing for the PARCC.

Younger children are on keyboards practicing their typing skills instead of using paper and pencil which research shows leads to enhanced cognitive development.

They’re also watching lots of movies. Presumably their teachers are too busy to teach as much as they used to.

During the testing season, libraries resemble test prep centers more than they do traditional libraries. And now the giant publishing firm Pearson, the makers of the test, is employing a company in Utah, Caveon, to spy on children’s social media sites to see what the kids are saying about the PARCC test they’ve just taken.

Teachers are stressed, passing the stress onto the children. Teachers are afraid to say what they really think about all this for fear of losing their jobs. The teaching profession has been degraded and will continue to be degraded as long as this regimen prevails.

Turmoil is the word I most frequently hear. Is this the tradition of excellence in education that we brag about here in Ridgewood?

Interestingly, the people who most vociferously support the Common Core State Standards and PARCC testing do not send their kids to schools that use either the Common Core State Standards or PARCC testing, yet they want the rest of us to do so. How does that make any sense in a democracy? In an oligarchy, yes, a system of government in which the monied elite dictate to the masses what to do for the financial benefit of the monied elite.

The children of Silicon Valley executives go to schools which not only do not use the Common Core State Standards or PARCC testing, but also use NO technology – that’s right – NONE – and why? Their tech-free teaching methods are designed to foster a lifelong love of learning and to teach students how to concentrate deeply and master human interaction, critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills. Isn’t that what we are trying to do? How did we get it so wrong?

Increasingly, we parents and grandparents in Ridgewood want the Board of Education to figure a way out of this mess. It’s unsustainable. In the short-term we want the Board of Education to provide our children a “technology-lite” alternative to the heavy duty technology path it has charted.

We have done all this for all the wrong reasons. It is time to think about the children. Let’s eradicate the stench of corporate greed from our fine Ridgewood schools.

Marlene Burton
Ridgewood

https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/letter-to-the-editor-new-tests-are-not-good-for-children-1.1297340

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Ridgewood students embrace community service

willard school

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Ridgewood students embrace community service

FEBRUARY 23, 2015    LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2015, 9:59 AM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

When Bergen County Protect and Rescue fell into desperate times late last summer, the general public stepped up with an overwhelming response to assist the county’s only no-kill animal shelter. Though given a crutch, the Cliffside Park-based operation is still in constant need of community support, as it barely covers the monthly $10,000 operating costs to care for some four dozen cats and dogs until they’re ready for adoption.

Ridgewood has taken notice.

The Willard School community took a different approach while planning its annual theme day, which took place earlier this month to rave reviews and overwhelming positive feedback.

A school-wide program, theme days in the past were typically geared toward student enjoyment and learning. Previous theme days incorporated events such as spelling bees or “Amazing Race” style activities that promoted cultural diversity and education.

“They were fun, but we wanted to do something that put the emphasis on the children making a difference during the day rather than another fun event,” said Pam Chmiel, this year’s theme day coordinator. “Willard has a great track record in bringing conscious programs to the school … so we presented our theme as ‘philanthropy’ – giving time, talents and treasure and taking action for the common good.”

Chmiel, together with the Willard Home and School Association, Principal Caroline Hoffman and other parents, rebranded theme day as Willard Service Day 2015, which they hosted on Feb. 4. Student activities still focused on fun and learning, but they also centered on “giving back to those less fortunate or going through a difficult time.”

https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/willard-school-students-embrace-service-1.1276474

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Teacher spends two days as a student and is shocked at what she learns

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Teacher spends two days as a student and is shocked at what she learns

What could our Ridgewood schools learn from this post and this process? We need more transparency in our schools as to methods and best practices. How are we engaging our kids’ brains? We must demand more from the unions, teachers and the administration.(Reader)

Do teachers really know what students go through? To find out, one teacher followed two students for two days  and was amazed at what she found. Her report is in  following post, which appeared on the blog of Grant Wiggins, the co-author of “Understanding by Design” and the author of “Educative Assessment” and numerous articles on education. A high school teacher for 14 years, he is now the president of Authentic Education,  in Hopewell, New Jersey, which provides professional development and other services to schools aimed at improving student learning.  You can read more about him and his work at the AE site.

Wiggins initially posted the piece without revealing the author. But the post became popular on his blog and he decided to write a followup piecerevealing that the author was his daughter, Alexis Wiggins, a 15-year teaching veteran now working in  a private American International School overseas. Wiggins noted in his follow-up that his daughter’s experiences mirrored his own and aligned well with the the responses on surveys that his  organization gives to students.

by Alexis Wiggins

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/10/24/teacher-spends-two-days-as-a-student-and-is-shocked-at-what-she-learned/?tid=pm_pop