By Eileen Oldfield Staff Writer
An end-of-summer rush to finish projects
With just one week before students are back in their classrooms, school employees are busy preparing for the first day of school on Sept. 4.
According to District Superintendent Edward Forsthoffer, district teachers began preparing for the year during the summer by unpacking new supplies, setting up classrooms, and researching course curricula if they’re teaching a new course.
For Lynne Derwid, Hillsborough High School psychology teacher, preparing for a new year starts as soon as the previous year ends or earlier. In addition to searching for new articles that reinforce class concepts, and surveying the course textbooks, Ms. Derwid took a course at Drew University to prepare her for teaching the school’s first advanced placement psychology course.
”I thought attending the seminar would expose me to various approaches, techniques and materials that would better prepare the students for taking the AP exam in May,” Ms. Derwid said. “The instructor shared sources, techniques and available video resources to increase our knowledge and improve student learning.”
In addition to helping her prepare for the AP class, Ms. Derwid reworked the materials and activities for her regular psychology course.
Teachers aren’t the only ones preparing for the new school year, with the district receiving additional student registrations every day, pushing enrollments slightly higher than previous years, Dr. Forsthoffer said. Though the average class sizes vary from school to school, the district caps elementary school classes at 22 students, and higher grades at 25 per class, Dr. Forsthoffer said.
However, the district reached maximum capacity in some elementary schools, which could cause students who register late to be sent to other district schools. The district did not specify which schools had reached the enrollment caps.
The district expects to complete many the facilities projects scheduled for the summer, including a new roof on Sunnymead Elementary School, and ceiling and exhaust fans in Auten Road Intermediate School.
”It didn’t have to be, but it’ll be very nice to have it done for the start of school,” Dr. Forsthoffer said about the roof replacement at the Board of Education’s Aug. 18 meeting.
But some repairs won’t be completed until after the year starts, including replacing gym floors in Triangle School, Woods Road School and Woodfern School, refinishing the Hillsborough Middle School boys’ bathrooms, repairing the fence around the high school track, and replacing the windows at Woods Road Elementary School. While the district expects to finish the gym floors and bathroom remodeling at the beginning of September, the repairs to the high school track and window replacements will not occur until a later date.
Dr. Forsthoffer said the improvements would occur with minimal interruption to school operations, with some repairs, like the Woods Road School windows, occurring after students left for the day.