The Mt. Laurel School District is diving deeper into the world of computers this year with a new computer science course for eighth-grade students at Harrington Middle School.
For the first time this fall, eighth graders will have the opportunity to take a computer-coding course that is part of the district’s STEM curriculum.
“They’ll be using code or program language to build websites and apps,” said Marie Reynolds, director of communications for the district. “It’s a hands-on program.”
Students will be using a web-based program called Code Academy. The program is free, so the new class will not cost the district any additional money.
Harrington will also be organizing a National Junior Honor Society for the first time this year. The new chapter is being organized with the help of Principal Kathleen Haines and members of the staff.
Students with a minimum GPA of 3.25 will be invited to join. The students will fill out an application similar to the one high school students fill out for National Honor Society.
“A panel of faculty members will look over those entries and select the students to be part of the chapter,” Reynolds said.
Right now, the honor society is in the early planning stages. A timeline has not been set on when applications will be due or when the first class will be inducted. More details are expected in the coming weeks.
Programs and classes won’t be the only new things coming to Mt. Laurel schools this fall. There will be a lot of new faces in the hallway across the school district as well.
Reynolds said the district had 36 new hires during its July board meeting alone. All new hires will be going through orientation this week.
Two assistant principals in the district are also moving up to principal. George Jackson is going from assistant principal at Harrington Middle School to principal at Larchmont Elementary School, and Marques Stanard is the new principal at Hartford School, moving up from the assistant principal position there.
The new faces will not just include staff members. Reynolds said the number of new enrollees has increased from previous years.
“We’re up over 200. Last year, we had 170 total for the summer,” she said. “We are looking at a number of new enrollees.”
The district is preparing to launch its extended kindergarten option for the first time this year. All elementary schools are dedicating one classroom to the new program. Children will attend extended kindergarten in the morning or afternoon, opposite their regularly scheduled class.
The district is wrapping up a number of capital improvement projects taking place this summer, most of which have already been completed, including the locker, door and window replacement at Harrington.
Projects at Larchmont Elementary School are still taking place since Camp Laurel, the district’s summer camp program, was using the building.
“This week was the last day of their day camp, but that ended on Wednesday,” Reynolds said. “They just have to put in a new partition for the all-purpose room.”
All projects will be completed for the first day of school. Students will report for the first day of classes on Sept. 4.
