$20,000 grant awarded to Crossroads School to review schedule and curriculum
By: Amanda Bok
The South Brunswick school district wants to help middle school teachers find better ways to use their time.
To that end, it will use a $20,000 planning grant awarded to Crossroads School by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation to study ways of reviewing its schedule and curriculum.
"The key to school reform has to do with the way time is organized in schools," said Dr. Ross Danis, program officer for the foundation.
The grant is part of a new initiative through which the foundation surveys the state to highlight schools for their innovative and creative programs.
The foundation seeks to invest in innovative, outside-of-the-box school programs, said Dr. Danis. The initiative is part of the foundation’s goal to find "big ideas in small places" and to nurture them.
The Crossroads planning grant was awarded Sept. 20 and targets the organization of time in what will be the two future middle schools – Crossroads South and its upcoming counter-part, Crossroads North. It is specifically geared towards reviewing the current schedule of nine, 42-minute periods, integrating the arts into the regular curriculum and strengthening team-work among teachers.
"When do we have time for exploration of ideas that are longer than 40-minute blocks?" asked Dr. Danis.
In addition, to deal with increased enrollment, the district already is building a new middle school and will hire new teachers for it.
Dr. Danis said the grant will be used as seed money that will enable school officials to review ways of better utilizing time.
"Teachers have planning time every day. Part of (the grant) is to help teachers use that time well," said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Sam Stewart.
Dr. Stewart said the money also would go to finding ways of bringing different subjects together, like combining art with social studies, for example.
"This would make the subject come alive – it would show the artistic, cultural side to the history being taught," he said.
Dr. Danis said the foundation is named for Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge who, when she died in 1973, left $60 million and directions for the creation of the foundation. By investing that money, the trustees have raised the foundation’s asset value to $350 million, which generates $22 million per year for grants to support the arts, education, critical issues, welfare of animals and local Morris County projects.
Dr. Danis said Crossroads school was selected for its excellent leadership, its openness to new ideas around the topic of time and its potential for serving as a role model to other schools.
He said the foundation first identified the South Brunswick district for its innovative approach to teacher evaluation, which focused on growth and development rather than accountability. School officials welcomed the grant.
"It is seed money to help with the planning process," said Assistant Superintendent of Schools Willa Spicer.
Ms. Spicer said the grant will help support teachers, and possibly consultants, to meet after school hours and discuss changes in the curriculum.