Moorestown Township Public Schools Superintendent Timothy Rehm announced that the 2015–2016 school year calendar has been updated and the board approved those revisions at its meeting on Tuesday, April 21. Changes include school starting for all students Sept. 8, schools being open on Election Day, four snow make-up days and graduation on June 22, 2016.
These changes to the calendar were brought about by the many snow days that interfered with the students’ education as well as their spring recess the past two years. Last year, there were three days students had to come in during spring recess. This year, the schools were open during spring recess on Friday, April 10, where only 63 percent of students attended.
“We already had our calendar put together for next year. We got together, the MEA and administration, and looked at this asking, ‘How can we work toward revising this calendar without facing the same situation next year?’” Rehm said.
Members of the Moorestown Education Association, the district’s administration, parents, the township and the board worked together to expand the calendar.
The changes on the calendar include teachers coming in on Sept. 2 and 3; the district being closed Sept. 4; all students starting after Labor Day on Sept. 8, with special schedules for students who usually get a Transition Day; a full day of school on Election Day; four make-up snow days built into the calendar, rather than two; and graduation being moved a day forward to Wednesday, June 22, 2016.
With this new calendar, there are no instructional days lost, as all required student and teacher days are met, with 182 days for students and 185 days for teachers.
“We were very successful, and I thank the MEA, administration, parents, the township and the board for their input on this. We think we’ve come up with a solution to a potential problem. We feel we have a great calendar for next year,” Rehm said.
The board unanimously agreed to approve the revised calendar.
“I think it is a very good adjustment and incredibly thoughtful,” Board President Kathy Goldenberg said.
The revised calendar can be found at the MTPS website, www.mtps.com.
In other news:
• Former WAMS student Claire Kenny won the Cherry Hill Barnes & Noble “My Favorite Teacher Contest,” writing about language arts teacher Peg Valora.
• WAMS civics teacher Katie Dickstein was a runner-up in South Jersey Magazine’s “Top Teachers 2015.” She was nominated by eighth-grader Carlie MacMillan.
• Gavin Quinn, with an MA from Seton Hall University, was approved as the science supervisor for the district.
• MTPS plans to have a construction calendar and FAQ for the work being done on the schools as per the Building Excellence Referendum on the website that is broken up by school by May 1. At the May 19 public meeting, there will be a multi-media presentation on what is happening in each school over the summer months.
• The next MTPS Board of Education meeting will be May 19 at 7:30 p.m. at WAMS.
