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End of Year Update on District Goals
While the last day of school, promotions and graduations are now behind us, I write to you today on what is actually the final day of the 2020-2021 academic year. When the calendar flips to July 1, we will officially move to the 2021-2022 school year. On that eve of that transition, I would like to share with you the end of year presentation I made last night (6/29/21) to the Board of Education. Click headline to view the presentation and for more information.
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Student Awards
We are happy to announce 3 student awards; 1) NJSIAA Award - Tanner Kleinberg, 2) 11th grader's manuscript accepted to Research Journal - Caroline Joo and 3) 10th grader wins NJ Science Day Competition - Arielle Huang. Congratulations to all! Click headline for more information.
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Mr. Andrew Seltzer - Newest Member of the BOE
The newest member of the Ramsey Board of Education is Andrew Seltzer, who was appointed May 25 to fill a vacancy. Mr. Seltzer is a 10-year resident of Ramsey and the father of two children in 3rd and 8th grades. Mr. Seltzer was previously active in both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, and he coached soccer and softball teams. When a seat opened on the Board, he saw the opportunity to further contribute to the Ramsey community, and to nourish and support its school district. He refers to himself as a left-right brain academic whose professional experiences have made him broadly versed in operational and financial business disciplines. He will dive right into learning how a Board of Education works as a team, and how state regulations and laws prescribe decision-making. One of his overarching goals is to help the Ramsey staff grow even stronger. Mr. Seltzer is self-employed as a consultant for the art realm. The Board term to which he was appointed expires January 2022.
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Defenses of Learning Highlighted in National Newsletter
Our district was recently highlighted in Envision Learning Partners May newsletter. They wrote, "The Ramsey School District, in New Jersey, made impressive advances in its performance assessment system this year, building out its “Profile Projects” and defenses of learning for seniors, all explicitly aligned to the Profile of the Ramsey Graduate. In this project, ELP was thrilled to collaborate with the guru of Understanding by Design, Jay McTighe." Click here for the full article.
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Cancellation of 2021 NJSLA
The United States Department of Education (USED) recently informed the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) that the administration of Start Strong assessments in fall 2021 will satisfy the federal statewide assessment requirement for the 2020-21 school year. Therefore, there will be no spring 2021 administration of the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments (NJSLA). The Start Strong assessments will be administered in fall 2021 to all students in English Language Arts (ELA) grades 4-10, Mathematics grades 4-8, Algebra I, Geometry and Algebra II, and in Science grades 6, 9, and 12. These assessments will be administered in person from September 13, 2021 through October 22, 2021. I will provide more detailed information as it is available about the schedule and duration of these assessments.
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Stepping Stones 2021
Despite the difficulties that these past 14 months have thrown at us, the Ramsey School District is dedicated to providing enriching experiences for our learners, and we would like to continue this in the Summer of 2021. As we have said many times throughout this past year, in Ramsey “our vision is not canceled.” We would like to provide an additional opportunity for students to accelerate their learning by continuing to build upon their skills and knowledge. As such, we would like to offer a two-week, in-person educational program called Stepping Stones for incoming students in Grades 1-8 that will provide further opportunities for extension and growth. Click headline for more information.
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Achieving Excellence One Student at a Time
Brandon Hwang (Class of 2022) has been accepted to two very prestigious programs for rising seniors: the Henry Clay High School Student Congress and the New Jersey Scholars Program. Congratulations to Brandon on these amazing accomplishments! We are so proud of you and know that you will represent Ramsey well. Click headline for more information.
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New Jersey Youth Art Month
March is designated as New Jersey Youth Art Month (#NJYAM) and there is a lot of good news to share about the Visual and Performing Arts at Ramsey High School. This Winter, 35 Ramsey music students participated in the inaugural NJ State Solo and Ensemble Festival, sponsored by Arts Ed NJ, one of the state’s most prominent advocacy groups for arts education in NJ Schools. The Solo and Ensemble festival was launched to recognize student achievement in music education, and it has provided an alternate way for many of the state’s best musicians to gain recognition which otherwise would have come through acceptance to region and state honor ensembles, which had to be cancelled this year because of the pandemic. Click headline for more information.
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Updated Travel Guidance
New Jersey strongly discourages all non-essential interstate travel at this time. However, click headline for additional important information.
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Our Vision is Not Canceled (DECA & Art)
As we like to say, "Our Vision is Not Cancelled" due to the difficulties of hybrid and remote learning. Our teachers and students continue to do amazing work in and out of the classroom. As evidence of this, just recently we had many students excel in DECA competitions while other students had their art selected for display at upcoming county and state exhibitions. Please click headline to read about these achievements.
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Dater School - Science Instruction Presentation
Tuesday night's presentation was about science Instruction at Dater School. Mrs. Falcone, Supervisor of Science, opened the presentation with an overview of the science standards including an emphasis on the use of real-world phenomenon as opportunities for students to make sense of the world through science. Grade 4 teachers Mrs. Davidson and Ms. Calendrillo then highlighted the use of interactive notebooks as an instructional tool in science class. This was followed by a presentation on Data Talks in Grade 5 Science. Teachers Mrs. Gesualdo and Ms. Thomson explained how Data Talks give students the opportunity to grow in their data literacy skills as they are asked to read, interpret, and analyze various data which might come in the form of graphs, pictures, videos, or numerical data sets. Finally, Dr. Dinning, Mrs. Khoury (Enrichment teacher), and Mr. Quinlan (Special Education teacher) gave an overview of the two new extracurricular offerings focused on science: the Lego Engineering Club and the STEM Wow! Fair. Click headline for more information.
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Wellness Presentation to Board of Education
At the February 23, 2021 BOE meeting, there was a Wellness Presentation. Discussed was 1) New Wellness Approaches at Ramsey High School and 2) Universal Depression Screening at both Smith School and Ramsey High School. Click headline for more information.
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National Eating Disorder Awareness Week
Thank you to Ramsey High School student, Sarah Rizzi for creating this public service announcement about eating disorders. Her goal is to educate reduce the stigma to make the world a more comfortable place to ask for help. Click headline for more information.
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Ramsey's Board of Education Earns Certification
Ramsey School District has reached an uncommon pinnacle of achievement, not by students this time but by the people elected to serve them and the community. Ramsey’s Board of Education has achieved board certification from the New Jersey School Boards Association. The complex process can be considered in-depth training for volunteers, taking what the state already mandates for school board members and pushing it to a higher level. “Certification is not an easy or required path, but we approached it strategically because of its many benefits,” said Laura Behrmann, who was elected to a fifth term as board president on Jan. 5. “It has made us a more informed Board of Education, which will make us a more effective Board of Education.” Click headline for more information.
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New Business Exploratory Course at Smith School
Tuesday night's Board of Education presentation highlighted the new exploratory courses at the middle school and demonstrated how this new course fits into our district goals and our vision of what a middle school should be. The video features Smith School Principal, Mr. Herre, K-8 Supervisor Christine Davis, new Supervisor of Mathematics and Business Education Melissa Cruz, and new Business Teacher Adam Baiera. They will present on the new Business exploratory at the middle school with each grade level having a unique course. In Grade 6 the course is called Introduction to Money, Grade 7 is Saving and Investing, and Grade 8 is Personal Finance. Click headline for more information and video.
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School Calendar Information, Date Changes for All-Virtual Wednesdays & Next Window for Switching Instructional Model
Click headline for information pertaining to the 2021-22 & 2022-23 School Calendars, Changes to Dates for All-Virtual Wednesdays, Next Window for Switching Instructional Model, and Update on the 20-21 School Calendar.
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Know the Facts - Legalization of Marijuana Presentation
Legalization of Marijuana: Know the Facts Wednesday, February 24th, 2021 Via Zoom 7:30 PM Registration is required at: RamseyMunicipalAlliance@gmail.com. Click headline for more information.
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School Calendar Information
Click headline for information on the 2020-2021 school calendar, as well as drafts of the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school year calendars. The intent is to approve the future calendars at the January 26 Board of Education meeting. If you would like to give input, please feel free to email the Board of Education (boe@ramsey.k12.nj.us) by January 22.
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Message from Board of Education President - Laura Behrmann
I never thought my role as Board of Education president would require so much knowledge about public health, but here we are. Big thanks goes to our staff, our students and their parents. We’re counting on all of them to make the next six months something special. As a mom, I’ve had to lower my expectations this school year. Dinner isn’t always timely, nutritious, or harmonious. Sometimes I fall short of adequate sleep; sometimes I snap when I shouldn’t. Everyone is making concessions to COVID, by intention or not. Thankfully, in Ramsey, our grounding comes from the competencies outlined in the Profile of a Ramsey Graduate and infused in everything we do. In this unusual year, I believe those goals and achievements are even more important. Adaptability, Empathy, Self-Direction, Creativity … It’s as if we drew up a list of universally applicable traits and aimed for them (and that’s exactly what we did!) as a way to help our students navigate whatever their future holds..Click headline for more information.
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Performing Arts in the Time of COVID
At the December Board of Education meeting, Mr. Ken Veit gave a presentation on the state of the Performing Arts in the Ramsey School District (see video below). Traditionally, December in the Ramsey School District means that it is time for concerts, school sings, and other musical celebrations. Unfortunately, this year these annual events are not possible due to safety concerns regarding COVID-19. That does not mean, however, that the performing arts are not alive and well in our schools. This year the performing arts staff has worked hard to deliver safe, quality, and creative instruction to our students throughout the district. More than ever, our Ramsey students and staff have demonstrated great ADAPTABILITY throughout this pandemic. Click headline for more information.
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