Voorhees Township Public School officials reflect on the past year’s highs and lows.
Members of the Voorhees Township Public School district BOE on Aug. 30 reflected on the highs and lows of the 2016–2017 year, and cultivated paths toward improvements.
The district will be implementing Nutrislice, an online interactive program of schools’ breakfast and lunch menus, allowing nurses, parents and students to review ingredients, to avoid allergies. Hovering over specific foods, the system will cross out things that contain certain allergens.
A major installment to the district’s intervention strategies is the iReady software in grades two to five. This is a diagnostic program that allows instructors to access students in the beginning of the school year, thoroughly deconstructing students’ weaknesses, which, in due courses, cultivates individual plans for them.
“It’s going to be really important for us, as a school district, and at the individual school levels, to look at each individual student and see where they are and come up with a plan to make sure that we move them and grow them,” said Diane Young, the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.
Over the past three years, the district has been transitioning from a “pull-out” instructional model toward a “push-in” for the district’s Basic Skills, a remedial program mandated by the state Legislature that provides curriculum funding for students who fall below the state minimum standards in the basic skills areas of communication and computations.
With the new method, the Basic Skills teacher goes into the regular classroom to work with students who fall below the standards, rather than isolating them in small groups in a designated room.
“I feel that the whole classroom benefits from this teaching experience, because you have two teachers in a classroom,” said Kim Canfield, one of the three Basic Skills instructors at Osage Elementary School. “So you are reaching more students, more than just your Basic Skills students.”
Over the past year, registration for preschool-aged special education has increased. Of the 107 children referred, 66 were school-aged and 41 were pre-schoolers. Thirty percent of referred preschoolers were found eligible.
The special education department is facing an area of concern, particularly with these younger students. In a preschool outcome study that determines how well students in special education improved, the district only met one of six targets, which could be attributed to the fact that the Voorhees Township Public Schools have more children with language barriers and developmental delays than any other district in the area.
“We still need some work, but we have the best people working with our most disabled kids,” said Dr. Elaine Hill, director of special services.
Special education instructors are stressing their focus on autism, continuing to participate in the STAR program — Strategies for Teaching based on Autism Research.
In the 2016–2017 school year, the Voorhees district outperformed the state in the PARCC assessments, which determine if students are fostering the fundamentals for college and careers.
Voorhees elementary and middle schools outscored the state in mathematics for all grade levels. Eighty percent of Algebra 1 students scored at level four, with the state only reaching 36.9 percent in the same category.
Similar results were recorded for English/language arts, as grades three to eight all outscored the state in levels four and five. In one case, 21 percent of fifth graders in the district scored at level 5 for, with the state only reaching 10.7 percent in the same category.
In other news:
• Young was recognized for her 26 years with the district, holding a multitude of positions, including teacher, principal and vice principal.
• Denise Kirkland was also honored by the state for serving 20 years on the Board of Education.
• The NJ Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act requires each district to follow an assessment regarding harassment, intimidation and bullying. From July 1, 2016 through June 30, the district scored 75.6 out of 78. In that time frame, 25 investigations for harassment, intimidation and bullying were recorded throughout district. Eight of those cases were affirmed, which is a decrease from the previous school year.
• After 40 or so years, the district installed air conditioning at the middle school gym. New carpeting has been done throughout the district, as well.
“The youngsters have to like to come to school. The better the facility is, the more they like to come,” Superintendent Raymond J Brosel Jr said.
