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RTNJ NEWS

Randolph Township Schools Newsletter October 12, 2018

Upcoming Events:

October 15-19

School Violence

Awareness Week

RHS Spirit Week

16: Board of Educa-

tion Policy Commit-

tee Meeting

Board of Education

Meeting

23-29: Red Ribbon

Week

24: RHS Early Col-

lege Planning Night

26: RMS Halloween

Dance

30: Board of Educa-

tion Candidate Fo-

rum

31: Halloween

Nov. 1-3: RHS Fall

Drama

5: Early Dismissal/

Staff Development

Board of Education

FFT Committee

6: Election Day

8-9: NJEA Conven-

tion/ Schools Closed

12: Veteran’s Day

13: Board of Educa-

tion Meeting

14-16: Elementary

School Conferences

Randolph Opens Transition House

Randolph students in the district's 18-21-year-old program are learning life skills in the district's new Transition House.

The new house, which will enhance the district's life skills program for special needs students ages 18-21, was made possible through a special partnership between the Ran-dolph Board of Education and Randolph Township.

On September 5, more than 75 students, parents, teach-ers, administrators, Randolph Superintendent Jennifer A. Fano, Special Services Director Walter Curioni, Special Services Supervisor Evy Falcon-DuranRandolph Board of Education President Ron Conti, Vice President Joe Faranetta and members Anne Standridge, Sheldon Epstein and Chris Treston, Assemblyman Anthony Bucco, Randolph Mayor Mark Forstenhausler, Councilman Jim Loveys, Township Manager Steve Mountain and other district special services staff and township employees enjoyed a ribbon cutting ceremony at the renovated home on Millbrook Avenue.(Ms. Fano cuts the ribbon with the mayor, left, Assem-

blyman Bucco, right, transition coordinator Brianne McBreen and teacher Rick Eva.)

Superintendent Fano welcomed everyone to the celebration and thanked everyone for their support for this wonderful project which will benefit students in the district's program for years to come. "This opportunity pro-vides room for the program to grow in a space all its own, and also offers the opportunity for additional students who have gone out of district for their education to come back," she said. "This place is amazing! Our staff has worked tirelessly to complete this project and the students have taken part in some of the projects as well. I'd also like to recognize our teachers and staff who will be working there day in and day out. I appreciate your dedi-cation and believe you truly make a difference!" ____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Advanced Placement Scores on the Rise

More Randolph High School students took Advanced Placement classes and AP exams in 2018 than ever before and continue to perform well on the exams.

Randolph Director of Secondary Education Jonathan Olsen said the 2017-18 AP exam results are quite impres-sive. “In short, our students and teachers performed exceptionally well this year,” he said. “We had the most exams taken in our district’s history with the most students passing exams than ever before. In fact, 89 percent of Randolph High School students who took an Advanced Placement exam in the 2017-18 school year scored a 3 or higher, compared to 72 percent in New Jersey and 61 percent globally.”

In the 2017-18 school year, almost 30 percent of

exams taken by Randolph High School students earned the highest score of 5, while almost 32 per-cent received a score of 4.

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RHS Has More AP Scholars Than Ever Before

Randolph High School had a total of 145 Advanced Placement scholars recog-nized by the College Board for the 2017-18 academic year. This includes 48 AP Scholars, 26 AP Scholars with Honor, 71 AP Scholars with Distinction and 22 National AP Scholars.

Jonathan Olsen, Randolph’s Director of Secondary Education, said he was very impressed with the results. “The students and our teachers have worked hard and the scores reflect this effort,” Olsen said. “Randolph recognizes all these tremendous scholars and the teachers who help prepare them to complete these rigorous courses and exams. Of significance is the fact that we had 22 National AP Scholars-our most ever-which is granted to students in the United States who receive an average score of at least 4 on all AP exams taken, and scores of 4 or higher on eight or more of these exams. Last year we had 7 Na-tional AP Scholars.”

Randolph High School Principal Debbie Iosso praised RHS students and gradu-ates for their achievements and also recognized the school’s AP teachers. “We have an outstanding advanced placement program at RHS as evidenced by the 145 students who have received AP scholar status as a result of the May 2018 administration of AP exams - some with honor and some with distinction,” she said.

Back to School Nights

Parents went back to school at Randolph’s four elemen-

tary schools, the middle school and the high school in Sep-

tember where they met teachers and learned about curric-

ulum. (Center Grove’s Ms. Dillion is above and RHS Algebra

teachers Ms. Goeb and Ms. Harmon greet parents below.)

Randolph Township Schools Receive Grant for STEM Program

Randolph Township Schools are pleased to announce that they have been awarded a $34,000 grant from the Bosch Community Fund (BCF) and a $54,000 grant from the Randolph Education Foundation for the development of hands-on environmental and STEM initiatives at all six district schools. Specifically, the grants will be used to develop several sustainability programs including composting, hydroponics, aquaponics, and aero-ponics, all of which will complement existing science programs at all educational levels. A greenhouse large enough to house an entire class will also be included in what the district hopes to be the first phase of this project.

“With the resources provided by these grants we hope to empower students through a wide range of authentic learning opportunities. These real-world explorations will be inclusive of life science, ecology, earth science, community impact, environmental studies, culinary arts, business, marketing, entrepreneurship, engineering, and mathematics. Our overall goal is to cultivate a comprehensive community of wellness and sustaina-bility,” said Katherine Thorn, Elementary Supervisor.

The teachers on the grant team were Leah Konikowski from Center Grove Elementary School, Jenise Janulis from Fernbrook Elementary School, Mary Anne Smallwood from Ironia Elementary School, Laura Healy from Shongum Elementary School, Robert Chernow from Randolph Middle School, Andrew Piascik from Randolph High School, Brianne McBreen from Randolph High School, and Richard Eva from Randolph High School. The supervisors on the grant team were Katherine Thorn, Randolph Middle School STEM Supervisor Gabriel Maffei and High School STEM Supervisor Anthony Emmons. (Superintendent Fano, board members, REF board members, supervisors and teachers celebrate the board’s acceptance of the grants at the September 4 Board of Education meeting.)

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Randolph Middle School Eighth Grade Students Study Ancient Civilizations

As part of their study of ancient civilizations, Randolph Middle School eighth grade students were asked to look at different skulls and try to determine which ancient civilization they came from. Students in Mr. Joseph Calafiore’s class got to get up close with several skulls and worked in groups to study them. (Below left, Megan Serwick and Sophia Wallace look at one. Below right, Emma Anderson-Crespo

holds a skull with Hannah Raeihle.)

Randolph Community School Ski Clubs

Registration will open October 15 for the Randolph Community School Ski

Clubs for skiers and snow boarders in grades 4—12 with trips in January,

February and sometimes March at area ski resorts. Parents can register chil-

dren for the Center Grove, Ironia, Fernbrook and Shongum Ski Clubs for chil-

dren in grades 4-5, the Randolph Middle School 6th grade Ski Club and 7th

and 8th Grade Ski Club and Randolph High School Ski Club.

Transportation is by coach bus. The Center Grove, Ironia, Fernbrook,

Shongum and 6th grade ski club will enjoy trips to Shawnee while the 7th

and 8th graders ski and snowboard at Camelback and the high school ski club

students ski at Mountain Creek. Season passes are also available. New this

season at Shawnee is a Twilight Season Rider pass for parents.

Registration is a two-part process. After a parent registers their student with the Community School and pays the ski club fee,

which covers transportation, advisors and chaperones and an administrative fee, they will be sent information to register with the

ski resort to purchase lessons and lift passes and dinner tickets and rent equipment. Please register at https://

register.capturepoint.com/RandolphCommunitySchool. Parents may not ride the bus.

The Community School is still accepting registration for childcare for the 2018-19 school year. For information, call (973) 361-

0808 ext. 8603 or visit rtnj.org and click on the Community School channel bar. You may also email CommunitySchool@rtnj.org.

Randolph Schools Observe Week of Respect

Randolph Township Schools observed the Week of Respect with a variety of special activities including dress up days, character building activities and acts of kindness. Randolph Middle School students attended presentations by Holocaust survivor Fred Heyman (pictured below left with Vice Principal Jackie Fik) and learned about his experience growing up during World War II.

This year, the theme at Fernbrook and Shongum is "Color the World with Kind-ness." Classroom activities during 'the Week of Respect" at Fernbrook focused on improving kindness, respect, accepting differences and being an upstander. Shongum students also learned about the importance of being an upstander and were asked to follow and take "an upstander pledge" and demonstrate acts of kindness. Center Grove has positive morning messages throughout October, guidance lessons on kindness and made a display in the front lobby. Students will also make kind cards. Ironia’s theme is “How Do You Want to Be Remem-bered?” which focuses on the chain reaction of kindness. Special spirit days and classroom lessons are scheduled.

Randolph Middle School students enjoyed character-building activities during their classes too. RHS students also observed the month.

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Transition House Tea

Students in our 18-21-year-old program at the new Transi-

tion House invited senior citizens, Board of Education mem-

bers, staff and administrators to tea last month. (Left and

below right, everyone enjoys the tea and treats.)

RMS Student Helps Girls in India

RMS eighth grader Radha Godkar, (pictured left with Dr. Copeland)

visited India with her family and was shocked to learn that many

girls do not have access to education. Radha has since volun-

teered her time raising money and sending donations to a school

for girls there.

RMS Principal Dennis Copeland noted, “I am very proud pf the con-

tributions she is making and that she supports our school motto ‘a

better school, a better world.’”

Board Member Sworn in To New Term

Business Administrator Gerry Eckert (above) swears Robert

Soni in to his unexpired term on the Board of Education

through early January. Mr. Soni has replaced Al Matos who

resigned after moving out of Randolph.

Fernbrook First Graders Inspired by Birds

Fernbrook first grade students learned to become engineers

and built bird’s nests out of materials they found outside.

(Ms. Moore is pictured, right, with Ms. Bieganousky, left, and

students Jillian Jones, Haniska Vijayan, Advay Bhatia, Udeg

Ahuja and Betsey Aidoo.)