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. >> Stony 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 handin-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 Scopland 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 Dubire 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.
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 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've tried
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 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, then 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, 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 district's focus on
SEAL over the last several years. >> I am the steam teacher at Copeland 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 of the day. My name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DVL. >> Yeah, my name is Rehea. I'm in first grade. >> Being at DVL 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. Plus, drawing is my favorite thing. >> What makes DBL unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other. >> My name is Queen Kern. 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. 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 Juni V. 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 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 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 this school. One word to describe
this school is probably heart. Honesty, empathy, acceptance, and respect and 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're 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 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. Birwood 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 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 Dwire 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, camaraderie 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 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 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. 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 Copeland Middle School. I really love to see the growth and the change through 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 dislike 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 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 Copa 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. >> 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 DVL. >> Yeah. My name is Rehea. I'm in first grade. >> Being at DVL 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 because drawing is my
favorite thing. >> What makes DBL 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 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 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 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 selft 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 Juni V. 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've tried 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. Stony 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 handinhand 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 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, then 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 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 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's 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 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 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. >> Stony 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 handin-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 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 Scopland 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 Dubire 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. 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 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've tried 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 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, then 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, 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 district's focus on SEAL over the last several years. >> I am the steam teacher at Copeland
Middle School. I really love to see the growth and the change through 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 Birwood 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 DVO. >> Yeah. My name is Rehea. I'm in first grade. Being at DVL 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. Plus, drawing is my favorite
thing. >> What makes DBL unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other. >> My name is Quinker and 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. 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 Juni 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 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 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 this school. One word to describe this school is probably heart. Honesty, empathy, acceptance, and respect and
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're 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 Birwood 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. Birwood 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 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 Dubire 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, camaraderie 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 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 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. 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 Copeland Middle School. I really love to see the growth and the change through 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 dislike 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. Vanta 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 Copa 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. >> 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 DVO. >> Yeah. My name is Rehea. I'm in first grade.
>> Being at DVL 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 because drawing is my favorite thing. >> What makes DBL 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 the 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 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 selft 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 Juni 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 come. Stony 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 and back to school nights, our events, and we have a very involved school community both academically working handin-hand 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 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, then 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 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. I'm in the fifth grade. >> Hi, my name's 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 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. Rockaway I thought was really interesting because I feel like it is a small close-knit community, but I also felt like there's 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 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 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. >> Stony 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 handin-hand 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 Scopland 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 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've tried 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 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, then 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, 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 district's focus on seal over the last several years. >> I am the steam teacher at Copeland 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 of the day.
My name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DVL. >> Yeah, my name is Rehea. I'm in first grade. >> Being at DVL 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. Plus, drawing is my favorite
thing. >> What makes DBL unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other. >> My name is Queen Kern. 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. 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 Juni V. 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 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 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. >> Good afternoon, Rockaway Township. I'd
like to call the uh board of ed meeting to order. It is 5:00 p.m. exactly. Could I please get an attendance roll call? Roll call. Excuse me. >> Mrs. Anderson here. Mr. Erie. Dr. Mr. Gorman >> here,
>> Mrs. Messi >> here, >> Miss Richardson >> here, >> Miss Torren >> here, >> Miss McGiri >> here. >> We have a quorum. >> Thank you. The New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act was passed to ensure the right of the public to have advanced notice and to attend the meetings of
public bodies at which any business affecting their interests is discussed and acted upon. In accordance with the provision of the act, the Rockaway Township Board of Education has caused notice of the date, time, and place of said meetings to be published in the daily record, the 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 for the purpose as stated in 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.m. Monday through Friday if they wish to inspect any of the reference items. Can I please
have a motion to wave the pledge until moved? >> Seconded. Can I get a um show of hands? I'm sorry. >> We will go into close session at 5:02 p.m. >> the motion to go into close session. >> We have to um do the resolve.
>> Oh, I'm sorry. I missed that. Resolved that in accordance with the open public meeting act, the Rockaway Township Board of Education will meet in close session to discuss matters involving personnel, litigation, acquisition of real property, security, negotiations, receipt of government, governmental funds, the content of said discussions
will be disclosed to the public at such time and extent as is required by law. Can I please have a motion to go into close session? >> So moved. >> Seconded. Close session will begin at 5:02 p.m. >> Can I just get a show of hands really quick?
>> Oh my god. Thank you. >> It's like I just don't even read it. >> Okay. Well, you know what? We need it in color because when you print it in color, >> well, I realize that >> or I should just try and remember it.
>> 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. Stony 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 handin-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 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 Scopland 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 Dubire 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 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. 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've tried 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 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, then 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, 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 district's focus on SEAL over the last several years. I am the steam teacher at Copeland Middle School. I really love to see the
growth and the change through 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 of the day. >> My name is Carly and I am in fifth grade
and I go to DVO. >> Yeah. My name's Rehea. I'm in first grade. >> Being at DVL 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 because drawing is my favorite thing. >> What makes DBL unique is that everyone
is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other. >> My name is Queen Kern. 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 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 Juni 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 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 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 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 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. >> 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 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 Dubire 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, commodery 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 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 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.
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 Copeland Middle School. I really love to see the growth and the change through 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 dislike 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. Vanta 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 Copa 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. >> 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 DVL. >> Yeah. My name is Rehea. I'm in first grade. >> Being at DVL 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 because drawing is my favorite thing. >> What makes DBL 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 the 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 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 their stories. My first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books in Juni 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'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. >> Stony 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 handin-hand 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 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 then 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's 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 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's 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 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 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.
>> Stony 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 handin-hand 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 Scopland 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 Dubire 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. 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've tried 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 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, then 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, 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 district's focus on SEAL over the last several years. >> I am the steam teacher at Copeland 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 Birwood 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 DVO. >> Yeah, my name is Rehea. 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 Takis. Plus, drawing is my favorite
thing. >> What makes DBL unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other. >> My name is Quinker and 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. 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 Juni 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 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 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 this school. One word to describe this school is probably hard. Honesty, empathy, acceptance, and respect and
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're 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 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. Birwood 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 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 Dubire 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, camaraderie 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 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 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. 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 Copeland Middle School. I really love to see the
growth and the change through 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 dislike 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.
Van 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 Copa 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. >> 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 DVO. >> Yeah. My name is Rehea. I'm in first
grade. >> Being at DVL 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 because drawing is my favorite thing. >> What makes DBL 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 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 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 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 their stories. My first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books and Juni 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 come. Stony 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 handin-hand 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 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 then 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. I'm in the fifth grade. >> Hi, my name's 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 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. Rockaway I thought was really
interesting because I feel like it is a small close-knit community, but I also felt like there's 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 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 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. >> Birwood 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. >> Stony 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 handin-hand 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 Copeland 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 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've tried 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 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, then 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,
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 district's focus on seal over the last several years. >> I am the steam teacher at Copeland 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 of the day. My name is Carly and I am in fifth grade
and I go to DVL. >> Yeah, my name is Rehea. 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 Takis. Plus, drawing is my favorite thing. >> What makes DBL unique is that everyone
is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other. >> My name is Queen Kern. 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. 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 Juni V. 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 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.
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 this school. One word to describe this school is probably heart. Honesty, empathy, acceptance, and respect and 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 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. 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 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 Dubire 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, camaraderie
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 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 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. 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 Copeland Middle School. I really love to see the
growth and the change through 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 dislike 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. Vanta 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 Scopa 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. >> 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 DVL. >> Yeah. My name is Rehea. I'm in first grade.
>> Being at DVL 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 because drawing is my favorite thing. >> What makes DBL 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 CBO. 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 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
selft 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 and Juni 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 come. Stony 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 and back to school nights, our events, and we have a very involved school community both academically working handin-hand 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 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 then 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. I'm in the fifth grade. >> Hi, my name's 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 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. Rockaway I thought was really interesting because I feel like it is a
small close-knit community, but I also felt like there's 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 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 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. >> Stony 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 handin-hand 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 Scopland 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 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.
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've tried
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 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, then 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, 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 district's focus on
seal over the last several years. >> I am the steam teacher at Copeland 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 Birwood 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 DVO. >> Yeah. My name is Rehea. 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 Takis because drawing is my favorite thing. >> What makes DBL unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other. >> My name is Queen. 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. 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 Juni 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 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 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 this school. One word to describe
this school is probably heart. Honesty, empathy, acceptance, and respect and 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 Birwood, 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 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 Dubire 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, camaraderie 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 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 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. >> I am the steam teacher at Copeland Middle School. I really love to see the growth and the change through 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 dislike 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. Vanta 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 Copa 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. >> 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 DVL. >> Yeah. My name is Rehea. I'm in first grade. >> Being at DVL 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 because drawing is my favorite thing. >> What makes DBL 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 the 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 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 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 their stories. My first grade teacher got me into reading and she got me into chapter books in Juni 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'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. Stony 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 handin-hand 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 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 then 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's 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 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's 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 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 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.
>> Stony 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 handin-hand 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 Scopland 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 Dubire 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. 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've tried
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 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 then 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, 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 district's focus on
SEAL over the last several years. I am the steam teacher at Copeland 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 of the day. >> My name is Carly and I am in fifth grade and I go to DVL. >> Yeah. My name is Rehea. I'm in first grade. >> Being at DVL 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. Plus drawing is my favorite thing. >> What makes DBL unique is that everyone is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other. >> My name is Queen Kern. 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 Juni 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 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 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 heart. Honesty, empathy, acceptance, and respect and 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're 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 Birwood, 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 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 Dubire 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, commodery 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 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 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. 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 Copeland Middle School. I really love to see the growth and the change through 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 dislike 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. Vander 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 Copa 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. >> 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 DVL. >> Yeah. My name is Rehea. I'm in first grade. >> Being at DVL 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 because drawing is my favorite thing. >> What makes DBL 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
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 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 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 selft 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 Juni V. 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 come. Stony 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, 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 handin-hand 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 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 then 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. I'm in the fifth grade. >> Hi, my name's 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 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's 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 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 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. >> Birwood 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. >> Stony 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 handin-hand 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 Copeland 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 Dubire 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 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. 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've tried 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 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, then 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, 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 district's focus on SEAL over the last several years. I am the steam teacher at Copeland 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 of the day. >> My name is Carly and I am in fifth grade
and I go to DVL. >> Yeah, my name is Rehea. I'm in first grade. >> Being at DVL 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. Plus drawing is my favorite thing. >> What makes DBL unique is that everyone
is so kind to each other and everyone cares about each other. >> My name is Queen Kern. 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 Juni V. 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 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 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 heart. Honesty, empathy, acceptance, and respect, and 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. >> 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 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. >> 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 seven 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 Dubire 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, camaraderie 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 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 Copeland Middle School. I really love to see the growth and the change through 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 dislike 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. Vanta 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 Copa 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. >> 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 DVL. >> Yeah. My name is Rehea. I'm in first grade. >> Being at DVL 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 because 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 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 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 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 selft 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 and Juni 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'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. Stony 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 and back to school nights,
our events, and we have a very involved school community both academically working handinhand 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 then 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 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 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 >> Thank you. Can I please have a motion to
come out of close session? >> So moved. >> Seconded. >> Show of hands to end close session. >> Okay. Coming out of close session at 7:39 p.m. Can we please stand for the pledge? >> I aliance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Good evening everyone. Uh Dr. Corbert, you want to take over? >> Sure. Thank you,
>> Mr. McGregor. Uh we are so happy. We're always we're on behalf of the board when we see this room filled at our board's meetings, it makes us very happy because there are so many students out there and parents out there, but students who work so hard and are just just so wonderful
to be around. And we have a couple of groups of students to recognize tonight. Um we have some very smart students who did extremely well in the spelling be. And then we have some very students from DBO that we want to recognize also. But we're going to start tonight with um
recognizing the very bright spelling bee students. So would can I invite the principles to come forward and we'll start with um the youngest principal, Mr. McGovern. uh who who who will who will recognize >> his students
and and and I know the board's going to be very pleased to stand up in front and and and actually congratulate these very smart students. >> Sorry, Abe, I'm going to mess up your microphone here. I just want to face everybody. >> All right. I'd like to congratulate the
spelling be winners from Dwire. Starting with our fourth grade, Noah Barrett, >> fourth grader Merrick Bird. fifth grader, Fren Nunees. And the overall third place winner from our fifth grade, Joshua Kusunelo Cohen.
Thank you. Hi everyone. I'm Mrs. from Birwood. I have Sean come up. Sean Gazi, Timothy Frevoski. Timothy, come on up. William Jay couldn't be here with us. We're so
proud of you three. So proud of you. Come. >> Oh, sorry. Sorry. >> Sorry. Everybody stays up. >> All right. Good evening everybody. Like to recognize our Stony Brook students.
We're going to start with fifth. So, our first student is unable to join us tonight, but we're very proud of him. William Dangerfield. Round of applause for William. All right. Representing fifth grade, Miss Emily Weir. Emily. >> All right. representing fourth grade,
Mr. Ryan Carol. Ryan. All right. And last but not least, I don't know what place she came in. It doesn't say. Oh, yeah. First place overall, Miss Vanessa Novak. Fourth grade. Good evening. Kudos to all of the participants. Uh I will start with our
fifth grade. Uh Miss Eloise Smith could not make it tonight, but she does send her regards. Our next fifth grader is Xavon Stevens. Zavon, our fourth grade award winners, which no pressure, but we'd like to see you back
next year. We're starting with Luca Fucci. Luca and uh Steve, one word, just maybe a letter or two. Our overall second place winner in the competition was Jana Ralapali.
All right. >> All right. Hi guys. All right. Time to uh recognize the DBO students that participated in the spelling be. Uh first fourth grade student for us was Samara Swain. Come on up. Our second fourth grade student, Micah
Bergara, coming up, Micah. And our fifth grade student, Alana Morrisy. students photograph students all the way to the end. Instagram, two
Oh, >> I had a conflict this year. So, I was unable to actually attend the spelling be. But in years past, like last year, the year before that, year before that, at the spelling be I sit there, I get a little nervous because they're spelling words like I don't know. I don't know how to spell that. So, they're really, really good, very bright. So, we
appreciate that. We have some wonderful students in our school and the board to their credit likes to recognize the wonderful work that students and staff do every year. Um, and at every meeting when we see a full house like this, it's inspiring for us. It's it's really
wonderful to see. And thank you parents and thank you for working with us and thank you for all you do because these are your kids and we are so proud of them and you must be incredibly proud of them. If we're that proud of them, you got to be 10 times more proud than we are. So we thank you parents. Um at this
time we are going to invite or I am going to invite Mr. Slaso to come forward because we have some very special students from DBO that that we would like to recognize. Mr. Slasso, can I turn this? >> Oh, thank you.
>> All right, I'm back. You guys missed me. All right, so thank you Dr. Corbett. Uh we are very proud to be here to recognize a very special group of students. our fifth grade student government. Hi guys. >> These students have uh truly embodied
what it means to be leaders in our school community. Throughout the year, they have consistently demonstrated responsibility, kindness, inclusivity, and commitment to making DBO a better place for everyone. They have not only set a positive example for their peers, but they've also taken initiative to lead meaningful
projects that have had real impact both inside and outside of our school. Through their efforts, they organized a can drive that that uh collected over 650 canned goods which were donated to a local food pantry support families in
need. They helped create kindness boxes and kindness and a kindness wall reminding us all of the importance of compassion and positivity. Their snow thankful project gave students an opportunity to reflect on what they were grateful for. and they led an incredible initiative where uh students wrote
Valentine Day cards for senior citizens in our community, spreading joy and connection beyond our school walls. And their work is not done. They're currently preparing their spring initiative, the growth garden, where students will be able to reflect on how they've grown this year, whether it be emotionally, academically, or
personally. This project is a powerful reminder of just how much progress can be made in a single school year and will help build confidence and pride in all our students. I would also like to extend a big thank you to our staff. Hi guys. Um, can we get a round of applause
for our staff for always supporting and encouraging positive inclusive behavior throughout our school. Your guidance and commitment help make our uh all of this possible. In particular, she couldn't be here, but a very special thank you to Miss Chrysler. Big round of applause for Miss Chrysler, guys.
our teacher leader for student government. Her dedication, leadership, and care um for for uh lead dedication, leadership and care that she puts into guiding the students every day. To our student government students or members, thank you. Thank you for your leadership, your dedication, and for
being role models for our entire school. You have made a lasting impact to our school community and your help your e efforts have helped shape our school culture rooted in kindness, responsibility and inclusiveness. The example you have set will continue to inspire your peers long after uh this
year ends. And we are truly grateful for the energy, creativity and heart you bring to DBL each and every day. Please join me in giving them a well-deserved round of applause. Okay. All right, at this time we are going to call the students up one by one.
First up, Leila Freeman. Come on up. Okay. Juliet Michelle Benny Guo Paige Johnson, Sanange Gill, Autumn Echo, Alana Morsy, Annabelle Lopez,
>> Sophia Galindo, Damian McCertie, Elelliana Rodriguez, Casar Dale, Penelopey Ripken, >> Connor Moody, >> Niko Neratulis, and Logan Ness. >> Thank you again everyone. If you could
just have one more round of applause for the kids. college student. Thank you. Why are we Guys, no worries. Congratulations um students of DBO. You know it's been said
>> it has been said that it it takes a village right and we understand what that means here in Rockway Township because it takes all of us to support these students in their formation and uh to make them into great citizens which
they will be. takes faculty, the staff, parents and part of the um the faculty that often goes unrecognized and maybe all of them do to a certain extent but I really want to point out that we have the technical
name is educational services professionals. Those are the par profofessionals that work every day with our students to support them and they do an excellent outstanding job. And right now I would like to invite um Brian Adams and Tara Van Orton to come forward
because I would like them to introduce um a very special very very special par professional in our district. Brian, >> thank you all.
It's a privilege to stand before you guys tonight to celebrate a milestone for one of our staff members. We often speak about the educational team required to support students for success. And tonight we're here to honor a
cornerstone of that team. It's my great pl pleasure to recognize Susan Ritz, a PAR educator at Copeland Middle School who has been named the 2026 Morris County ESP of the year.
You want to come up? I'm gonna I'm gonna brag about her for a little bit. Sue has been dedicated to our school for 22 years. 22 years in the district. >> How many more?
>> 23. >> 23. But who's counting? Currently, she provides a vital one- on-one support for students with autism. In this role, Sue does more than assist with assignments. She provides the
emotional and behavioral scaffolding that allows our students to thrive at the middle school environment. She turns challenges into achievements every day. A true testament to her professionalism is her recent achievement in becoming a
registered behavior technician. By pursuing this advanced certification on her own, Susan has brought a specialized level of expertise to Copeland that directly enhances our special education
program and provides our family with a incredible sense of security and confidence. The impact of Susan's work has not been felt only here in Rockway, but it has resonated in the highest levels of our
state. We are proud to share that Susan has been recently honored with a joint legislative proclamation from the state uh legislature presented by Senator Anthony Buco. This commendation recognizes her extraordinary
contributions to public education and her role as an exe a representative of the education profession in New Jersey. Beyond the classroom, Susan's leadership is felt throughout the district. as a
dedicated member of the Rockaway Township Education Association. She serves as a uh collaborative bridge between staff and administration. And she's also a familiar familiar face at our community outreach events,
pumpkin fest, Lego nights, pizza handouts, showing that we are committed to the township and this commitment extends far beyond the final school bell.
So on behalf of the association and the county, we want to thank you and thank the board for this opportunity to recognize Sue for this prestigious countywide and state level honor. Sue, you are the very best of Rockway
Township. Thank you. Thank you. Goodbye. 10 minutes. >> Okay, I just got the permission from the board president. She said 10 minutes. That means here's the deal, kids. Let's see how many cookies you can eat
in 10 minutes. Okay, we have a 10-minute break. I want them all gone. That's your job. Okay. Yes, sir. Yes, just two. No, no, you can have one. No, of course. Everyone, please help yourself. Help yourself. 10 minutes.
Thank you. >> Yeah, bring them out. >> Oh, and a special treat. Miss West is going to bring the brownies out. 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. >> Stony 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 handin-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 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 Scopland 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 Dubire 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 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. 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 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've tried 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 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, then 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, 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 district's focus on SEAL over the last several years. I am the steam teacher at Copeland
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 Birwood 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 DVO. >> Yeah. My name is Rehea. 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 >> 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 operations of the Rockaway Township 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 oper 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 rights afforded by the laws of New Jersey. The board bears no responsibility, nor will it be
liable for any comments made by the 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 comments and be aware that they are legally responsible and liable for their comments. In accordance with board policy 0167,
public discussion is limited to 15 minutes with a threeinut limit per member of the public. The board president shall have the right to modify the length of public discussion as she deems appropriate. Could I please have a motion to open public comment? >> So moved.
>> Seconded. Show of hands. Do we have any comments from the public tonight? Seeing none, can I please have a motion to close public comment? >> So moved. >> Seconded. >> Show of hands.
Great. Thank you. Uh moving on to communications. So, we had one email come in to board mail. Um, and given the correspondence as listed in the agenda, we are accepting the resignation of board member Mr. Eori and
we will be posting for the open position in the coming weeks. Can I please get a motion to approve last the minutes of the last meeting? >> So moved. >> Second. Can I get a roll call, please?
>> Mrs. Anderson, >> yes. >> Dr. Gorman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mezik, >> yes. >> Miss Richardson, >> yes. >> Miss Tor, >> yes. >> Miss McGee, >> abstain. >> Noted. Motion carries. >> Dr. Corbett.
>> Thank you, Madam President. We'll go to the first slide. Uh to keep the board and the community appraised regarding progress towards district goals, an update will be provided at the April 14th board meeting. This annual district
update is usually provided um at the June board meeting. Moving it up two months makes it more relevant to the superintendent's evaluation. So therefore, I've moved it up and after the I would say after April 15th is when the board can start digging into the evaluation.
Oh, and by the way, go back a It was a beautiful summer day. Those are the district administrators. I like that picture because we're all relaxed, kind of hanging out, and we're looking forward to another beautiful summer day. Anyway, those are the awesome district administrators. This year, we have had two school
closures and three delayed openings. As per the district calendar, with two snow days remaining, school will be closed on June 19th and June 22nd, making June 18th the last day of school. The most recent delayed opening on Wednesday, February 25th, was a difficult call due
to the timing of the storm, not due to the accumulating snow. I received three emails from the community, and one of those who emailed me also left a voicemail message to provide the community with this with some insight into the process used to delay or cancel
school. I have posted a weather closing FAQ on the website. And this evening, we recognize Susan Ritz. She's gone now, but I do I I do have a point here. You know, she's one of our hardworking par profofessionals at Copa Middle School, and she is very
worthy of the award that she received tonight for the educational services professional of the year. So, we're grateful to Susan and to all our par professionals for the work that they do. And good news from our schools. We'll start at Birwood. Birwood had an exciting and memorable ReadAcross America week filled with fun and many
creative activities. Throughout the week, students demonstrated their love of reading through themed dressup days. They brought their favorite stories to life by dressing as Dr. Seuss characters and showcasing their wild side with animal prints. Students also dressed as their favorite authors and proudly wore
their grade level colors, demonstrating creativity, school spirit, and a shared passion for books. Second grade students also enjoyed their field trip to the planetarium. They returned from the bus filled with excitement and eager to share their experiences. Some of our
Birchwood students and their families joined Miss Rivera and participated in the municipal alliance bowling event. The celebrations concluded with the PTA's paint night on Friday, March 13th. Under the guidance of Miss Dear Roth, participants created artwork while
enjoying a relaxing evening together. The event was a perfect end to a week of learning, creativity, and community spirit. Over the past few weeks, students and staff at DBO celebrated literacy, character, and
cultural awareness. During the ReadAcross America week, the student uh the school community participated in a variety of themed days and activities designed to promote a love of reading. Classrooms across the building engaged in special readalouds, literacy
activities, and discussions that highlighted the importance of books and storytelling. In partnership with the PTA, DBO also hosted a successful book fair which provided students and families the opportunity to explore and purchase new books while supporting the school community. The book fair culminated in a
well- attended family night bringing students, parents, and staff together to celebrate reading. In addition to celebrating literacy, the DBO community continued to recognize student achievement and positive character. The stu school held its weekly student
recognition assembly where students were acknowledged for their accomplishments, positive attitudes, and contri contributions to the school community. Throughout the month, classrooms also honored Black History Month through lessons and activities that highlighted the achievements, history, and
contributions of black Americans. Students further strengthened the school's culture and kindness during random acts of kindness week, participating in activities that encouraged empathy, respect, and thoughtful actions towards others. These experiences continue to help foster a
positive and inclusive learning environment for all the students at DBL. At Katherine A. Dwire, students have been actively engaged with the community through the seats of service initiative.
This month, the Rockway Township Police Department was invited to speak with students about community policing and the importance of positive partnerships. Students presented the officers with thoughtfully prepared go bags to keep in their patrol cars. This is a small gesture of appreciation for the long
days and nights they dedicate to serving our community. Dwire students have been equally busy within the school. Highlights include the Wax Museum presentations, which by the way, those are two of the students participating in the Wax Museum, the opening day of
baseball celebrated alongside players from Morris Hills High School, informative oral health demonstrations, and preparation for the upcoming Treps Marketplace at the end of the month. Each event continues to provide students with meaningful realworld learning
experiences. The Dwire PTA has also been very productive. hosting a laser light show, a successful book fair, and a well- attended literacy night that reinforced the joy and importance of reading. In addition, many of our students bravely took to the stage
during the talent show. It was inspiring to watch them perform for a packed audience, demonstrating confidence, creativity, and school pride. As we approach spring break, teachers are working on instructional units and preparing students for upcoming assessments. Their dedication ensures
that our students remain engaged, supported, and wellprepared. Dwire continues as a vibrant place of learning, service, and community connection. KDM has enjoyed an exciting and enriching month filled with opportunities for students to showcase
their talents, celebrate learning, and develop valuable life skills. The KDMPTA hosted a successful talent show which highlighted the students skills and abilities. students celebrated ReadAcross America while our language arts students participated in fun and
engaging lessons that highlighted the joy and importance of reading. The KDM staff and PTA hosted another wonderful reading uh family night, family reading night. In addition, our young entrepreneurs proudly open their Treps business to the public with Mayor Joe
Jackson on hand. The TREPS program provides a powerful experience for students to develop entrepreneurial skills, including business planning, marketing strategies, expense and income projections, project development, financial literacy, and sales. KDM Elementary continues to thrive thanks to
the dedication of our students, staff, families, and community partners with a continued EV emphasis on providing enriching experience for students. Student Stonybrook welcomed
uh author Anjanta Jabroski for a virtual cultural arts assembly. During the presentation, she incorporated storytelling, music, and cultural traditions, providing students with an engaging opportunity to learn about and appreciate diverse cultures.
Third annual readathon concluded successfully, once again, showcasing the dedication of the Stony Book School community. This year's theme celebrated the Olympic Games, adding an extra layer of excitement and school spirit throughout the event. Students show
tremendous enthusiasm logging countless minutes of reading and embracing the joy of books. This initiative culminated with a fun assembly where students were recognized for their efforts. Awards and prizes were distributed were distributed and staff and students participated in
several Olympic style games. In addition, the fifth grade amazing race and the annual Stunning Brook talent show were both held this month and were highly successful. Special thanks are extended to everyone who helped organize these events and to the many families
who came to support the students. Over the past month, students and staff at Copeland Middle School have had the opportunity to showcase their talents, connect with the community, and celebrate accomplishments. The Copeland Interact Club joined the
Rockway Rotary Club to sponsor a collection to assist new mothers on Saturday, February 21st. The Copeland Theater Company has been hard at work preparing for the upcoming production of the Spongebob musical. As part of their outreach efforts, the
cast visited all five district elementary schools on Friday, February 27th, offering students and staff a preview of the show. The performers continued to share their enthusiasm on Tuesday, March 10th, when they attended
story time at the Rockway Township Library, delighting the children with a special interactive visit. And I will add that this evening we had a preview of the show uh in the gymnasium. Um I want to thank the very talented cast of
of the show. They did an excellent job. I saw 99.9% of it. I had to run out to start the meeting, but they did a great job. And um the interact club was phenomenal because we invited the seniors to the show. We provided transportation and dinner for the senior citizens and the interact students were
very much part of that welcoming actually riding the bus to help the stu the seniors on the bus and escorting them to the play and eating with them the meals. So um the interact club and students have done a great job. Uh on Wednesday, March 11th, Copeland
students listened attentively to Cornell Thomas, an international speaker, entrepreneur, author, coach, and former Copeland Cougar. Mr. Thomas delivered a powerful message about maintaining a positive mindset, practicing kindness, developing a strong work ethic, and pursuing one's dreams. We also extend
our congratulations to Joey Shivas, who was selected as Copeland Middle School's recipients of the Morris County School Board Association's Unsung Hero Award. Joey was honored during a special recognition ceremony on March 5th at Hanover Park Regional High School and he
will be also honored next month at our board meeting um for that um for that award. And that is my report, but I will go on to the HIB. And if you can if you click on that update, I'd like to show the board and the community what I base
my comment on. And we'll go there. There's the report right there. There uh under current investigation, I won't read each one. There are 17 HIVs under current investigation. Six have been substantiated and 11 are unfounded.
And that is my report for this evening. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Slim. Thank you, Madam President. Um, tonight's meeting is unprecedented as it is the first time that we have not included the tenative budget approval on the advanced copy of the of the agenda. Uh, this may cause
current concern for the community. However, I would like to explain why that was necessary. Um, I've spoken several times about the budgetary challenges we faced this year. Our renewals related to fixed costs have been extremely high. We did not receive state aid numbers until a week ago, and we have been awaiting determinations
related to adjustments and limits for the budget cycle. I should I should note that we did receive a moderate increase in state aid of $286,213. So, we fared better than some other districts. Certainly, um, we did not see, you know, a great increase, but at
least we also didn't experience any cuts. Considering all of these variables, we needed to change our approach. Usually, I come to this meeting with one final recommendation for the approval of the tenative budget submission. Tonight, I came to the executive session with three options for the board to consider. We've
created three options so that the board could be involved in how to best how to determine the best approach for the challenges that we're facing. And we did so out of respect for our residents and the impact that these decisions have upon their households. If we did not select one of the options tonight, we would have scheduled a second meeting
next week to move toward an approval. Thankfully, we were able to come to a consensus and will therefore be reading in the budget motion and that motion will be reflected in the minutes. This year, we will be increasing taxes by 6.69%. This is below our authorized adjusted
tax levy cap of 7.2%. We will therefore be creating $433,548 in banked cap to be utilized in future budget cycles. We are able to exceed our 2% tax levby cap because we have been afforded an enrollment adjustment due to increased registrations between last
year's budget and the current budget. We were also afforded a healthcare adjustment to assist with our staggering health benefits renewal which came in at 30%. These adjustments were pivotal to our ability to balance the budget this year. Prior to these adjustments, we would have needed to cut approximately
$3.5 million in expenditures in order to produce a balanced budget. We see districts reporting deficits, experiencing mass layoffs, and failing to have the resources they need to offer growth and progress to their students and staff. We are grateful not to be in that position. One position or one
positive element that we were afforded in Rockway Township is strong ratables, which once again have increased. When our tax levy is factored over those ratables, residents whose home has not increased in valuation will actually see a moderate reduction in taxes. The
average assessed home value of $523,21 would experience an approximate reduction of $146. Again, assuming that that valuation has not changed. That is only reflective of our portion of the tax bill. I cannot comment on the other elements of the tax bill. The
choices we are making this year will offer a certain amount of insulation as we navigate this bleak financial forecast. But I predict that for all New Jersey schools, balancing the budget will be an increasingly difficult task in the coming years if there is not a significant systemic change at a state and federal level. I encourage community
members to attend or tune in to our May 6th meeting at which time I will provide a full presentation of the budget and the board will vote for final approval. Please note that tonight's approval allows me to submit the tenative budget to the county for review prior to finalization. This does not strike the final budget. There is still an
opportunity for change between now and the final budget if necessary. And this is so that we can meet statutory deadlines for submission. Just to give a little bit of context as well. Um, so I again I will read in the motion but just for an idea the
operating budget expenditures total this year to 67,797,536 less anticipated other revenue sources of 10,66,92 leaves us with the tax levy the 6.69% of 57 million190,634. So that's where we're getting our
percentage. Um, again, we were afforded adjustments because of the strains that we're facing. Those are not guaranteed repetitive adjustments. We can't guarantee that they will happen again in future years, but um, as I stated, it was imperative to our ability to balance at all. Um, another thing that I want to
note is just when when we're talking about those increases, again, I said 30% for health benefits, 30% on what is roughly a $10 million cost. We went up over $3 million. Our 2% tax levy prior to any adjustments was under $1.1
million. We received um salary increases again per contracts between 3.4 and 4.4%. We have property casualty insurance going up 15% in all categories. Utilities going up 12%. Transportation contracts
going up 3.58%. Social security and pensions increasing 3%. when we have expenditures that are increasing at percentages far outpacing what we are able to increase our revenues, that's when we hit financial cliffs. So certainly not the
circumstance that we would like. Um certainly could be in a much better position, but again, we're very grateful not to be one of the districts facing some of these uh harsher realities. Um I appreciate the support of the board always. Um, and again, I hope the community knows that we continue to try
to be mindful of our impact and um and we appreciate the the collaboration uh across all sources and shareholders. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Slim. We appreciate all the work you've done with that as well. >> Thank you. Committee reports. Do you
have anybody with committee reports? >> All right. Uh policy bet on March 5th uh virtually. Uh myself, Miss Richardson, Dr. Gorman, uh Dr. Corbett and uh Mrs. Willer were
there. We started off by reviewing policy 5530. Um just certain parts of it trying to discuss and I'm sorry I did not send this so I will send our notes. So I apologize for that. um more the language with the code of conduct and
the discipline when it comes to how we are addressing um students when they are under the influence or um suspected under the influence when in school and how we go about um sending them out um to be assessed and kind of what that
protocol is. So just looking at the language and making sure that we are um protecting everyone involved as well as the student and just readressing it. So that was brought up at the beginning um Dr. Corbett's going to look at that as well and we're going to review that
at our next meeting. Um second read which was on the agenda tonight uh which will come up later when we go to policy uh policy 0141 which is the board number of years in term that is up for second read. So um after tonight it will get
uploaded and be on our policy page. Uh we reviewed policy 9163. Um this is a policy we don't have to adopt. It has to do with uh sports at the high school level, but since our
middle school does sports, we felt it was appropriate to have this policy. And we are going to modify the language to reflect what it's like for our not only the um participants, but the parents as well. um to ensure that
everyone is being safely protected um and that parents are appropriately conducting themselves at these events as well as um the students are being um in a safe environment when um participating. So, as a committee, we
are kind of making notes on the side of this policy to make sure we're kind of matching the language that's in it, but not mandated. But, uh Strauss Esme felt that if we wanted it, we can kind of make it our own. So, we are tableabling it, but kind of making our edits as we
go. Um, policy 2365 is the AI policy. Um, this policy has been kind of a back and forth since last year and we feel it is way more appropriate to be with the ED committee. Um, ed committee had already started an AI committee. Um, so
we pushed it to the a pushed it to the ed committee which I also sit on with Dr. Gorman um and Mrs. Anderson and we talked about that at the ed committee and I know Miss uh Mrs. Anderson will talk about that as well but it is such a
sensitive topic of AI that it is not something we want to rush through. It is not something we want to just have a policy to have a policy. Uh so right now we're making sure that not only the committee but the teachers uh the staff um administrators and how it's being
functioned in the classroom what it looks like. So um Mr. Ganella has already put out a survey to the teachers how what how does it look how is it being used? There was a committee that's been put together. There's an AI pol um AI kind of plan in place that we're kind
of modeling off of. So right now the ED committee is taking this over to kind of see what's happening before a policy will be created. Um so that's why it's kind of been back and forth between two different committees. Uh we I was very ambitious. I listed a
lot of policies for us to kind of cover. Um we got to two of them. One of them is up for first read. It is a policy one 1636.01. It's a transfer of jobs and promotions that is is up for first read tonight.
Um, and the other one is that we spent more time on, but it was important, so I'm glad we did. It's policy 5339.01, and it's about uh sun protection um for field day being outside and more just
what's happening in each school and making sure we have continuity between each building. um are the teachers feeling safe on when a student brings sunscreen for a field day or going on a field trip and just making sure that the
language is the same and that everyone understands what's happening in each building. Um so that is something we just wanted to double check before we put it up for first read. So that will be on our next meeting as well. Uh we had a couple other ones that we wanted to make sure that um
Miss West and Miss Lamb were on as well. So those will be up for our next meeting which is on April 1st at 4:30 virtually. And that is my report. >> Thank you. >> The ED committee met on March 11th from
4:30 to about 6:30. We met here at Copeland this time. In attendance was Mr. Canella, Miss Waxman, Miss Petroski, Miss Wood, Dr. Gorman, Mr. Torren, and myself. Um, first I want to thank Mrs. Wood. She's a middle school social
studies here at Copeland, but she's the lead social studies teacher. Um, Mr. Ganell has been offering us an opportunity to see how the new curriculum is working from a teachers u standpoint and give us an idea of
different glows and grows. And so Miss Wood shared insight about the role of lead teachers in the middle school. She talked about collaborative efforts among teachers to develop common assessments to ensure a progression of rigor across grade levels and better prepare students for high school expectations. Lead
teachers have scheduled opportunities to observe high school classes. Additionally, uh the middle school department meetings include a structured sharing session in which teachers present effective lessons and instructional practices. And so it sounds like there's a lot of great things happening. I'm not surprised. Um
Miss Petrosky talked to us about different developments in the self-contained programs in the special education. That is going to more to come with that. Um, and then we did discuss the AI piece quite a bit. It's kind of
alarming how much has changed in artificial intelligence since we looked at this last year. And so last year, most people involved were concerned with cheating and how do we what's a policy in place
so that we're protected if we find that kids are cheating? And at that point um we were protected by other policies but right now the concern is moving towards the critical thinking. And so if students are using AI to think
for them they're you losing that opportunity to really um learn how to process things and and create that independent thought. So the team of teachers who are working together I think have met twice already and they've
come up with some really great ideas moving forward and so we thank you for involving all of us in that um piece. I the committee that's meeting had includes elementary school teachers, middle school teachers, all content areas, school nurses. So everybody's
kind of seeing like the wide range of the effects of that. Um, and we're looking ahead. Summer enrichment programs are going to be made available relatively soon, sent to parents for signups. And then one thing coming up on put on your calendar, we have a fun
family math night on Tuesday of next week. Please RSVP. Dinner will be served at 5:30 and at 6:15. There's a game show event divided by younger grades and then older grades. It'll be competitive and then
your teachers will be available to talk to you about what the math curriculum looks like for your students. So, we hope you all join us. That concludes my report. Thank you. >> Any other reports? >> I I do.
>> Okay. I have um three areas I want to touch upon. I'm going to start with the Rockaway Township Substance Abuse Alliance. I sit on their board. Um they have a bunch of fundraisers coming up and if you look on their website which is www.rtsa.org
you'll see them but Alpha Fit Club is one of them. Uh bingo night is uh the Alpha Fit Club is May 2nd. Bingo night is April 25th. Um the Rockway Township Unico has graciously named the Rockway Township Substance Abuse Alliance as one of their recipients this year. Uh that
event is on May 31st. This is um a great honor for this group of people. They work so hard to raise awareness for our students and I would like to thank um our mayor for his work in getting this done. He was a big part of this project. Um every year the Rockway Township um
Substance Awareness Alliance puts on a something called Project Positive Choices. It's their biggest fundraiser and they basically call it celebrity day. It it it works up this whole event works up to celebrity day and they have tons of great celebrities but you know
one of my favorites that was here last year was Bobby Hurley and the kids just loved him. I mean he was fantastic but he was one of the many celebrities that return that are will be returning this year. Um they do an amazing job speaking to and connecting with our students.
It's in the middle school. They provide real life stories that kids can relate to and help our students realize that even in the worst of times, we can all find ways to rise above. Um, please try to make it to one of their fundraisers. Every penny is given back to our Rockaway Township students. You may
also, if you choose to, on their website, you can just donate um in out of the goodness of your heart and the program that has it definitely has a lasting impact on the middle school students. Uh again if you visit their website you can you can donate there.
Next would be operations committee. We met on March 3rd. Uh the business office continues to work very hard in increasing the number of bus drivers we have in order to make uh to pick up and drop off our kids in a timely manner. It's been very very difficult. I know as Miss Lamb has has um reported out very
difficult to get bus drivers. So, we are working hard to make sure that we can get those bus drivers and and help our our routes. Uh, as far as budget, again, Miss Slam uh took care of all that tonight and she touched upon that. There will be a lot more to come next board
meeting. And lastly is the safety and security u ad hoc. We met March 6th. Uh Dr. Corbett has been in talks with um the person who is going to be taking over the district safe as the district safety officer upon Mr. McGovern's
retirement. So, we will be working with that person to make sure that they have everything they need to continue where Mr. McGovern left off. It's big shoes to fill. Very tough to fill Mr. McGovern's shoes. He has a lot of knowledge in this area and um he's he's leaving a gigantic
binder that is impressive um to say the least. Um I have been through the entire district safety binder and um I'm planning to meet with Mr. McGovern and Dr. Corbin next week to go over any questions that I had after reviewing it. And I'm looking forward to meeting with
the new safety and security director at some point to go over the binder and any updates or any any attention that it needs or any help that the board can give him. I had a conversation with Miss Slam and we discussed um administrative cell phones. The administrators have um
district cell phones and their use and function and this will be reflected in the district binder as well. Uh we had a discussion around substitutes and their training and as it pertains to students in building safety and uh they continue to tighten up that process uh every time
something comes up. The business office is in the process of planning for safety vestibules in our schools. Um more information will be coming out as the plan is developed. I believe uh they're working on possibly providing vestibules for for three of our elementary schools
uh to start. Um and again more information will follow with that. So that's what I have. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Please. >> Um the only thing I have for community outreach is to ask if people are available people on the committee that
is. And Dr. Corbett, how about next Wednesday? Is there a conflict with any of the other committees? >> 25th. >> Yep. I'm good. >> Does that mean you do have a complication? >> No, no, we're good. That was my other
date, so you're good. >> Okay, we can do it. >> I I I have a doctor appointment. >> What time is your doctor appointment? >> Well, it starts at 3:15. >> Okay. >> So, >> is it far away?
>> No. 4:15. You want to do it? Maybe I'll be back by I don't know. That's the first. >> When are you available on I 4:30? 4 5. So, 4:30. Does that work >> if the doctor's on time? >> Okay. 5:00.
>> Yeah. Five o'clock is fine. >> Five works. Okay. Should we do this in person or virtually? >> You could also go to the town hall. Our students artwork is on display that evening. >> What a community outreach there. >> We do it there. >> We're going to say go to the doctor's office. >> No.
>> Should we do this virtually or in person or as Noel suggested offsite? just >> but there is Copeland artwork on display that >> well I recommend virtually only because I'm not sure where I'm going to be okay
virtually I mean I'm coming from a doctor's appointment but if you want to do it in person then we can meet at a location we'll do the best I can to be there >> okay for this one we'll do virtually is that okay Jamie >> yeah that's okay and that would be for you too well >> yes because now I'm
Okay. >> So, what time >> am virtually >> and then I will come up with a um full year schedule after that. >> Yes. Thank you for reminding me about that. >> All right. I'll reach out to everybody about new dates.
>> Perfect. Great. Thank you. Okay. Moving on to recommended for board action section A personnel which runs from page three to page six. Can I please have a motion to approve personnel items?
>> So moved. >> Seconded. >> Can I please have a roll call? >> Mrs. Anderson? >> Yes. >> Dr. Gorman? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Messi? >> Yes. >> Miss Richardson? >> Yes. >> Miss Torren? >> Yes. >> Miss McGiri? >> Yes.
>> Motion carries. >> Thank you. Moving on to section B, HIV determination. Uh, can I please have a motion to approve the HIV determination as listed in the agenda? >> So moved. >> Seconded.
>> Can I please get a roll call vote? >> Mrs. Anderson, >> yes. >> Dr. Gorman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Messi, >> yes. >> Miss Richardson, >> yes. >> Miss Tor, >> yes. >> Miss McGee, >> yes. >> Motion carries. Thank you. Moving on to section C, education.
Can I please get a motion to approve education recommendations? >> So moved. >> Seconded. >> Do we have anybody who has any public comment on uh education in accordance with board policy 0167, public discussion is
limited to 15 minutes with a threeminut limit per member of the public. The board president shall have the right to modify the length of public discussion as she deems appropriate. If anyone has any comments on education. Okay, seeing none, can I get a roll call vote, please? >> Mrs. Anderson, >> yes.
>> Dr. Cordman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Mesik, >> yes. >> Miss Richardson, >> yes. >> Miss Torren, >> yes. >> Miss McGiri, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. Moving on to section D, special education. Can I please get a motion to approve special education?
>> So moved. >> Seconded. >> Thank you. Uh, do we have any public comment for special education section? >> Can I please get a roll call vote? >> Mrs. Anderson, >> yes. >> Dr. Gorman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Messi, >> yes.
>> Miss Richardson, >> yes. >> Miss Torren, >> yes. >> Miss Mciri, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. Moving on to section E, administration. Could I please have a motion to approve administration? >> So moved. >> Second.
Thank you. Do we have anyone for public comment for the administration section? Okay. Could I please have a roll call vote? >> Mrs. Anderson, >> yes. >> Dr. Gorman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Messi, >> yes. >> Miss Richardson, >> yes. >> Miss Tor,
>> yes. >> Miss Mciri, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. >> Moving on to finance. Yes. So before we move the section, as I stated earlier, I would like to read in um the tentative budget motion which will then be number three under finance. And please bear
with me, there are so many words. Okay, so motion number three under finance, adopt the tenative budget, Rockway Township Public Schools, adoption of the tenative budget for school year 2026 to 2027. Be it resolved that the tenative budget be approved for the 2026 2027 school year using the 2026
2027 state aid figures and the secretary of the board of education be authorized to submit to the executive county superintendent for approval in accordance with NJSA18A7F-5 and 18A7F-6. Total expenditures general fund
67,797,536. Less anticipated revenues 10,66,92. Local tax levy to be raised 57,190,634. Special revenues expenditures of $629,153. Special revenues of $629,153. zero tax levy to be raised as those net.
Um total budget 66 68,426,689 less anticipated revenues of 11,236,55 again for a net local tax levy of 57,190,634 and to advertise said tenative budget in the star ledger and daily record in accordance with the form suggested by the state department of education and
according to the law adjustment for enrollment $262,236. Be it resolved that the board of education includes in the tenative budget the adjustment for enrollment in the amount of $262,236. The district intends to utilize this adjustment for supplies and materials as
necessary for additional students. Adjustment for health care costs 2,680,363. Be it resolved that the board of education includes in the tenative budget the adjustment for increased cost of health benefits in the amount of $2,680,363. The additional funds will be used to pay
for the additional increases in health benefit premiums. Maximum travel. Pursuant to NJAC 6A23A-7.3, a board of education must establish a maximum dollar limit for travel expenditure as defined in NJAC 6A23A-7.1.
Be it resolved that the board of education includes in the tenative budget a maximum travel expenditure in the amount of $93,600 for the 2026 2027 school year. The maximum travel expenditure amount for the 2026 2027 school year is $93,600
I'm sorry for the 2025 2026 school year is $93,600 of which $5,575 has been spent and an additional $4,843 in encumbered to date. Just to note, these again are maximum limits. They are not actual anticipated expenditures.
Travel and related expense reimbursement. The board of education recognizes school staff and board members will incur travel expenses related to and within the scope of their current responsibilities and for the travel that promotes the delivery of instruction or furthers the efficient operation of the school district. and
NJAC 6A23A subchapter 7 requires board members to receive approval of these expenses by a majority of the full voting membership of the board and staff members to receive prior approval of these expenses by the superintendent of schools and a majority of the full
voting membership of the board. And a board of education may establish for regular district business travel only an annual school year threshold of $150 per staff member where prior board approval shall not be required unless this annual threshold for a staff member
is exceeded in a given school year July 1 through June 30. and travel and related expenses not in compliance with NJAC 6A23A subchapter 7, but deemed by the board of education to be necessary and unavoidable as noted on the approved board of education out of district
travel and reimbursement forms. Be it resolved, the board of education approves all travel not in compliance with NJAC 6A23A subchapter 7 as being necessary and unavoidable as noted on the approved board of education out of district travel and reimbursement forms. hand. Be it further resolved, the board
of education includes in the tenative budget travel and related expense reimbursements in accordance with NJAC6A23A subchapter 7 to maximum expenditure of 93,600 for all staff and board members for the 2627 school year. The school
business administrator/board secretary shall track and record these costs to ensure that the maximum amount is not exceeded. Capital reserve capital reserve account withdrawal of $2,323,800. Be it resolved that the board of education includes in the budget a capital reserve withdrawal in the amount
of $2,323,800 for the purpose of roof replacements at Copeland Middle School and Stony Brook Stony Brook Elementary School and a secure vestibil project at Birwood Elementary School, Katherine Dwire Elementary School and Stony Brook Elementary School. Maintenance reserve
maintenance reserve account withdrawal of $50,000. Be it resolved that the board of education includes in the budget a maintenance reserve withdrawal in the amount of $50,000 for the purpose of districtwide repairs and improvements for both aesthetic and functional needs. Be it further resolved that the public hearing be held in the Copeland Middle
School cafeteria, 100 Lakeshore Drive, Rockaway, New Jersey 07866 on May 6th, 2026 at 7 p.m. And that is why we don't usually read that in. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. So if we could move the section as motion.
>> Yes. Do we have any public comment for the finance section before we move on to moving? >> First. >> Oh, okay. So can I get a motion to move the section as amended, please? >> So moved. >> Seconded. >> Thank you.
Do we have anybody for public comment for finance section? Okay. May I please have a roll call vote? >> Mrs. Anderson? >> Yes. >> Dr. Gorman? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Mezzik, >> yes. >> Miss Richardson, >> yes. >> Miss Torren, >> yes. >> Miss Mcgiri,
>> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Thank you. Moving on to section G, policy. Can I get a motion to approve policy recommendations, please? >> So, so move. >> Second. Uh, can I please have a roll call vote?
Oh, I'm sorry. Excuse me. Do we have anybody who has any public comment on policy items? >> Could I please have a roll call vote for policy? >> Mrs. Anderson. Yes, Dr. Gorman. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Messi. >> Yes, >> Miss Richardson. >> Yes, >> Ms. Torren. >> Yes, >> Miss Mciri.
>> Yes. >> Thank you. In accordance with board policy 0167, public discussion is limited to 15 minutes with a threeminut limit per member of the public. The board president shall have the right to modify the length of public discussion as she deems appropriate. Could I please
have a motion to open sec uh public comment? >> So moved. >> Seconded. >> Thank you. Show of hands, please, to open public comment. Do we have any public comment? Can I please get a motion to close public comment? >> So moved.
>> Seconded. >> Thank you. Can I see a show of hands, please? >> Thank you. Old business. Just want to reiterate, I know it came up in your minutes, Dr. report but for the um speaker Cornell Thomas but my son
came home and was really excited to report back on that. He thought he was funny and engaging and I think it was really great to see a Copeland alumni doing positive things in the community. Thank you for bringing in. >> Any other old business?
>> Just want to reiterate um that on March 5th, I'm blending my times now. Uh we had the Mars County School Board Associate Unsung Heroes event. We obviously had a student was lovely. Um highly recommend anybody calling in the future.
>> Thank you. >> Any new business? I just want to note that with the acceptance of the board vacancy, we will be publishing that vacancy in the near future. Yes. Um and we'll go through the process of replacing that board member. >> Great. Thank you. >> I don't know if it's old or new, but I
just wanted to thank CPAC for they did a presentation on anxiety uh last week. Uh it was informative uh interesting, definitely a lot of information, um lot to absorb. They used every single minute of that 60 minutes and probably could have kept
going. Uh, a lot of information could have been shared, was shared. Um, they put a lot of time and effort into it for the community. The next CPAC parent support session is this Monday at the Rockway Township Library from uh 6:00 to 7:00. >> Great. Thank you. I wasn't able to
attend that one, but I attended the one before that and it was excellent. Yeah. >> Um, great conversations, great resources. They do amazing work. And could I just um add I I touched on this on my superintendent report, but I really want to thank the Interact Club.
I mean, these students, these students are the cream of the crop. I'm telling you, the the kids who accompany the seniors to this play are wonderful, wonderful kids. And I also want to thank specifically Miss Joan Young who's done so much to pull the club together and to
really communicate very well with the uh with the Rockaway Rotary because they support the club and it's actually based on the Rotary Rotary principles. >> But Jonah Young has done a great job. So thank you Miss Young for all you do for our students and thank you to the Interact Club for what they did today
for our seniors. >> Any other new business? Yeah. >> Okay. Um, this is kind of bizarre to note this, but um, on May 6, we have the Mars County School Board Association 4th annual Nancy Hail Board uh, memorial
recognition event. As such, and as their president, unfortunately, um, it's my ninth year on the board. This will be my first board meeting that I will be missing, which is May 6. >> I I know, but I have to run the meeting.
So unfortunately I will not be attending the budget meeting. >> I'll do the presentation for you. >> That's your first meeting you've missed ever. >> That's amazing. >> Like even when I was on vacation. I'm weird that way. But yeah. >> No, I know. I saw you zoomed in from
Europe. Yes, I remember that. >> So this is a big thing. Me missing this. All right. >> Uh any other new business? Um yeah, I as lays on to the Stony Brook uh PTA, I just wanted to announce that the April 9th meeting will be cancelled, but do go
to Stonybrook to support the young entrepreneurs. Um the Turpp the Treps marketplace will take place that day. Um so the next uh Stony Brook PTA meeting will be May 4th at 7 p.m. >> Great. Thank you. Anything else?
Okay. Excellent. Seeing as how we don't have any reason to return to executive session, uh can I please get a motion to adjourn tonight's meeting? >> So moved. >> Seconded. >> Show of hands. >> Thank you. Meeting adjourned at Oh,
wait. Do we need a roll call vote on that? >> No, 859. There you go. >> Thank you everyone. Thank you.