It's A Week Of Respect At Cinnaminson Schools

CINNAMINSON, NJ — The Cinnaminson Public School District is participating in a series of events in recognition of National Bullying Month.

The district is engaging in a number of activities for the Week of Respect, held in schools throughout the state during the first week of October each year to “recognize the importance of social and emotional learning and character education.”

Activities in Cinnaminson's elementary schools include:

• Daily messages about the word "respect" — how students can demonstrate respect and challenges to be respectful each day
• Lessons from our school counselors about bullying and what students should do if they witness bullying
• Theme days that correlate to the value of respect

The high school and the middle school each have theme days that correlate with the value of respect and homeroom activities in which show how they demonstrate respect. Their finished projects will be displayed near the gym lobby at the middle school.

Crisis counselors in the high school and the middle school are also meeting with students to discuss harassment, intimidation, and bullying and the importance of being respectful of others.

The week is part of National Bullying Prevention Month, observed annually during October to bring attention to the problem and involve people in New Jersey and nationwide in a conversation on how to create a world safe from bullying.

The school district earned an overall grade of 73 out of 78 in its self-assessment under the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights, according to the district’s website.

Individually, the middle school earned a 75, the Eleanor Rush Intermediate School earned a 74, the high school earned a 72 and New Albany earned a 70.

Grades are determined using data submitted to the New Jersey Department of Education by each school district after that data is approved by the district’s board of education.

Schools are graded on how they administer bullying, harassment and intimidation programs, training and other instruction for staff, student instruction, reporting of incidents, how many members of staff are trained to deal with incidents and their procedure for investigating incidents.

The grades posted on the district’s website currently are as of June 19. The deadline for the next reporting period is Oct. 31.

THE MENACE OF BULLIES: PATCH ADVOCACY REPORTING PROJECT

As part of a national reporting project, Patch has been looking at society's roles and responsibilities in bullying.

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