Unifying our Atlantic Highlands and Highlands Tri-District Schools

On Thursday, October 15th, Dr. Susan Compton, Superintendent of Tri-District Schools and Dan Loughran, Tri-District Supervisor of Curriculum & Instruction, along with their principals and Board of Education presidents, presented a unified vision for ‘three schools, one district’ to community members and key stakeholders from both Highlands and Atlantic Highlands boroughs. “We started this process back in the fall of 2013 with our three school Boards” Dr. Compton stated, “and we realized that we have quite a bit of cross-over and shared services already, so it made sense to consider uniting our three schools to further minimize expense and redundancy.”

Currently, Atlantic Highlands Elementary (AHES), Highlands Elementary (HES) and Henry Hudson Regional School (HHRS) all operate as three separate entities with individual Boards of Education. With almost 150 people from Atlantic Highlands and Highlands participating, they began the brainstorming process to evaluate how the two communities could combine these three schools into one school district.

“This is actually the first inter-district strategic plan created in New Jersey; the plan is the brainchild of New Jersey School Boards Association leader Kathy Winecoff, who urged our three school boards to pursue such a plan, hopefully one that allows us to eventually consolidate into a single district, but – in the absence of such an achievement – at least preserves our mutual desire to continue to make the most of what we have,” said Mr. Loughran.

And the Board of Education presidents agree. “When you consider the [small] size of our schools, it makes sense to look at uniting as one, K-12 district. We are very close communities and already work together on many issues; this would be another way for us to combine resources and focus on the best education for our students,” said Rosemary Ryan, HHRS Board of Education president.

Dr. Compton and her team will present the current plan on October 28th at the NJ School Board Conference in Atlantic City.