Clinton Township Newsletter

CLINTON TOWNSHIP SCHOOL NEWS www.ctsd.k12.nj.us A L e t t e r f r o m Dr. Drucilla Clark, Superintendent of Schools "Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance." –Samuel Johnson Dear Parents and Community Members: One of the questions the community has inquired about is what goes on in Board of Education Committee meetings. I can easily say they are very active. There are multiple committees including: Facilities and Finance, Curriculum and Policy, Personnel and Negotiations, and Communications, and there is also currently an Ad Hoc Safety and Security Committee. working on a new three-year contract. The Ad Hoc Security Committee has made a number of recommendations to the Board and many of these were incorporated into the school district's 2013-2014 budget. In fact, you will Follow Dr. Clark see changes in the buildings as we move this work forward on Twitter! @ct_sd this summer. The Committee Chair and the Superintendent of Schools set the agenda, with additional input from the other committee members. There are only four Board of Education members on each committee because you cannot have a quorum. The discussion topics include Board Agenda items that must be voted on and recommendations from the committee, as well as discussions about current decisions the administration is considering regarding programs, textbooks, materials, hiring, contract negotiations and policies. The Committee Chair reports out at the regular Board meeting and includes recommendations. Usually, a full Board discussion takes place at the Open session after that report. What most people do not know is that the Board members meet mostly in the evenings, after they and the administrators finish their day's work. The Superintendent attends all committee meetings. The Director of Curriculum is at all Curriculum meetings, the Business Administrator is at all Finance and Facilities meetings and other administrators attend as needed. The demands on a Board of Education member's time are great. Most members are on multiple committees and so it is not just the responsibility of attending one board meeting each month, but committee meetings at night as well. As Superintendent, I can honestly say that we have a Board of Education fully committed to the students in our community. They all take their responsibility and office very seriously. Recently, the Facilities and Finance Committee met and discussed the Architect's recommendations on security measures, as well as insurance coverage, the Extended School Year Program and motions to place some monies into capital and maintenance reserves. Curriculum has been working on the new teacher evaluation system and understanding the ramifications to the district and changing legislation, as well as discussion about the online student support program, Study Island and the need to promote its use among parents and students. The Communication Committee has just completed a survey on this Newsletter asking what type of information the community would be interested in hearing about, one of which being Board committee meetings. The Personnel and Negotiations Committee is currently spending many nights with the teaching staff CTSD is conducting a survey to determine the types of information our community would like to read regarding our school district in the Clinton Township Newsletter. We value the opinions and views of the members of our school I N O UR S Board of Education members are elected to non-paid positions. They are volunteers in the community. It can be a challenging job. So, please take a moment and thank all our public servants throughout the Township. So many of our town members volunteer their time on behalf of the Clinton Township schools and community. It is important to let them know they are all appreciated. We thank them for their contributions. Sincerely, Dr. Drucilla Clark, Superintendent, Clinton Township As always, any additional questions may be sent to the Superintendent, Dr. Clark at: dclark@ctsd.k12.nj.us community and invite you to share your thoughts by taking a short survey. To access the survey, please copy and paste the following link into your browser: www.surveymonkey.com/s/TCGMDKZ. Survey closes on June 30, 2013. SCHOOLS: Spruce Run School Thank you to the Clinton Township Foundation for Educational Excellence for providing Spruce Run School with a grant that enabled our staff and students to collaborate with the Hunterdon Art Museum to bring an artist in residence to our school. First grade students worked with the artist resident to create a project based on Leo Lionni. Kindergarteners took inspiration from the work of Eric Carle. Preschool students looked at the work of Lois Ehlert. Each student created a puzzle piece that was displayed as a mural in the All Purpose Room. Spruce Run School participated in the districtwide food collection for the Open Cupboard Food Pantry, and our SRS students donated canned fruits and vegetables that the Pantry needed. Our school was divided into two teams for a friendly competition, and staff members volunteered to represent each team. The team that collected less food would have to kiss a cow! Team White collected 408 items and Team Red collected 447 items. These donations equaled a total of 801 pounds of food! Wow! Ms. Fuhrman, our nurse, Mr. Alfano, our PE teacher, and Mrs. Sidbury, our enrichment teacher, all represented the White Team, and had to kiss the cow! Mr. Ruttenberg, our counselor, and Ms. Tanis, our music teacher, who represented the Red Team, were so impressed with the donations that they decided to also kiss the cow. To show her appreciation to all of the students and staff, even Mrs. Goad, our principal, kissed the cow! A special thank you to one of our kindergarten teachers, Mrs. Ferri, and her family for providing the cow. Thank you to everyone who so generously donated to help people in our community! C T S D M i ss i o n S t a t e m e n t : The Clinton Township School District, in partnership with the community, achieves excellence for each child by ensuring a meaningful and challenging educational experience in a supportive environment, developing life-long learners who are responsible and productive citizens. 1 2 www.ClintonTwpNewsletter.com J u n e 2 0 1 3

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