Far Hills Country Day School Teams with Seton Hall to Educate the Next Generation of Teachers

Far Hills, NJ – Far Hills Country Day School (FHCDS) and Seton Hall University (SHU) are working together to teach pre-service (student) teachers how to develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions needed to become expert teachers. SHU sophomores enrolled in the course: Life in the Diverse Classroom offered by the College of Education and Human Services in the Department of Educational Studies are devoting 16 weeks interning every Monday at FHCDS. The course is for students currently pursuing elementary and special education certification. They will observe and assist FHCDS Primary School teachers in delivering innovative, differentiated classroom instruction and participate in small group teaching sessions.

The course is being co-taught on the Far Hills campus by Dr. Lauren McFadden from SHU and Diane Frustaci, Primary School Director at FHCDS. This semester, students will spend the majority of their day on campus in assigned classrooms and two and a half hours each week in a classroom setting with Dr. McFadden and Ms. Frustaci.

Dr. McFadden, current parent at FHCDS and associate professor at Seton Hall and Dr. Debra Zinicola, Chair of the Department of Educational Studies, were members of a PreK Task Force this past spring formed to assess the program. According to them, Far Hills was selected for the onsite class because “in every classroom best practices were seen being utilized. Instruction was differentiated and developmentally appropriate. The research shows that aspiring teachers will emulate the teaching they see whether good or bad. Seton Hall wants only the best in terms of role models for their interns; thus, FHCDS was an obvious choice.”