Interim Superintendent Offer/School Year Dates/Core Curriculum: The Month in Moorestown Schools

November was a productive month for the Moorestown Board of Education and for MTPS. Highlights of the month include an interim superintendent offer, science curriculum updates and a robotics competition at WAMS, among other exciting updates.

The Board of Education announced on Nov. 19 that Carole Butler was offered the position of Interim Superintendent. Butler is the District’s current Director of Curriculum and Instruction, and she was previously the Principal of the William Allen Middle School.

Approval from the Executive County Superintendent is required before formal action can be taken on Ms. Butler’s appointment and contract. Additional information can be found here.

The monthly board curriculum presentations by supervisors continued at the November meeting with Science Supervisor Gavin Quinn. Quinn provided an overview on the original NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards, and the Next Generation Science Standards, which were adopted through a partnership of industry and education leaders.

The new standards place emphasis on deep thinking and problem solving, which entails focus on depth rather than breadth of material. Additional info can be found here.

In Moorestown, Grade 6-12 will be aligned with the new standards by fall 2016, and Grades K-5 by fall 2017.

The Board set the start and end dates for the next three school years, from September 2016 to June 2019, to help families with planning.

For the 2016-2017 school year, school will start on Sept. 6 and end on June 22; for the 2017-2018 school year, school will start on Sept. 5 and end on June 21; and for the 2018-2019 school year, school will start on Sept. 4 and end on June 20.

Also, an update was given on the District’s Strategic Planning Process. Committees were formed to work on each of the three goals, including developing specifics/action-steps and metrics for each.

The committees consist of administrators, BOE members, parents/community members, students, and teaching staff. The goal is to have the final strategic planning presentation in February 2016, but an update is planned for the December BOE Meeting.

I would like to congratulate the Moorestown High School Combustible Lemons robotics team on hosting the First Lego League Scrimmage at William Allen Middle School on Nov. 14. This event allowed elementary and middle school students to be exposed to basic robotics and presentation skills by accomplishing tasks using robots that the students program.

South Jersey does not currently have a recognized competition, and the students hope this will be the first step toward having an official scrimmage, avoiding the need to travel to different states.

Also, don’t forget MoorArt’s Holiday Arts Festival on Dec. 5, 1 p.m.-4 p.m. on the third floor of the Church Street Recreation Center, which features student artwork from grades K-12. The Moorestown Holiday Parade will take place beforehand.

The next regular Board of Education meeting will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 15, at 7:30 p.m., in the William Allen Middle School media center. If you have any questions or concerns do not hesitate to reach out to the Board or myself.

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The views and content in this column do not necessarily represent those of the Moorestown Board of Education as a whole or any other individual member.

About this column: In this column, Moorestown Board of Education Member Brandon Pugh provides monthly updates on what’s going on in the school district and on the BOE.