The Cinnaminson Board of Education held its monthly meeting on Nov. 12. Members discussed events going on around the school district, recognized American Education Week and highlighted recent student achievement from the middle and elementary schools.
“This week from Nov. 18 to Nov. 22 is American Education week,” said Superintendent Stephen Cappello. “I know we in Cinnaminson feel that we spend an awful lot of time saying thank you and appreciating the folks who are part of the team.
“Particularly this week is an opportunity to recognize that every child in the United States benefits from a quality public education and that’s thanks entirely in part to the people that make that possible.”
The superintendent also recognized students and teachers at the Cinnaminson Middle School who had a hand in the 7th Annual Take a Veteran to School Day. The event was a success, according to Cappello, and an excellent example of leadership from Cinnaminson students.
Eleanor Rush School Principal Kerry DiSimone updated the board about her students learning persuasive writing.
“The students in their social studies classes were learning about persuasive writing so they wrote letters to our Assemblywoman, Carol Murphy, (Congressman) Andy Kim and (Assemblyman) Troy Singleton to urge them to make cranberry juice the state juice,” said DiSimone.
“They got a letter back from Kim and his office had called to thank them. Singleton also reached out and said that he would like to visit and teach the students how a bill becomes a law.”
“On Thursday, Nov. 14, we received a letter from Murphy and she had actually wrote a bill to take to the state assembly to hopefully pass it into law,” DiSimone continued. “The students of Cinnaminson are actually noted in the bill. We are tracking it to see if it will actually go into fruition, but the kids are super excited.”
Outside of updates from each school, the board of education also discussed the superintendent’s 2019-2020 quantitative and qualitative merit goals. The first qualitative goal is for the superintendent to help develop and facilitate a live television production program at both Cinnaminson High School and Middle School. The superintendent will consult with teaching staff to ensure students have access to industry-standard equipment and learning activities.
The next qualitative goal relates to statistics from the National Education Association indicating that nearly 40 percent of teachers leave the profession within five years. The Learning Policy Institute cites a lack of administrative support as a reason, so the superintendent will take affirmative steps to be a consistent presence in the school by having at least one non-evaluated check in every class each month.
The three quantitative goals the superintendent described include training opportunities for staff members to ensure at least half of the staff is trained in youth mental health and first aid; building student-staff member relationships; and seeking shared services with the fire department, police and township to save taxpayer resources.
