Egg Harbor Towhship

Home and School Association

EHT's Education Resource Network

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January 10, 2006

The Board of Education(BOE) meet for work sessions on the 1^st & 3^rd Tuesday of the month at 7 PM and for regular meeting on the 2^nd & 4^th Tuesday at 8 PM. All meetings take place at the Intermediate School (Dogwood & Alder) in the BOE room located to the left after going thru the 1^st set of entrance doors. Everyone is invited to attend. Robert’s Rules of Order are used and there is a section for members of the public to speak. If you are coming to address a problem, please go though the “chain of command” first and remember that no personnel or individual problems concerning a student will be allowed in public.

Here’s a brief recap of the BOE meetings so far in January. Visit our web site at www.ehthsa.com. for more complete details on the notes below and to find out what is happening at each school.

• Mrs. Barbara Szilaygi was sworn in to fill the vacancy left with Mr. Paul Hodson’s resignation. 6 candidates had put in their application. The BOE had all the candidates come to a special meeting. Predetermined questions were read out loud, each candidate was given the opportunity to answer, and then the BOE retired to closed session to make the difficult decision on whom would fill Mr. Hodson’s seat.

• Colors schemes for the new elementary schools were presented. Pros and cons on having the same in each school vs each school having it’s own colors were discussed. It was decided that one would be predominately blue with green accents while the other will be green with blue accents.

• A letter written by the SCC (School Construction Corp) on 12/16 but not received by Dr Heery until the 26^th stated that the grant of 1.7 million would not be forthcoming. This money, along with the 2.3 million the district already has, is needed for the renovations for the Intermediate School. Steps are being taken to appeal this decision and other sources of funding are being investigated.

• The phone message from Dr. Heery reminding parents that school reopened on 1/3 was a test of the new Global Connect system. Overall the system preformed well with a few minor glitches which prompted Global Connect to give the district one free month of service.

• Dr. Heery announced and offered his congratulations to the following EHTHS class of 2006 seniors given early Decision Admissions:
• Craig Thompson – Princeton University
• Zhou Zhang – University of Pennsylvania
• Marc Van De Rijn – Stevens Institute of Technology
• King Cheung - Rutgers Honors Program
  Stephen Janasky - University.of Delaware
  James Lee - Carnegie Mellon University
  Theodore Reed - Stevens Institute of Technology

• Dr. Heery also congratulated Mrs. Gruccio (Principal at the High School) and Mrs. Ellen Gregory(Grant Writer for the district) on obtaining $260,000 plus $31,000 start up funds for a N.J. School Based Youth Service Program at the High School.
• The program helps high school students combat violence, substance abuse and other adolescent problems by providing in-school supportive services considered "other than" educational. Counseling options include but are not limited to: individual and family, substance abuse, pregnancy prevention, employment, primary and preventative healthcare, and after-school tutoring.
• Once the program is established, funding is guaranteed and will cost the district nothing. Our responsibility is to provide the space. Also, once the program is at the High School, there is the possibility of adding it to the Middle School.

• Ms. Linda Ingersoll, (4^th grade) was honored for being nominated by one of her students and selected as Teacher of the Month by Lite Rock 96.9. Prizes from the station were awarded to the nominating student, Mrs. Ingersoll, a class pizza party was given and each student in the class received an IMAX movie ticket

• Voting on the school budget and for school board member will occur during Spring Break on Tuesday, April 18, 2006. In order to participate, you need to be a registered voter. If you are going to be away, your vote can be submitted by an Absentee Ballot. Voter registration forms or Absentee Ballots can be obtained on www.njelections.org.

• Due to “technical language problems” in the paper work to the SCC by our project manager company, the bid dates on the Davenport new elementary school has been pushed back to 1/24 and Slaybaugh to the 31^st.

• Dr. Miller reported that the 52 page CAPA report had just been given to the district and had several recommendations but overall praised our Middle School which was often referred as a “model school”.

• Information on the district’s music program has been gathered and will be reviewed to make changes in the curriculum to better meet the needs of our students prior to the presentation of the budget.

• A student at the High School approached the BOE concerning not being offered AP Calculus BC as not enough students to support a class. Dr. Miller is looking into our curriculum, especially the Math & Sciences, as a better “flow” is needed. With students taking Honors earlier, there is a need for more AP courses.

• One of the bus drivers read a “Thank You” letter expressing her appreciation on how the BOE and district responded to her concerns of no aides on the bus transporting students with special needs.

The Middle School wishes the public to know about the School Management Team (SMT) which everyone is invited to attend and share school concerns.  This includes teachers, custodians, cafeteria, all support staff, parents and community services.  SMT is a way to open up communications with the ultimate goal of improving our students' achievement in a safe and productive learning environment. Meetings are held at 2:15 pm in room B222, and on the following dates- Jan.17, Feb.14, Mar. 21, Apr. 11, and May 16.

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