Area schools set to open doors soon
By: Stephanie Prokop
It’s the time of year that signals a fresh start for many students, parents and teachers as schools reopen during the next two weeks in districts throughout northern Burlington County.
BORDENTOWN
REGIONAL
The first day of school for all students will be Monday, Sept. 10 and will be a full day.
Students at Bordentown Regional Middle School will start at 7:50 a.m., and students will report directly to their homebase/club class that was listed on the schedule they received in the mail. Lunch will be served on the first day, and the dismissal is at 2:50 p.m.
Bordentown Regional High School will hold a freshman/senior orientation at 7:35 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 7 in the school auditorium and gymnasium.
The event is being held by upperclassmen, and administrators will present several key topics from the Parent and Student Handbook. Students will also meet with their guidance counselors and receive their schedules. All freshmen and seniors will follow an abbreviated class schedule and be dismissed at 11:50 a.m.
Students attending the MacFarland Upper Elementary School will report to school on Sept. 10 at 8:30 a.m., and students attending the Peter Muschal School and the Clara Barton Elementary Schoolwill report to school at 9 a.m.
Ed Chiemel, principal at the Peter Muschal School, said that this year students in grades K-6 will use a program called Everyday Math, in which students work through various types math problems so a new set of skills isn’t lost when they move on to the next math unit.
Several new classes were also added between the full-day kindergarten and first-grade levels because of increased enrollment.
CHESTERFIELD
Chesterfield Elementary School students are to report to school at 8:45 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 5 for a half-day session.
Superintendent Constance Bauer said that there are two main programs that will be different for students in the 2007-08 school year.
"Our primary initiative involves acquainting first- and second-grade students with their transition to the Clarence B. Lamb School with our open house and orientation program that will take place on Sept. 5, from 10 a.m. to noon," Dr. Bauer said.
First- and second-grade students will be bused to the C.B. Lamb School as part of a plan to ease the overcrowding at Chesterfield Elementary School.
Dr. Bauer also stated that students will take part in a new program run in conjunction with Fernbrook Farms, also in Chesterfield, to teach students about the township’s rich farming history
"We had teachers over the summer work out curriculum guidelines to teach children in kindergarten through grade six about harvesting, planting, and farming," she added.
The Fernbrook Farm program will also tie into literature and math curriculums, she said.
FLORENCE
Students in the Roebling Elementary School, the Marcella L. Duffy Elementary School, the Florence Township Riverfront School, and the Florence Township Memorial High School start school on Friday, Sept. 7.
According to Superintendent Louis Talarico, several new programs have been implemented for the 2007-08 school year, including a technology mapping program specific to seventh and eighth grades and a new writing incentive. The Riverfront School will also see new tutorial programs for math and literacy.
This school year will see the opening of the newly renovated Florence Township Riverfront School, which was formerly the high school and now will serve grades 4-8.
The school is completely overhauled, according to Dr. Talarico. There will be an open house on Sept. 19 for students, parents and community members to come and visit the newly renovated building.
MANSFIELD
The first day of school will be on Thursday, Sept. 6 for all Mansfield Township students, which includes students in the John Hydock Elementary School, and Mansfield Township Elementary School, with a start time of 8:40 a.m., and dismissal at 3:15 p.m. According to the school Web site, bus assignment cards were mailed this week.
Mansfield Elementary School Principal Joseph Langowski said there will be an emphasis on writingin the 2007-08 school year.
"We’re going to a writers workshop format of instruction, which is called the Lucy Calkins Unit, which will focus third- through sixth-grade students on literary essays, memoirs, and writing fiction, that will essentially raise the quality of our writing program," he said.
NEW HANOVER
In New Hanover, students attending the New Hanover School will report to school on Sept. 10 at 8:30 a.m., with "pillars of character" on their minds, said Superintendent Terri Sackett on Monday.
"The one big thing we’re initiating this year is our character counts program, which will feature the six pillars of character and include trustworthiness, responsibility, respect, fairness, caring and citizenship," said Ms. Sackett.
She also noted that incentives for students in kindergarten through eighth grade will also exist throughout the township, so that students see that this program isn’t just something that will occur inside of the school.
NORTH HANOVER
All students in the North Hanover Upper Elementary School, the Clarence B. Lamb School, the Discovery School, the Atlantis School, and the Columbia School will report to school on Sept. 6.
The school start times vary, due to the need of additional buses for the upper elementary school.
Discovery School will start at 8:30 a.m., Atlantic School will begin at 8:05 a.m., Columbia School will begin at 8:10 a.m., and the Clarence B. Lamb School will begin at 8:10 a.m. The North Hanover Upper Elementary School will begin at 8 a.m., and all schools will have a full-day session.
NORTHERN
BURLINGTON
Students attending Northern Burlington County Regional High School will report to school on Sept. 6 for a full day, at 7:20 a.m.
Northern Burlington Regional Middle School students will also return for a full day of school on Sept. 6, with classes beginning at 7:30 a.m.
Superintendent James Sarruda said the middle school will continue programs such as Chinese language instruction, and start a new reading program called Read 180, designed to bolster reading scores on exams for special needs students.
On the high school level, the newest addition to Northern Burlington Regional High School will be a television production studio, which Dr. Sarruda hopes will be up and running by January, in conjunction with a cable television channel.
SPRINGFIELD
All students attending Springfield Elementary School will report to school on Sept. 5, with a start time of 8:50 a.m.

