It’s Back to School time in Mt. Laurel
As the nights become cooler and shorter, summer begins to say its farewells.
Mt. Laurel Schools and the Lenape Regional High School District have been active all summer to provide a welcoming atmosphere as students again shuffle through the doors, to their lockers and, ultimately, to their classrooms.
Dr. Antoinette Rath, Superintendent of Mt. Laurel Schools, and Dr. Carol Birnbohm, Superintendent of Lenape Regional High School District, have answered a few questions from The Sun about the upcoming school year as parents gear up to send their youngsters back to school.
Celebrating your child’s successes is essential as the school year begins, explained Rath.
“Much has been written about the vitally important role of parents and caring adults in encouraging their children’s educational success. Anyone who has raised a child knows firsthand what a difference he or she can make in motivating a youngster,” she explained. “Children do indeed pay attention to the values and norms transmitted by others. It’s important for parents to set these values in ways that are synchronized with and supportive of what is happening in the classroom.”
“From this perspective,” she added, “It’s essential that parents appreciate and value academic success, encourage their child to take school seriously, encourage their child to strive to achieve and then celebrate them when they do!”
What is the number one needed school supply, in Rath’s opinion?
Well, that’s easy.
“Motivation and a willingness to learn,” she said.
In the Mt. Laurel School District, low class sizes are offered and taught by highly qualified staff, she said, along with academic and support programs to meet the educational needs of each student.
“All in a fiscally responsible manner,” Rath explained. “Mt. Laurel School District is a fantastic, supportive school community that honors the collaboration between Board of Education, parents, community, staff and students.”
The initiatives this year, she said, focus on collaboration between staff and administration to move forward with a new teacher evaluation model.
“In addition, we will be enhancing our curriculum benchmark assessments and launching curriculum that is more aligned with the Core Curriculum Standards,” she said. “We also plan to initiate processes to seek additional revenue streams and we will be enhancing all of our ‘greening’ initiatives throughout the district.”
Over at Lenape High School, students can look forward to a newly renovated and updated family and consumer science classroom, said Birnbohm, as well as renovations to the bleachers in the stadium.
“Defy the Issue (Drug and Alcohol free campaign) continues to be the focus of student-to student presentations both within our schools and with the middle schools in the eight townships which we serve,” she said.
The Lenape community presentation will be held in October.
For all students to feel like they belong, there will be a fall kick-off for No Place for Hate programs.
The posters will be “highlighting student leaders as “Upstanders” and not “bystanders” when witnessing inappropriate or derogatory comments in support of the LRHSD Step Up and ID HIB program,” said Birnbohm.
For up to date Lenape High School information, visit www.lrhsd.org and Mt. Laurel Schools at www.mtlaurelschools.org.
A message from Mt. Laurel School District’s Superintendent, Dr. Antoinette Rath
Dear Parents:
Welcome back to the Mount Laurel Schools for the 2012–2013 school year! We are ready for a new year of excitement through learning! Over the past several weeks our staff has been hard at work preparing our buildings and enhancing our educational programs for your child’s arrival.
A great deal of work was done this summer by our staff in the area of curriculum. Curriculum committees completed revisions of our Mathematics curriculum for Grades 6–8, Media and Technology. Each of those guides is now aligned with the Common Core Standards. Our Curriculum Supervisors, meanwhile, incorporated the Common Core Standards into other areas, including Social Studies, World Language, Language Arts, Health and Physical Education. Three new courses will be offered this year thanks to the efforts of staff and the generosity of our corporate partners. At Hartford School, sixth-graders will join others in our upper grade levels in their ability to take Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) studies.
While we have offered STEM in Grades 5, 7 and 8, the new Legos Robotics Course that will be taught in sixth-grade this year was made possible by a grant from The Sallie Mae Foundation. Another new course at Harrington will incorporate the Arts into the equation for seventh-graders. Harrington’s STEAM Course will allow students to research an environmental issue and create a video posing problems and possible solutions. This allows our district to offer innovative courses incorporating Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and Arts in grades 5, 6, 7 and 8.
Our new Technology Curriculum will offer financial literacy at elementary grade levels and offer eighth-graders the opportunity to actually create “an app” this year. The new Challenge-Based Learning Course at Harrington will focus on all-important research skills as students select a topic of personal interest, investigate that subject area and prepare a multi-media presentation as a final project.
You will notice some new faces in our school buildings this year. Assistant Principal Mary Anne Vastardis joins us at Hartford and Curriculum Supervisor Kelly Camm will assist across the district. We welcome these talented professionals, along with several new teachers hired to replace retirees or fill vacancies mandated by enrollment.
Throughout the weeks of summer as this work was underway, our custodial and maintenance staff was hard at work making improvements to our buildings. Harrington students will be greeted by new lockers, many areas now have fresh paint, and necessary structural improvements for plumbing and ventilation were made at Harrington and Springville Schools.
Amazingly, 403 students participated in summer programs that will assist them this year in reading, writing and speech through our Child Study Team Services. Nine different summer camp programs operated by our Community Education Department were home to 728 children in recent weeks who learned more about a favorite sport, did some “mad” science, took part in theater productions that would rival Broadway or stretched their artistic abilities.
Yes, it has been a busy summer. But that’s exactly what we enjoy here in the Mount Laurel Schools. It holds us over while we are waiting to once again fill our classroom seats and begin a new educational journey. We hope it is one that will enrich your child’s life and bring you together as a family through school events many times throughout the year. I look forward to seeing you!
