FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — The array of positive programs that have been created at the Joseph J. Catena School, Burlington Road, has been recognized by the state and the nation.
The Catena School has been named a 2011 National School of Character (NSOC) by the Character Education Partnership (CEP). It is the only school in Monmouth County to earn this honor this year. The announcement was made on May 11.
Freehold Township K-8 School District Superintendent of Schools William Setaro said he was “pleased and happy” about the news. He said administrators have been working hard to develop positive programs in all of the district’s schools. He said the Catena School has been the lead school moving in that direction.
“They have gotten to the point now where they are one of the top schools of character, not only in the state, but in the nation, and we are very pleased with that,” he said. “I want to congratulate all of the teachers on the committee for putting these programs together and the many hours they spent developing the programs.
“I also want to thank the administrative staff of the Catena School for their leadership. This was a team effort,” Setaro said. “It was not just one person’s effort. Without the teachers, the parents, the children and the administrative staff, this could never have been accomplished.”
Catena School Principal Catherine Areman said everyone at the school is thrilled to have been awarded the honor. The effort has been three years in the making, she said.
“The first year we won honorable mention. Last year we were designated as a State School of Character and this year after being named a State School of Character, our application was forwarded to the national level. It’s all a process,” Areman said.
She said the Catena School has initiated many service learning projects, including a “Pass It On” program with a school in Uganda, Africa.
“We have a pen-pal program where our students exchange letters with the students in Uganda,” Areman said.
Other initiatives include a kindergarten project to collect pajamas for hospitalized children, a fourth-grade project collecting items for United States troops serving in Afghanistan, a second-grade project making cards for troops to send to their moms on Mother’s Day, a fifth-grade food collection program and a schoolwide project that raised $3,500 to buy a chicken farm for the Catena School’s sister school in Uganda.
Areman said the $1,000 the school will receive for earning the national honor will be used to help develop a healthy lifestyle program for pupils next year. That will include setting up a walking trail for the children to stay in shape.
“Our children were thrilled when we won our state level recognition,” Areman said. “We keep looking for ways to help other people.”
According to a press release provided by the school, the Catena School is one of 43 schools and one school district to be recognized nationwide.
According to the CEP website, the principles that are used to recognize a school include: promotes core ethical values; includes thinking, feeling behavior; initiates a comprehensive, intentional, proactive approach; creates a caring community; provides opportunities for moral action (service learning); provides a meaningful academic curriculum that respects all learners; fosters self-motivation; assures responsibilities are shared by staff for character education and adheres to core values themselves; provides shared moral leadership and long-range support of the character education initiative; engages families and community as partners; and assesses its culture and climate, the functioning of its staff as character educators and the extent to which its students manifest good character.
The Catena School will be honored by the Character Education Partnership at the National Forum on Character Education to be held from Oct. 19-22 in San Francisco. The school will receive an NSOC Banner and a check for $1,000.