·      Once again, I have some sad news to report. Last week we had two deaths in the district – Mrs. Margaret Libis, whose daughter attends the high school, and Ms. Courtney Dayback, a 2007 graduate of Holmdel High School. We extend our sincere condolences to both families.

·      There were articles recently in the Asbury Park Press about violence and vandalism in the county’s schools. Regarding Holmdel’s statistics, we find them to be both alarming and misleading. I’ve invited Mr. Bill Loughran, High School Principal, to address the statistics and what they represent. Click here for Mr. Loughran’s presentation.

·      Village School staff will participate in Lee Denim Day again this year. Staff members pay $5.00 to wear jeans and pink shirts on October 3, 2008 to support finding a cure for breast cancer.

·      Mr. Schillaci thanks all of Indian Hill’s staff and families for attending the Back-to-School nights. The atmosphere was positive with the goal of creating a wonderful environment for the students.

·      We have received notification from the 2009 National Merit Program that we have 39 Commended Students, 13 Semifinalists and one National Achievement Scholarship semifinalist.

·      On behalf of the principals and staff members, I would like to thank the parent groups from each school for hosting the welcome back luncheons for staff. They were much appreciated by all.

·      In lieu of holding a gala this year, the Foundation will raffle a Mercedes-Benz. Tickets will be $100 each with a maximum of 1000 tickets sold. They will send out a mass mailing in January. The car will be on display at Community Day for all to see and you can purchase tickets that day if interested. The gala will return in the spring of 2010.

Activities towards meeting district goals:

Differentiated Instruction:

·      Writing portfolios have been distributed to every classroom teacher at Village School These will contain final pieces of students’ writing and will be passed on from year to year.

·      At Satz, monthly meetings have been scheduled with each of the teaching teams as well as the teachers in specials (cycles, foreign language and PE/Health) to discuss academic concerns with their students, curriculum planning initiatives and ideas and building-wide team-building and spirit activities. Last week, the first round of meetings was held and they all were very productive. The staff seems to be on target and is collaborating effectively.

Character Education:

·      “Morning Meetings” are well underway at Village and Indian Hill. Village reports the response has been wonderful and many more teachers have adopted the approach into their classes. Informal observations of morning meetings are taking place almost daily.  At Indian Hill, the fourth grade classes are continuing with the morning meetings and several of the fifth grade classes are piloting the program this year.

Technology:

·      At Indian Hill several computers have been moved into the classrooms in keeping with the technology goal. Teachers will also be adding a technology piece to student portfolios this year to promote this goal. In addition, tentative training sessions are being scheduled for some of the computer programs currently operating at Indian Hill.