I'd like to call this meeting to order. This is the North Brunswick Township Board of Education Conference Public Meeting. Today is Wednesday, February 25th, and we are at John Adams Elementary School. Could we please rise for the flag salute?
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Mr. Carter,
>> Miss Aeda, Miss James >> here, >> Mr. Lori >> here, >> Dr. Patel >> here, >> Mr. Sing >> here, >> Miss Singha >> here, Miss Toth >> here, >> and Mr. Wen >> here. >> We have a quorum. >> Thank you. The New Jersey open public
meetings law was enacted to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice of and to attend the meetings of public bodies at which any business affecting their interests is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the open public meetings law, the public notice of this meeting, which included
the time, date, and location, was distributed by 3 PM on Wednesday, January 28th, 2026 in the following manner. posted on the bulletin board reserved for announcements in the board office 25 Lynwood Place North Brunswick
mailed to the home news tribune Starledger MJ.com and the clerk of the township of North Brunswick and delivered to the nine dulyeleed board members. Good evening everyone. I didn't hear you. Good evening
everyone. I'm so excited to personally be here, but I know our board is excited to be here as well at John Adams Elementary School. The board loves to get out um to our buildings, especially our elementary schools to see all of the great things
that are happening in our buildings. So, we are so excited to be here for this presentation. And before we start, I will turn it over to Superintendent Zakowski. Good evening everyone. Uh good seeing everyone especially after a long
snow weekend. Um so hope everyone's doing well and we're happy to have everyone back in our schools. Before I introduce our principal and look forward to hearing that presentation and I do want to make some it's a little out of order some announcements because you may
have heard what's going on at the high school. So I just thought I'd give a little update for you as families and may not pertain to you. We may hear rumors. Uh, our high school lost complete power as it's a unique high school. All of the utilities and transformers for power on a high on the
roof. Typically, you see a transformer on a pole in the street, but our high school built in 1970 has the transformers at the at on the roof. I don't know if I brought back the curse of uh things that go wrong as coming back as superintendent, but uh the storm
knocked out two transformers and we have no power. Um, and we're facilitating a matching large generator to kind of bring us temporary power because you can imagine when I say three transformers, they're as big as a closet
um that you could walk in and it's it's a not a simple transformer that you see on the on the street that PSNG would have in inventory. So, we have to probably wait a while to get a transformer, but we're not going to wait a while to get the power back. We're looking for a generator that can power
up the remaining parts of the school and right now we only have a small part because one of the three generators are still uh I mean transformers are still working. But with that being said, I do want to make an announcement because I see Mr. Tony Brown in the audience and I have nothing but it's just been a great
supporter of the district. One of the reasons why I would love I love to come back with wonderful people like Mr. Brown and he's running he's part and parcel running that March 2nd which is this Monday the Harlem Wizard fundraiser. So as you know the high school won't have power but we're not
going to stop because we have so many great uh pre-sales. We made a call to South Brunswick and we're going to get South Brunswick High School and it's going to be I know it's a Viking, not a Raider, Tony, but it's a beautiful high school and this way we can have our event and still raise money on that day
where everyone's cleared their calendar and scheduled. Uh so March 2nd we're going to have our Harlem Wizards versus the teachers and the um uh police I believe and the volunteers at the township against the Harlem Wizards. Uh,
I put my bed in already and not telling you who I, but it's going to be at the high school, South Brunswick High School, the new high school, uh, their newer high school. Um, and we'll get you the information and address and we'll send out as much information um, announcements as we can. And also, the
BCA, our Black Cultural Alliance, has a wonderful gala this Friday. Um although the auditorium can be opened, it's a huge gala with over 500 people expected, cultural foods and celebration and and a fashion show. We are going to move that
to March 13th. More will come out on that because the children work so hard and they really want to have it in the centerpiece of the commons at the high school. So more to come on that. Uh so uh we're working and we're trying to uh facilitate a rental. We have the state
looking for us. We have the local OEM looking for us. We have two separate high voltage electrical companies searching for um the right match of the generator to connect u and once we get the generator then the connection isn't just like plug it in like a flux
capacitor. It's it's more like we have to drill through the ceiling and and connect it to above the gym. But you know safety first. uh will make sure that not only the physical structure, any class time, AP studies, the board
will certainly provide some um one-on-one instruction to make up if anything is lost in that remote time. So, um more to come on that, but we want to keep families uh notified and I don't want to take away from JA. This is about JA tonight, but I did I know people were
asking, rumors were starting that, you know, uh we sold half the school and that's why it's not open. So, we want to get rid of that. I also want to say thank you to all those who work so hard, not only at JA, but since we're at JA, removing the snow, as you know, we had a little dusting this morning, uh, in
addition to all that snow we had on the weekend, which started midnight, really coming down 8:00 at night on Sunday, and um, many districts uh, had trouble finding ways to put the snow somewhere and get rid of the snow. and we were able to uh even though we had two days
off uh close for snow, our our folks uh crews work around the clock trying to get that and we were able to open up schools and let's hope no more snow. Uh I know March isn't any guarantee, but we're very close to March and and if you
see our U security manager, he's been logging in the details. Mr. from miser out there. He's been logging in all the details and helping us with this uh change and with the high school and creating logistical assistance with all our security people all came in um with
Chromebooks um and and uh other logistical uh uh opportunities to give children their uh whether it's uh some of their uh internet connections and Chromebooks and supplies. And they he's been going
around the clock as well. It's his birthday today. So his wife told him take him out on his birthday. So we brought him here so you see him see wish Mr. Misro a happy birthday on the way out. But uh >> thank you for that and >> like that
>> you know uh but without further ado uh I am proud to introduce the principal here at John Adams. One of when I first came back after a little break, uh Lauren was named interim principal and uh with a lot of uh wonderful feedback from the
staff and the community and the board then uh monitored and then named her officially named her principal a couple months ago and we're so uh happy and eager to see her lead this wonderful school because it is Mr. Miser, won't you come out here and say hi to everyone?
>> HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIKE. THANK YOU for all you're doing for our students. >> And since 1964, >> yes, >> thank you, Mike. >> Thanks, Mike. >> So, without further ado, this is really
John Adams night and uh thank you for indulging me. I don't see Lauren, but >> right here. >> Hi, Lauren. our newest principal at John Adams, longtime North Brunswick graduate, resident, and also a um uh teacher, assistant principal, a
director, you name it. She's done it for now, principal at this great school, John Adam. Thank you, Lauren Fitigan. >> Good evening, everyone. Welcome to our board of education, Dr. Zakowski. Thank you for helping us today and Mr. Brown
work out our details for the Wizards event. Uh, Mrs. Hawk, Mrs. Kea, welcome. Uh, thank you for this opportunity to share the incredible work that's happening here at John Adams Elementary School. Um, as Dr. Zakowski just
mentioned, John Adams holds a very special place in my heart. I'm proud to share that I am a member of the class of 1987 from John Adams School. If you are familiar with our building and you walked in this way, there are
squares that we still celebrate for each graduating class. And Miss Toth, you should go find yours as well. >> Uh, so that's mine from my class stepping into the future. It's a wonderful tradition that we have here at John Adams. Um, some of my most meaningful childhood memories were
formed right here in this building. Those experiences helped shape who I am today and very likely influenced my decision to become a teacher and eventually an administrator. Returning to John Adams as a principal
truly feels like a full circle moment. Over the years, I've had the privilege of serving as either a teacher or an administrator in each of the four elementary schools in North Brunswick. But coming back to where my own journey began is especially meaningful. It's an
incredible honor to lead this building. I am deeply grateful to this community for the warmth and support you have shown me. From the moment I returned, I felt welcome, not just as an educator, but as someone coming home. Tonight, I have the privilege of showcasing the
remarkable work of our students and staff. work that reflects the dis dedication, talent, and heart that define our school. Thank you for your continued support and for sharing this evening with us. Tonight, you'll hear
from and see the heart of our school community, our students. We are proud to begin with our John Adams newscast created by Miss Blaine, our technology teacher. Every Monday, our students and staff get to enjoy a video just like
we're going to share with you from Miss Blaine. The one on the podium. >> The balloons. The balloons. >> Thank you. Here we go. Start again.
>> Well, else you cracked me out. It's a rare condition this day and age to reading good news on the newspaper page. The love and condition of the grand design some people say is even
harder to find. Well, then there must be some magic clue inside these gentle walls. All I see is a tower. Real love bursting out every sing.
We're going to fill our house with happiness. Ooh, we'll smother the blues with deadness. There's room for you, room for me, for
gentle hearts and opportunity. >> It's the bigger love of the family. Good evening, Board of Education. My name is Tiana. And my name is Anna. >> And welcome to John Adams. >> You take the good, you take the bad, you
take them both. And there you have the facts of life. The facts of life. There's a time you got to go and show you grow. And now you know about the facts of life. the facts of life when the world never seems
to be living up to your dreams. And suddenly you're finding out the facts of life are all about you. You. It takes a lot to get them right when
you're learning the facts of life. of life. Living in the facts of life. The facts of life. You a lot of damage and enjoy the fun of managing the facts of life.
If you hear them from your brother, better clear them with your mother. Better get them right. >> Today is Wednesday, February 25th, and is day one. It's 38 degrees today. and probably cloudy. >> What do you mean probably?
>> I mean, it's dark outside, so how are they going to know? >> Going to know. >> How are they going to know? >> Okay. Thank you so much for joining us this Wednesday evening. >> Now, let's get started with our first
Jay guest for the Hey, Alina. >> Hey, SL. >> What did the football coach say to the winning machine? >> What? >> Give me my quarterback. Hey, are you going to the wizards game? Wait, what was that?
What was what? What do you What do you mean? >> Oh, that those are the teachers from JA who will be participating in the Wizards game coming up at the North High School March 2nd. that I definitely want to see them show
their basketball skills. Let's hear from the JA spirit committee. New skills, new wins. Every day we shine bright in our own way. of the Jaguars us. >> This is the fourth grade committee
>> and we want to hear something positive. >> Maybe you did great on a test. >> Maybe you learned a new song on your trumpet. >> Here's some more positive messages. >> What is something positive that happened to you? >> I went to urban with my brother and my dad.
>> Nice. >> What is something positive that happened to you? >> I my class one gym last week. Nice. >> What's something positive that happened to you this week? >> Well, something positive that happened to me this week was when my grandma was
sick, I cooked for her. So, we I cooked rice and beans for her when she was nice. >> That was really nice of you. >> What's the thing that happened to you this week? I learned the new Michael Jackson walk.
>> Nice. >> All right. What's something positive you learned this week? >> I got my brown bat on my cello. >> Great job. >> What is something positive that happened to you this weekend?
>> Um, I I went ice skating and I was the best one there. >> Nice. Great job. >> What's something positive that happened to you this week? >> I just turned 100 years old so I could be an old lady. did a great job.
>> If you want to share something positive, we want to hear from you. >> Students or teachers can fill out a slip. >> Put it in the folder by Miss Caposta's door. >> You might prank for an interview. >> Let's spread some cheer and happiness.
Let's say something positive. Go. >> Let's check with some JA teachers and find out some fun things happening at JA this year. >> Miss Familii, can you tell me some fun things you're doing this year? >> Yeah, sure. So, um, new this year is we
had a fundraiser called Art to Remember, and that's where, um, students, all the students in the school got to submit a piece of their artwork to a place where parents and family could purchase items with their artwork on it, like t-shirts
or mugs or keychains. And that fundraiser was really successful. Parents enjoyed it. And with the money raised for that fundraiser, we're gonna have our first ever John Adams family art night. We're gonna have that in April and families are going to get to come with their students and make some
art. It's going to be a really fun new event. >> Nice. Now, can you tell me about this? >> Oh, this. So, this is our new display and it showcases our student artists of the month. So anyone in the school can
submit their artwork to be on the display for artist of the month. You just have to let me know. You have to bring me a piece of your art that you've done that's in your portfolio and say, "Mrs. Fileleti, I would love to be artist of the month." And if it is completed properly and neatly, and you
followed all of the um expectations to get your artwork finished the way that you like it, you can fill out a form and be our artist of the month. >> Nice. Hey, Miss M. What are some of the cool things you brought to JA this year? >> So, this year, Mrs. Martin brought two
big programs to JA. First, we had our author visit with Steven Swinburn a couple weeks ago, and he taught us about nature, writing animals and sea turtles, and it was such a fun event, and fourth graders got to have lunch with him, and it was a great day to meet an author. And my other event that I bring to JA is
Read Across America, which is coming up in about a week from today. And we're going to have so many fun events like guest readers are going to come to your classrooms. We're going to do the mass reader where different teachers and staff members dress up in costumes and they read a book and everyone has to guess who they are. We're going to have reading scavenger hunt and all kinds of
fun reading activities. So, Mrs. Martin brings those fun reading activities and author visits to JA each year. >> That's cool. Thank you for asking. >> Hello, my name is Miss Capusa and I am the general vocal music teacher here at John Adams Elementary School, but I'm also the founder and the chair of
something we call the spirit committee. The spirit committee is made up of fourth grade students who volunteered and currently we have 55 students who are part of the committee. The purpose of the committee is to spread school pride, build community, and also build a really positive environment and culture
for our students of John Adams Elementary School. Every month, the students participate in different challenges. One of our challenges is something called the first Friday's challenge where students are encouraged to wear blue, white, or jaguar print uh
to celebrate our school colors and our school mascot. Another one is this challenge right here, our positive message of the week where students are able to fill out a paper and then they're to tell us something positive that happened to them. They are chosen
by the school spirit committee to be interviewed in front of our board here and then the positive comments are announced on our morning announcements um on Monday mornings which is really exciting. I love this activity because it gives the students uh an opportunity to reflect on positive things that are
happening but it also gives the rest of our students an opportunity to congratulate people on the positive things that are going on in their life and I just love that. My favorite part of the school spirit committee is actually watching the leadership come out of our fourth grade students. They
really take ownership of the committee and I love seeing the creativity that they show in creating all of the different um opportunities that we have for all of the students. So overall, I think the school spirit committee is truly the heart and soul of John Adams
Elementary School. It is so positive and students love saying our wonderful phrase, go Jaguars, Roar. So, thanks for listening to our school spirit committee. >> That's pretty cool. Are you doing any clubs or committees? Yes, I'm in girls
who code, robotics, orchestra, chorus, uh, bus helper, pre and peer mediation. What about you? I'm in peer mediation, bus helper, orchestra, chorus, uh, and student council and chess club.
Thanks for joining us and have a great night. And don't forget, Jaguars, let's be safe, be responsible, and be respectful. >> Go. >> Come on. Why is it taking so long?
>> CUZ I CAN'T SEE IT. I >> How are you a week? >> Something after this. Good job. Give him like shorten thing.
>> Oh, there's like high school. What's that? >> Thank you. These videos are a highlight of our day um every day at John Adams every week when we get to watch them on Mondays. Now I would like to present our talented group of
performers under the direction of Miss Capusta. Thank you so much. Wait a second. If they weren't waving to you, it's because they were following my directions. I said don't wave because we always do something really cute. So, we're going to wave in just a second, but I just wanted to say hello. I am Miss Capusa
and I am the general vocal music teacher here at John Adams. We traditionally have a third and fourth grade course, but we have a very cute treat for you tonight. So, get ready. It's time for the wave. If you don't have your camera out, now is the time. Are you ready? They are going to be very
adorable. On your mark, get set, be adorable. First performance. Right. Okay, we're going to start in three, two, one. Beautiful spacious earth
for purple mountainy above. are in flame. America, America, our sh and
with brother to shining sea. You're a grand old flag. You're a highly forever peace way. You're the apple of love. The land I love. The home of the
free and the brave. Every heart beats true. The red, white, and blue. There's never a false star. Should all your wages be forgot. Keep your eye on the grand old flag.
50 stars set in blue. Freedom signs for me and you. 30 stripes of red and white. And they wave like freedom. America. America.
Keep shining like the sun. America. America. There's room for everyone. And I real there's room for everyone.
J a blue. You say white. Blue. Y A U R N. Thank you second graders and Miss Capusta. That was amazing.
Thank you. Now I would like to introduce Miss Fametti who is going to talk to you about our second grade artists. Hi, welcome to our school. I'm Mrs. Femleti, art teacher. Um, so I have on display tonight the I feature the second
grade um artists because we had second grade singers here tonight. So up there we have um all of their self-portraits and next to that is an artist statement, something that they wrote about themselves or what they learned or how they created their art. So I encourage
you after the meeting to stop over there and take a read of a few of our students. Um the other thing I have on the side is the student of the month board which you saw on the video. So um that's something that we just started
this year. So, those are our February artists up there. Thank you. >> We are also proud to recognize our Soore students this evening led by Mrs. Welsh. These students exemplify leadership, responsibility, and character within our
school community. Thank you. Good evening. Thank you for having me. My name is Mrs. Welch and I'm the sore coordinator and teacher here at John Adams Elementary. Thank you very much for the opportunity to share a snapshot of the learning taking place in our
gifted and talented services. Our school theme, every Jaguar counts, every connection matters, aligns beautifully with the work that our fourth grade tier three or triple gifted students have been doing. These are my friends right up here. You can see them. These four
friends, uh, Rayon, Gmen, Isabella, and Afia. They have been working tirelessly all year long. Since the start of the year, they engaged in a project centered around the concept of ecosystems and the effect invasive species have upon it. Students came to understand that all
living things including jaguars rely on food sources, shelter and balance in the environment. When even one part of an ecosystem is missing or running rampant and being invasive, the entire system is affected. From here, our students were challenged to think abstractly and apply
this concept to our own school ecosystem, John Adams Elementary, with the gifted jaguars within it. Working as a team of four, they created this presentation for you of the five areas that they feel all gifted Jaguars need
to truly thrive, not just in the sore classroom, but across the whole school building. Their responses included intellectual challenge, opportunities for creativity, collaboration with pair peers, emotional safety, teacher support, and meaningful connections to
others. I'd like to share a couple of their um snapshots of things they said in my classroom while creating this. In the top left, they talked about academic needs. They said, "Sore students need teachers to help them learn more. If they're doing well in what they're learning now, they should not just be
given more, but different types of activities to help them grow their understanding." For emotional needs, they said store students need their teachers to help them as much as any other student. They may be reviewing ideas learned or giving them coping skills to work through their challenges.
For social needs in the middle, they said sore students need to talk to other sore students and ask them for help to support each other. This helps us get better at what we're learning and helps us grow as people. For creative needs, they said sore students need their teachers to give them the ability to be
creative. This may mean being artistic, but it may just be another way to do things. Our brains work different. And for challenge needs, they said source students need an appropriate challenge for them. Just because they're gifted doesn't mean they're perfect in everything. And I think that as those
four little 10-year-old students eloquently put it, they really summed up my message. This project is so important because it reflects what gifted education truly is. When we say every Jaguar counts, that includes honoring the learning needs of every student, including our gifted population. And
when we say every connection matters, it reminds us that all students and gifted learners thrive best when their strengths are connected to purpose, people, and challenge. So, thank you specifically to the board of ed for all the support you give to our sore services here at the elementary school.
It allows us to continue to support students just like these four friends who um need us to help grow, contribute, and thrive. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Welsh. As she stated, we had to come up with
our school theme this year. I began my role as a new principal here at John Adams. I had to ask myself uh some important questions. What is the most important thing I can do as a new leader to this building for myself, for this community? Uh, and the answer was
simple. I needed to become a true part of this community. I feel incredibly honored to join this dedicated staff and our amazing students and our families. And what I found here, as you can see, is there's already a
great strong foundation for learning and relationships. and I look forward to helping that foundation continue to grow. In collaboration with Miss Rudolph and Mrs. Cummings and with the benefit of having worked previously with Mrs.
Kingsley, our retired principal here, we spent time thinking deeply about how to capture all of these essential elements in a single meaningful focus for the year. We reviewed our survey feedback,
Mrs. Kea from 2025 to guide our thinking and several key ideas emerged from that. First, we recognize the importance of strengthening our family engagement increasing increasing opportunities for families to be actively involved in
school life. Second, we identified a need to increase visible support from the leadership team. And third, we wanted to continue promoting positive student interpersonal behaviors, helping our students build strong, respectful
relationships with one another. Using all of this information, we developed a theme that reflects our priorities and shared vision. Every Jaguar counts. Every connection matters. I hope that you as visitors entering our
building also feel welcome tonight and that you feel connected to our school. At the center of our work is the idea of belonging. The extent to which students feel valued, respected and connected to our school community. Research
consistently shows that belonging is a major factor in psychological development and plays a critical role in education. When students feel they matter, engagement increases, negative behavior incidents decrease, and
academic performance improves. Belonging does not happen by accident. It is influenced by classroom culture, school systems, and most importantly, the daily actions of adults. We have intentionally embedded belonging
into the lives of our students at John Adams. For students, this looks like morning meetings in the classroom, the principal readalouds to all the classes, our star students with our six pillars
of character education, our PBSIS framework, our fourth grade helpers, our mentor programs, and our schoolwide displays celebrating student voice. For our staff, we foster connections through our welcome back faculty meeting, our
John Adams journal where staff recognize each other during our faculty meetings, our staff shoutouts, our celebrations and appreciation events, and our community building traditions that I'm learning about and apparently we're all going to be shamrocked in the month of
March. For families and communities, we had our meet the principal event. We have guest and mystery readers joining our school every day. We had our ESL game day where parents came in to spend time with their students. We had a prek
fashion show to celebrate the end of the the unit for prek. We had our student council give speeches in front of their families. We have so many PTO events that Mr. Brown will talk about shortly. and we have our science fair that we had to postpone due to our snow day, but
will be rescheduled. These connections must extend beyond the classroom. At this time, I would like to introduce Mr. Tony Brown, our PTO president. Mr. Brown was one of the very first
people that I met here when I arrived at John Adams and he immediately made me feel welcomed, supported, and excited about our strong partnership between the school and the PTO. From that very first conversation, he shared countless ideas
for events and initiatives to bring our families together and our community together in meaningful ways. I will say the only moment I felt slightly less at ease was when the conversation turned to getting slimed.
But even that speaks to the fun, energy, and enthusiasm he brings to our school. Please welcome me in welcoming Mr. Tony Brown. >> Good evening all. Um, first of all, I'd like to thank the um,
uh, Dr. Z. So, first of all, I'll do this at the end, but thank you very much for today. Dr. Z, um, board of education, um, all of the board members that are, that are here, thank you very much for this opportunity. Of course, Mrs. Finnegan, um, Mrs. uh, Miss Rudolph, Mrs. Cummings, uh, thank you
very much. And also the staff that I see here in the back. Um, I also want to recognize a few of our PTO board members that are here. So, Dedra, if you can just wave, stand up and wave. Right there. I believe Paige must be here. Right. Okay. There we go. Right in front. Then I didn't even see her. And
Matilda is uh somewhere in the back. Right. Yes. Oh, did she just leave? Okay. All right. Um and I I'll have to say that maybe we shouldn't have used um cold water for the slime and next year we'll we'll use maybe Luke. Uh Paige, make
sure you write that down, please. Uh so I just want to take a few minutes to um to talk about community connection and um and our approach to um to building that community connection and u building the connection with um all of the
parents that have that we have out here. Um it it's very important to us uh that we continue to invite you guys to come out and volunteer at events um and also at other types of um um initiatives that
we have. So let me talk a little bit about what what that means. So we're we're building a bridge here. Um family engagement events. Uh we will be bringing back some family engagement events. Um some of the ideas that we have used in the past was um CPR
lessons. Uh so we had a bunch of CPR um mannequins here. Uh we did it in the gym. Uh we had adult CPR and um infant CPR. We weren't teaching infant CPR. Uh we were teaching adults how to do infant CPR and I wasn't teaching them. Uh we
brought someone in from um from Pin Health and it was a a free program. uh we had come across them um some sort of email that came over to us. We brought them in. It was great. I believe I want to believe we had 20 25 parents show up.
Um it was a great night, right? And everyone left the doors uh knowing how to do adult and infant uh CPR. So that is something that we're going to look to bring back um at some point. Uh we also had a uh vendor come in to talk about
internet security. Um, and we did that during our PTO meetings, right? So that that's another thing. I know coming to a PTO meeting, you know, you're going to work all day and we're going to say, "Hey, come out to this PTO meeting." Right? So the one thing we did this year was we turned all of our PTO meetings uh
virtual. All right? So we used to have them at the building. We would do a little bit Facebook Live. Facebook Live went away, I guess. Um, but now with Zoom, uh, we are going virtual on all our PTO meetings. So we invite you to come in. And then we're going to layer on top of that some of these um
initiatives to uh enrich um the community, right? So you're not just coming to hear us talk about what we did in the PTO and that fun event, which is great, right? But we want to give something back, right? So internet security. Um here's another one that that just came across our table um sort
of by mistake. Uh we were we were reaching out to the community and this goes to the to the the last bullet of local business collaboration. where we were reaching out to the community to help out with our walkathon uh of course asking for a donation and I got a call back from the owner of um Big Blue Swim
School, right? And we had a really good 15 20 minute conversation and it was not around how much money can you give us, right, for our walk-athon effort, right? It was more around what they could do for our community, which I thought was
great. And we spent 20 minutes just bouncing ideas back and forth. And the idea that she had was um that they could come in and do water safety uh demo for us or do it at our PTO meeting, right? We don't need a pool. We don't need more slime. Um but they would bring their
life guards in sometime closer to when it starts to get warmer and do some sort of water safety uh demonstration and talks for the students um and for the parents really at the PTO meeting. So that that's where I was going with the local business collaboration. Um family
days, community service. Um you know, it's not all about raising money. We have to give back. And that that's part of that whole enrichment idea where we want to bridge that gap. We want to give back to the parents who take their time to um to um come out to PTO events. And
lastly, volunteering, right? And I say this at the back to school. Every time I talk to uh at back to school, uh you know, I say, "Hey, you know, keep your keep your $10 PTO membership fee, right? We don't want it. If you can give us an
hour, right, or 30 minutes or 45 minutes or whenever, that is much greater than the $10 membership fee, right? I'd love for you to be a member. You get all of our emails directly. Um but just think about it that way. If you could if you could um give an hour, give two hours
during an event during an event and it doesn't have to be every event, right? Um the one thing that we have noticed is you always will have the same group of folks who volunteer, right? You have your core volunteers, but what I like to think about is I don't want to rely on
the core volunteers having to be there all the time. So, we want to see new faces, right? So, if you have some time, uh reach out to us. johnadams ptogmail.com. We'll be happy to get you um to get you involved. All right. So, that's the approach that
we're going to take uh and that we are taking to building this uh bridge that you see here uh between the um parents uh teachers, staff uh and um the community. So, thank you very much once again, Mrs. Finnegan. And I will say thank you again, Dr. Z. When when I went
to bed last night, I was like, what am I going to do with this game Monday? Uh, and what I now I didn't even want to email you because you're dealing with electric in a high school, right? Uh, so thank you very much for reaching out. Thank you. I
really appreciate it. Get your Harlem Wizards tickets. Uh, Courtzside Plus is sold out as of tonight. All right, we'll see you Monday, everyone. We're going to take just a moment for our performers to reunite with their families. If you could just give us um a few minutes to let our
families uh reunite with their students. I think they're going to be coming in in just a second. Here you do put Looks like Slow. That's funny.
That's funny. They ask question I think. like training, but they haven't only a couple left. >> Thank you families for joining us. If
you need to get your kids home to bed, feel free. >> Otherwise, I'm just going to continue with our meeting in about another minute. Hello. >> Hi. Hi. >> Thank you.
>> Nice to meet you. >> Thank you for being here. >> Thank you for coming out. >> Thank you. >> Have a good night. Bye. Bye. Thank you. One of the things we do about the athletic schedule.
>> Yeah, >> I saw that on there. Oh, that's Tony. I'd like to move on now to talk to you about our school goals for this year, which tie into everything I spoke about and our connections that we're trying to make here at John Adams School. So, we
have three basic goals that we're working towards this year. First, we're looking towards strengthening our professional learning communities or PLC's. We're also looking to improve our language arts scores and we're also looking to increase our Jaguar Bucks
which is part of our PBIS framework. Um, and I'm going to let Mrs. Cummings uh speak first. She's going to address our first two goals. Mrs. Cummings has been here in the district for 23 years here at John Adams School. She's fulfilled
multiple roles. first as a teacher, then as a math coach, a dean, and now our director. So, her focus for us has been really um an instructional leader, and she is taking the initiative to guide
these first two goals. Miss Cummings, thank you. Good evening, everyone. Mrs. Finnegan, um Mrs. Finnegan talked a little bit about coming home. Um, obviously this has been my home for 23 years. So, I am really excited to talk
to you about school, why we're here, right? You saw all the fun stuff. Um and so I um along with our administrative team at the beginning of the year we talked about some of the needs um of our
school and one of those was professional learning communities and it happened to coincide with the district initiative of a PLC reboot. So this is the timeline. Um, but we started our staff off with what we thought to be were the two most
important things of uh PLC and that was uh rooted in student work and uh data driven. And so when we rolled out uh at the beginning of the school year, we talked about those two things. And as
our administrative team learned more and engaged more with um our own training, we began to build on that. So we as a team have participated since October um with our own training. We've then
observed PLC's and then uh participated in our another school-based training and at the beginning of February, we began our PLC roll out. Um and that is going to be us working alongside with our
grade level teams to uh kind of enhance what is already going on in PLC's. So the first thing we had to do was decide what is working well and I am so thrilled to say that the things that are working well are the things that are the
root of a PLC. So we already have designated times to meet weekly. Our teams are already documenting their meetings with notes. We are already using MAP and other local data to notice trends in student achievement. We're
already having conversations that are focused on teaching and we already have very collaborative team members. So probably you're wondering what work we are going to be doing in our PLC's. So what's in bold is what we're focusing on
using our data to to guide instruction. We have so much data. We need to use it um in a better way and a more targeted way to help guide our instruction. And we're going to do that in combination with analyzing our students work.
These are four questions that are rooted in our work. What do we want our students to know and be able to do? How will we know students have learned it? What will we do if they do not learn it? And what will we do if they already know it? I think that last one is something
that's often overlooked and as Mrs. Welsh spoke to you about, we have a lot of students who already know things and so we need to address those needs. Which brings us to what our second goal is and that's the improvement of our
language arts um scores. Um these are MAP scores and our the way that we're going to improve it is through our PLC work. So these are our fall um scores. It's only first through fourth grade. Uh kindergarten didn't test in the fall.
They tested in our winter window because kindergarten students need to figure out how to be students at from the beginning of the year till the winter. So um we only tested our first through fourth grade. And I am super proud of where we
began. This was right at the very beginning of the year in September. So we are already performing well into the 50th percentile. Um so we're starting very very strong. Um
these were our scores for the winter window where we do have um kindergarten included. And the goal is for each grade level to increase their scores by 5%. And so grades one through four have from the beginning of the year till our
spring window in June to do that. Our kindergarten students have from the winter window until spring to do it. And so we've already have two grade levels who have achieved that which is really exciting and I'm very proud of.
Kindergarten obviously wasn't tested. Our second and third grade is where our focus is going to be. These two grade levels happen to have also our most diverse populations within them. Um so how are we going to help these two grade levels and the other grade levels keep
moving forward? It's through our PLC reboot and our roll out. Um by working together with the grade levels and helping them to target their instruction in a more meaningful way. We hope that these two grade levels will be able to
reach their goals. I'm pretty positive they will. Um the next one, student goal setting. The two coaches, the language arts coach and the math coach and I went to an amazing training where we learned all about student goal setting and that
how important it is for students to understand why they're taking this MAP test and that they should know their scores and that they need to have some buy in and a goal to work towards. So, we worked with students towards the end of um well, actually right before they
tested in the winter to show them what their scores were, to help them make goals, and we did it in all different ways, grades three and four, they were able to define real numeric scores. Our younger students, we were able to show
them their graph and we spoke to them about how important it is for their line to keep going up. Um, and so that was actually very successful for our fourth graders. As you can see, they reached their goal. Um, and a lot of that was by goal setting. Another way we're going to
be able to address um, this goal is through our tier 2 and tier three intervention students. Um, we have a really streamlined approach here um, through I uh, to identify our intervention students through our data teams. Um, and we also use MAP scores
along with their classroom assessment data to help really kind of identify who is in need of these leveled interventions. They have targeted goals. We progress monitor them and when they reach their goal, they exit the program.
We also just began our morning math and ELA achieve programs. Again, these students who were invited to these two programs are uh were invited intentionally. They're students who are right on the cusp of the color band so that they can get a little bit
additional support and hopefully bump themselves up. We also have of course continued um support for our English language learners, which is huge in those two grade levels that um we're going to continue to work on. And so
those are the really great things that are going on related to goal one and goal two. Um I'm really proud of the work that our teachers are doing here, the work that our students are doing and I I think it's pretty clear that every when everybody feels that they belong,
they work hard, they are successful. Thank you. Now I'd like to introduce Miss Rudolph. Um, she began working at Parson's as a kindergarten teacher for 16 years. She taught kindergarten and second grade. Um, and she was also a reading academic
support teacher. And finally, she's here at John Adams. This is her second year as our instructional dean. Thank you, Miss Fennean. Good evening, everyone. Our third goal is our Jaguar box. At John Adams, we follow a positive behavioral interventions and support
framework which is used to enhance our positive learning environment leading to an ongoing reduction in discipline issues and increase opportunities for student engagement and learning. At the beginning of the school year, teachers introduced and reviewed our school expectations. Be respectful. Be
responsible. Be safe. through a presentation. Students were taught the behavioral expectations for these areas in the building. These posters were hung up to show students about the cafeteria, the hallway, the bathroom, the playground, the bus, and
the bus line. We are currently working on adding pictures to go along with these expectations so all of our students will be able to see and understand what we are looking for. In addition, we sent out in the beginning of the year our lunch and recess expectations and how to play different
games and respectfully playing those games. At the end of each lunch period, a golden lunch ticket is given out to one class in each grade lunch and their sign is hung up outside their room. They're very excited to run past my office or to any of us in the building
to share that they got the golden lunch ticket. So, what are Jaguar bucks? Jaguar Bucks are another way of saying thank you for making good behavior choices as they help us reinforce the kinds of behaviors we want to see in school. The benefits of using Jaguar
Bucks include encouraging students to continue engaging in positive behaviors, reinforcing the benefit of making good choices so that when you're tempted to maybe not make the best choice, you have a history remembering the positive interactions to hopefully help you. It's
used to encourage students working on behavior improvement goals to keep trying and providing praise to students to help it build positive adult student relationships. And we find that when a student gets a behavior bug, the student next to them that might not be making
the best choice at the moment is now motivated and encouraged to do the right thing so they can earn one as well. So what does this look like? At the beginning of the school year, we had a PBIS pep rally to introduce our three behavior expectations, all staff
members, and our first goal of earning 10,000 Jaguar Bucks. Students can earn Jaguar Bucks in any location of the school and from any staff member. As students earn a Jaguar Bucks, staff members state to the students why they are earning the Jaguar Buck for them to
understand. Each class then has a designated area for collecting the Jaguar Bucks that week. Every Friday, our fourth graders go around to collect the Jaguar bucks from all classrooms. Back in their home rooms, the students count the Jaguar bucks that are earned weekly for each grade level and record
them on our totals grade level behavior bucks count spreadsheet. Christine Pereira, our math coach, then updates our Jaguar Bucks bar graph that you'll see that's right outside here across from Miss Cummings office. So, celebrating the students, the part
that the students love the most. Two students per grade level are recognized weekly on the morning news. They receive a medal and a certificate. At the end of each month, two students are selected from all students who earn Jaguar Bucks to receive extra recess for their entire
grade level. Their names are announced on the loudspeaker. You could hear the cheers in the hall when walking by when the students hear their names and the classmates cheering them on. And when they walk around with their medal, they have great pride to show us. On December
19th, we celebrated our students earning their first goal of 10,000 Jaguar Bucks with a schoolwide celebration called Wrap the Snowman. Students in grades preK to 4th were selected to wrap teachers who volunteered. Yes, they did volunteer using toilet paper, and
teachers were encouraged to bring in any supplies they wanted to be the most creative snowman. Based on applause, Mrs. Ostrosky's team won the competition. All students involved received a certificate and Jesse the Jaguar gave Mrs. Zstroski a medal. So, what's next for us? At our pep rally, we
set a new schoolwide goal of earning 31,000 Jaguar Bucks. I'm happy to say that as of Friday, we have earned 24,730 Jaguar Bucks. So, we are making our way there. Last week in our specials classes, we began our specials Jaguar
Buck, which is on purple paper so that it stands out a little special. This is another way for us to bring positive student interactions to all locations in the building. Thank you. As you can see through our goals, everything is connected with our theme.
As we close this evening, I want to return to the heart of our theme. Every Jaguar counts. Every connection matters. For students, a sense of belonging is foundational. When children feel valued and connected, their experience shifts
from simply being present in school to truly thriving. Belonging boosts academic achievement and motivation. Students who feel connected are more engaged. They persist through challenges. They attend school more
consistently and they perform at higher levels. When they feel safe and accepted, they take intellectual risks. They ask questions and they engage in deeper learning. Belonging also protects emotional well-being. It reduces anxiety
and loneliness. It builds confidence and self-worth. It creates that second home feeling, a place where students can be their authentic selves without fear. Socially, it fosters empathy, cooperation, and positive relationships. Students who
feel attached to their school, like we still do, are less likely to engage in disruptive behaviors and more likely to demonstrate pro-social actions. Long-term, the foundation builds resilience, the grit to face challenges
and recover from setbacks. For staff, belonging matters just as deeply. When educators feel supported professionally and personally, it improves well-being, reduces burnout, and strengthens retention. Psychological
safety allows teachers to innovate, take instructional risks, and bring their authentic selves to the classrooms. Belonging among staff is contagious. When adults feel valued and connected, they model empathy, emotional stability,
and respect for students. Strong collaboration builds collective efficacy. The shared belief that together we can positively impact student outcomes. A school is not simply a building for learning. It is a community for everyone
within it. And finally, for families, belonging transforms the school home relationship. When families feel welcomed and included, they shift from being observers to active partners. That partnership, student, teacher, and
family, strengthens academic performance, improves attendance, and supports positive behavior. A welcoming environment builds trust. It encourages open two-way communication. It empowers families to advocate for their
children's needs. It ensures cultural responsiveness and equity so that all families feel valued. When families belong, the school climate improves and the school becomes what is meant to be, a hub of collaboration and
mutual support. This is why our theme matters because belonging is not extra, it's essential. And I would like to close with the words of James Comr. No significant learning can occur without a significant relationship. At
John Adams, we are intentionally building these significant relationships every single day. Thank you for your continued support of our students, staff, and families. We are proud of the work being done and excited about the future we are building together. Thank
you everyone. Thank you, Miss Finnegan. Thank you to all of your your administrative staff, teachers. Some are still here or it's been a long day. Thank you families for uh attending uh this welcoming to us as we have some business um uh issues to
deal with tonight. Uh but we wanted to come and say hello and then show our appreciation, our value, how much we value your work here because it is really a collaborative effort with Miss Finnegan, her team and our families and of course your your precious commodity,
most precious commodity, the children. So thank you for being here tonight. Thank you for allowing us to be here, Miss Finnegan, and do our meeting and sharing after a very busy day coming back after a little bit of a break. So, thank you.
>> Well, I just want to say um the John Adams uh meet conference meeting every year is personally one of my favorites because as Miss Finnegan alluded to, I was a student here a couple of moons ago. Um and never did I think that when
I was playing scooter down this gym or walking down those halls or going across the hall over here for reading help um that I would end up in this chair. And I think that um the foundation of the education that I got here at John Adams
where I first started my journey in education in in North Brunswick um has built off of that. My my late father was a classroom dad. He uh came here often and and helped out and um we built amazing my family and I built amazing
relationships with uh staff members who have since you know retired or have moved on um who were still in in uh connection to and in communication with. So what you all do truly does matter because it um you know you'll look back one day and you'll remember those
connections that you have some that you know your children will be 20 years older than they are now and you're still in touch with some of those teachers or administrators that made a great impact um in your child's life just as the staff here has has made in mine in my family. So Mrs. Finnegan we really have
um you know placed uh the school in great hands. So, thank you for your presentation and um and just an honor to be here and it's so great to see uh you know at once we had a full audience but some of you sticking around uh for the end of our presentation. So, thank you so much for being here. Truly means a
lot. Anyone else from the board? >> Well, thank you. >> Sorry, I will just say a quick comment because I can't help it. Um, when the second grade chorus came out, I honestly was getting a little bit emotional because obviously everyone's well aware of the demographics in North Brunswick
and I think that we all pride ourselves on how diverse this community is. Um, it truly is a great reflection of people from different backgrounds and cultures um, really can do wonderful things together and to see that microcosm of that on the stage and in the audience
was just truly beautiful. Um, and I'm very encouraged to see that at every meeting that we attend. So, thank you all. While I support the school, I support North Fun schools in general. Um, and I wish you all much success for the rest of of the year and beyond. >> I actually personally have a personal connection myself. Uh, both of I have a
child who's actually attending John Adams and my daughter and my niece and nephew gone through here. So, I've seen this school, you know, when Dr. Johnson was here. So, now, you know, you're the third principal here. So, welcome. You're doing a fantastic job and your staff has forever been since I've seen wonderful. And, you know, we had Mr.
Tony Brown here and he's also been a part of the PTO since you know my daughter started here. So he's really made strides and you know I really appreciate him and the rest of your supportive staff that you have. So thank you for everything that you guys do. >> All right. Thank you. We have a couple
of uh items of business to attend to before we wrap up this evening. Um, so being that this is our uh conference meeting, we will review our regular public meeting agenda for next
Wednesday, March 4th. We have a copy that was provided to us on the day is here. So we will just go page by page. If anyone has any comments, questions um at this time, we will um bring those up.
But we will start on page one of that regular public agenda. Pages two and three. When we jump to page three, we have our personnel items listed. Moving on to pages four and five.
with those being listed. Continuing pages six and seven, personnel items. Wrapping up on the bottom of page seven, we start with curriculum and instruction items
on pages eight and nine. On pages 10 and 11, we continue with curriculum instruction. In the middle of page 11, we jump to our miscellane miscellaneous, excuse me, items. pages third uh excuse me 12 and 13 we
have our finance policy and transportation items. This is a bit of a shorter agenda at this point and then we wrap up on page 14 where we will um have a close session on a couple of different matters
uh next week. With that being uh said, does anyone from the board have any comments or questions on items listed on the agenda for next week? Okay. Hearing none, we will have a public session at this time on agenda
items only. If anyone from the public would like to come and speak to any of the agenda items, this is now the time. We just ask that you state your name and you'll be given three minutes. Okay. Seeing and hearing none, can we please have a motion to close the public
portion of the meeting? >> So moved. >> Second. >> I'm sorry that was Missa. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> All in favor? Is >> anyone opposed? This is closed. >> Thank you. Uh Mr. Wen, would you please
take item number nine? We have a motion on curriculum and instruction. >> Sure. Yes, madam president. I would like to make a motion to approve the following curriculum and instruction item um to approve the overnight uh andor out of state trips um as stated be
uh below. >> Thank you. Can we have a second? >> Second. I >> All in favor? >> Is anyone opposed? >> This motion is approved. >> Okay. And at this time, we will have a public session on any matter. Um, at
this time, if anyone from the public would like to address the board on any matter, this is now the time. We just ask that you state your name and you'll be given three minutes. Sure. Come on up. Hi. Just for the Yeah, you can head up to the podium. We just ask that you use
the microphone so it's recorded. Thank you. Hi. Um, my name is Mina Shiao. Um, I was just wondering about the Lynwood school's um, I don't know if this is a place to address it, but the Spanish program, the language program,
and like is there any thought into changing the way the program's done since right now it's completely done through a computer, like an online program, and the kids are not, to be honest, the kids are not really learning anything in that class. It's more of just to fulfill the language
requirement. >> Thank you. Great point. And this is the place any matter before the board. And so, um, what I would love for you to do, um, is leave me your name and where we can contact. We'll reach out and I'll make sure our director of curriculum
because we are looking at multiple ways, uh, you know, that I don't want to say that we're doing it that way only because the lack of more language teachers, but that's one of the reasons why trying to recruit teachers during a teaching a teacher shortage. So, um, but
we could go over and get some even further feedback and maybe, uh, specific feedback that I wouldn't want to discuss publicly, maybe involved. Yeah. So, would love to hear and I'll talk a little bit more and but you're you're spot on. It's something has not escaped
our curriculum committee and our discussions and even during our budget um, we at the Lynwood, we have a a budget committee and also uh, a new schedule that we're looking at. uh with Lynwood to present to the board and uh
under the under uh Mr. Shartter's uh leadership. So, we have a lot I could talk to you a little bit about in further detail, but I would love to have our curriculum director there and some of the ways we're trying to, >> you know, and I I know we have our our assistant superintendent personnel who's
always on goes on many meetings and uh look on the lookout for world language teachers and also um just teachers in general because there's a shortage of certain areas of teachers. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. So, language being one of them. >> Okay.
>> Yeah. But thank you. Thank you so much for coming up to address us. We appreciate it. >> Oh, >> yes. >> You'll get it for me, please. Yeah. Thanks. >> Anyone else from the public? >> Okay. Seeing none, can we please have a motion to close the public portion of
the meeting? >> So, move. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. Is anyone opposed? This session is closed. >> Thank you. We um on our agenda, we have to add an additional item this evening. We we actually are going to be um
motioning to go into close session where we have some business to attend to. So whereas section 8 of the open public meetings act chapter 231PL 1975 permits the inclusion exclusion, excuse me, of the public from a meeting
in certain circumstances. And whereas this public body is of the opinion that such circumstances presented exist. Now therefore be it be it resolved by the North Brunswick Board of Educa Board of Education that the public shall be excluded from discussion of and action upon the hearin
after specified subject matters. The general nature of this specified subject matter is to be discussed is as follows. Financial matters. It is anticipated at this time that the above stated subject matter shall be made public at the such time as the need for non-disclosure no
longer exists. This resolution shall take effect immediately. Can we please have a motion to go into close session? >> So move >> second. >> All in favor? >> I. Is anyone opposed? We can go to close session. >> Thank you all so so much.
Thank you very much. We um welcome back everyone. We at this time will return to open session. So, can we please have a motion? >> So, moved. >> Second. >> Um all in favor? >> Is anyone opposed? We are back in session. >> All right. Well, thank you everyone so
much. Great meeting. We'll see everyone in a week um at our regular public meeting. So at this time, can we just have a motion to adjurnn? >> So move to second. >> I'm sorry, who was first? >> Thank you. And second, I'm sorry, >> Mr. >> Okay. All in favor?
>> I. Anyone opposed? We are adjourned. Thank you very much.