East Windsor Regional overhauls K-8 curriculum

By: Matt Chiappardi
   HIGHTSTOWN — The East Windsor Regional school board this week approved an overhaul of the district’s curriculums for language arts and math at the elementary and middle school levels beginning this fall.
   Superintendent Ron Bolandi called the curriculums "ahead of the curve" and "completely different from what’s been used before" at Monday’s Board of Education meeting, where the initiatives were approved 5-0.
   "Most curricular items have been focused on textbook stuff," Mr. Bolandi said. "These are multidimensional."
   The three new curriculums focus on math for grades kindergarten through 5, and grades 6 through 8, as well as language arts for grades kindergarten through 8. Years in the making, according to Assistant Superintendent Michael Dzwonar, they employ a number of different methods to address parts of the state Core Curriculum standards that the district has been missing using the traditional textbook-focused method, he said.
   "There are now resources available to teach every single standard," said Mr. Dzwonar.
   In the past, he said, certain elements included in the state Core Curriculum were not being taught in every classroom because the information was not included in the textbooks the district was using. Called "gaps," in the education industry, the elements will be more easily accessible to teachers now that the curriculums provide access to alternate texts, online resources and three-dimensional tactile tools, he said.
   "For example, students have access to dice to learn probability," said Mr. Dzwonar, "and there are specific individualized textbooks teachers can download and immediately print on a laser printer."
   The curriculums also include what the district defines as "tiered resources."
   A tiered resource policy allows students who may have not performed well in certain portions of a class, but still passed the rest of the course — or who have mastered portions and are struggling with others — to have access to lessons either above or below their grade level, Mr. Dzwonar explained. It is this element that moved Mr. Dzwonar to call the curriculums "fluid," in contrast to static curriculums that only employ one core textbook per subject.
   "Typical textbooks may not challenge kids; this offers us some flexibility," he said.
   The additions in terms of content to the curriculum for math include discrete mathematics — a discipline most often used in computer science that includes logic and game theory — and teaching patterns in algebra.
   In language arts, the district will now be teaching voice in writing from kindergarten through grade 5. Previously, voice, referring to articulating a writer’s individual perspective, had not been introduced until grade 6.
   Nothing has been removed from any of the three curriculums, said Mr. Dzwonar.
   He added that the district is working to unveil new curriculums for social studies and science in summer 2008, and then plans to apply all of the new methodologies to high-school-level academics in summer 2009.
   The curriculums bear a similarity to the Montessori educational philosophy in that the focus is specifically centered on the student, said Mr. Dzwonar. While most Montessori schools are exclusively pre-kindergarten, Mr. Dzwonar said, "it’s great to bring those approaches all the way through the 8th grade level."
   Maria Montessori was an early 20th century Italian educator who is credited with the idea that children and adults think and learn differently. There are more than 4,000 privately held Montessori schools in the country, and more than 200 public schools in the country that employ the Montessori method, according to the International Montessori Index’s Web site.
   Superintendent Bolandi said that while he believes the district is equipped to handle the curricular changes, "losing the secondary budget question significantly affects technology."
   Earlier this year, voters in the district defeated a budget question that called for $910,000 to restore 13 teaching positions that were cut as a result of a new state law that changed districts’ spending caps to revenue caps.
   Mr. Bolandi said that had those extra 13 positions been in place, he could use the district’s computer labs as instructional classrooms rather than just as technology resources. He also said he’d have liked to create a formal computer science program in the district’s elementary schools.
   Mr. Bolandi said he plans to push to have those things included in next year’s budget.
   In other business Monday, the board honored a request from Mr. Bolandi to move the final vote on his uniform homework policy to the board’s next meeting on August 27. He said he is planning to meet with about 100 teachers from the district and possibly make some "tweaks" to the policy based on their input.
   The superintendent introduced a homework policy to the board last month that suggests time limits for homework based on grade level, and discourages homework on weekends and holidays. It also includes regulations to ensure students do not get tests from multiple teachers on the same day.
   The board also approved by a 5-0 vote a 1 percent administrative fee to the gasoline used to fuel both East Windsor’s and Hightstown’s municipal vehicles. The district currently operates a fueling facility that serves the two municipalities and the district itself. At the end of each year, each municipality is billed for the wholesale cost of the gasoline and diesel fuel, said Mr. Bolandi. District Business Administrator Kurt Stumbaugh said he believes the 1 percent charge will help offset the costs associated with running and maintaining the fuel station, which stood at $3,063 in the 2005-2006 school year. He estimated that the new fee could generate about $5,000 each school year.
   East Windsor Mayor Janice Mironov said this week, "It’s important we all work together to support the facility, and financially it’s still a great deal." Hightstown Mayor Bob Patten said he was unaware of the new fee and declined further comment.
   The board also approved by a 5-0 vote a promotion for Hightstown High School Assistant Principal Avis Leverett to principal of the Melvin H. Kreps Middle School. Former Kreps Principal Virginia Kearns was promoted to central administrative district supervisor.
   Mr. Bolandi said that salary money was appropriated internally and the shift in positions would, "cost no additional money to the taxpayer."