schools I see students that are learning and having fun and to me those are two very important qualities of a very very effective education birwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after
year there's multi-generations that have attended Birchwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be our core values are the same as Rockway Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and Trust so we can FOC focus on particularly on being kind
what really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have
seen before Tony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visitors in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is Second To None they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a
wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involved School Community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as
well every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District and will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our
community our mantro we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community you just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors what keeps me coming back here every morning hugs from
kids you know I love being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal so yeah I think for me it's just being a part of
something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy their willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious the people I work
with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world the thing that makes goop middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community
members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making at a better place I come here for the students I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do I'm proud to be the
superintendent of Rockway Township Schools and we are thankful for all the support we have from our [Music] community I truly believe an educator being able to make a difference in the
world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at dwire is special because we don't have walls I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to
discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child if you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a
family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other one of the things that I love the most about this position and this job is that I get to work with students of all ages now that we have preschool students here I see every single student in the
building from preschool all the way through fifth grade and I get to work with them on a deeper level on a way that inspires them not just to be confident in themselves but in what they
love after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom
I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the
students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing
that mindset one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head
would be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their schools a happy place
for them and they want to [Music] come so we used to always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard like a harder task and I think that if we
really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder task than all the other other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier our goal here is that every child is as comfortable in class as they are at home and if they're ever in trouble they're ever concerned or worried that they have the tools
available to them to be successful and to help each other be as successful as we know they can be we have really seen over the years an incredible increase in their emotional maturity and in their abilities to deal with issues both in the playground and in the classroom and
I really believe it's because our districts Focus onal over the last several years I am the steam teacher at copelan middle school I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork
so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and
love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome
this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah my I think what awesome
is about being in Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing BR go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is
recess my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day my name is Carly and I am in fifth
grade and I go to DBL yeah my name is Reya I'm in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us
stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss tus cuz drawing is my favorite thing what makes de unique is that everyone is
so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other my name is Queen K I'm in the fifth grade hi my name is Arya I am in second grade what makes our school awesome as all the teachers we have here they help us every day all the janitors
keep our school nice and clean all my friends that helped me since kindergarten and everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good Community because of my friends the teachers and the principal like we read a book and then we do a project based on what
happened in that story math is my favorite subject because the teachers always help us and it's fun but it can be complicated but it's still really fun my favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have fun activities to do
and their stories my first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books and juny B Jones my favorite subject is science in science you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun every day I'm
like happy at school when I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck all the
things that I do one teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my 7th grade La teacher I used to just like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun I think the wire school is awesome
because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like people
will be friends with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe this school is probably hard honesty empathy acceptance and respect and [Music] trust this is probably one of the most
special places I've ever worked it is the staff the teachers uh they are loving they are caring the energy here is just great it's wonderful to work with a group of men and women who truly love what they do their heart passion and soul is for students and to see them
succeed I try to find a way for them to want to be here even if they're sad or even if they don't want to get out of the car in the morning if I say hey let's go wander in the library and they bounce out of the car right away which actually happened then I've done something right that I have found a way
to make them feel like this is home for them because that's kind of how I feel I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what
awesome is about being in Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher
my favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day our doors are
always open we are truly a family here our kids are just everything if you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable
we're here together for each other Birchwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended Birchwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be I
commute an hour or more every day and I've been given the opportunity to work in another District but I've been here 7 years and I will drive that hour because the community the parents the teachers our principal are incredible we're just so happy to have such a loving nurturing
community that is so vested in our school We are family and once a bulld doog always a bulld doog I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a
positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at deire is special because we don't have walls our Mantra we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great
sense of community you just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors I like to tell people that when you're here it's like learning at home you're in your kitchen but you still know what's going on in the family room it builds like this you
know codery amongst not only the students but also of the faculty that work here we call ourselves a DWI family Mr McGovern he seldom calls us a school and we really all live by that we treat each other like family and we emulate
that for the kids I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you
come from or no matter what you like look like like people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe the school is probably heart honesty empathy acceptance and respect and
Trust I have been teaching art here in Rockaway township for 16 years I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional
dialogue dialog and that helps the whole child I get the privilege of going into every single class once a month where I do a guidance lesson the best part of my job is when one of them is having a tough day and then they feel better and it's because of me the people I work
with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world [Music] every student who goes through Rockaway
Township School District will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community I am the steam teacher at
copela middle school I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I
want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class when I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind
to me she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my 7th grade La teacher I used to just like like reading and writing and
she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and
it was fabulous to to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day we are making sure kids are prepared for the future and that means making sure that they have access to technology
every single classroom has interactive boards kids get a Chromebook in the fifth grade they work as a team towards a common goal they overcome challenges we connect with the community through our concerts which are very well attended Vanda Copeland is TR an all-inclusive experience for all of the
students here I try to get everybody involved so that they can make a positive impact in the future I teach us history and I come to work every day excited I get the opportunity to mold the Next Generation the thing that makes
scopel middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better place [Music] our core values are the same as Rockaway
Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind by being kind to a friend helping them out helping teachers be nice to them be respectful and don't interrupt the
teachers and everything we do we try and relate back to our core values one of the things we are working on right now is positive behavior system I don't like to address anything negative in my office because I want kids to be able to trust me and to be able to come down as a leader of the building so we're really
working on being kind and yes academics are important but one of the main things for us is that we raise good kids the main message is to be kind because above all else we want our kids just to be kind my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to dblf yeah my name is
Reya I'm in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us
stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss takus cuz drawing is my favorite thing what makes deio unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone
cares about each other if I had to describe our building in one word I would say we're a little unconventional we're always trying to have our teachers and our students look at other ways to achieve success and for every student that's different there are
other ways that we can really show student growth Student Success I'm not trying to be cheesy or anything it's it really the staff here um we have built a family and I think that says something about the building and the and and the community that we Foster here at dbo and I'm really grateful to be part of that
being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a
story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together
the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks so yeah I I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support
each other really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something
in themselves that they might not have seen before it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't
like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset just because we can't do something right now doesn't mean that we're never going to be able to do it and that's what I teach all of my
students my favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have fun activities to do and their stories my first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books in juny B Jones my favorite subject is
science in science you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun every day I'm like happy at school we identify the interests of students you know what motivates them so students feel more comfortable and confident in their learning environment
moving them forward from one learning experience to another every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy their willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them
more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I trying to instill intrinsic love
for school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to [Music]
come Tony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visit us in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is second to none they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful
School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school night our events and we have a very involved School Community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well inside school I really try to be involved in as
many things as I can my children also go to school in this District at one of the other schools and I'm really proud of what we put forth for our children any type we can bring togetherness and have us all work together both in our community and out it's really going to help everyone raise their own level of abilities to really increase the success
of our community so we used always start off with the the growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard like a harder task and I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder
task than all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier having students in a classroom that's smaller where you get to meet their needs specifically rather than in a bigger classroom you can build more of a rapport and relationships with them I like them to become successful
not just academically but also social and emotionally my name is Queen K I'm in the fifth grade hi my name is Arya I am in second grade what makes our school awesome is all the teachers we have here they help us every day all the janitors keep our school nice and clean all my
friends that help me since kindergarten and everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good Community because of my friends the teachers and the principal like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened in that story math is my favorite
subject because the teachers always help us and it's fun but it can be complicated but it's still really fun I've always wanted to be a teacher I think the reason why I wanted to be a teacher is because I think I had really good Elementary School teachers Rockway I thought was really interesting cuz I
feel like it is a small close-knit community but I also felt like there was a lot of different opportunities in Rockway like how there was five different elementary schools but I also like how I felt like that I fit in in with the Stony Brook mentality the Stony Brook mentality is something where we
all feel and have the same idea of supporting students the kids understand that everyone makes a mistake everyone has a bad day and I think that it gives the opportunity for kids to grow and not feel like penalized I love that we have a great principal I love the teachers and the morale as soon as I started
coming up here since I am from South Jersey I felt welcomed and included right away my name is Dr Richard Corbett and I the proud superintendent of Rockaway Township Public Schools I was just waving to some of our wonderful students as they were walking by and I'm so happy and pleased to say
that when I walk through these halls and talk to these students in these six different schools I see students that are learning and having fun and to me those are two very important qualities of a very very effective education Birchwood is very special because it is
truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended Birchwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be our core values are the same as Rockaway Township heart honesty empathy
acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging
learning experience they learn to persevere and we can can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before Tony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visitors in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo
that sentiment our staff is second to none they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involved
School Community both academically working hand in hand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District and will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into
our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community our Mantra we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community you just know
you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors what keeps me coming back here every morning hugs from kids you know I love being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here
for 11 years as the principal so yeah I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy their
willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious the people I work with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world the thing
that makes scopel middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better place I come here for the students I love the kids here they are amazing they're the
best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do I'm proud to be the superintendent of Rockway Township Schools and we are thankful for all the support we have from our [Music] community I truly believe in an educator
being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at deire is special because we don't have walls I think social
emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child if you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood you
honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other one of the things that I love the most about this position and this job is that I get to work with students of all
ages now that we house preschool students here I see every single student in the building from preschool all the way through fifth grade and I get to work with them on a deeper level on a way that inspires them not just to be confident in themselves but in what they
love [Music] after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games
seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks it's a really great environment here at
KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically
throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the
classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and
their school's a happy place for them and they want to [Music] come so we used to always start off with a growth mindset and we we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard like a
harder task and I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder task than all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier our goal here is that every child is as comfortable in class as they are at home and if they're
ever in trouble or ever concerned or worried that they have the tools available to them to be successful and to help each other be as successful as we know they can be we have really seen over the years an incredible increase in their emotional maturity and in their
abilities to deal with issues both in the playground and in the classroom and I really believe it's because our District's Focus onal over the last several years I am the steam teacher at Copa Middle School I really love to see the growth and the change to the students
and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in and teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be
themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome
this Fe here and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what awesome is
about being in Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is
recess my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day my name is Carly and I am in fifth
grade and I go to dvl yeah my name is Rea I'm in first grade being at dvo is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us
stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss tus cuz drawing is my favorite thing what makes deio unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone
cares about each other my name is quen k I'm in the fifth grade hi my name is Arya I am in second grade what makes our school awesome is all the teachers we have here they help us every day all the janitors keep our school nice and clean all my friends
that help me since kindergarten and everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good Community because of my friends the teachers and the principal like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened in that story math is my favorite subject
because the teachers always help us and it's fun but it can be complicated but it's still really fun my favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have fun activities to do and their stories my first grade teacher
got me into reading and she got me into chapter books in juny B Jones my favorite subject is science in science you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun every day I'm like happy at school when I came into
sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially good evening i' like to call the meeting to order at 6m will take attendance Mrs Anderson
here Mrs k m MC here Mrs mzik here Mrs Smith here Mr to uh Dr thini present and Mrs Shields myself is
here Public Announcement the New Jersey open public meetings Act was passed to ensure the public the right of the public to have advanced notice and to attend the meeting of public bodies at which any business affecting their interest is discussed and acted upon in accordance with the provisions of the
act the Rockway Township Board of Education has caused notice of the date time and place of said meeting to be published in the Daily Record Star Ledger and be posted in all schools in The District in the municipal building of the township and the Township Library
does any board member wish to object to the conduct of this meeting or the purpose as stated at the public notice all documentation and materials considered by the Board of Education as part of this agenda are available for public review and comment members of the public are invited to come to the Board
of Education building off Green Pond Road during the regular business hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4 P p.m. Monday through Friday if they wish to inspect any of the referenced items I please have a motion to wave The Pledge until Open Session no moved
second of hands resolve that in accordance with the open public meetings act the Rockway Township Board of Education will meet in Clos session to discuss matters involving personel ation Real Estate Security negotiations and receipt of government funds the content of said
discussions will be disclosed to the public at such time and extent as the required by law I have a motion to go into Clos session so second can I have a show of hands
please session to start at 602m my name is Dr Richard Corbett and I am the proud superintendent of Rockaway Township Public Schools I was just waving to some of our wonderful students as they were walking by and I'm so happy and pleased to say
that when I walk through these halls and talk to these students in these six different schools I see students that are learning and having fun and to me those are two very important qualities of a very very effective education Birchwood is very special because it is
truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended Birchwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be our core values are the same as Rockaway Township heart honesty empathy
acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind what really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging
learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before Tony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visit us in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment
our staff is second to none they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involve School
Community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into
our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community our Mantra we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students students a great sense of community you
just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors what keeps me coming back here every morning hugs from kids you know I love being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've
been here for 11 years as the principal so yeah I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy
their willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious the people I work with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the
world the thing that makes scopel middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better place I come here for the students I love the kids here they
are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do I'm proud to be the superintendent of Rockway Township Schools and we are thankful for all the support we have from our community I truly believe an educator
being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at deire is special because we don't have walls I
think social and emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child if you've never taught at another
school and you come to Birchwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other one of the things that I love the most about this position and this job is
that I get to work with students of all ages now that we house preschool students here I see every single student in the building from preschool all the way through fifth grade and I get to work with them on a deeper level on a way that inspires them not just to be
confident in in themselves but in what they love after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to
the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take
risks it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do
this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he
would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid
come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to [Music] come so we always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard like a
harder task and I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder task than all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier our goal here is that every child is as comfortable in class as they are at home and if they're
ever in trouble or ever concerned or worried that they have the tools available to them to be successful and to help each other be as successful as we know they can be we have really seen over the years an incredible increase in their emotional maturity and in their
abilities to deal with issues both in the playground and in the classroom and I really believe it's because our District's Focus onal over the last several years I am the steam teacher at copelan middle school I really love to see the growth and the change to the students
and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be
themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra he help just to have her
overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what awesome is about being in Birchwood is
the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing B go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is recess my favorite thing
is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day my name is Carly and I am in fifth
grade and I go to DBL yeah my name is Reya I'm in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us
stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss tus cuz drawing is my favorite thing what makes diio unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone
cares about each other my name is quen k I'm in the fifth grade hi my name is Arya I am in second grade what makes our school awesome as all the teachers we have here they help us every day all the janitors keep our school nice and clean all my friends that helped me since
kindergarten and everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good Community because of my friends the teachers and the principal like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened in that story math is my favorite subject because the teachers
always help us and it's fun but it can be complicated but it's still really fun my favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have fun activities to do and their stories my first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into
chapter books and juny B Jones my favorite subject is science in science you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun I every day I'm like happy at school when I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything
was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my
7eventh grade La teacher I used to dislike like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers math is
my favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe
this school is probably hard honesty empathy acceptance and respect and [Music] trust this is probably one of the most special places I've ever worked it is the staff the teachers uh they are
loving they are caring the energy here is just great it's wonderful to work with a group of men and women who truly love what they do their heart passion and soul is for students and to see them succeed I try to find a way for them to
want to be here even if they're sad or even if they don't want to get out of the car in the morning if I say hey let's go wander in the library and they bounce out of the car right away which actually happened then I've done something right that I have found a way to make them feel like this is home for
them because that's kind of how I feel I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what
awesome is about being Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my
favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day see our doors are
always open we are truly a family here our kids are just everything if you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable
we're here together for each other Birchwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended birwood it is truly a loving community it's such a wonderful place to be I
commute an hour or more every day and I've been given the opportunity to work in another District but I've been here 7 years and I will drive that hour because the community the parents the teachers our principal are incredible we're just so happy to have such a loving nurturing
community that is so vested in our school We are family and once a bulldog always a bulog I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a positive
environment for a child to come to and teaching at deire is special because we don't have walls our Mantra we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great
sense of community you just know you're walking into to a special place when you come through our doors I like to tell people that when you're here it's like learning at home you're in your kitchen but you still know what's going on in the family room it builds like this you
know codery amongst not only the students but also the faculty that work here we call ourselves a dwire family Mr McGovern he seldom calls us a school and we really all live by that we treat each other like family and we emulate that
for the kids I think the w school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you come from or
no matter what you like look like people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe the school is probably heart honesty empathy acceptance and respect and Trust
I have been teaching art here in Rockaway township for 16 years I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional
dialogue and that helps the whole child I get the privilege of going into every single class once a month where I do a guidance lesson the best part of my job is when one of them is having a tough day and then they feel better and it's because of me the people I work with
makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District will
graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students help students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community I am the steam teacher at Copa
Middle School I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I
want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class when I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind
to me she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my seventh grade La teacher I used to just like like reading and writing
and she really helped me understand understand and make that subject more fun years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to
have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day we are making sure kids are prepared for the future and that means making
sure that they have access to technology every single classroom has interactive boards kids get a Chromebook in the fifth grade they work as a team towards a common goal they overcome challenges we connect with the community through our concerts which are very well attended Vanda Copeland is truly an
all-inclusive experience for all of the students here I try to get everybody involved so that they can make a positive impact in the future I teach us history and I come to work every day excited I get the opportunity to mold
the Next Generation the thing that makes scopel middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better [Music]
place our core values are the same as Rockway Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind by being kind to a friend helping them out helping teachers be nice to them be
respectful and don't interrupt the teachers and everything we do we try and relate back to our core values one of the things we are working on right now is positive behavior system I don't like to address anything negative in my office because I want kids to be able to trust me and to be able to come down as
a leader of the building so we're really working on being kind and yes academics are important but one of the main things for us is that we raise good kids the main message is to be kind because above all else we want our kids just to be kind my name is Carly and I am in fifth
grade and I go to DB yeah my name is Reya I'm in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us
stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss tus cuz drawing is my favorite thing what makes dbo unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone
cares about each other if I had to describe our building in one word I would say we're a little unconventional we're always trying to have our teachers and our students look at other ways to achieve success and for every student that's different there are
other ways that we can really show student growth Student Success I'm not trying to be cheesy or anything it's a really the staff here um we have built a family and I think that says something about the building and the and and the community that we Foster here at dbo and I'm really grateful to be part of that
being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a
story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are that relationship that we build together
the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks so yeah I I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support
each other what really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out
something in themselves that they might not have seen before it's a really great environment here at ADM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't
like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset just because we can't do something right now doesn't mean that we're never going to be able to do it and that's what I teach all of my
students my favorite teachers are probably all all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have fun activities to do and their stories my first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books in juny B Jones my favorite subject is
science in science you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun every day I'm like happy at school we identify the interests of students you know what motivates them so students feel more comfortable and confident in their learning environment
moving them forward from one learning experience to another every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy their willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them
more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for
school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to [Music]
come bony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visit is in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is second to none and they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful
School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involved School Community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well inside school I really try to be
involved in as many things as I can my children also go to school in this District at one of the other schools and I'm really proud of what we put forth for our children any type we can bring togetherness and have us all work together both in our community and out it's really going to help everyone raise their own level of abilities to really
increase the success of our community so we used to always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard like a harder task and I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient
and show grit in the face of a harder task than all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier having students in a classroom that's smaller where you get to meet their needs specifically rather than in a bigger classroom you can build more of a rapport and relationships with
them I like them to become successful not just academically but also social and emotionally my name is Queen K I'm in the fifth grade hi my name is Arya I am in second grade what makes our school awesome is all the teachers we have here they help us every day all the janitors
keep our school nice and clean all my friends that help me since kindergarten and everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good Community because of my friends the teachers and the principal like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened
in that story math is my favorite subject because the teachers always help us and it's fun but it can be complicated but it's still really fun I've always wanted to be a teacher I think the reason why I wanted to be a teacher is because I think I had really good Elementary School teachers Rockway
I thought was really interesting cuz I feel like it is a small close-knit community but I also felt like there was a lot of different opportunities in Rockway like how there was five different elementary schools but I also like how I felt like that I fit in with the Sony Brook mentality the Sony Brook
mentality is something where we all feel and have the same idea of supporting students the kids understand that everyone makes a mistake everyone has a bad day and I think that it gives the opportunity for kids to grow and not feel like penalized I love that we have a great principal I love the teachers
and the morale as soon as I started coming up here since I am from South Jersey I felt welcomed and included right away my name is Dr Richard Corbett and I am the proud superintendent of Rockaway Township Public Schools I was just waving to some of our wonderful students as they were walking
by and I'm so happy and pleased to say that when I walk through these halls and talk to these students in these six different schools I see students that are learning and having fun and to me those are two very important qualities of a very very effective education
Birchwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended Birchwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be our core values are the same as Rockaway
Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particular on being kind what really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a
difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before Sony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's fulltime or visitors in the building just for a day
uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is second to none they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involved
School Community both academically working hand in hand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District and will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core value into
our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community our mro we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community you just know you're
walking into a special place when you come through our doors what keeps me coming back here every morning hugs from kids you know I love being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here
for 11 years as the principal so yeah I I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy their
willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious the people I work with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that per throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world the thing that
makes scopel middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better place I come here for the students I love the kids here they are amazing they're the
best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do I'm proud to be the superintendent of Rockway Township Schools and we are thankful for all the support we have from our community I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the
world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at dwire is special because we don't have walls I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to
discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child if you've never taught at another school and you come to birwood you honestly never want to leave birwood you walk into this building and it's a
family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other one of the things that I love the most about this position and this job is that I get to work with students of all ages now that we house preschool students here I see every single student
in the building from preschool all the way through fifth grade and I get to work with them on a deeper level on a way that inspires them not just to be confident in themselves but in what they
love after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom
I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we bu together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the
students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing
that mindset one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head
would be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for education and over time time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to
[Music] come so we used to always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard like a harder task and I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient
and show grit in the face of a harder task than all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier our goal here is that every child is as comfortable in class as they are at home and if they're ever in trouble or ever concerned or worried that they have the tools available to them to be successful and
to help each other be as successful as we know they can be we have really seen over the years an incredible increase in their emotional maturity and in their abilities to deal with issues both in the playground and in the classroom and I really believe it's because our
District's Focus onal over the last several years I am the steam teacher at Copa Middle School I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling
comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class years ago I
had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it
and that is why I do what I do every day so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what awesome is about being in Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in
school they have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and
just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end end of the day my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DBL yeah my name is
Rea I'm in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us
stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss takus cuz drawing is my favorite thing what makes Deo unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone
cares about each other my name is Queen K I'm in the fifth grade hi my name Arya I am in second grade what makes our school awesome is all the teachers we have here they help us every day all the jamers keep our school nice and clean all my
friends that helped me since kindergarten and everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good Community because of my friends the teachers and the principal like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened in that story math is my
favorite subject because the teachers always help us and it's fun but can be complicated but it's still really fun my favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have fun activities to do and their stories my first grade teacher
got me into reading and she got me into chapter books and juny B Jones my favorite subject is science in science you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun every day I'm like happy at school when I came into
sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she's still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special
and cared for was my 7th grade La teacher I used to dis like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends
here and there's good teachers math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like people will be friends with you and welcome you
into the school one word to describe the school is probably heart honesty empathy acceptance and respect and [Music] trust this is probably one of the most special places I've ever worked it is
the staff the teachers uh they are loving they are caring the energy here is just great it's wonderful to work with a group of men and women who truly love what they do their heart passion and soul is for students and to see them succeed I try to find a way for them to
want to be here even if they're sad or even if they don't want to get out of the car in the morning if I say hey let's go wander in the library and they bounce out of the car right away which actually happened then I've done something right that I have found a way to make them feel like this is home for
them because that's kind of how I feel I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what
awesome is about being Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my
favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day our doors
are always open we are truly a family here our kids are just everything if you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're
smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other Birchwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended birwood it is truly a loving Community
it's such a wonderful place to be I commute an hour or more every day and I've been given the opportunity to work in another District but I've been here 7 years and I will drive that hour because the community the parents the teachers our principal are incredible we're just
so happy happy to have such a loving nurturing community that is so vested in our school We are family and once a bulldog always a bulldog I truly believe in in educator being able to make a difference in the
world it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at deire is special because we don't have walls our Mantra we live by is no walls
No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community you just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors I like to tell people that when you're here it's like learning at home you're in your kitchen
but you still know what's going on in the family room it builds like this you know codery amongst not only the students but also the faculty that work here we call ourselves a dwire family Mr McGovern he seldom calls us a school and
we really all live by that we treat each other like family and we emulate that for the kids I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus
minus no matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like people will be be friends with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe this school is probably heart honesty empathy acceptance and respect and
Trust I have been teaching art here in Rockaway township for 16 years I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional
dialogue and that helps the whole child I get the privilege of going into every single class once a month where I do a guidance lesson the best part of my job is when one of them is having a tough day and then they feel better and it's because of me the people I work with makes me come back every single day I
hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high
school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community I am the steam teacher at copela middle school I really love to see the growth in the change to the
students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be
themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class when I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she still talks to me even though
we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my 7eventh grade La teacher I used to just like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and
make that subject more fun years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see
that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day we are making sure kids are prepared for the future and that means making sure that they have access to technology
every single classroom has interactive boards kids get a Chromebook in the fifth grade they work as a team towards a common goal they overcome challenges we connect with the community through our concerts which are very well attended Vanda Copeland is truly an all-inclusive experi experience for all
of the students here I try to get everybody involved so that they can make a positive impact in the future I teach us history and I come to work every day excited I get the opportunity to mold the Next Generation the thing that makes
scopel middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better place [Music] our core values are the same as Rockaway
Township heart honesty empathy acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind by being kind to a friend helping them out helping teachers being nice to them be respectful and don't interrupt the
teachers and everything we do we try and relate back to our core values one of the things we are working on right now is positive behavior system I don't like to address anything negative in my office because I want kids to be able to trust me and to be able to come down as a leader of the building so we're really
working on being kind and yes academics are important but one of the main things for us is that we raise good kids the main message is to be kind because above all else we want our kids just to be kind my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to dblf yeah my name is
Rea I'm in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us
stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss Takis cuz drawing is my favorite thing what makes deio unique is that everyone
is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other I had to describe our building in one word I would say we're a little unconventional we're always trying to have our teachers and our students look at other ways to achieve success and for
every student that's different there are other ways that we can really show student growth Student Success I'm not trying to be cheesy or anything it's it really the staff here um we have built a family and I think that says something about the building and the and and the community that we Foster here at zbo and
I'm really grateful to be part of that being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of
time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we both together
together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks so yeah I I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support
each other what really resonates with me about the school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out
something in themselves that they might not have seen before it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't
like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset just because we can't do something right now doesn't mean that we're never going to be able to do it and that's what I teach all of my
students my favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have fun activities to do and there stories my first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books and juny be Jones my favorite subject is
science in science you do lots of experiment experiments and I think experiments are very fun every day I'm like happy at school we identify the interests of students you know what motivates them so students feel more comfortable and confident in their
learning environment moving them forward from one learning experience to another every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy their willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them
more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic
love for school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to come [Music]
Tony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visit us in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is second to none and they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful
School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have very involved School Community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well inside school I really try to be involved in as
many things as I can my children also go to school in this District at one of the other schools and I'm really proud of what we put forth for our children any type we can bring togetherness and have us all work together both in our community and out it's really going to help everyone raise their own level of abilities to really increase the success
of our community so we us always start off with a growth mindset and and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard like a harder task and I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder
task than all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier having students in a classroom that's smaller where you get to meet their needs specifically rather than in a bigger classroom you can build more of a rapport and relationships with them I like them to become successful
not just academically but also social emotionally my name is Queen K I'm in the fifth grade hi my name is Arya I am in second grade what makes our school awesome as all the teachers we have here they help us every day all the janitors keep our school nice and clean all my
friends that help me sense kindergarten and everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good Community because of my friends the teachers and the principal like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened in that story math is my favorite
subject because the teachers always help us and it's fun but it can be complicated but it's still really fun I've always wanted to be a teacher I think the reason why I wanted to be a teacher is because I think I had really good Elementary School teachers Rockway I thought was really interesting because
I feel like it is a small close-knit community but I also felt like there was a lot of different opportunities in Rockway I like how there was five different elementary schools but I also like how I felt like that I fit in with the Sony Brook mentality the Sony Brook mentality is something where we all feel
and have the same idea of supporting students the kids understand that everyone makes a mistake everyone has a bad day and I think that it gives the opportunity for kids to grow and not feel like penalized I love that we have a great principal I love the teachers and the morale as soon as I started coming up here since I am from South
Jersey I felt welcomed and included right away my name is Dr Richard Corbett and I am the proud superintendent of away Township Public Schools I was just waving to some of our wonderful students as they were walking by and I'm so happy and pleased to say
that when I walk through these halls and talk to these students in these six different schools I see students that are learning and having fun and to me those are two very important qualities of a very very effective education birwood is very special because it is
truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that I've attended Birchwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be our core values are the same as Rockway Township heart honesty empathy
acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind what really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging
learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in the that they might not have seen before Tony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visitors in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is
second to none and they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involved School Community both academically
working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into our students helping students develop
into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community our Mantra we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community you just know you're walking into a special place when
you come through our doors what keeps me coming back here every morning hugs from kids you know I love being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal so yeah I
I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy their willingness to
support and grow with one another is contagious the people I work with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world the thing that
makes scopel middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better place I come here for the students I love the kids here they are amazing they're the
best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do I'm proud to be the superintendent of Rockway Township Schools and we are thankful for all the support we have from our community I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the
world it's so important to have a positive environment for child to come to and teaching at deire is special because we don't have walls I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to
discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child if you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a
family we're all together together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other one of the things that I love the most about this position and this job is that I get to work with students of all ages now that we house preschool students here I see every single student
in the building from preschool all the way through fifth grade and I get to work with them on a deeper level on a way that inspires them not just to be confident in themselves but in what they love
after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I
feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh
one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset one of the things that I'm
really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I'm
trying to instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to
come so we used always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard like a harder task and I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder
task than all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier yeah our goal here is that every child is as comfortable in class as they are at home and if they're ever in trouble or ever concerned or worried that they have the tools available to them to be successful and
to help each other be as successful as we know they can be we have really seen over the years an incredible increase in their emotional maturity and in their abilities to deal with issues both in the playground and in the classroom and I really believe it's because our
districts focus on seal over the last several years I am the steam teacher at copela middle school I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling
comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class years ago I
had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment when she finally got it
and that is why I do what I do every day so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what awesome is about being in Birchwood is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in
school they have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is recess my my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we
get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DB yeah my name is Rea I'm in first grade being at DB is
awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us stuff which we have never learned my
favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss Takis cuz drawing is my favorite thing what makes Dio unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each
other my name is quen k I'm in the fifth grade hi my name is Arya I am in second grade what makes our school awesome is all the teachers we have here they help us every day all the janitors keep our school nice and clean all my friends that helped me since kindergarten and
everybody just helps us here cuz we are a really good Community because of my friends the teachers and the principal like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened in that story math is my favorite subject because the teachers always help us and
it's fun but it can be complicated but but it's still really fun my favorite teachers are probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have fun activities to do and their stories my first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into
chapter books and juny B Jones my favorite subject is science in science you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun every day I'm like happy at school when I came into grade in Copeland where everything was
new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special in cared for was my
7eventh grade La teacher I used to just like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and make that subject more fun I think the wire school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good teachers math is
my favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you come from or no matter what you like look like people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe
this school is probably heart honesty empathy acceptance and respect and [Music] trust this is probably one of the most special places I've ever worked it is the staff the teachers uh they are
loving they are caring the energy here is just great it's wonderful to work with a group of men and women who truly love what they do their heart passion and soul is for students and to see them succeed I try to find a way for them to
want to be here even if they're sad or even if they don't want to get out of the car in the morning if I say hey let's go wander in the library and they bounce out of the car right away which actually happened then I've done something right that I have found a way to make them feel like this is home for
them because that's kind of how I feel I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Mariah I think what
awesome is about being virtu is the um the like artwork that's on the walls like in school they have this like art thing where you go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my
favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day our doors are
always open we are truly a family here our kids are just everything if you've never taught a did another school and you come to Birchwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable
we're here together for each other birwood is very special because it is truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended Birchwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be I
commute an hour or more every day and I've been given the opportunity to work in another District but I've been here 7 years and I will drive that hour because the community the parents the teachers our principal are incredible we're just so happy to have such a loving nurturing
community that is so vested in our school We are family and once a bulldog always a bulldog I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world it's so important to have a
positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at deire is special because we don't have walls our Mantra we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great
sense of community you just know you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors I like to tell people that that when you're here it's like learning at home you're in your kitchen but you still know what's going on in the family room it builds like this you know codery amongst not only
the students but also the faculty that work here we call ourselves a DWI family Mr McGovern he seldom calls us a school and we really all live by that we treat each other like family and we emulate that for the kids I think the wire
school is awesome because you can make a lot of friends here and there's good te teachers math is my favorite because like you can learn different things like times plus minus no matter where you come from or no matter what you like
look like people will be friends with you and welcome you into the school one word to describe this school is probably hard honesty empathy acceptance and respect and Trust I have been teaching art here in
Rockaway township for 16 years I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child
I get the privilege of going into every single class once a month where I do a guidance lesson the best part of my job is when one of them is having a tough day and then they feel better and it's because of me the people I work with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator
and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teachers in the world every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into
our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community I am the steam teacher at copela middle school I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is
teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and
love math but I want them to at least enjoy coming to math class when I came into sixth grade in Copeland where everything was new and different for me Mrs Heath she was especially really kind to me she still talks to me even though we don't really see each other that much
and she gives me so much good luck for all the things that I do one teacher that made me feel special and cared for was my 7eventh grade La teacher I used to just like like reading and writing and she really helped me understand and
make that subject more fun years ago I had a grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see that aha moment
when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day we are making sure kids are prepared for the future and that means making sure that they have access to technology every single classroom has interactive
boards kids get a Chromebook in the fifth grade they work as a team towards a common goal they overcome challenges we connect with the community through our concerts which are very well attended Vanda Copeland is truly an all-inclusive experience for all of the students here I try to get everybody
involved so that they can make a positive impact in the future I teach us history and I come to work every day excited I get the opportunity to mold the Next Generation the thing that makes scop middle school so great is truly the
people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better [Music] place our core values are the same as Rockaway Township heart honesty empathy
acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind by being kind to a friend helping them out helping teachers be nice nice to them be respectful and don't interrupt the teachers and everything we do we try and
relate back to our core values one of the things we are working on right now is positive behavior system I don't like to address anything negative in my office because I want kids to be able to trust me and to be able to come down as a leader of the building so we're really working on being kind and yes academics
are important but one of the main things for us is that we raise good kids the main message is to be kind because above all else we want our kids just to be kind my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DBL yeah my name is Rea I'm
in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us stuff which we have never learned my
favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss Takis has drawing is my favorite thing what makes deio unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each
other if I had to describe our building in one word I would say we're a little unconventional we're always trying to have our teachers and our students look at other ways to achieve success and for every student that's different there are other ways that we can really show
student growth Student Success I'm not trying to be cheesy or anything it's it really the staff here um we have built a family and I think that says something about the building and the and and the community that we Foster here at dbo and I'm really grateful to be part of that being outside in the morning at bus Duty
and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here for 11 years as the principal after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any
good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class
but also take risks so yeah I I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other what really resonates with me about this
school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen
before it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do
this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset just because we can't do something right now doesn't mean that we're never going to be able to do it and that's what I teach all of my students my favorite teachers are
probably all of my teachers cuz I got really good teachers they have PL acties to do and there stories my first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books and juny B Jones my favorite subject is science in
science you do lots of experiments and I think experiments are very fun I really am like happy at school we identify the interests of students you know what motivates them so students feel more comfortable and confident in their learning environment moving them forward
from one learning experience to another every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy their willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious one of the things that I'm really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you
know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I'm trying to instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for education and over
time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to [Music] come bony Brook is an amazing place it
really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visitors in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment our staff is Second To None they really put the kids first all the time and our students are exceptional as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly
involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involved School Community both academically working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well inside school I really try to be involved in as many things as I can my children also go to school in this
District at one of the other schools and I'm really proud of what we put forth for our children anytime we can bring togetherness and have us all work together both in our community and out it's really going to help everyone raise their own level of abilities to really increase the success of our community so
we always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard like a harder task and I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a
harder task than all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier having students in a classroom that's smaller where you get to meet their needs specifically rather than in a bigger classroom you can build more of a rapport and relationships with them I like them to become successful
not just academically but also social and emotionally my name is Queen K I'm in the fifth grade hi my name is Arya I am in second grade what makes our school awesome is all the teachers we have here they help us every day all the janitors keep our school nice and clean all my
friends that helped me since kindergarten and everybody just helps us here because we are a really good Community because of my friends the teachers and the principal like we read a book and then we do a project based on what happened in that story math is my
favorite subject because the teachers always help us and it's fun but it can be complicated but it's still really fun I've always wanted to be a teacher I think the reason why I wanted to be a teacher is because I think I had really good Elementary School teachers Rockway I thought was really interesting cuz I
feel like it is is a small close-knit community but I also felt like there was a lot of different opportunities in Rockway like how there was five different elementary schools but I also like how I felt like that I fit in with the Sony Brook mentality the Sony Brook mentality is something where we all feel
and have the same idea of supporting students the kids understand that everyone makes a mistake everyone has a bad day and I think that it gives the opportunity for kids to grow and not feel like penalized I love that we have a great principal I love the teachers and the morale as soon as I started coming up here since I am from South
Jersey I felt welcomed and included right away my name is Dr Richard Corbett and I am the proud superintendent of Rockaway Township Public Schools I was just waving to some of our wonderful students as they were walking by and I'm so happy and pleased to say
that when I walk through these halls and talk to these students in these six different schools I see students that are learning and having fun and to me those are two very important qualities of a very very effective education Birchwood is very special because it is
truly a family atmosphere students come back year after year there's multi-generations that have attended birwood it is truly a loving Community it's such a wonderful place to be our core values are the same as Rockaway Township heart honesty empathy
acceptance respect and Trust so we can focus on particularly on being kind what really resonates with me about this school is that we put more value in developing personal growth versus comparison to others whether it be a difficult learning task or a challenging
learning experience they learn to persevere and we can bring out something in themselves that they might not have seen before Tony Brook is an amazing place it really is and I think anybody who joins us whether it's full-time or visit us in the building just for a day uh you know I think Echo that sentiment
our staff is second to none they really put the kids first all the time and our students are accept as well it's a wonderful School Community our PTA is incredibly involved everything we do is well attended back to school nights our events and we have a very involved School Community both academically
working hand inand with our teachers but also I think for extracurricular as well every student who goes through Rockaway Township School District will graduate from Copeland before they go on to high school and we have an opportunity to instill core values into
our students helping students develop into Future Leaders into being positive role models and citizens in our community our mantro we live by is no walls No Limits because being a school with no walls uh provides our students a great sense of community you just know
you're walking into a special place when you come through our doors what keeps me coming back here every morning hugs from kids you know I love being outside in the morning at bus Duty and having kids coming up and just happy to see me teachers who I now share personal connections with because I've been here
for 11 years as the principal so yeah I think for me it's just being a part of something being a part of the team uh we're all very different but um but we we get along and you know we support each other every morning I'm inspired by these children their energy their
willingness to support and grow with one another is contagious the people I work with makes me come back every single day I hire a very unique and special educator and that permeates throughout the building I have the easiest job in the world because I have the hardest working teacher in the world the thing
that makes scopeland middle school so great is truly the people it's the students it's the staff it's the community members it's the parent involvement it's the investment in making it a better place I come here for the students I love the kids here they are amazing they're the best part of my
day they're the best part of my week that's why I do what I do I'm proud to be the superintendent of Rockway Township Schools and we are thankful for all the support we have from our community I truly believe in an educator being able to make a difference in the world
it's so important to have a positive environment for a child to come to and teaching at De is special because we don't have walls I think social emotional learning is very important it gives us a chance to discuss our
emotions and give kids a chance to practice that emotional dialogue and that helps the whole child if you've never taught at another school and you come to Birchwood you honestly never want to leave Birchwood you walk into this building and it's a
family we're all together we're all happy we're smiling nobody's cranky or miserable we're here together for each other one of the things that I love the most about this position and this job is that I get to work with students of all ages now that we house preschool students here I see every single student
in the building from preschool all the way through through fifth grade and I get to work with them on a deeper level on a way that inspires them not just to be confident in themselves but in what they
love after teaching for 25 years I can't pinpoint one moment of time that is a story of why I come back every day any good lesson makes me feel alive going to the soccer games the football games seeing my students outside the classroom I want the kids to feel
at home and I feel the more comfortable that they are the relationship that we build together the better they're going to do in class not not only enjoy their time in class but also take risks it's a really great environment here at KDM my co-workers are great the students every day they make me laugh
one thing that I really work on in my classroom is growth mindset I did have a student that came in and really didn't like math they were really negative self-talking saying that they can't do this and so basically throughout the whole year we worked on just changing that mindset one of the things that I'm
really hoping to teach them more than anything else is about kindness and you know being good friends to each other one of my most favorite success stories is a particular student when you know he would come into the classroom even right first thing in the morning his head would be down on that desk I'm trying to
instill intrinsic love for school intrinsic love for education and over time I've seen him pick that head up and that's why I do what I do to have a kid come in and their school's a happy place for them and they want to
come so we always start off with a growth mindset and we do a lot of lessons about how we are able to do things that might seem hard like a harder task and I think that if we really teach our kids to be resilient and show grit in the face of a harder
task than all the other academic challenges that they're faced with come a little bit easier our goal here is that every child is as comfortable in class as they are at home and if they're ever in trouble or ever concerned or worried that they have the tools available to them to be successful and
to help each other be as successful as we know they can be we have really seen over the years an incredible increase in their emotional maturity and in their abilities to deal with issues both in the playground and in the classroom and I really believe it's because our
District's Focus onal over the last several years I am the steam teacher at copela middle school I really love to see the growth and the change to the students and what I really focus on is teamwork so the kids are always in teams we want to make
sure everybody's feeling comfortable communicating their ideas I want kids to come to school and feel like this is their second home I want them to come into my classroom and feel comfortable feel like they can be themselves they may not come here and love math but I want them to at least
enjoy coming to math class years ago I had a sixth grade student who was absolutely petrified of mathematics and I worked so carefully with her I gave her extra help just to have her overcome this fear and it was fabulous to see
that aha moment when she finally got it and that is why I do what I do every day so my name is Jackson my name is Mia my name is Maria I think what awesome is about being in Birchwood is the um the
like artwork that on the walls like in school they have this like art thing where go downstairs and like paint a wall with the art teacher my favorite is recess my favorite thing is reading and
just doing a bunch of fun stuff we get to do puzzle of the day and it's really fun we get to watch videos at the end of the day my name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DB yeah my name is Rea
I'm in first grade being at DB is awesome because all the teachers here are so great and so nice I like the teachers here they make it awesome here she teaches well and then she teaches us
stuff which we have never learned my favorite subject is probably math because I like all the challenges my favorite special is art class with Miss tus cuz drawing is myv favorite thing what makes deio unique is that everyone is so kind to each
other even can I please have a motion to adjourn close session so moved seconded show hands please sessions at 7:30
Recon everyone please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance during the course of the board meeting the Rockaway Township Board of Education offers members of the public an opportunity to address issues regarding the oper a of the Rockway Township's Public Schools the board reminds those
individuals who take this opportunity to identify themselves by name and address and to limit their comments to items listed on the agenda and or items directly related to the operations of the school district issues raised by members of the public may or may not be responded to by the
board all comments will be considered and a response will be forthcoming if and when appropriate the board asks that members of the public be courteous and mindful of the rights of others individuals when speaking specifically comments regarding students and employees of the board are discouraged
and will not be responded to by the board students and employees have specific legal rights afforded to them by the laws of New Jersey the board Bears no responsibility nor responsibility nor will it be liable for any comments made by members of the public members of the public should
consider their comments in light of the legal rights of those affected or identified in the Commons and be aware that they are legally responsible in iable for their comments in accordance with board policy 0167 public discussion is limited to 15 minutes with a 3 minute limit for member
of the public the board president shall have the right to modify the length of public discussion as she deems appropriate can I please have a motion to open public comment so moved Aaron and Lissa show up hands please anyone from the public would like
to for Dana tabella 31 Omaha AV Avenue on March 26 A Community member directly addressed Donna cinski during her public comment the board president did nothing to intervene public comment is supposed to be members of the public addressing the
board not commenting or attacking members in the community on May 16th a Community member was interrupted for speaking about his own child again the board presid president did nothing to intervene in both instances other people took control for the conduct of the
meeting although it's my understanding that in accordance with B board policy 0171 the board President is responsible for orderly conduct of all board meetings then at the last board meeting on August 14th two School Board
candidates Jackie Richardson and jamilia Tor addressed the Board of Education during public comment they used this time to campaign for the upcoming election and jamilia Tor verbally attacked the other candidates this was Jamia tor's first Board of Ed meeting she has ever
attended and she stated quote tonight my concerns for the upcoming election and some of the candidates running moms for Liberty is classified as extremists Nationwide movement with an anti- student inclusion agenda I am disappointed to see
that they are attempting to get our upcoming board seats to promote hatred and exclusion AR policies end quote I did some research and I found the FBI gang extremist group government list moms for Liberty is not listed I
contacted the mors County prosecutor's office and I was able to confirm that this is the list they use they confirmed moms for Liberty is not on the list I also contacted the New Jersey state biased crimes unit and spoke to detective Kieran Robinson who was able
to confirm they also use the FBI government list she also also confirmed moms for Liberty is not on the list she also stated that there are no active investigations pertaining to moms for Liberty within the state or Homeland Security therefore Jamia torren
statements are nothing more than slanderous and defamatory in an attempt to impune the reputations of her opponents similarly Jackie Richardson publicly posted last year on social media that the school board candidates Lisa mzik anzie Forest April Mato ptio
were extremists and additionally she engaged in a conversation about Christy Cilla ru's husband which became vulgar the same tactics that are being used again this year Jackie Richardson has attacked the integrity and reputations of half the board members how do we
expect her to work with the board members harmoniously also I refer to the Corney Board of Education minutes dated November 21st 2022 an observer expressed concern that the district used uses students to politicize the cause Miss
Jacqueline Richardson publicized the demonstration everyone is entitled to their opment per the First Amendment however do not use students as tools is this what we want for students according to 0161 section 5B the board president
can interrupt and warn a participant when the statement or question or inquiry is abusive obscene or defamatory it appears that the board president has not been unbiased to to those members of the community who do not support policy 5756 and appears to
show favoritism to those who support it is this because you are personally supporting at least one of the candidates Jackie Richardson as the sign on your lawn seems to indicate and as a follower of Jackie Richardson's campaign page first of all I did give you Liberty
to speak for more than three minutes so please don't tell me I'm biased towards anyone I will take your criticism and reflect on it and try to do better as anyone can always do I give everyone the chance to speak I mean people can say
right now that you did exactly what these women did last time so no they turned around and called someone extremist and that's slander and defamatory they are not on moms for Liberty is not on an extremist list and if you want to check you have Aaron
thini who's a law enforcement and he could double check anything I just said and you could call the person to find out out if what I just said is true secondly you can refer to the Corney Board of Education minutes they're posted online that is also true the
quote that I quoted from Jam torn tonight was also true that's not defamatory that's something that happened thank you anyone else from the public I have a motion to close public comment so move
second two emails that came in under Communications I have a motion to approve the minutes so moved seconda roll call vote please
yes m m I'm sorry M yes Smith yes yes Shield yes thank you Dr Corbett can I have your superintendent report yes thank you Mr Shields I'd like to begin by providing
the board and the public information regarding the student safety data system and this is the official report uh that is uh this is from June I'm Excuse me January 1st 2024 to June 30th 2024 um and it involves
violence vandalism substance abuse weapons and confir confirmed HIV and other incidences leading to removal from school and by the way under that category that would include in school suspensions and out of school suspensions so each school is listed and
for example um Birchwood under that row has absolutely no incident is zero violence zero vandalism substance weapons confirmed hi other instances 000000 similarly with Katherine ad DWI
straight zeros uh Dennis B O'Brien had one alleged HIV kathern D Malone had zero uh right across the row so there were no violence no vandalism substance weapons HIV confirmed there other incidences Sony Brook similarly right
across the row except for one alleged HIV I saved the best for last Copa middle school and we know that we are working very hard to reduce the cences of Hib at culen Middle School in fact I met with all the students today I met with grades six seventh and eth in their
assemblies and they assured me each one of them assured me that there would be not one incident of HIV this entire year so the board can look forward to that um seriously there were 17 confirmed hibs at Copa middle school last year there
were 8 84 other instances leading to removal remember that 84 includes in school susp ension and out of school suspensions here at Copa middle school there were 17 excuse me 37 alleged uh hivs at Copeland middle school last year
um so that is the report and I I I do want to highlight Copeland because I am confident I really am very confident that the climate and the culture of this fine Middle School
is improving and the administration is doing an outstanding job and again I was here today and the and um The Faculty is extremely positive and I think we are going to look forward to a great year here at Cula middle school
that is the ssds report in preparation for the school year three important events were held the principal's Leadership Retreat from August 20th to August 23rd the new teacher orientation August 26th to August 27th
and the convocation for all staff that was held August 28th and 29th all three meetings were opportunities for staff to begin the year working together meeting our newest employees and to catch up with those who may we may not have seen for a couple of months I'm impressed
with the positive energy I'm looking forward to beginning my third year in Rockaway township for the first time in recent memory Rockaway teachers were not trained on initiatives that will begin in the upcoming school year during this
this year's convocation and that's because due to the hard work of teachers counselors uh the CST nurses and administration the training was actually accomplished as it should be during the 23 24 school year and again a lot of that is due to the leadership of Mr
canala I it was great to see teachers working in their classrooms and using the time for much needed articulation and data analysis on the first day of school I visited each school and I witnessed many smil ing faces both on students and
staff in addition Anita West and I met with our transportation department to thank them for their dedication and encourage them as they undertake their very challenging yet essential responsibilities our drivers our AIDS and mechanics are very good people and
they care greatly for our students and in fact their smiles are the first and the last thing our students see each day our transportation department continues to experience a shortage of
drivers this year three runs remain open and yesterday two drivers were absent four new r& May routes ran late the r& May is the company that we've had to Outsource routes to and they ran late
yesterday and today portable radios were purchased to enhanced communication with these outside bus companies after departures were delayed starting with Copeland this is common on the first day as students focus on boarding the correct bus several Elementary uh students boarded the wrong bus these
students were promptly returned to the school where they were picked up by parents a break line failed on a van waiting at KDM during the dismissal yesterday students were then transferred to another vehicle an alert was sent to families notifying them of the delay now
I also want to uh for the record state that I am very aware um that there were problems with Transportation specific specifically Route 20 today from KDM and I was informed of these um these concerns just before the board meeting I
want to assure the public and the board that Megan slam and I will be looking into these uh concerns very deeply tomorrow and they will be fixed because parents have um the right to expect that their students are safe and they have
the right to expect that students will return to them on time right so we will be looking into this this um unfortunate situation uh one of my highlights yesterday as I visited the schools was seeing water flow from the KDM water fountains I know this has been a very
long journey for the KDM community and I appreciate their patience Peter campusano from USA Architects was instrumental in facilitating the teamwork that allowed us to achieve the goal of having the spets turned on by the first day of school the DWI sign application was submitted to the
planning board Mr mcer is scheduled to appear before the plan Board of the Town September 16th to answer any questions the roofing projects at Copa middle school and Birchwood are complete work has begun on the KDM roof and I understand that it will be completed ahead of
schedule the department of student services will be closely monitoring the implementation of the new character strong curriculum the initial team has begun working on new assignments and expedi and referrals the department continues to plan the CPAC meetings and has made an effort to reach out to all
families to provide updates and information regarding changes in case management and some news from our schools Birchwood Elementary School began the year with two assemblies to welcome students back and review bus safety and code of conduct the students were eager to reunite with their friends
and the energy was high as teachers and staff greeted them with a camp themed celebration with pom poms in hand and music playing the staff created a warm and joyful atmosphere as students arrived it was a happy and memor
day as everyone prepared for the year ahead over the summer Birchwood received a few upgrades including a new tile and paint in the girls restroom sensory paths added in the prek wing and of fresh paint in several classrooms School looked fantastic and they are
anticipating a great school year on the first day of school dbo students and staff demonstrated tremendous energy and positivity throughout the building the dbo community is excited that new picnic tables for the courtyard will allow a significant number of students to eat
lunch outside daily the custodial staff deserves recognition for doing a great job preparing the building for a new school year the DWI family is thankful to the PTA for the balloons and signs that welcome students and staff teachers have worked extremely hard to ensure that
classrooms at dwire are vibrant and welcoming on the first day of school KDM celebrated because they have functioning water founds for the first time in three years Years Years started in style with the PTA decorating the building to
create an inviting and warm welcome for students and staff they also came out on the first day of school to cheer wave and greet students KTM has completed some important Capital Improvements roof replacement is underway a new fence around the Ballfield ADM is looking
forward to launching the September 27th PTA wathon at Stonybrook students and staff arrived on the first day energized and ready to go the PTA made the new start of the school Year's extra special by providing some fun items including four
brand new outdoor lunch tables with patio umbrellas a new poster machine and personalized lunch carts for each classroom this Cula Middle School administration faculty and staff kicked off the school year by welcoming our new and returning students and introducing
the new pause PA a a WS bell schedule which includes time each day for remoting academic achievement wellness and support throughout the school year pause time will be used to provide individualized learning opportunities
Community Building experiences recess breaks social emotional learning activities and finally the staff is excited to reintroduce teams to the Copeland community and that is my report thank you thank you any comments or questions for Dr
cor um I just wanted to say um well welcome back Mrs SL L um and I appreciate the attention um that you guys are going taking to towards what's going on with transportation and I of course always love to hear all the great things happening at the school thank
you for the long awaited business administrators report report is unar since yesterday um I want to thank my team and my fellow administrators for keeping things running smoothly in my abs I want to thank Dr Corbett
specifically for barring anyone from calling me without his permission that being said he's kept me very well up to told you anyway though they didn't they decided not they they wanted to ask for forgiveness instead of permission that's what happened but he's kept me very well
informed um and my interim Dan Borgo has been communicating often and working on my behalf so things are are well in hand um as further proof of the value and skill of my office St particular I was pleased to return to my office um our district was awarded the
certificate of excellence in financial reporting from ASO International uh to quote the letter we received for over half a century asbo international certificate of excellence in financial reporting has been the gold standard in promoting and recognizing excellence in financial reporting according to asbo
International executive director Jim Rowan communicating the financial and economic state of a district is so important when engaging with the school community and building their trust districts that receive the Coe award have demonstrated their ability to do that at the highest level so I'm very
very proud of my team and of this district and we will continue to strive for excellence very much well done thank you Megan welcome back comments or question for Megan anybody wants to see the baby I have committee reports who wants to
starta um the education curriculum committee met on August 22nd um from 3:30 to 5:00 pm at central office and attendance were Dr Corbett Mr ganella Miss Anderson Miss Shields myself um we had the guests Mrs Waxman um regarding the curriculum piece
and Mr bear to provide some updates regarding CMS um some of the things discussed included the um njsla preliminary scores um some of that information was shared um in addition um some items regarding the curriculum to
be reviewed which is also up for um approval that would those were the remaining items um that had been worked on over the past year um in addition resource lists um a curriculum revision overview um identifying grows and glows
will be something that will be discussed at the next committee meeting um the same thing with the lead grant that was a topic that was brought up at the last board meeting um it was discussed briefly and it will be continued um in addition we had an update for Mr
beay regarding Unified sports we dined together um and some of the minor changes to the CMS code of conduct um one was in the area of cheating and plagiarism um one was in the area of possession of drugs alcohol and or cigarettes vaping
instruments um in addition um some of the items we discussed um suggestions for improvements in um looking at some policies that may need to be revised so that the language includes the New Jersey student learning standards the
current standards um some items regarding the parent portal um and other items regarding reads and report cards our next meeting is scheduled for September 11th at 4:30 are you are you good for that because I'm fine okay I'm
fine I don't have my back to school night my back to school night is okay all right okay so we'll do that se 11 any questions thank you chomping up the bit over there the
operations committee met uh operations committee met on the 27th at 4M we met virtually in attendance with Mrs Anderson Mrs mzik Dr Corbett and myself uh with that we discussed uh a few topics to include additional conversation on remote participation
with that being stated highlighted to that is that our test that we ran last board meeting uncovered uh difficulties running the two platforms simultaneously so we uh we kind of went in depth on looking into that and what that meant for our overall board procedes additionally we talked about uh
presenting a letter to the family about the new lunch program uh and putting something out there just because we had those couple of changes and just trying to uh ease that transition in uh towards neutral slice and then uh we also went and discussed the uh summation of our summer projects and what we had going on
nice to see that a couple of them had already completed and then as Dr Corbett has already mentioned the KDM roofing project may be done early which is it's a big so um and lastly we also discussed uh scheduling of events on the school
grounds and utilizing School dude so uh just for for further discussion at uh later meetings on how we Implement that process and how we uh we coordinate our school space now is that changing for how it currently is running or that's what we're using now we're just looking at how that's being placed on the
calendar and who is placing it on the calendar making sure that we're synchronized as a school district trying to avoid conflicts that have come up in the pass uh looking to uh schedule our next meeting for September 24th September
24th that's good operations operations four virtually I will send out the Google meet invite and I think with feedback from the operations committee talking to board members and how horribly the test
went last board meeting um Megan I'm going to you to delete that paragraph on the first page about being able to call in you have a policy with respect to REM participation might want pry sure
that still be a section there's still a section with respect right I have didn't think it did so it was still on our agend right H okay the community outreach committee met uh yesterday September 3rd both in
person and virtually at 4M we had committee members that were here um they both in person and virtually Dr was in person we had Architects come uh in person and then we
had PR firm virtual we reviewed the possible construction projects and to receive an update about the community survey regarding the community survey emails have been sent to the staff and families of students additionally a postcard including a QR code link to a survey was
mailed out to Rockway Township resins the week of August 26th we invite the community to share feedback regarding the referendum through the of the survey goldrick reported that as of
um yesterday afternoon 1,40 responses have been completed the survey will be open through uh Sunday evening September 8th please take this opportunity to share your thoughts with the Board of Education as we will consider these responses to make a decisions on the
next step forward the next community outreach meeting I have down is actually September 10th at 4M at Central office we're going to be discussing the surve all okay recommended for board action
personel can I have a motion to approve personel so moved second andison way to the top of page eight roll call vote please Mrs Anderson
yes Mrs McGary yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith I have to abstain Dr thini yes Mrs Shields yes have a motion to approve education items
so move seconded Alison and any board discussion yes I would just like to thank all of the curriculum writers reviewers instructional councel Mrs
Waxman Miss Young um the education committee members Mr ganella Mrs Shields Dr Corbett especially Miss Anderson anyone else that had a handle in the curriculum this was a huge feat um and it was a much needed update to reflect
the current standards current practices best practices Etc um and everybody has appreciated tremendously so thank you so much and Noel your meticulous review is also extremely appreciated was an interesting process
enjoyed it and I can open to the public if anyone wants to speak on education items can I roll call vote please on education items M Anderson yes M mcir yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Dr
tomasini yes Mrs Shields yes I have a motion to approve special education recommendation so moved seconded and any board discussion open to the public if anyone has any comments on special
education okay roll call vote please on special education items Mrs Anderson yes M McGary yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Dr Thomas cini yes Mrs Shields yes motion carries I have a motion to approve
Administration recommendations moved any board discussion open to the public any comments on Administration have a roll call vote please on Administration items Mrs Anderson yes
yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes Dr thini yes Mrs Shield yes car I have motion to approve Finance recommendations so moved second in Aaron any board
discussion I can open to the public on finance I roll call vote on finance items please M Anderson yes M McGary yes Mrs mzik yes Mrs Smith yes drini yes Mrs Shield
yes in accordance with board policy 0167 public discussion is limited to 15 minutes with a three minute limit per member of the public the board president shall have the right to modify the length of public discussion as she deems appropriate I have a motion to open comments moved seconda
anyone from the public would like to come up and comment Jackie Richardson 54 Cherokee Avenue here in Rockaway uh the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled moms for Liberty and 11 other right-wing parents parents Rights group as an extremist group so
that answers that question the corny event that she refers to is organized by Elementary School teachers um I was the high school principal and they organized this in defense of children that were grossly and publicly offended by a high school teacher on a
public social Media Forum uh just for the reason because they were gay I before school marched with those kids along with the mayor Town Council parents and teachers to show my undeniable support for my high school
students by all means anybody can dig into my administrative records at squeaky clean and I have no skeletons on a lighter note I came here today to say me and the entire community of sane nonthreatening people want to
wish you and your entire staff and students a safe prosperous school year and it is our hope that this moms for Liberty nonsense ends soon so you can continue to focus your time and energy where it needs to be focused thank you all for what you do and I look forward
to the opportunity of working with you all have a a great evening Jam torn 6D West Lakeshore as I start my 16th year as a special education teacher I just want to thank you for the work that you do to help start this school the school year I
also want to thank you for sending out the survey about the improvements needed for our schools as a community member and an educator it is always reassuring that we have a say in what is happening in our district and with our tax dollars thank you again and I wish you a great school
year I have a motion to close public comment so moved second Allison hands please I know i t it in the wrong spot no it's okay
don't worry about it was my head myself I just want to be clear are you concerned about the last sentence in the top paragraph members of the public yes because right now go
ahead okay well that's fine um conduct of board meetings had you know the policy you have on the books that I was able to quickly look at is in the event of a declared emergency and allowing the public to participate remotely you're not under a declared emergency right now
I can write and CFT a resolution that may be more appropriate not that I get paid by the word or anything like that but might be more appropriate given that your your entire Community has been accustomed to being able to participate remotely should they choose to despite the fact
that you're not under a declared emergency right now so right now there's not a policy in the books that would bar you but there's a part of me that says you know in Rockway Township since Co is you know since the the declared state of emergency is over and your community has become accustom it might be more
appropriate to write something that formally announces whether or not you're have people participate in a live stream context so what's your pleasure well I mean we still we're still live streaming no no I'm sorry um we're just not allowing to call in like correct I I'm
so sorry what that's my my my question is really about that last sentence which is how to participate REM not just I mean it was mying this was added without a vote you can take it you don't have it declared emergency I just think it's important that the board
communicate that out so everybody's aware because you haven't been under a declared emergency for some time I'm communicating that now I think it's a good idea to make sure that the public is aware but you don't have a policy that stops you at this
point no more words it's my hope that like in time that we can possibly oury stent move the wires period we can return to right what worked in a meeting one month
prior is a little bit finicky the following month for me so I think that I would really like to be able to still continue a call-in portion if we get more ability do
it and I'm in agreement with Noel if there's a way in the future to allow for the public to be able to participate but in an effective way so that you know there isn't that lag and all those things that we're you know presenting as concerns because that made it I think really difficult and and yes the break
the setting up and theak all of this I think Mike who was our test run last meeting was the first person who even tried to call in in like two years no I mean it's an open meeting doors are open it's publicized it's Streed it's
everything and even that we don't have there's a lot of access yes I mean I I would just caution making any changes to the agenda how it's written until we have properly informed the public because it is on here I think
to make that change now and it wasn't on the agenda especially when we are doing this community outreach and trying to include the public while this may not function the way we would like I would I would not be comfortable taking this off entirely right now I
think right now it's on the um operations agenda to continue this discussion as we're trying to work this out and I would like it to stay it up well as a chair of operations let me uh let's for transparency purposes right so what we're trying to utilize is we're
we're taking a zoom platform and on top of it we're doing a live stream which is being recorded and then is being placed up on our YouTube channel with that normal operation of Zoom either permits us to use one or computers and to have communication
through the computer and then we hear and send our communication via that solely with the microphones that we have so that way the public here can hear us additionally so that way on our live stream we're also able to be heard it
requires us to turn the zoom off otherwise we have an endless loop our biggest hurdle right now is utilizing these two platforms simultaneously when ultimately one is trying to capture audio and the other one is sending it again creating that Loop this is not the
ideal environment being inside of a classroom acoustically it's not great and our audio system right now is very nice but as we've seen in the past where we've had great Zoom connectivity and the people at home can hear us on the virtual live stream or can't hear us
here because of our fans or whatever else we have so I think ultimately we're trying to conduct business in the best way that we can so when we look at it the people that are currently here inside of the audience deserve to have the opportunity to hear what we're
saying up here without being hindered by other technology that we have going number one number two we owe it to the public because we're dedicated to the live stream we're dedicated to it it's recorded it gives us a way to keep a historical and accurate record of our
meetings and the conduct of them our third piece that comes into this is the virtual participation option which is zoom currently I do not believe in my personal opinion that Zoom is the appropriate platform for us to utilize with these other factors all coming into
place if we were to all be virtual Zoom would be a better platform but when we're not and we're trying to mix virtual with imperson options we are in fact impeding our in-person participation so again with that feeling
in mind I don't believe that it's fair to the public who shows up nor do I feel it's fair for our live stream viewers and for our recorded uh live stream that's being held historically on YouTube for that to be hindered because we can't get the zoom to work the way
that we needed to by shutting off our microphones to turn up the zoom on the TV to turn that back down again to turn our mics back on we can't have good dialogue so what we need is we need to further explore and investigate
especially when it comes to improvements how can we do this and what is out there technologically I think our staff is very capable of finding the answer to that solution we just don't have it in front of us right now so it's not a dead issue on
operations whether it's on there or not on there we still are welcoming we still want people to show up I believe a lot of people we haven't used the Callin immediate virtual discussion in over two years nobody nobody's used that portion
we would like to re-engage it we would like to bring that capability forward but I think we need to prioritize our in-person attendance as well as our virtual live stream to keep that accurate historic record and not have it where we can't be heard because we've all received the messages going I can't
hear you anymore on the live stream and that's not fair it's not right so next month we'll have it on the agenda again to to explore more options and we'll invite Mr Elder back and maybe Mike's got an idea that something that
we can use that sounds like a plan and we still are open to correspondence in writing to board mail that's still there so that option is still present I'm sure people will be posting it on Facebook as well I know that a section for policy
but there is no policies to review where I thought I any old business from the board I just wanted to bring up doesn't have to happen tonight but um with the upcoming PTA meetings and
leison maybe we could look at just reexamining yes the who the leaz assignments are only because I was thinking of my PR time and not my son who's now in Middle School I've signed up for three schools
and I can't be at all those meetings I will be talking to individual board members thank you the I know s us the list but ADM I think is the only one so far I've seen but that's the 11th is their first and I can still do that but beyond that date
it really becomes I'm spending anding to get someone for you if not KDM for the rest of the I can do KDM as well I can no problem yeah it's not
fair that certain board members have two and three I just wasn't really paying attention and then all of a sudden I was looking at adding the middle school because it's those are short though they're 30 minutes you're in your any other old business uh yes I just want to emphasize uh the the survey
that went out we got over a thousand as Mrs mzik stated and that's a that's a great number uh but Rockway Township is 25,000 people strong 25,000 so when we look at that for percentages and having a thousand come in like we need the feedback we want the feedback um our
school has our school district 2500 students like we haven't even reached every family to be adding into that like this community is deserves to be heard at the same time we're trying to reach out it needs to be emphasized that we
need to hear from people so whatever way we need to get it out there we're trying to message it as best we can but what I found is that especially in this town um it's people talking uh you know a lot of people around here uh I I often joke about how so many people are related uh
hey call up brother sisters cousins Aunts Uncles get these surveys in because this is a really really big deal for our town our students students deserve the time and attention 10 minutes to fill out a survey is not a whole lot to ask and boy does it have a whole lot of benefits to
the school district so 25,000 strong I would like to be able to see you know 10,000 15,000 surveys I'll hey at five I'd say we success but uh having less than 5% of the community give us input is just not
that's not all of Rockway Township that's very small so please spread the word I haven't done mine yet but I I was told it it doesn't even take 10 minutes like it's no it's not even for me who reads it I was concise yes yes it was
under 10 minutes old business new business I just wanted to welcome back to school all District employees and I just wanted to share um something that
was shared with me when I recent decided to go back to teaching from my um principal and um my assistant principal um and it's just a little message and it just really resonated with me and it's been like year a few years now that I've um continued to come back to this um
it's your life has purpose your story is important your dreams count your voice matters you were born to make an impact so welcome back um all of the staff District employees and then also all the students um welcome back hopefully you
have an awesome year best one yeah other new business this is more personal I um messaged Dr Corbett yesterday my son started sixth grade yesterday and I've been a middle school teacher for 21
years but I haven't watched a class of sixth graders come in the way that my son's friends were ever they felt like they were already part of the community and I wanted to thank Mr Bayer for creating that opportunity and all the teachers here because they were in
enough in fifth grade and then through the summer where they actually felt like they were already students here and I thought that was really great they were all excited leis and I had a chance to pop into the convocation last Wednesday right um and
I just want to say the new DB he spoke for a few minutes and it brought me to tears he told this great story about coming over Italy starting in sixth grade during the middle of the year not knowing English and there was like one teacher that really stood out
and helped him and supported him and everything else and then all of a sudden I think everyone was kind of shocked through those and I like Mr Scott cido to please stand up and that I know the teacher is still here in Copeland and making a big impact and I know Mr video
has made an impact in my family as well so you're out there listening thank you so much it was great job and I regret that I could not be there because I had my own convocation if there is
nothing else sorry the next meeting is on the 18th that's two weeks from tonight at 7:30 big meeting be there be square that um we do not need to return to ex session can I have a motion to adjourn
the meeting please so moved second and Lissa show up hands