Montville Media Center and District Goals priorities at start of new school year

Montville Township Public Schools’ staff had a busy summer preparing for the start of the school year on September 2. Many improvements were made to the district’s seven schools. Boilers were upgraded at Lazar and Valley View Elementary School, sound and lighting systems were replaced in the Montville Township High School (MTHS) auditorium, final adjustments were made to several new air conditioning units in all five of Montville’s elementary schools, thirty-eight new teachers were hired, members of the Montville Board of Education and the district’s administrators worked together to develop on-going district goals, and renovation of the MTHS Media Center got underway.

Over 3,800 students are enrolled in Montville schools for the upcoming year. About 1,220 of them will attend MTHS, 930 will attend the Robert R. Lazar Middle School, and the remaining 1,650 students are Pre-K to fifth grade, and are registered in one of the township’s five elementary schools.

Over the summer, construction crews at the MTHS Media Center began dismantling walls, widening doors, and rerouting wiring. The renovation started July 29, and by the time students arrived last Wednesday, workers had already expanded windows, framed doors leading to outdoor reading spaces, installed the base to a performance platform, defined a soaring circulation desk, poured footings for an outdoor deck, and prepared to wire the expansive space to accommodate upgraded technology needs for research.

“Our media center was in need of a substantial upgrade,” Principal Douglas Sanford said. “The space no longer satisfied the educational needs of our faculty, students, and community.”

The MTHS Media Center renovation is the most significant upgrade to the space since the building was constructed in the early 1970s. The renovation is on track for completion in November.

“It’s fair to say that our media center, when completely renovated, will bear little resemblance to a traditional library; rather, it would be more accurately described as a learning commons,” Sanford explained.

Research and planning for the renovated MTHS Media Center began over four years ago, shortly after Sanford became Principal. The impetus for the project was a parent-generated fundraiser that resulted in a $10,000 donation, earmarked to kick-off the planning and preparation for an updated Media Center. The goal was to design a media center that could meet the ongoing and evolving needs of students in the 21st century.

“A committee comprised of faculty, administrators, parents, and Board of Education members was formed to research media renovation,” Sanford explained.

The volunteers traveled extensively, making site visits to newly renovated high school and college media centers throughout the north east and beyond.

“After that, we synthesized our findings together with what we know about the direction that classroom instruction and individualized student learning is headed. This lead us to the design of our media center—a design that embraces flexibility, collaboration, access to information and resources,” said Sanford.

The $1 million project is being funded out of current capital reserve deposits and will not require outside funding from the community to complete. Montville Township Public Schools was named a national District of Distinction in July by District Administration Magazine because of the instructional innovations developed in the district through Montville’s Humanities Research Program. The Humanities Research Program was inspired and influenced by Montville’s Science Research Program. The resources and flexibility of the new MTHS Media Center’s design will educationally align with Montville’s award-winning instructional innovations.

While construction was underway at MTHS, members of the Montville Board of Education, Superintendent Dr. René Rovtar, and Montville’s supervisors and administrators were meeting across town, at the Board offices, for a goal-setting meeting designed to chart the district’s course for the 2015-2016 school year and beyond.

Together they developed four goals to expand and invigorate instruction and student engagement.

The first is Student Learning with a focus on the climate and culture of the school district, including student health, homework, special education, competitions and contests at all levels.

Montville will partner with the United Way to administer the Youth Empowerment Alliance School Climate and Culture survey to all staff and students in each of Montville’s Pre K-12 schools. The survey data will be analyzed and will help to enhance the district’s Character Education programs and influence the district’s homework policy.

The second goal is in the area of Technology. Implementing on-going improvements in district communication, such as monthly e-mailed newsletters to share news and accomplishments is at the forefront of the technology goal. Instructionally the district will be reviewing the integration of technology into the curriculum, evaluating the implementation of a one to one approach to devices, and a new STEM program will be piloted in grades 4 and 5.

The area of World Language is the third goal. Last spring a task force recommended reviewing instructional models in comparable districts. Areas of focus will include elementary World Language instruction, expansion of middle school instruction, and enhancement of high school instruction with an eye toward increased retention of students in World Language programs beyond the two-year requirement. Those visits are being planned, and parent and teacher surveys will be conducted. Budgetary recommendations will be established for the 2016-2017 school year based on the findings from the observation of instructional models and the surveys. The fourth and final goal area is in the area of Student Success.

“There was significant discussion at the goal-setting meeting about how we define success,” said Superintendent Dr. René Rovtar. “What attributes do we think define student success at the elementary, middle and high school levels?”

Town Hall meetings, supplemented with parent surveys, will help the district to define and prioritize “success indicators.”

“We can then analyze our district performance relative to these success indicators,” Rovtar explained. “With this information we can plan and adjust in order to steer us in the direction of greater success in fostering Student Success.”

To meet district goals, many additions to curriculum and upgrades to facilities and equipment are also in the process of being implemented throughout the district. For example, this fall, the award-winning Humanities Research Program expands from 40 to 57 English and Social Studies classes. The innovative instructional initiative also received 120 new Chromebooks. Lazar will add 60 Chromebooks, each elementary school will receive 90, and the MTHS Media Center will also house 90 Chromebooks; helping the district further its one to one Technology goal for devises, as well as initiatives to improve Student Success.