District Newsletter

BOARD MEETING July 21, 2022 7:00 p.m.

These Board meetings are open to the public. There are no limits to the number of people who may attend in person, and masks are optional. Board meetings will continue to be live streamed as well, but there will be no call-in comments or questions.

Link to Live-Streamed Meetings

Presentations from Recent Board Meetings:

Posted on our website

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The Superintendent's Commencement Speech

Tuesday, June 21, 2022

It certainly gives me great pleasure to welcome graduates, family, friends, staff, and Board of Education members to the commencement ceremonies of the Haddonfield Memorial High School Class of 2022.

Commencement is a unique event for many reasons. One of the more intriguing aspects of tonight is that the 229 individuals behind me are experiencing an unusual moment when the past, present, and future intersect in a significantly poignant meeting. Tonight is the culmination of a 13-year journey through education. Tonight, students and families will be thinking about the first day of kindergarten, the first day of high school, all the joys and some of the sorrow that happened over the journey.

This leads to the present: the journey is what we are here to celebrate. Celebrating the present is essential. It is the celebration of the moment. The students, families, friends, and teachers deserve this time of joy.

Yet, this is a Commencement ceremony because it is about the beginning. Tonight is about the future. It is about where these students will go, and more importantly, where they will take us. So as we experience tonight’s ceremony, we should remember that this is about the past, present, and future; one of the few times in life when all three are equally significant. Each class has faced unique circumstances and challenges as they move through their educational careers. Indeed, this class can make that claim as well as any.

The class of 2022 started high school in a pre-COVID world filled with promise, joy, and excitement for the high school experience. They were then met with the most bizarre and unexpected shift as schools were shut down, followed by partial openings and masks. Finally, this class ended their career much as they started school. They are the only class to make that full circle; it is important to note that they did it well.

Throughout their careers, the Class of 2022 displayed perseverance, character, and optimism. The class is proud of their commitment to being who they are as well as the commitment to push forward in trying times. This is the past we celebrate tonight. These characteristics both strengthen these students as they move forward and give us all a reason to hope.

Knowing the students’ attitudes, dreams, and visions, we all have good reasons for hope. The Class of 2022 is dedicated to doing what is right and to making a better world. They have demonstrated over the past four years that they are more than willing and able to make it happen. They use persistence and drive to overcome despair and embed their world with hope.

The Class of 2022 represents scholarship and success in the classroom that would rival any. Here is a snapshot of their ACADEMIC achievement:

104 members in the National Honor Society
98 Neumuller Scholars who achieved an A+ weighted GPA over four years
12 Commended National Merit Scholars
1 National Merit Semi-Finalist
1 National Merit Finalist
1 National Merit Scholarship Recipient
45 Seniors earned the distinguished New Jersey Seal of Bi-Literacy
Seniors participated in 527 AP Exams
96.9% are going to four-year schools in the fall
1.8% will attend two-year schools.
On June 2, at the Senior Awards Ceremony, the class was awarded $330,000 in scholarships. After four years of renewable awards, the total will be over $600,000. In addition, the Class of 2022 earned $1,500,000 in outside scholarship funds for a total of over $2.1 million.
HMHS school rankings

State ranked #31
Nationally ranked #708
#249 STEM School

There is no doubt a class as focused, dedicated, and driven as this one will venture off into the world and become leaders in academia, medicine, environmental sciences, law, and social reform.

Academics alone are not enough. Growth and change result from combining knowledge with creativity to rethink issues and find solutions. The Class of 2022 is teeming with creative minds. As a result, over the past four years, the ARTS at HMHS have thrived.

We have all seen the magnificent Drama Club productions. I can say that because the auditorium is always packed. This year, the Drama Club performed the first full-length, live fall play since 2019, “The Book of Everything,” which saw our highest fall play attendance ever. And that was just the beginning. The spring musical “Cinderella” also claimed the highest attendance for a musical ever, including multiple sold-out shows. It was honored by Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Awards with seven nominations, four honorable mentions, and one win. We also enjoyed “Bulldawgs on Broadway” back for the first time since 2019.

The Marching Band impressed as we exited a world of restriction and limiting factors. You may have heard the band leading our community’s favorite Halloween characters during the Halloween parade, not to mention the town’s tree-lighting ceremony, where the band led Santa to one of his favorite posts – Kings Court. They also marched in the Haddon Township Pride Parade and Cherry Hill’s Juneteenth celebration. The 2021-22 Marching Band placed fourth in our region and in the state of New Jersey. Also noteworthy, the Battery Percussion won high percussion at the N.J. state competition for the first time in HMHS history.

The Madrigals continued their standard for excellent performances throughout the school year in various settings. They were awarded the prizes at multiple faires for their stellar arrangements of selected pieces.

The National Art Honor Society continues to make an impact. Beyond hundreds of hours of community service, seniors displayed remarkable painting ability this school year which is evident in a new mural representing those who have given their lives fighting for diversity and justice titled "Memorial."

We know this class is talented in the classroom and has proven themselves to be creative thinkers. A third attribute they have demonstrated is DRIVE. If there is any doubt about the nature of their drive to succeed and their competitive spirit, all one must do is review their successes in the areas of ATHLETICS.

Haddonfield Memorial High School had tremendous athletic accomplishments during the past four years despite many lost post-seasons due to the pandemic. In four years, our teams compiled:

a record of 1,005 wins and 307 losses: a 77% winning percentage
43 conference titles
33 sectional titles
18 New Jersey State Group championships

This is among the best, if not THE best, record of championships of any other high school in the state of New Jersey.

During the 2021-2022 school year, our teams won:

9 conference titles
11 sectional titles
5 varsity teams finished their season as State Group champions. For the 40th year in a row, HMHS will receive the Colonial Conference All-Sports Award.

For the 17th straight year, HMHS will be declared the winner of the NJSIAA Shop Rite Cup for Group II, an award given to the school with the most sectional and state championships for each of the six groups in the state. HMHS is the only school in New Jersey that has won this award every year since the award’s inception!

HMHS Class of 2022, I want to congratulate and thank you for your dedication and your numerous and varied contributions. Please understand that my words are offered in earnest as I speak about you and what you have accomplished. As I think about all you have done, the circumstances you faced, and the grace with which you achieved your goals, I can not help but be moved. I genuinely believe that you bring hope. Your demonstration of promise, perseverance, and character assures me that, as we go forward, the Class of 2022 will touch all areas of our world. I thank you for that as a superintendent, educator, and person.

Since you are kind enough to give me hope, I want to share what I hope for you.

I borrow words from F. Scott Fitzgerald:

“It’s never too late, or in your case too early, to be whoever you want to be. There’s no time limit. You can change or stay the same. There are no rules to this thing. You can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you’ve never felt before. I hope you meet people who have a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of, and if you’re not, I hope you have the courage to start over again.”

Haddonfield Memorial High School Class of 2022, congratulations!

Chuck Klaus,

Superintendent of Schools

DISTRICT NEWS

Summer Office Hours

Haddonfield School District buildings will operate on the following schedule during the summer months:

Monday to Friday June 27-July 1: 8:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

Tuesday to Thursday July 5-July 7: 7:30 a.m.-4:15 p.m.

Monday to Thursday July 11-August 18: 7:30 a.m.-4:15 p.m.

Monday to Friday August 22-August 26: 8:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

Building hours return to the normal Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. schedule on August 29. School starts September 6th. 2022-23 calendars are here.

HMHS Virtual "Wellness Room" Going Strong

Two years ago, Dean of Students Hamisi Tarrant suggested that HMHS should create a virtual "wellness room" for students who were experiencing periods of remote, hybrid, and in-person learning. His idea was to give students a place to go, even when they were at home and learning remotely, to access resources for anxiety, stress, and coping.

Once the idea took root, Student Assistance Counselor/Crisis Counselor Holly Penna was tasked with creating content, and students Shayne Ventura and Alex Roseman formatted the site on a Google platform. During year 2, Penna has maintained the site using content additions provided by many in- and out-of-district resources/people.

The site has proven both popular and helpful. Staff have used it as a resource, sending a link to various individuals during times of crisis, reaction, or reflection of current/recent events. Some teachers have explored the Wellness Room with their students in class and offered it as something to access when they are finished with their work. Often-used features are the coloring pages, games, mindful exercises, and the positive playlist.

"In its third year, I am confident that we will expand the Wellness Room's content, offering more and different opportunities for students to find relief from stress and anxiety," said Penna. "The Wellness Room is an important tool in our continued commitment to Social-Emotional Learning."

The Wellness Room can be found on the district's website. It offers crisis resources, meditation practices, the Positive Vibes Only playlist, Good News, employee resources, memes and posters, inspirational speeches, games, and podcasts. You may explore the Wellness Room here.

Holocaust Survivor Spoke to HMS Grade 8

On June 15th, HMS eighth-graders had the privilege of listening to Holocaust survivor Ruth Rosenfeld tell the story of her experience as a child in Poland during the Nazi regime. Rosenfeld came to speak to our students in part because two of the HMS students are her cousins.

Her story included her mother’s efforts to take care of her own parents and her father’s efforts to hide Rosenfeld, then aged two, and her older sister Helenka. Among other memories, Rosenfeld described hiding in a barrel of poppy seeds while Nazis poked their rifles into the barrels, looking for hidden Jews.

Both of her parents and grandparents were killed, but Rosenfeld and her sister were smuggled to a displaced persons camp in Czechoslovakia and were sent eventually to an orphanage in France. She described how important it was for the sisters to stay together as they were the only family they had, as far as they knew. (An uncle made contact with them decades later.)

In 1949, an American couple adopted both girls and brought them to Asbury Park, N.J.

Rosenfeld’s message to the HMS students was that, in spite of the horrors of her youth, she celebrates herself as a survivor, focuses on her strengths, and values the opportunity to always do the right thing.

PHOTO CAPTION: Ruth Rosenfeld and her sister, far right, hold hands at an orphanage in France.

Speaker describes a photo from the French orphanage.

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Frank DeLano Inducted into N.J. Football Coaches Hall of Fame

HMHS head football coach, Frank DeLano, was inducted into the New Jersey Football Coaches State Hall of Fame on Sunday, June 12th at Kean University. The ceremony was held at halftime of the North/South All-Star Game.

"This is a tremendous day for Haddonfield Football," said Director of Athletics Lefteris Banos. "This honor is truly a reflection of the past 20 years of work by Coach DeLano, his staff, all players (past and present), and our families."

For statistics, DeLano's career history, other positions, and past honors, please read his staff bio on the HMHS athletics website.

Free Resources in Support of Internet Safety

June is Internet Safety Month. We hope you can make use of these free resources.

District Job Opportunities

Please take a look at or share these employment opportunities on our website.

Environmental Science Club Tip

Embrace the Summer/Embrace the Planet

Bike to the market instead of drive.
Skip the packaging on that grocery store purchase and buy fresh, local and organic at the farmer's market.
Invest in some eco-friendly non-toxic sunblock (check out the Badger products).
Check out the evening firefly display in your backyard garden (or better yet join our summer firefly monitoring project here.
When August does come round and back-to-school shopping begins ... don't forget to check out the local thrift shop and seek out those eco-friendly school supplies.

Have a wonderfully sustainable summer!!