Superintendent Corner
Last school year, our school district embarked on a journey to create a formal strategic plan. This plan, created by parents, students, and educators from around the district, became the foundation for the direction of the district for the next three to five years. The first year of the plan’s implementation has seen a number of outstanding accomplishments and significant progress made. Here are some items from the strategic plan that have either been accomplished in the 2017-18 school year or items for which significant progress has been made:
CTE Grant Year Two Implementation
- The development of the Spartan School of Business and Finance has been outstanding. We once again have over 30 students enrolled in that program for next school year. The newly established relationships with the Department of Labor and Georgian Court University makes this a strong program of study. The Spartan School of Technology was developed and will see its first class next school year with over 25 students. A partnership was developed with NJIT for this program. We also continue to make progress on an eventual Spartan School of Visual and Performing Arts for 2019-20.
Wonders Reading Program Implementation
- Still going strong. Students are more engaged in the reading and writing process. Teachers are implementing more project-based learning into their classrooms.
Educational Technology Integration
- We have all of these Chromebooks but are we using them most effectively in the classroom? This school year we continued to see a transformation of instruction district wide due to the professional development that we have provided along with the addition of key personnel. The addition of the elementary OTHS technology specialists and the increased role of the media specialists is starting to transform instruction. We look forward to an educational technology specialist at TOIS next school year.
School Security
- We have tightened up practices in number of areas. Meetings were held at each school to discuss security with parents. We have increased our counseling presence at OTHS with the addition of a full-time Student Assistance Counselor. The Board of Education approved Class III officers for the 2018-19 school year, click
here
for more information.
Referendum
- Finally completed. The new facilities speak for themselves. Students utilize these facilities every day. The facilities enable us to enhance the educational experience for students.
New Schedule at TOIS
- A new block schedule will be implemented at TOIS in 2018-19. This alternating day block will enable teachers and students to more fully engage in project-based learning and authentic assessment.
