Sunday, November 25, 2012
Superintendent presents goals to board of education, including closer look at class rankings and emphasis on mathematics curriculum.
Montville Township Public Schools will place student learning as the highest priority of the year as Superintendent Dr. Paul Fried presented the district's goals to the board of education on Tuesday. The district develops a set of goals annually, breaking each one down for examination and study before implementation of new tactics designed for their achievement. Last year, one of the district goals was to improve homework's effectiveness by examining how it is given to students. Homework was discussed in a townhall-style meeting, a taskforce was developed to form recommendations and students already had a homework-free day this year. Fried said the implementation of the suggestions made by the homework taskforce were "not without a glitch…
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
District encourages concerned parents to reach out to guidance director, prosecutor's office.
Montville Township Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Paul Fried assured district parents that the safety and well-being of the children remains the district's highest priority as the Morris County Prosecutor's Office continues its investigation into allegations that Jason Fennes, a former William Mason School teacher, sexually assaulted students. Fried sent a letter to parents on Tuesday encouraging them to come forward with any concerns and offering the district's guidance counselors to students for support. "I understand that our families may have concerns that go on for a very long time. Please know we are very committed to the well-being of our children and families. If there is anything I can do to assist you, now or in the future, …
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
School board members expressed concern about the paperwork involved in the new state law.
A student who didn't like another student's shoes and let the other student know it was among the first possible cases of bullying to be documented in Montville under a new state anti-bullying law that went into effect on Sept. 1, the superintendent said. District officials at the Monday Board of Education meeting discussed the paperwork, followup investigations and parent notifications generated by the new policy and expressed concern that it would be diverting employees' attention away from their other responsibilities. Board Vice President Matthew Kayne asked Superintendent Paul Fried how administrators will handle the volume of paperwork and board member John Morella asked if some schools districts would be looking to hire additional …
Monday, September 5, 2011
Fried says new law has good intent, but is 'very complex' and districts will 'struggle to comply.'
The New Jersey anti-bullying law, passed overwhelmingly by the legislature in January, is seen as the toughest in the country. The bill gained momentum following the suicide of Rutgers student Tyler Clementi, who jumped to his death off the George Washington Bridge after his roommate allegedly filmed a romantic encounter between Clementi and another man without their knowledge and streamed it on the Internet. The new law aims to protect children from harassment that would interfere with their education, but Montville Superintendent Paul Fried said it "goes over the top and requires us to jump through hoops" even though he fully agrees with its intent. Students shouldn't notice anything different, he said. "We hope they have enough faith …
Saturday, September 3, 2011
A list of who's new in your schools.
Montville schools have 20 new faculty members this year. The new teachers had orientation on Wednesday and the first day for all teachers was Thursday. The first day included a viewing of "Race to Nowhere," a documentary about the pressures students face, which Board of Education President Karen Cortellino said prompted good discussion among the faculty. A student music group that performed at the start of the session lifted the spirits of everybody in the room, and Superintendent Paul Fried did a wonderful job arranging the program, she said. "It was a great start to the school year," Cortellino said. New faculty Woodmont School has one new teacher, Lazar Middle School has five new teachers and Montville Township High School has 14 new …
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Hiring will focus on high school, followed by middle school.
The interview process to fill the two vacated assistant principal positions at Montville Township High School in time for the next school year begins today. Superintendent Paul Fried said during the township's board of education meeting Tuesday night that the interviews will take up most of the day today, Thursday and another day next week. The positions were vacated after Leo Kelly announced his retirement and Martin Wall was announced last month as principal of Butler High School. In addition to replacing Kelly and Wall, Fried and the Montville Township School District recently hired Doug Sanford as the school’s principal. Sanford’s job officially begins July 1. Fried said that after new assistant principals are hired for the high school…
Superintendent will monitor temperatures Wednesday to decide schedule for following days.
With temperatures projected to be in the mid- to high-90s on Wednesday and Thursday, the Montville Township School District is considering converting to a half-day schedule while the high heat remains, according to superintendent Dr. Paul Fried. Fried explained during Tuesday’s board of education meeting that he has been in conversation with other Morris County superintendents about the potential of high-heat schedule changes. He said Wednesday will most likely remain a full day of classes. However, if the weather becomes unbearable throughout the day, the Montville Township School District might consider switching to a half day on Thursday and subsequently as the high temperatures continue. “So I will be in close contact with our …
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Meeting was first of two to discuss the topic.
The Montville Township High School cafeteria was filled with parents, as well as some teachers and students on Tuesday night as a special public meeting was held before the board of education meeting to discuss homework in the district. Jackie Ritschel, chairwoman of the board’s curriculum and instruction committee that ran the meeting, said the district has been receiving an increasing number of questions regarding the quality, quantity and equity of homework since Montville residents viewed a private screening of the documentary “Race to Nowhere” in November. The documentary takes a look at the negative impact the educational system can have on students and their families. “Jackie and the committee felt it was very important to have an …
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Board announces new varsity coaches, updates to world languages program proposal.
The president and vice president of the Montville Township Board of Education were re-appointed during the board’s annual organization meeting Tuesday night. After being nominated and unanimously appointed president, Karen Cortellino took a moment to thank the board members for their “vote of confidence” and then turned her praise to the community members seated in the audience for passing the budget on April 27. “You can’t imagine how pleased we were the night of the vote,” Cortellino said. “We were jumping for joy like kids in a candy store.” Matthew Kayne was subsequently elected for another term as the board’s vice president. Before Cortellino’s re-election, Kayne, Michael Palma and Frank Cooney–all elected two weeks ago after running …
Jaclyn C.
10:22 pm on Monday, November 26, 2012
Hi Louise, Differentiation should always take place within the classroom. With 20+ students, it is not possible to have each child learning at the same pace, nor do they all learn best with one type of learning style. Differentiation does not mean separating children according to test scores and performance level, it means having the teacher scaffold each lesson so that ALL students can learn the… more ›