Clinton Township Newsletter

1 0 d e c e m b e r 2 0 2 5 W W W . C L I N T O N T W P N E W S L E T T E R . C O M www.ctsdnj.org www.ctsdnj.org I N O U R S C H O O L S : Meet Our New Mascot! We're excited to introduce our new school mascot—the bear cub! Students and staff have enthusiastically embraced this adorable symbol of our school community. C L I N T O N T O W N S H I P S C H O O L N E W S Spruce Run Preschool Spruce Run Celebrates New Accessible Playground! Spruce Run was thrilled to celebrate the grand opening of our new handicapped accessible playground! Students, staff, and CTSD administration were joined by special guests Stephen Goldman from the Department of Education, and Nancy Bowne, Constituent Services Director from the offices of Assembly Members Mitchelle Drulis and Roy Freiman. We are deeply grateful to the Department of Community Affairs for making this playground possible through their generous grant. In New Jersey, there are a lot of great school districts, but it is always exciting when the district you support with your tax dollars and pride gets recognized on a larger scale. This was the case for Clinton Township School District at the New Jersey School Boards Association Conference. First thing in the morning, one of our part-time lunch and recess aides, Ruth Krysinski, who has been a part of CTSD since the 70s, either as a parent or connected as an employee, was recognized as an Unsung Hero. These awards were created to recognize the contributions of staff who do not always get the spotlight, but make a huge impact on students and our daily operations. Then, two of our teachers were invited to present with the State Sustainable Jersey organization on our food waste audit we did at Round Valley School, which was replicated at CTMS. The presentation was led by our own Hunterdon County teacher of the year, Caroline Mann, and another district teacher of the year, Ronda Ferri. At lunch, our whole district was celebrated as a New Jersey Sustainable School. Round Valley School achieved Silver —the highest designation —with 385 points. Spruce Run Preschool, Clinton Township Middle School, and Patrick McGaheran School all achieved Bronze status. Only 15% of the schools in the state are certified, and only 3% have the silver certification. It was an honor to see the teachers' and students' hard work acknowledged. Finally, at the end of the day, our board of education, which has been recognized as a certified board, had board president Lana Brennan, board vice president Dr. Catherin Riihimaki, board member Dr. Michael Blumenfeld, and me present on good board governance to a room of over one hundred school board members and administrators across the state. This is an addition to our partnering with universities for teaching programs, upgrading our curriculum, and having other schools visit to see the work being done. While we do this work for the kids and community, it speaks to the tremendous impact of our district beyond CTSD. We appreciate the taxpayers' support as we continue to work to make great things happen. – Sincerely, Dr. Melissa Stager, Ed.D Superintendent, CTSD A MESSAGE FROM DR. STAGER, CTSD SUPERINTENDENT Green Team and BOE memb ers attended NJSBA, where they were recognized by Sustainable Jersey for S cho ols. Congratulations to the Clinton Township S cho ols. SRSP, PMG, and CTMS all received recognition for reaching Bronze L evel! RVS reached Silver L evel. Of the participating scho ols, only 5% have reached Silver Status! Congratulations to all Green Team students and staff memb ers! Happy Holidays!

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