Search Results for: budget

18th Annual CHS Shakespeare Festival 2020 Goes Virtual

By

“Hell is empty And all the devils are here” The Tempest

Virtual Edition- “But now I am cabin’d, cribb’d, confined, bound in To saucy doubts and fears” Macbeth

The festival has faced many obstacles over the past two decades–budget issues, building repairs, scheduling conflicts–but we’ve never had to deal with a situation like this.  But as they say, the show must go on! We are attempting to put together a virtual Shakespeare Festival. Students should create scenes from their homes while observing social distancing rules.  

Here are some ideas:

  • Create stop motion or claymation scenes
  • Do a scene with action figures or stuffed animals.
  • Do a scene on FaceTime, Zoom or other video conferencing platform
  • Do a narrated comic book or graphic novel version of a scene
  • Put a sonnet or soliloquy to music and sing it.
  • Do a scene with a neighbor from across the street
  • Involve family and pets in a scene.
  • An Instagram or SnapChat feed of a character as their play unfolds
  • How about a TikTok video?
  • Or any other way you can bring Shakespeare’s words to life.

Students can reach out to their English teachers for scene suggestions.

Students should submit their scenes to their teachers (ask about extra credit!) and then we’ll take a couple days to mash it all together, add some emcees, and have a premier. 

And since we’re doing things differently this year, we’ve decided to take scenes from alumni and community members as well!

For more information, contact Mr. MacPherson at smacpher@nullsomsd.k12.nj.us 

Deadline for submissions:  Friday, May 22, 2020

Premier Date: TBD

Follow us on Instagram @chs_shakespeare_club

Tech Purchase Request (staff)

Technology Purchase Request

Technology purchase must be made using the Technology Purchase Request form. Requests should be submitted by principals, vice principals, directors, supervisors, and secretarial staff. Work orders requesting additional equipment will automatically be denied.

The Technology Department will purchase requested items utilizing the account lines identified in the form submission. If funds are not available in the identified account lines, district funds may be used. If the purchase can not be funded during the current academic year, the item(s) will be held for consideration during the next school budget.

The list below identifies items that may be purchased by the Technology Department. Building and department purchases are also outlined below. If you have any questions, please contact the District Technology Office.

Technology Department Responsibility

  • Antivirus Software
  • Cables (Network, Video, Audio)
  • Replacement Chromebooks & Laptop Carts
  • Replacement Chromebooks
  • Replacement Desktops
  • Replacement Keyboards (Wired)
  • Replacement Laptops
  • Replacement Mice (Wired)
  • Operating System & Productivity Software
  • Replacement Printers
  • Replacement Projectors
  • Replacement Scanners
  • Replacement SmartBoards & Components
  • Replacement Tablets
  • Wifi USB Adapters
  • Printer Ink, Toner, and parts

School / Department Responsibility

  • Additional Chromebook & Laptop Carts (excluding annual budget request)
  • Additional Chromebooks
  • Additional Desktops
  • Additional Document Cameras
  • Additional Laptops
  • Additional Mice (Wired)
  • Additional Printers (outside of annual budget request)
  • Additional Projectors
  • Additional Scanners
  • Additional SmartBoards
  • Additional Tablets
  • CDs and DVDs
  • Computer Speakers (Wired/Desktop)
  • Headphones (outside the district issued NJSLA headphones)
  • Labels
  • Laptop Bags
  • Mouse Pads
  • Presentation Pointers
  • Protective Cases
  • Privacy Screens
  • Screen Protectors
  • Screen Wipes
  • Specialized Software
  • Surge Protectors
  • USB Flash Drives
  • Wireless Keyboards
  • Wireless Mic

SOMSD BOE To Discuss And Vote On Capital Plan At June 13th BOE Meeting

By

SOMSD logo

At the June 13th Board of Education regular meeting, the Board of Education is set to discuss and vote to approve a capital plan to renovate school facilities and to build classrooms at seven elementary school building and the high school to alleviate overcrowding.   This will be followed by the Board of School Estimate meeting on July 10th to approve the bonding to support this plan.

The district’s $160 million dollar capital plan was developed over a two year period. Architects, engineers and demographers worked with building leaders and central office administrators as they conducted a facilities assessment to address health, safety and building capacity needs.

The plan was initially presented to the community May and June of 2018.  Over 1,000 community members attended the feedback sessions.  After collecting input from the community, the plan was updated to reflect community feedback.  The updated plan was presented back to the community in the fall of 2018 and then in December 2018, the Board of School Estimate and the Board of Education gave their approval to move the capital plan through the New Jersey Department of Education reviewal process.

About $93 million is needed to renovate the district’s facilities to prevent emergency repairs and damage caused by leaking roofs, malfunctioning heating systems, and to address other health and safety needs. This school year the district continued to address repairs to roofs, remediate mold in portable classrooms, repair water damaged classrooms, repair water main breaks, perform numerous elevator repairs and address other facility emergencies out of the maintenance line of the budget.

$47 million is needed to build additional classroom space for our growing enrollment and to ensure that all students can be moved out of portable classrooms.  Enrollment increased almost 12% from 6,384 student in 2010 to 7,121 students in 2018. Enrollment projections show enrollment growth trends continuing for the next few years.  Architects and building leaders worked together to evaluate the best place for the building additions.  Schematics have been prepared to show the basic design and spatial relationships, and are not final.

An additional $18.5 million is needed to address the feedback requests from the community:  install air conditioning in the schools, replace the artificial turf at Underhill Field and to add artificial turf at Ritzer Field.

The proposed capital plan addresses priority health, safety and system needs, creates sufficient capacity and flexibility for increased enrollment and renews the high school.

Presentations are posted on the district’s website. https://www.somsd.k12.nj.us/district/business-office/lrfp/

Site Credits

Development
SchoolPresser: A services-based company dedicated to helping school districts migrate to WordPress, reduce web site operating budgets and save taxpayer money. SchoolPresser also offers custom WordPress development for medium and large school districts who need custom solutions built on top of an open source framework.

Hosting
WP Engine: South Orange Maplewood School District is hosted at WP Engine, a company that is dedicated to hosting high-performance WordPress-powered web sites.

Photography
JoyYagid.com provided photos of buildings across the school district.

 

Icon Sources
All icons are copyright of their respective owners (credited).

  • "Registration" icon by priyanka from the Noun Project
  • "Registration" icon by fahmionline from the Noun Project
  • "Computer" icon by y. onaldi from the Noun Project
  • "Tablet" icon by unlimicon from the Noun Project
  • "Information" icon by João Paulo from the Noun Project
  • "Meeting" icon by shashank singh from the Noun Project
  • "School" icon by scarlett mckay from the Noun Project
  • "TV" icon by Roselin Christina.S from the Noun Project
  • "Family" icon by Oksana Latysheva from the Noun Project
  • "Tools" icon by Creative Staff from the Noun Project
  • "Healthcare" by Ladalle CS from the Noun Project
  • "Video" by Viral faisalovers from the Noun Project
  • "Reading" by Phạm Thanh Lộc from the Noun Project
  • "Books" by Made x Made from the Noun Project
  • "Online Learning" by IconMark from the Noun Project
  • "Vaccine" by Kiran Shastry from Noun Project

Public domain image sources

Board of Education Appoints Dr. Ronald Taylor New Superintendent of Schools

By

Dr. Ron Taylor - Superintendent of School

It is with tremendous pleasure and excitement that the South Orange Maplewood Board of Education announces the appointment of Dr. Ronald Taylor as Superintendent of Schools, effective July 8, 2019.

Dr. Taylor was selected in a robust search process led by Dr. Bill Librera, our search consultant, from West Hudson Associates, which began in August 2018. The search included community meetings and a survey to craft a leadership profile, selection of candidates to be interviewed in a first round with the Board of Education, second round interviews with three finalists. Dr. Taylor emerged as the leading candidate, and subsequent in-depth interviews (including a conversation with the student representative to the Board), background and reference checks, and a site visit by two of the three Board officers confirmed the Board’s conviction that Dr. Taylor is the right educational leader for SOMSD.

Board of Education President Annemarie Maini said: “Dr. Taylor is an exceptional leader with extensive experience, proven results, and outstanding listening and communication skills. Throughout the search process, the Board focused on finding an educational leader who is unwaveringly student-focused and has a track record of results which match our immediate and long-term needs. Dr. Taylor will be an asset to our community as we work to deliver on major initiatives including a $145+MM bond, a complete elementary reconfiguration, and continue to move our district toward deliberate monitoring and oversight using QSAC.”

Dr. Taylor started his career as a kindergarten teacher. He was an assistant principal, as well as an award-winning principal, before moving to a Regional Superintendent role in Newark.  He joined Willingboro as Superintendent eight years ago where his research-based, data-driven approach resulted in bringing academic and operational stability to Willingboro.

Dr. Taylor’s eight years of experience as the Superintendent of Willingboro have provided an excellent foundation for him to lead the work to address SOMSD’s current priorities:

  • Infrastructure: Successfully led the implementation and completion of a $67 Million facilities bond referendum under budget and ahead of schedule.
  • Schools Reconfiguration: Led successful implementation of reconfiguration of elementary schools.
  • Preschool Expansion: Facilitated the creation of two District Early Childhood Development Centers using $4+ Million in competitive grant funding.
  • QSAC Monitoring: Improved Willingboro’s performance by 55% points in Curriculum and Instruction and improved district operational processes.
  • Equity: “ Ron Taylor is serving as a strategist on the NJASA Equity for Students Committee because of his courageous and effective efforts in addressing student equity matters in his School District” according to Dr. Kathleen Taylor (no relation) on behalf of the NJASA Equity for Students Committee. At Willingboro, he successfully implemented student Chromebook “1 to 1” initiative grades 3rd-12th.

More information about his experience in these and other areas is on his attached resume.

We invite the community to join us in welcoming Dr. Taylor to South Orange-Maplewood School District, and look forward to working together to build the infrastructure, systems and educational program which will help all of our students master the skills and knowledge they need to be successful. Dr. Ficarra, the Senior Leaders of Central Office, and the Board of Education are committed to ensuring a smooth transition to our new leadership.

We will be organizing a series of meet and greets between the Superintendent and community members to begin to build relationships and understanding.  The first of these will take place on Tuesday, April 30, 2019 at 7pm in the CHS Library.

ESS & I-STEP

ESS & I-STEP

In School Therapeutic Education Program (I-STEP)

ISTEP (In School Therapeutic Education Program) is a new program at Maplewood Middle School that provides individual, group, and family counseling to students with significant social, emotional, and/or behavioral issues, in addition to providing consultation to and collaboration with staff members working with the student.

SchoolCoordinatorEmailPhone
Maplewood Middle SchoolMs. Amy Pituccoapitucco@nullsomsd.k12.nj.us(973) 378 - 7660 x 3021
South Orange Middle SchoolMr. Michael Zarabimzarabi@nullsomsd.k12.nj.us(973) 378 - 2772 x 2135

Anxiety and Classroom Behavior

Anxiety is often the cause of student behavioral issues.

Some symptoms of anxiety in the classroom include a student becoming easily frustrated, complaining of physical pain, exhibiting fear, being easily upset by making mistakes, crying, having difficulty completing work, being inflexible, and acting irritable. Students with anxiety often complain of being exhausted toward the end of the day because they have been trying to manage their anxiety, in addition to completing schoolwork, for the entire day.

Anxiety related behavior can appear to be erratic and unpredictable, since they teacher is not typically aware of the student's level of internal anxiety. For example, on a day when a student is feeling calm, he/she may be able to complete work without incident. On another day, when the student is already anxious, the same assignment may trigger an outburst. Although triggers can be unpredictable, the following are situations that typically trigger anxiety: Unstructured times, transitions, having writing demands, working in groups, when large projects are assigned, and unexpected changes to routine.

Students with anxiety benefit from working on skill development to manage symptoms. This typically occurs within a counseling setting, and skills can then be generalized to the classroom setting.

Accommodations To Address Anxiety In Your Classroom Include:

  • Providing movement breaks
  • Allowing student to take a time out in a safe place
  • Assisting student during transitions
  • Breaking down large assignments or multi-step directions into smaller units
  • Allowing student to use technology or scribe for writing assignments
  • Allowing student to take assessments in an alternate location
  • Allowing student extended time for work completion, especially after absences
  • Alerting student to upcoming changes in routine
  • Allowing student to work individually rather than in a group
  • Avoiding calling on a student if he/she does not volunteer
  • Avoiding criticism of the student

An important intervention is developing a personal relationship with the student so that he/she feels supported and safe.

Effective School Solutions (ESS)

The mission of Effective School Solutions is to provide high quality and cost-effective in-district clinical services for students with emotional and behavioral problems. The demand for specialized services for this population continues to grow, with out-of-district placements and other educational accommodations becoming a severe burden on school professionals and district budgets everywhere. We provide innovative clinical solutions for districts seeking to increase the quality of our in-district education for students with emotional and behavioral problems.

CoordinatorPhone
Elizabeth Kolodiy(973) 762 - 5600 x 1225
Vanessa Boykewick(973) 762 - 5600 x 1230
Julie Bennett(973) 762 - 5600 x 1217

The Wrap-Around Program offered at Columbia High School Includes:

  • Weekly individual therapy
  • Family therapy
  • Monthly evening Parent Support Groups
  • Daily group therapy, including a specialized curriculum to address issues such as substance abuse, anger management, and social skills
  • School refusal interventions, including home visits
  • Lunch with our staff to avoid the stress of unstructured time in the cafeteria
  • Study Skills class led by a district faculty member with ESS as an additional support staff.
Designed, built and powered by SchoolPresser - WordPress for Schools