2024-01-22 - RPS E-News

Somerville students Aiden Kim, Willow Geraghty, Kavin Koirala, Lauren Krempel, Alexandra Salerno, Alexander Selem, Samuel Saltiel, and Aditya Singh presented on the school's One School One Book program that kicked off this month. Principal Dr. Lorna Oates-Santos along with teachers and student council ambassadors Ross Dembin and Kate Bielicky introduced the students. Somerville students in grades K to 5th will all read Big Tree by Brian Selznick and participate in book-themed activities throughout the month, including a tree-themed scavenger hunt, trivia questions, tree plantings and more. Thank you, Somerville, for that wonderful presentation!

Sarah Bronstein - RHS Student

(Starts at 49:26 )

• Ugly sweater competition before the break. Winners got gift cards to various places in town.
• Karaoke Fridays in the Campus Center which is a great way to start the day and weekend.
• 2023 alumni presentation shared with seniors about the first semester of college.
• National Honor Society collected $300 to purchase gifts for children at Valley Hospital.
• Quiz Bowl had several successful meets. The second tournament is coming soon and they hope to make it to Nationals.
• The Chinese Club celebrated the Chinese Winter Solstice.
• Girls Who Code Club went to the Google office in NYC
• Interact Club had a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day event, helping with the special presentations at the Ridgewood United Methodist Church.
• Midterms are coming up on January 25th through 30th. Many supportive events in town, including pizza nights at the Ridgewood Public Library.
• Each Concert Block had their shows. Senior directors did an amazing job. Record amount of performers and shows.
• DECA Competition had their district competition, resulting in many state qualifiers.
• Maroon and White concert was held last week.
• Girls and Boys Basketball had games dedicated to Morgan's Message.
• Boys Basketball has an 11-2 record!
• Recently, the boys and girls basketball teams had teacher appreciation nights, where each player honored a teacher they chose to thank at the game.
• Hockey Coach Mike Lucchessi scored his 200th career win with our program.
• First Annual Flag Football Tournament raised funds for football scholarships in memory of Preston Scott and donations to the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention.
• The swim teams are both doing well, placing second in the Bergen County Meet of Champions and at the Bergen County Relay Invitational, the girls won and the boys placed second.

Presentation starts at 1:01:35

Lerch, Vinci & Higgins, LLP Partner and Auditor Andrew Parenti gave a presentation of the annual report before the board on the audit of the 2022-2023 school year. Two reports were shared and discussed: the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and the Auditor's Management Report, which includes findings and recommendations.

• Next Superintendent Coffee is February 8th.
• A ThoughtExchange was sent to our community and shared with the Village. All Ridgewood residents are invited to participate in the survey (or see QR Code at right).
• Memorandum with local law enforcement was reviewed and approved. We are happy to have the support and partnership of our Ridgewood law enforcement team.
• High Impact Tutoring grant was successful, we were approved, and are awarding a vendor the contract. The vendor was selected via the RFP process. The program will focus on our current third and fourth graders who we believe were most academically affected by the COVID situation.
• New format with policy documents - now, each document has track changes shown and Strauss Esmay Associates, LLP guidance is also included. These documents are now shown on our website.

Conference attendances were approved.

The Board approved the:

• Receipt of Suspensions and Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB) Reports
• NJSBA Board Recognition Month resolution
• Annual Review of the Memorandum of Agreement Between the Ridgewood Public School District and the Ridgewood Police Department
• Contract Extension of Special Education Counsel
• Contract Extension of General Board Counsel

Revision to 2024 Regular Public Meeting Dates was amended to add a November 4, 2024 meeting date and then approved as amended.

• The Board approved the Field Trips listed on Attachment B of the agenda.
• The Board approved Additional Community School Courses for the 2023-2024 School Year as listed in Attachment C of the agenda.
• The Board approved revisions to Previously Approved Community School Courses for the 2023-2024 School Year as listed on Agenda D of the agenda.

Retirees

Somerville Principal Dr. Lorna Oates-Santos congratulated Kindergarten teacher Theresa Ross for her 35 years of service, her mentorship, and dedication. Superintendent Schwarz also thanked Ms. Ross for her years of service.

Superintendent Schwarz also congratulated Lisbeth Jerejian for her 25 years at Benjamin Franklin Middle School as a teacher for Special Education Resource/Inclusion.

Thank you to both of our retirees for contributing to the Ridgewood Public Schools "Tradition of Excellence".

A complete list of approvals can be found in the Finance section of the agenda.

Donations- Thank you to:

• Ridgewood Alpine Race Team Inc. - $8,799.31 to be used to pay the coaching salary.
• Somerville - Hawes Dad’s Night - 3,656 gift in kind of a Promethean Board for Somerville Elementary School.
  
• Hawes Home and School Association - $18,000 t be used to pay for field trips that support curriculum at Hawes Elementary School.
  
• Ridgewood High School Band Association, Inc. - $4,521.30 to be used to pay subsidize stipends for the RHS band trip to California (2 teacher chaperones and 1 nurse)
  
• Ridgewood Lacrosse Association - $850 to be used towards partial payment of the annual HUDL expense (video editing).
  
• The Valley Hospital - $3,000 to be used for Super Science Saturday events.
  

The Board approved the payment of bills as listed in the agenda.

The Board added and voted to uphold an HIB determination.

• Lunar New Year celebration for the Year of the Dragon will be held on February 4th from 2 to 5pm. The event is a town-wide celebration with cultural performances, food, raffles, and more. Tickets are available at ridgewoodAAPI.org.
• Jamboree is coming - come set sail with Jamboree on the evenings of February 8th, 9th, and 10th.
• Friends of Music concert is this Friday, January 26th at 7:00pm at George Washington Middle School.
• Super Science Saturday - Save the date! March 2nd from 9:00am to 1:30pm at Ridgewood High School.

• Fields Committee - At the January 9th meeting, the committee discussed the turf fields remediation and the work with the Army Corp of Engineers. The Village Manager has applied for funds via the Water Act. Master Library was also discussed. Next meeting is on February 6th at 7:00am via Zoom.
• Communications Committee - the committee did not meet, however members of the committee did take part in the State of the Schools Community Committee to discuss topics and questions that parents would like answered. The District is aiming for early March to distribute the survey.
• Village Safety Committee - continues to look at the sidewalk safety throughout the town.

• Policy Committee consideration - Can this committee look at the selection process for the Board President and Vice President and consider an alternate selection process, maybe rotation.

The minutes of the December 18, 2023 meeting were approved.

February 12, 2024 Regular Public Meeting

March 4, 2024 Regular Public Meeting

Federated HSA announces the 2024 Wizards games double header at RHS on Sunday, February 25th at 2:00pm and 6:00pm. Tickets go on sale on Tuesday, January 30th at 7:00pm. Stay tuned for ticket-buying details! Tickets are $25 each and each sale will have a six-ticket maximum.