Dr. Robert J. Fisicaro is proud of how well everyone in the district has worked together to make each year a success.
By Krystal Nurse
The Sun
Big changes are coming to the Mantua Township School District, and Superintendent Robert Fisicaro is excited to see them get put in place and learn about the positive impact they will have on the district from sixth-grade students all the way down to preschoolers.
“We created an early childhood building, so now all of our kids who are in preschool and kindergarten are all at Sewell School,” Fisicaro said. “All of our grades one through three are at Centre City School, and all of our four through six are at J. Mason Tomlin School.”
Fisicaro says having the district change how students are grouped together has helped teachers collaborate and communicate with their colleagues who teach the same grades. But the process didn’t occur overnight.
“The board of education announced these changes in the 2016–2017 school year. In 2017–2018, our transition team worked hard to make sure arrangements and preparations were made,” Fisicaro said. “We also have a contract with Clearview Regional School District for transportation, so we did a lot of prep work with them because a lot of the transportation routes needed to change and be adjusted.”
Additionally, Mantua Township School District was awarded the 2018 National District of Character — an award given to districts who exemplify character education — at the end of the 2017–2018 school year. Mantua was one of four districts in the country to receive the honor, and Fisicaro says it largely comes from classroom lessons.
“Twice a week, students learn in what is called an ‘advisory period,’ which are 30-minute periods focusing specifically on development, and then we try to embed our 10 core virtues (wisdom, integrity, self-control, fairness, courage, positive attitude, respect, humility, friendship, and service) throughout everything we do in the remaining time at the school,” Fisicaro added.
In possibly the biggest change, the district has submitted an application to the state, through Gov. Murphy’s Preschool Education Expansion Aid, to transition its morning preschool program into a free, full-day session.
“There were two ways of entering our pre-k program right now, one, if you’re classified as special education with any speech delays or a disability, you can come to our half-day program for free; if not, two, you come at a tuition, about $3,000 a year, then we have a pre-k child care program called pre-k extended day, and it was also tuition-based,” Fisicaro said.
Some parents, he added, will be signing their kids up to both a morning session and extended day. If the district is approved, it can add full-day preschool care at virtually no cost to parents. Transportation details are still being worked out, and the district will be notified on or around Oct. 1 if the state approved it.
Nearly everyone in the district, Fisicaro said, is optimistic on the application getting approved, and the only challenge they see come up is implementing it in the middle of the school year to class lists, rooms and other things. But, in his opinion, the potential benefits of the new program outweigh the implementation challenge.
Those interested in signing up for preschool or the new program will still only be required to have a child who is 4 years old, and resides in Mantua.
As for the safety of the students, staff and faculty, Fisicaro says the district has made security enhancements since last year, and they’re committed to adding more in the near future.
“Since last year, we’ve improved every school’s visitor entry process with a vetting procedure and enhanced interior classroom door locks for protections during lockdown drills,” Fisicaro said. “We’ve added a school resource officer from Mantua Township Police to assist with security, are obtaining strips for windows without built-in safety wires and added mobile safety kits in the event of a medical emergency.”
Fisicaro adds the board of education and the district’s Safety Committee are looking to reconfiguring vestibule areas of each school, adding more security protocols to visitor entries, improving the Administration Building, as well as formulating a district-wide safety communication plan.
As a superintendent, Fisicaro adds that in his time in Mantua, he considers himself to be lucky to work with a committed group of people on the board of education, parents, teachers and students.
“I focus my contributions in influencing educators, parents and students and understanding that it’s possible to reach for a very high standard of excellence, while also developing positive, meaningful relationships and impacting others,” Fisicaro said.
