By Ed Birch, Special Writer
The district is getting ready for the new school year, officials said during Monday night’s Board of Education meeting.
In his report, new Superintendent Gerard Jellig told the board that new staff training for all first, second, and third year teachers was conducted from Aug. 18-21, and the first Administrative Council meeting for the school year was held Aug. 22.
Mr. Jellig thanked his Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum Joanne Kerekes and Director of Professional Development Jen Denzler for coordinating the training efforts along with the team of school principals.
On Aug. 20, all Kindergarten through fifth grade placements were sent to parents and middle school parents received their unit placements via the Family Connect website on Aug. 26, he said.
Mr. Jellig also said the annual school district calendar, courtesy of PNC Bank and Mastergraphx, is complete, and would be distributed to all students and families during the first week of school.
He said that the school district and the superintendent’s office have submitted this year’s goals to the board for preliminary consideration, and that further clarification would be presented at a future board meeting.
Board Secretary and Business Manager Anthony Tonzini reported that all three athletic fields have received the new artificial turf installations.
The district is awaiting the results of the required shock testing of the playing surface, he said.
The football team walked on the new surface for its Media Day on Saturday, but is not permitted to practice on the field until the results of the shock testing are received, he said.
Kendall Park resident, and Cambridge Elementary School parent, Daniel Kurz, said during the public portion of the meeting, that he was very excited that the district is placing additional efforts on student instruction using Chromebooks.
He said he fully supports efforts by the district to improve its technology at all grade levels.He then questioned the board on the number of machines available for the students.
Ms. Kerekes said that although the goal is to have one machine per student, the district currently has 800 machines available for high school students and a cluster of equipment for five classrooms at the middle school level.
In addition, she said that there are a number of machines available in each elementary school.
She further reported that all teachers in the district are now trained in the use of the Chromebooks technology.
Also during the meeting, South Brunswick High School Senior Sophia Balsamo started her tenure as Student Representative to the board.
She said this will be her first year serving on the high school’s Student Council, and she has been an executive member of the Class of 2016 Council for the past two years.
She said she also serves as the student representative to the South Brunswick Arts Commission and performs in the Children’s Theatre at the Public Library.
In her free time, she said she performs with the Pirandello Players, is a member of the Law Club, and writes.

