Winter / Spring 2018
A Letter from Dr. Tova Ben-Dov
Dear River Edge Families,
Welcome to the Winter-Spring R.E.A.C.H. on-line newsletter. Following a long winter and the spring break the sun is finally gracing us with its presence! A sign of the season is the image of our students’ smiles shining brighter and their limbs appearing much longer than just a few weeks ago…This is also the time our school community is bustling with activity and planning for the 2018-19 school year is going strong!
Through the digital depiction of R.E.A.C.H you will see various creative and enriching aspects of our schools. Students and teachers have been working hard to fulfill our school and district goals. Early in the year the following district goals were outlined:
1. Research and implement best practices to achieve student growth in the areas of:
3. Integrate mindfulness practices in each building to promote student health and wellness.
4. Monitor, assess and refine the recommendations produced in the district-wide 2016-2017 assessment of special
education programs and services. The following areas were recommended for implementation:
At this time it is my pleasure to announce that we have either fulfilled or are making excellent progress towards the conclusion of all our goals. Our students have done very well academically on their benchmark assessments towards the designated academic goal. Your collaboration in using the Parent Portal was much appreciated as was the hard work of our teachers to implement fully our standard-based report cards. The progress and fulfillment of our Special Education Goal was presented to the Board on May 2nd and the Mindfulness goal will be presented on May 23rd. Both reports will be available on our website for parents to peruse.
As you know by now the River Edge School District encompasses and achieves so much more than its formal, annual goals! This year we transitioned our students and faculty to a new science curriculum that is based on the New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science. It was also our pleasure to forge collaboration with the Liberty Science Center. With their help we exposed our students to and involved them in sophisticated STEAM activities and Maker Spaces that integrated science, technology, engineering, art, and math. These activities have been taking place in a variety of settings including, classrooms, the media centers, and of course in our now completed STEAM rooms in each building! Parents will have an opportunity to view a display of STEAM projects during our Open Houses on May 31st.
In English Language Arts we engaged our younger students in grades K-2nd in a systematic study of phonics through the new Fundations series. Teachers are reporting huge progress and much success in creating these important building blocks for language with our youngest students.
While much effort is invested to enhance student achievement in our core academic studies the “rounding out” of our students’ education and their daily lives has been phenomenal this year. Creativity abounds and students have broadened their horizons though music, art, library, media, global outreach, sophisticated infusion of technology, and physical education this year. All these subjects continue to be infused with multi-cultural experiences. Our concerts, art shows have been phenomenal this year!
One of our new “behind the scenes” projects that parents don’t get to see have been the Instructional Rounds. We created opportunities for teachers to observe colleagues on a rotational basis and thus break the “isolation” of the classroom. Through these visits our professionals’ experiences have been enriched by observing the best practices of their colleagues. All who opened their classrooms for colleagues’ observations or participated in observing reported great benefit...
This year we have also been quite busy improving the safety protocols and safety equipment of our schools by working closely with local law enforcement and investing in recommended improvements. As this is an extremely important aspect of our entire system we plan to continue our efforts moving forward.
During recent months we labored to create and present a balanced budget that will sustain and support our current programing and permit for future growth. The River Edge Board of Education worked supportively and diligently to evaluate all expenditures and funding options while keeping in mind the financial predicament of residents. It is with satisfaction that we can report that our 2018-19 budget will continue to support the current teacher/student ratio in all classrooms and our future educational goals and projects. The budget and its final presentation will soon be available on the RE website.
Finally, it is with great pride that I report on our district philanthropic efforts. With the help of our diligent and devoted PTO’s we accomplished our goal of collecting and sending 15 boxes of children’s clothing to the Agapito Rosario a school in Puerto Rico that was devastated by Hurricane Maria. We hope to forge an ongoing relationship between that school and the River Edge students and larger community.
As I know the next few weeks will zoom by towards the conclusion of the 2017-18 school year I conclude with my enormous gratitude to our fantastic faculty, teachers, administrators, custodians, office personnel, and aides for a productive, rigorous, enriching, and enjoyable school year! On behalf of the entire community I thank our PTO’s for enabling the enrichment of our programming on an ongoing basis and to you, the River Edge families for your support!
Take Care of Yourself
Take Care of Each Other
Take Care of this Place
Wishing you all a Happy Spring!
Dr. Tova Ben-Dov
River Edge Superintendent of Schools
Welcome to the Winter-Spring R.E.A.C.H. on-line newsletter. Following a long winter and the spring break the sun is finally gracing us with its presence! A sign of the season is the image of our students’ smiles shining brighter and their limbs appearing much longer than just a few weeks ago…This is also the time our school community is bustling with activity and planning for the 2018-19 school year is going strong!
Through the digital depiction of R.E.A.C.H you will see various creative and enriching aspects of our schools. Students and teachers have been working hard to fulfill our school and district goals. Early in the year the following district goals were outlined:
1. Research and implement best practices to achieve student growth in the areas of:
- Vocabulary in grade levels 2-6
- Mathematics in grade levels 3-6
3. Integrate mindfulness practices in each building to promote student health and wellness.
4. Monitor, assess and refine the recommendations produced in the district-wide 2016-2017 assessment of special
education programs and services. The following areas were recommended for implementation:
- Create a Child Study Space with CST member presence in RS
- Provide training for instructional aides and teachers early in the school year and on an ongoing basis, as needed throughout the year
- Implement collaborative teaching for Grade 6 students in the areas of science and social studies, monitor the program and look at younger students’ IEPs with an eye to expand the program for 2018-19
At this time it is my pleasure to announce that we have either fulfilled or are making excellent progress towards the conclusion of all our goals. Our students have done very well academically on their benchmark assessments towards the designated academic goal. Your collaboration in using the Parent Portal was much appreciated as was the hard work of our teachers to implement fully our standard-based report cards. The progress and fulfillment of our Special Education Goal was presented to the Board on May 2nd and the Mindfulness goal will be presented on May 23rd. Both reports will be available on our website for parents to peruse.
As you know by now the River Edge School District encompasses and achieves so much more than its formal, annual goals! This year we transitioned our students and faculty to a new science curriculum that is based on the New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science. It was also our pleasure to forge collaboration with the Liberty Science Center. With their help we exposed our students to and involved them in sophisticated STEAM activities and Maker Spaces that integrated science, technology, engineering, art, and math. These activities have been taking place in a variety of settings including, classrooms, the media centers, and of course in our now completed STEAM rooms in each building! Parents will have an opportunity to view a display of STEAM projects during our Open Houses on May 31st.
In English Language Arts we engaged our younger students in grades K-2nd in a systematic study of phonics through the new Fundations series. Teachers are reporting huge progress and much success in creating these important building blocks for language with our youngest students.
While much effort is invested to enhance student achievement in our core academic studies the “rounding out” of our students’ education and their daily lives has been phenomenal this year. Creativity abounds and students have broadened their horizons though music, art, library, media, global outreach, sophisticated infusion of technology, and physical education this year. All these subjects continue to be infused with multi-cultural experiences. Our concerts, art shows have been phenomenal this year!
One of our new “behind the scenes” projects that parents don’t get to see have been the Instructional Rounds. We created opportunities for teachers to observe colleagues on a rotational basis and thus break the “isolation” of the classroom. Through these visits our professionals’ experiences have been enriched by observing the best practices of their colleagues. All who opened their classrooms for colleagues’ observations or participated in observing reported great benefit...
This year we have also been quite busy improving the safety protocols and safety equipment of our schools by working closely with local law enforcement and investing in recommended improvements. As this is an extremely important aspect of our entire system we plan to continue our efforts moving forward.
During recent months we labored to create and present a balanced budget that will sustain and support our current programing and permit for future growth. The River Edge Board of Education worked supportively and diligently to evaluate all expenditures and funding options while keeping in mind the financial predicament of residents. It is with satisfaction that we can report that our 2018-19 budget will continue to support the current teacher/student ratio in all classrooms and our future educational goals and projects. The budget and its final presentation will soon be available on the RE website.
Finally, it is with great pride that I report on our district philanthropic efforts. With the help of our diligent and devoted PTO’s we accomplished our goal of collecting and sending 15 boxes of children’s clothing to the Agapito Rosario a school in Puerto Rico that was devastated by Hurricane Maria. We hope to forge an ongoing relationship between that school and the River Edge students and larger community.
As I know the next few weeks will zoom by towards the conclusion of the 2017-18 school year I conclude with my enormous gratitude to our fantastic faculty, teachers, administrators, custodians, office personnel, and aides for a productive, rigorous, enriching, and enjoyable school year! On behalf of the entire community I thank our PTO’s for enabling the enrichment of our programming on an ongoing basis and to you, the River Edge families for your support!
Take Care of Yourself
Take Care of Each Other
Take Care of this Place
Wishing you all a Happy Spring!
Dr. Tova Ben-Dov
River Edge Superintendent of Schools