Highlights since our last board meeting:

Current Enrollment Figures 

·          At Village School parents have participated in Literacy Room training and the Literacy Rooms are ready to open for business. Several first grade classes celebrated Johnny Appleseed Day with various cross-curricular activities and community volunteers. Erin Adelung attended a PLC workshop and will share what she has learned with the staff at Village. Grade level representatives met and 4 portfolio requirements were determined. Training on "Running Records" will occur the entire month of October for grades K through 2

·          Principal Schillaci of Indian Hill School would like to thank the PLG for providing our children with two great opportunities. They had a wonderful assembly on Greek mythology. The presenter engaged our children, and they all walked away with big smiles and a desire to learn more about these wonderful stories.  The Indian School hang-out nights began last week and have been a great time for the students to meet with friends after school, but still be safely in the building.  We are very fortunate to have the support of the PLG for these events.

·          Report from the Satz School: The National Jr. Honor Society (NJHS) for the middle school is up and running.  The Satz School faculty council is in the process of reviewing the 96 applications that were submitted.  Once this process is complete, acceptance letters will be sent out to the selected students in time for the induction ceremony scheduled towards the end of October.

The Satz School nurse and administrative team have sponsored a poster contest for students about flu prevention and health awareness.  Students were asked to design posters that stressed the importance of hand-washing, staying home when they’re sick, and sneezing into the corner of their arm.  Posters will be displayed in the Satz School cafeteria for students to vote on which poster they feel is the most creative.

From Teri Perez Satz PSG: "End of the Beginning" Bar-B-Q was a huge success; parents grilled hamburgers and hotdogs for the students and not one bee sting!!!

Mr. Howard and Mrs. Marino would like to thank all the parents for their participation.  The students had a glorious time eating lunch outside and socializing with their friends.

·          At Holmdel High School there was a Safe Driving Orientation Program on October 13, 2009. Students and their parents were required to attend in order for students to obtain their school parking permit.  The program made a great impact on all.

·          The Culinary Arts Club prepared 66 gourmet bagged lunches for the Bridges Program and the lunches were delivered to the needy on Friday October 9^th.

·          Based on last fall’s performance on the PSAT exam, twenty-six (26) seniors from Holmdel High School earned "Commended Student" recognition from the National Merit Scholarship Program. This brings the total number of Holmdel students recognized by the National Merit Program this year to forty-one (41).  Plans are underway to honor each of them at the next board meeting and at a special breakfast in the Commons in November.  Congratulations to these students on this awesome achievement.

·          Many teachers have already been participating in professional development opportunities. We offer Professional Learning Communities, which are groups of teachers working together to improve instruction.  One group is working on incorporating the goal of new technology into their lessons. Another group is working with world language teachers to find authentic listening materials on the web.

·          HHS Sports Report:  On Saturday, October 3, during half time of the Holmdel vs. St. John Vianney football game, Holmdel High School together with the Holmdel Football Alumni Association honored two HHS graduates -- John Cannon and John Burke, both of whom played several years in the NFL.

On Wednesday, October 7, our girl’s tennis team defeated Red Bank Catholic to win the Shore Conference Tournament Championship.

·          Susan Alston reports -16 Holmdel teachers will visit the US Holocaust Museum on October 21 as part of their work in the graduate course being presented by Kean University on site at Holmdel High School. The district has joined the NJ Literacy Consortium.  The first meeting will be on October 23, to be attended by Susan Alston, Marilyn Bellis, and Jill Edwards.  The topic of the meeting is Engaging Boy Writers.  The presenter is one of the foremost authorities and authors on student writing, Ralph Fletcher. On behalf of the district, Susan Alston has become a member of the Learnia Advisor Committee whose goal is to present user needs and plan improvements to the Learnia system.

District Goals:

Indian Hill: Differentiated Instruction/Technology

Indian Hill teachers have completed their first round of Learnia testing for the year.  This will allow them to have discussion at their grade level meetings about how teachers can use this information for differentiation in the classrooms.  They will also be provided with information about our NJASK scores, adding another piece of data to the discussion about their continued improvement.

T.I.P.S. is up and running for Indian Hill staff, students, and families.  This is a helpful offering on the Indian Hill website for additional assistance and enrichment for the children in their curriculum areas.

Indian Hill: Character Education

Indian Hill is in the process of developing a character education committee to move their initiatives from individual classrooms to the whole building.  Work with this committee will be on-going throughout the year.

Holmdel High School- In conjunction with New Jersey's three-year statewide systemic professional development model on "Creating 21st Century Schools", six members of the high school faculty will be attending a workshop entitled, Students as Digital Learners in 21st Century Learning Environments.

This workshop supports the implementation of the 2009 revised Core Curriculum Content Standards and the creation of teaching and learning environments that engage students, foster achievement and cultivate the skills needed to compete, connect and collaborate in a global society. Topics of discussion include the impact of the Internet and new technologies on students' lifestyles and learning preferences and the implications for preparing students as 21st century thinkers, workers and leaders.

Letter from College Boards:

I would like to share with you some comments I received in a letter from College Boards regarding the Advanced Placement Program.  College Boards extended congratulations to our school for the significant contributions made by Josephine P. Blaha at the 2009 AP Reading.  They said, “In June 2009, 126 high school AP Chemistry teachers joined forces with college faculty who teach in the same discipline to score 105,083 exams in Lincoln, NE.  The careful evaluation of students; work by your staff member and other highly qualified professionals is one of the most important aspects of the AP Program.

The AP Program would like to extend appreciation to your school for supporting your teacher’s attendance at the 2009 Reading and to commend your for recognizing the value of the experience to your teacher, and subsequently to your AP students.