Mike Fitzpatrick, who spent 12 years leading the junior (middle) school now is the chief administrator at Hopewell. Steve Cochrane, who spent seven years at Hopewell, began duties at the six-eight middle school July 1.
By: Ruth Luse
Timberlane Middle School and Hopewell Elementary School have traded principals.
Mike Fitzpatrick, who spent 12 years leading the junior (middle) school now is the chief administrator at Hopewell. Steve Cochrane, who spent seven years at Hopewell, began duties at the six-eight middle school July 1.
"Timberlane is excited to open this fall with 895 students, more than a dozen new staff, and a variety of new programs," said Mr. Cochrane Monday.
Timberlane closed in June with 855 pupils meaning that, as of this week’s count, the middle school population is up by 40.
In keeping with the district’s focus on "Building a Culture of Respect," the middle school has established its own related theme: "Dare to Make a Difference." The theme celebrates Timberlane’s long time commitment to community service. "It celebrates, as well, the idealism of young adolescents and their inherent desire to have an impact on the world," said the new principal.
Traditionally, Timberlane students have served lunch to senior citizens, participated in the March of Dimes Walkathon, and prepared food for the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen.
In the coming year, "we hope to build on those traditions by offering additional service opportunities such as tutoring at the elementary schools, volunteering with the Special Olympics, or teaching the residents of local nursing homes to use the Internet. We invite members of the community to contact the school office if they have suggestions for how our young people can be of help to others. We invite parents to consider the possibility of working along side their teenager on a community service project. Most of all, we invite students to consider making a difference not only through projects within the community, but through their actions within our school. Greeting a new student or standing up for someone who is being bullied are powerful examples of daring to make a difference," Mr. Cochrane added.
Timberlane will continue this year its emphasis on writing in all subject areas. Moreover, the sixth grade will begin to pilot a "My Best Works" portfolio designed specifically for the middle school. With the help of their teachers, students in sixth grade will select their best pieces representing a variety of writing styles or genres. They then will include in their portfolios an explanation of why they chose those pieces, what they valued about them, and what they might improve.
The founding of Timberlane’s first "electronic newspaper" will provide opportunities for students to write and create outside of class. Using the Internet, the newspaper will integrate traditional writing with digital photos and video feeds. "We look forward to watching activities, events, and people from our school come alive on the computer screen!" Mr. Cochrane said.
Parents of middle schoolers are often searching for ways to stay connected to their children and to the school. The Parent Leadership Corps, started three years ago, provides the perfect answer, according to Mr. Cochrane. Meeting one evening a week for six weeks, parents come together in small groups to discuss parenting concerns and strategies and to learn effective ways of communicating with children at perhaps the most critical and confusing stage of their development. " Our goal at Timberlane is to have at least one parent from every family attend a six week session of the Parent Leadership Corps," the principal said.
Parents also can become involved in the school through participation on the newly created Parents Council. The council will consist of one parent representative from each of the 13 grade-level teams at Timberlane. The representatives will be selected a random from those parents who complete an interest form to be sent home in September. The council will meet once a month with the principal.
The final two changes to note as the year begins are designed to improve the continuity of each child’s journey through middle school. The first change involves the assignment of guidance counselors to grade levels. This year, for the first time, the guidance counselors will follow the students as they move up through the grades. For example, last year’s counselor for sixth grade will become this year’s counselor for seventh grade. The seventh grade counselor last year will follow her students to eighth grade. In this way, children and families will have the same guidance counselor for three years.
The second change involves the division of responsibilities among the administrators. Rather than having one vice principal designated exclusively for sixth grade, all three administrators will be responsible for understanding the distinct developmental needs and academic issues associated with the children at all three grades.
"When you visit Timberlane, you can find the three guidance counselors together in what used to be the sixth grade office. The principal and vice principals are now all together in the main office. We look forward to welcoming many visitors to our building and to welcoming back our students for a happy, productive, and exciting school year," said Mr. Cochrane.
The following are new staff members at Timberlane:
Grade eight Leigh Washburn is a recent graduate of Princeton University where she majored in English, received a certificate in American Studies, and played varsity basketball. She will be teaching eighth grade language arts.
Nadia Warriner will be teaching eighth grade science and social studies. She comes to Timberlane after a year of teaching seventh grade at St. Andrews School in Pennsylvania. Ms. Warriner is a graduate of St. Joseph’s University where she majored in education, minored in art, and was captain of her track team.
Grade seven Janice Cooke will be teaching seventh grade language arts. Mrs. Cooke is an experienced teacher of reading and writing who spent the last seven years at Hillsborough Middle School. She received her bachelor’s degree in French and English from the University of Texas and her MAT from The College of New Jersey.
Grade six Sara Graja comes to Timberlane after teaching sixth grade for three years at Grice Middle School in Hamilton. She also has been the varsity swim coach at Steinert High School for the past four years. She is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and received her teaching certification through Rider University. She will be teaching language arts and social studies.
Special education Melissa Quattrone joins Timberlane as a special education teacher with assignments in grades six, seven and eight. She has a degree in education from West Chester University and just received her master’s degree in learning disabilities from Teachers College in New York. Ms. Quattrone will spend her mornings at Hopewell Elementary and her afternoons at Timberlane.
World languages Awilday Dunnay is a graduate of The College of New Jersey. She taught Spanish last year at the elementary level in this district. She will teach seventh-grade Spanish at Timberlane, and will split her time between Timberlane and Toll Gate.
Nicole Dubic is also in her second year in the district. She taught Spanish last year at the high school and this year will also be teaching sixth and seventh graders at Timberlane.
Viviane Maleh is a veteran teacher from the high school who is returning after a one year leave of absence. She is certified in both French and Spanish, and will be teaching Spanish this coming year to seventh and eighth graders.
Inge Bachalis joins Timberlane as a German teacher. She is a native of Switzerland and has many years of experience teaching both English and German.
Visual and performing arts Elisa Harvonen has a degree in art education from The College of New Jersey and has served as an art teacher for the Princeton YWCA and the Princeton Arts Council. She has exhibited her own work in local galleries and was recently the illustrator of the book, "In Wartime Finland." She will be teaching two periods of art to sixth graders.
Health and physical education Candace Gore comes to the middle school from The College of New Jersey and has experience playing and coaching field hockey, basketball, and softball. She will be working part-time this year with sixth graders.
Paraprofessionals Jamel Craig recently graduated from Drew University with a degree in fine arts. He will be working this year as a personal assistant and also helping to coach the boys soccer team.
Jason Carrell has a degree in health and physical education from the College of New Jersey. He has coached baseball, lacrosse and basketball. Mr. Carrell will be supporting instruction in physical education.
Supervisors Timberlane has two new supervisors. Annie Kosek is the new K-eight language arts supervisor, and Isabelle Richards is the new supervisor of special education. Mrs. Kosek worked previously as the staff developer for our district, and Mrs. Richards was the social worker at the high school.

