Post by andrewd on Apr 7, 2009 10:11:57 GMT -5
Just a brief recap of last night's BOE meeting...
First off, it was Graduation night for the 2009 class of the Citizen's Academy. Participation was fantastic again this year as we saw a number of parents and community members go through the courses (6 roughly 2 our sessions over about a 3 month period) which discuss the various areas of our schools, how they are run, the curriculum we have in place, and of course, how we pay for it all. The couple of folks that I was able to talk to about their experience told me that it was very informative, "eye opening" and definitely worth the effort. The more the folks in town can become educated as to the way the schools are run, the better they can keep tabs on the job that the BOE and administrators are doing, which leads to a more active public, and a better run school system...which obviously benefits everyone.
Congratulations to all of this years graduates!!
We also had a presentation from the Future Problem Solvers team that just came in 2nd place at the State Finals. I can not stress enough how impressive it is to see what these young students have to engage themselves in when they are in these competitions. For those who don't know, Future Problem Solvers are given a theoretical problem that is taking place sometime in the future. They then have to go through a 6 step process to formulate resolutions to the problem, widdle those choices down to one final solution and then actually act out a skit displaying their solution.
That description does not even give the full program anywhere near the justice it deserves. First off all, I was blown away by the complexity of the problems that these young students are given. Then to hear that they have to come up with 16-17 different solutions to that problem...the level of detail is so amazing that I can't find the words.
Sufficed to say, our students came in 2nd place at the State Finals and have therefore won the opportunity to go to the International Finals at Michigan State University at the end of May.
Incredible job, and tremendous Congratulations to these amazing young students.
Beyond that....it was business as usual for the meeting.
We approved the 2nd reading of a number of different policies, most of which were technical changes mandated by the state (for example, the Superintendent is now called the CSA - Chief School Administrator, so our policies have to reflect that)
We also approved a resolution approving submission of an application to participate in the Local Government Energy Audit Program. Essentially, someone is going to do an energy audit to help us find ways to save on energy costs. There is also the possibility of getting some funding in order to help us make these changes, but in order to qualify for the funding, you have to go through the audit first.
There were various other items on the agenda (which can still be found at this link boe.freeholdboro.k12.nj.us/ ) but the other big item was that we accepted the resignation of the Principal at FLC. As Brian has posted elsewhere on this site, the district has put out word to get a parents committee together in order to help with the interview process for a new principal.
If there are any questions, just let me know, and I will do what I can to answer them.
First off, it was Graduation night for the 2009 class of the Citizen's Academy. Participation was fantastic again this year as we saw a number of parents and community members go through the courses (6 roughly 2 our sessions over about a 3 month period) which discuss the various areas of our schools, how they are run, the curriculum we have in place, and of course, how we pay for it all. The couple of folks that I was able to talk to about their experience told me that it was very informative, "eye opening" and definitely worth the effort. The more the folks in town can become educated as to the way the schools are run, the better they can keep tabs on the job that the BOE and administrators are doing, which leads to a more active public, and a better run school system...which obviously benefits everyone.
Congratulations to all of this years graduates!!
We also had a presentation from the Future Problem Solvers team that just came in 2nd place at the State Finals. I can not stress enough how impressive it is to see what these young students have to engage themselves in when they are in these competitions. For those who don't know, Future Problem Solvers are given a theoretical problem that is taking place sometime in the future. They then have to go through a 6 step process to formulate resolutions to the problem, widdle those choices down to one final solution and then actually act out a skit displaying their solution.
That description does not even give the full program anywhere near the justice it deserves. First off all, I was blown away by the complexity of the problems that these young students are given. Then to hear that they have to come up with 16-17 different solutions to that problem...the level of detail is so amazing that I can't find the words.
Sufficed to say, our students came in 2nd place at the State Finals and have therefore won the opportunity to go to the International Finals at Michigan State University at the end of May.
Incredible job, and tremendous Congratulations to these amazing young students.
Beyond that....it was business as usual for the meeting.
We approved the 2nd reading of a number of different policies, most of which were technical changes mandated by the state (for example, the Superintendent is now called the CSA - Chief School Administrator, so our policies have to reflect that)
We also approved a resolution approving submission of an application to participate in the Local Government Energy Audit Program. Essentially, someone is going to do an energy audit to help us find ways to save on energy costs. There is also the possibility of getting some funding in order to help us make these changes, but in order to qualify for the funding, you have to go through the audit first.
There were various other items on the agenda (which can still be found at this link boe.freeholdboro.k12.nj.us/ ) but the other big item was that we accepted the resignation of the Principal at FLC. As Brian has posted elsewhere on this site, the district has put out word to get a parents committee together in order to help with the interview process for a new principal.
If there are any questions, just let me know, and I will do what I can to answer them.
