Manalapan-Englishtown will welcome 5,700 pupils Sept. 5

Manalapan-Englishtown will welcome 5,700 pupils Sept. 5

By dave benjamin

Staff Writer

Students in the township of Manalapan and the borough of Englishtown will head back to school on Sept. 5. Teachers and administrators will welcome 5,739 K-8 students in the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District.

With construction continuing at the Wemrock Brook School, Millhurst Road, the 550 fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade pupils who have been assigned to that school will be split among the district’s elementary schools, according to a plan approved by the Board of Education.

Space for the 24 Wemrock Brook classes in the elementary schools will come from a combination of art, music, language, library, gym and cafeteria locations. A temporary office where basic information will be available for the Wemrock Brook School will be set up in Pine Brook School. The telephone number to call for information pertaining only to Wemrock Brook is (732) 446-8131.

District administrators said they are planning to make the instructional program for the Wemrock Brook students as positive as possible in the four schools that will house them prior to Wemrock Brook’s opening.

Administrators said Wemrock Brook Principal Jacqueline Martin has coordinated the placement of student furniture and curriculum materials so the teaching staff will have all the necessary materials to conduct a regular instructional program from the beginning of the school year.

"All host schools will treat the Wemrock Brook students as their own," said Superintendent of Schools Joseph Scozzari. "The staff will make every effort to make the experience a positive one for children."

Scozzari said the Wemrock Brook children will participate whenever possible in the activities of the host school.

"Opportunities for Wemrock Brook students to do their own activities may occur from time to time," the superintendent noted. "Although we do not have a definite date for completion, we are doing everything possible to open Wemrock Brook at the earliest possible date."

The superintendent said construction projects on cafetoriums at the Taylor Mills and Clark Mills schools are moving toward completion.

Schools will be closed for religious holidays on Sept 18-19 and Sept 27; for Election Day, Nov. 6; and on April 16, when staff members will have in-service training. Schools will also be closed on Nov. 8-9 for the New Jersey Education Association convention and for Thanksgiving on Nov. 22-23. Winter recess will begin Dec. 21 and schools will reopen on Jan. 2. Other holidays in 2002 will include Jan. 21, Dr. Martin Luther King birthday; Feb. 18, Presidents Day; and May 27, Memorial Day.

Back to School nights will be held on Sept. 20 at Taylor Mills School; Sept. 24 at Clark Mills School; Sept. 25 at Lafayette Mills School; Oct. 1-2 at the Manalapan Englishtown Middle School; Oct. 4 at Pine Brook School; Oct. 9 at Milford Brook School; and Oct. 11 for Wemrock Brook School.

Elementary School Performance Assessment (ESPA) testing will occur on Oct. 16 for fifth-graders in social studies.

Fall parent-teacher conferences will be held on Nov. 13, 14, 15 at night and on Nov. 16 during the day. There will be four-hour sessions for students on those days.

In 2002, the spring teacher conferences will be held on March 11-14 (four-hour sessions for students). The March 11 and 13 conferences will be held at night and the March 12 and 14 conferences will be held during the day.

Grade Eight Performance Assessment testing will be held on March 11-15 and district testing will be held on April 8, which is also the date that schools reopen after the March 27 through April 7 spring recess.

Grade four ESPA testing will be held from April 29 to May 3. June 26-27 will be four-hour sessions for students.

There will be some positive curriculum changes this year, according to Dr. Robert Weiner, assistant superintendent for curriculum.

"We are expanding our technology effort so that most of our classrooms will have four computers," Weiner said. "Our district is embarking on an effort to teach teachers to better develop instructional techniques to meet the need of the diversity of learners in their classes. We are attempting to integrate special education students into our program in a manner that benefits all students to learn at their maximum potential."

Weiner said the district has expanded its world language program to grade four and noted that a new safety program should be approved by the Board of Education.

"We are expanding our guided reading and centers strategies," said the assistant superintendent. "All programs will be supported by a comprehensive professional development effort."

The district’s principal and assistant principal assignments for the 2001-02 school year are as follows:

• Clark Mills, Charles Boehm, principal, and Stephanie Kuhns, assistant principal.

• Milford Brook, Michael Garreau, principal, and Jessica Gent, assistant principal.

• Taylor Mills, Ruth Jacobson, principal, and Lisa Marino, assistant principal.

• Lafayette Mills, Scott Taylor, principal, and Mel Reid, assistant principal.

• Pine Brook, Thomas Sherman, principal, and Donald Colbert, assistant principal.

• MEMS, Robert Williams, principal, Margaret Long and Thomas O’Hara, assistant principals.

According to information received from the office of Harriet Bernstein, assistant superintendent for personnel, 62 certified new staff members have been hired for the September opening of school.