Clinton Township Newsletter

1 2 j u l y 2 0 2 6 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 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 A MESSAGE FROM DR. STAGER, CTSD SUPERINTENDENT Spruce Run Preschool Getting Ready for Spruce Run Preschool! There are many simple, fun ways to help your preschooler feel ready and confident before the school year begins! Encourage your child to practice everyday independence skills like putting on and taking off their shoes, washing their hands, and opening their own snack or lunch containers. Reading books about starting school together is a wonderful way to spark excitement and ease any first-day jitters. You can also practice saying hello to new friends, taking turns, and sharing — all the social-emotional building blocks that will help your child thrive in our play-based learning environment. We can't wait to welcome your family to Spruce Run Preschool! Mark your calendars for our Meet & Greet on August 26, where your child will have the chance to visit their classroom, explore the space, and meet their teachers face to face. This is a perfect opportunity to ask questions, ease back-to-school nerves, and help your little one feel at home before the first day arrives. We look forward to seeing you there and starting this exciting journey together! Patrick McGaheran School Summer is in full swing, and while our students are off enjoying some sunshine and relaxation, there is a lot happening behind the scenes at PMG! This is a season of change and new beginnings for our school community, and we have some exciting news to share. This fall, our school community will see some changes in the PMG main office. After many years of dedicated service, Mrs. Bobal, our full-time secretary, is retiring, and we wish her all the best in this well-earned next chapter. Mrs. Malecki, one of our part-time secretaries, will also be moving on to pursue her passions outside of school. I will be transitioning to the Spruce Run building, where Have you heard the great news? Based on data from Harvard and Stanford's Educational Opportunity Project, Clinton Township School District is ranked 16th in the nation for learning rate. In fact, the Clinton Township School District ranked higher than over 8,000 school districts nationwide in average learning rates during the 2022-25 school years. This is based on state testing data tracking of cohorts, which occurred from 2022 to 2025. We outpaced most of New Jersey and the nation. This could not have been done without amazing teachers, staff, administrators, students, and families. On June 16, we celebrated the amazing accomplishment with activities like a round of applause at 10:16, 16 extra minutes of recess, and an ice cream bar for the teachers donated by the individual members of the Clinton Township Board of Education. We also revealed our banner for each building. While the narrative across the state is that taxes are going up and achievement is declining, we can proudly say that Clinton Township continues to help students grow. We have been on a steady upward academic trajectory over the past four years. We expect this to continue as we work on reaching our school goal of 80% of students reading on or above grade level by 2028. Our motto rings true: "Clinton Township School District, every student inspired, every team member supported, and every family engaged". We thank the community and taxpayers for supporting our schools. If you would like more information, please check out the education scorecard published by Harvard and Stanford at https://educationscorecard.org/. (Each dot on this triangle above represents a district in the United States. CTSD is the orange dot at the very top.) – Sincerely, Dr. Melissa Stager, Ed.D., Superintendent, CTSD I N O U R S C H O O L S : I will take on a broader district role and also serve as preschool principal, and I look forward to seeing many of our PMG families over at SRPS! With these changes come exciting new beginnings! PMG will welcome a new principal and new secretaries this fall, and we look forward to introducing them to our community soon. Our incredible PMG staff remains the heart of this building, and families can be assured that the warmth and dedication that makes PMG so special will continue. On the facilities side, our maintenance team has been busy this summer as well. The much-anticipated HVAC project will bring air conditioning to the All-Purpose Room and Cafeteria, and we are excited for students and staff to enjoy the benefits of that upgrade in the new school year. Congratulations to our second-grade students moving on to RVS, and a warm welcome to all of our new PMG families joining us this fall. We look forward to welcoming everyone back for another exciting year of learning and growth. Enjoy the rest of your summer! Round Valley School Round Valley School Welcomes New Principal! A message from Mrs. Smolk: I am excited to introduce myself as the next principal of Round Valley School. With more than twenty years of experience in education, it is truly an honor to join such a dedicated and vibrant school community. I look forward to getting to know everyone and working collaboratively to support the success, growth, and well-being of every student.

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