Welcome to the 2010-2011 school year!

Friends of South Orange-Maplewood School District,

This week marked a beautiful start to the school year. Traveling around the district on the first day of school is always the best part of year. Our schools and classrooms are sparkling, the faces of our children are bright with anticipation, and the positive energy of our teachers and staff radiates confidence that this will be a fantastic school year.

Please keep in touch throughout the year by taking the time to read our district E-Newsletter, an make sure to bookmark our website (click here) so you can check out stories and announcements about what is happening in our schools.

Please encourage your friends and neighbors (by forwarding this note to them) to sign up for our E-Newsletter by clicking on the E- Newsletter Subscription link on the district’s website.

Thank you for everything you do to support our 6,500 great kids!

Happy New Year!

Brian Osborne

Here are some suggestions for summer reading from the district website:

District summer reading lists

We hope you are all enjoying the early days of summer.

The last couple of weeks of school were full of wonderful events. One of them was recently covered on the school district’s website. Take a look at this great story that features Clinton’s 1st grade students:

Dear Staff, Students, Families and Friends of the South Orange-Maplewood School District,

In support of the school district’s mission to prepare every student for success and higher learning in the 21st century, we issued a report on Equity and Excellence to the Board of Education containing recommendations to increase student access to rigorous coursework, uphold superlative levels of achievement, and provide additional academic supports where needed.

At the June 14th meeting Board of Education meeting, I will recommend that the Board approve the following proposals contained in the report for the 2010-2011 school year:

1. Level-UP the seventh grade by eliminating level three in English, Social Studies, and Science. The recommendation seeks no changes in the approach to mathematics, no changes in the eighth grade, and maintains a level two in all subjects in seventh grade. The curriculum, standards, and expectations of the Level-UP courses will be set at the current level four.

2. Increase time by 25% over the course of the year in sixth grade for instruction in the core content classes of English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies through the creation of a “rotating-core” period that replaces the Read/Write Seminar and Spanish. Rather than one semester in sixth grade and one semester in seventh grade, Spanish will be a full year course in the seventh grade.

3. Expand an enhanced elementary enrichment pilot to three schools. The enhanced enrichment allows for an enrichment specialist and classroom teacher to team teach one period weekly to the entire class, with in-class flexible grouping to ensure that students are challenged, and with curricular connections to Art, Music, and Physical Education.

4. Change Policy 2314: Academic Placement to better reflect the mission of the school district to prepare every child for success in college.
Read the rest of this entry »

From the district website:

Middle School Principals will present information on the Equity and Excellence Task Force recommendations in their respective schools on June 2, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. Mr. Kirk Smith invites parents to his presentation in South Orange Middle School’s Sterling Hall while Mr. Jeffrey Truppo invites parents to hear his presentation in the Maplewood Middle School auditorium. Mr. Truppo also will present the recommendations again on June 4 at 10:00 a.m. in the MMS auditorium.

Last night, the CCR hosted Superintendent Osborne to discuss the new de-leveling proposal. Patch posted a summary. PATCH.