PRSD ends summer of renovation

Ready for new school year

By NickNorlenStaff Writer
   This summer, Princeton Regional School District’s focus was on completing its renovation of offices and classrooms.
   But now, the focus will be on what happens in those spaces.
   Students from kindergarten through 12th grade will return for a full day of classes Sept. 6, and Superintendent Judy Wilson said the district is ready.
   ”The beauty of our construction projects in the last five years really is that they’ve enabled us to enrich the programs and put great instruction and really great program ideas into place in appropriate spaces,” she said. “And that’s been true across science, drama, world languages, library — it really has touched pretty much everyone in the district.”
   Although the last remnants of the high school renovation aren’t expected to be complete until mid-September, Assistant Superintendent Lewis Goldstein said the district is confident that the borough will grant a certificate of occupancy so students can return Thursday.
   Borough Construction Official Carl Peters said the building will be checked Tuesday.
   ”We’re all optimistic that it will be a little less chaotic than it was the last few years,” he said.
   At Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting, Ms. Wilson discussed a number of changes that she said will be experienced by both students and staff.
   Among them is the introduction of a comprehensive software program that will allow teachers and administrators to closely track students in myriad categories.
   ”The purpose of it is to bring current real time data to teachers’ fingertips and to highly individualize the monitoring of student achievement,” said Ms. Wilson.
   Instead of relying on year-old files from the guidance office, teachers will be able to access up-to-the-minute data on standardized testing results, classroom assessments and report card grades.
   ”We need our toolboxes to be very full, and to have multiple methodologies for ensuring that we know exactly the status and the needs of children throughout the school year,” she said, noting that the hope is to eventually be able to communicate with parents when changes are needed.
   In addition, Ms. Wilson said the district will be seeking input from parents, community members and staff for a year-long, district-wide strategic planning process that will take begin in October.
   She said the end result will be “somewhat of a roadmap of our basic goals and principles that will guide us over the next four to five years.”
   But more immediate changes are under way.
   Along with the new library at the high school, Ms. Wilson said she is most excited about the completion of the new fitness center that will be open to all students.
   ”We’ve renovated an entire gymnasium for this,” she said. “We’re not talking about a little cubby.”
   For all district employees, a swipe-card access system has been implemented to add a new level of security, since the district doesn’t have “heavy layers of video or reception areas or any of those other vehicles,” Ms. Wilson said.
   In what Ms. Wilson called a more “behind-the-scenes” change, the district has decided not to re-enroll in the federal “free and reduced” lunch program at the high school.
   She said the change will allow the school to improve the quality of its lunch menu while still keeping it affordable.
   ”We want to be able to do that with a keen eye on equity so every child has the type of lunch and the quality of lunch that peers are able to buy as well,” she said.
   In terms of attendance, Mr. Goldstein said this year’s total school population will increase by 130 students to a total of 3,460.
   With class sizes still ranging from 17 to 22 students per class, the increase shouldn’t pose a problem, he said.
   ”I think a lot of people have caught wind of the new renovations in addition to the course offerings and what we have done over the years and we’re seeing increased enrollment from last year,” he said. “We’re hoping that trend continues.”
Staff photo by Mark CzajkowskiThe football practice field at Princeton Regional High School gets a pre-school workout by Will Smith, 7, running ahead of his brother, Owen, 8, last week.
Staff photo by Mark CzajkowskiRenovations, like this work being done on a corridor at Princeton High Regional High School, marked a busy summer for PRSD facilities.