Township school Superintendent Michael Volpe is prepared for the new school year.
“We’re excited to be implementing a new literacy program that Dr. (Karen) Benton rolled out last year in our K to 5 program,” he said. “We think that’s going to be a way to more specifically target students’ skills in progress and make better gains in literacy over time.”
“There’s always some new things going on in the district, but that’s a major one, because that’s happening for all of our students, K through 5.”
Volpe joined the district last December and shared his plans for the 2022-’23 school year.
“My superintendent’s goals for this year include trying to work on closing achievement and opportunity gaps for students,” he noted, “whether that’s by gender or race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status … We know that some students perform better in some areas than others.”
“We know that some students have more opportunities than others depending on when they get involved in certain programs,” Volpe continued, “and what we want to do is, we want to make sure that we have success for all of our students.”
Volpe emphasized that not all students get the same benefit from township schools.
“Everybody always speaks about the great experience that students going through Moorestown have, and they indeed do,” he reasoned. “But is it for 100 percent of our students? We want to make sure that we are closing all achievement and opportunity gaps, so that when all students are done in Moorestown, that everybody says it’s a great opportunity.”
A second goal of Volpe’s is to improve school safety and security measures and procedures.
“In the wake of everything that’s been happening in our nation, I want to take some measures,” he explained.
Volpe gave a superintendent school safety and security presentation to the board of education at its Aug. 16 meeting. Highlights include common training throughout the district, annual retraining moving forward, updated and improved drilling and improved internal communication in a potential crisis situation.
“My third goal for this year is to develop a spirit of inclusiveness and display that throughout our schools,” Volpe noted. “I want everybody to feel that they’re a part of the Moorestown public school system, regardless as to where they live or who they are or what they look like.”
Volpe noted that he would like to reestablish the school district’s connections with the community.
“One of the simple ways that we’re looking to do that is, we’re excited that we’re going to be having our back-to-school nights in person this year at all buildings,” he continued, “so that parents can come into the schools and check things out and reconnect.”
“ … It’s time to take another step on that road back to normal,” the superintendent added, “with in-person schooling, reconnecting and establishing relationships so that every student in Moorestown can look back on their schooling years and think, ‘Wow, what a great place that was.’”
To view Volpe’s entire presentation, visit mtps.com.
