Monday, March 11, 2024

2024-25 APPLICATION FOR STATE SCHOOL AID - 17 HUDSON / 2210 HOBOKEN CITY

The ASSA is the data collection used to gather the resident and nonresident

pupil counts required to calculate a school district’s state aid entitlement.

For a school district to receive state aid for a pupil, the student must be

enrolled on October 13 in a program that will meet for at least 180 days

during the school year.


A district is required to report the number of pupils enrolled full-time or

shared-time in each school by grade or special education category. In

addition, a district must also report the number of pupils that are sent and

received and the number of pupils enrolled as follows on October 13:


• LEP pupils (ELL)

• Low income pupils (pupils eligible for free meals/free milk or reduced

meals)

• Shared-time county vocational school district pupils

• County special services school district pupils

• Regional day school pupils

• Pupils in certain State-operated programs

• Accredited adult high school pupils

• Pupils in approved private schools for the disabled

Here is a FAQ put out by the State of NJ concering the ASSA report: https://www.nj.gov/education/finance/sf/assa_faq.shtml


2024-25 APPLICATION FOR STATE SCHOOL AID - 2210 HOBOKEN CITY by Tony Petrosino on Scribd

 



Saturday, March 9, 2024

Does Hoboken Public School District Limit Comments on "X" (formally Twitter) ?

Recently, a post on Twitter ("X") came to my attention. First, the Hoboken School District posted a few pictures of a class trip to Boston to visit colleges. But, it was pointed out that the Hoboken School District limits comments of their Twitter account. I was not aware of this. 

Here is the comment: Do they let children in with 8% math proficiency? Notice how the Public School district in #Hoboken does not allow public comments. Their public relations firm wants to control the narrative, instead of telling residents the truth.




Here are the latest test scores, 8% of students are proficient in Mathematics, over half of the school is reading below grade level, and 1% of students are proficient in Science. These are NJDOE assessments that are aligned with the curriculum. Is this proper preparation for college? Is this a proper education in general? Decide for yourself: 



Limited Comments Allowed? 





Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Hoboken Dual Language Charter School - Top 4% in BOTH Elementary and Middle School NJ Rankings

 

The Hoboken Dual Language Charter School is a charter school located in Hoboken, NJ, which is in a large suburb setting. The student population of Hoboken Dual Language Charter School is 417 and the school serves K-8. At Hoboken Dual Language Charter School, 58% of students scored at or above the proficient level for math, and 71% scored at or above that level for reading.

The school’s minority student enrollment is 46%. The student-teacher ratio is 26:1, which is the same as that of the district.The student population is made up of 47% female students and 53% male students. The school enrolls 11% economically disadvantaged students. There are 16 equivalent full-time teachers and 1 full-time school counselor.

See Full US NEWS AND WORLD REPORT summary of Hola:





Monday, March 4, 2024

The Hola Dual Language School's Charter in Hoboken is Renewed for Five More Years


HOBOKEN, NJ — (Hoboken Patch Feb 26, 2024- Caren Lissner) The state of New Jersey has renewed a charter for one of Hoboken's three public charter schools, which will continue to expand slightly. "The charter for Hoboken Dual Language School (HOLA) was renewed on Jan. 31, 2024, for a period of five years through June 30, 2029," said a spokesperson for the state Department of Education on Monday. "A request was also granted for an expansion of 12 seats by the 2025-2026 school year." 

 In Hoboken, the first two charter schools — Hoboken Charter School and Elysian Charter School — were founded in the late 1990s after charters became legal in New Jersey. In 2010, Hola — a K-8 dual language school where students are taught in English and Spanish — was founded initially as a K-5 school . All three charter schools hold a lottery each January to determine which students can enroll, with extra weight for those receiving public assistance, and preferences given to students for having a sibling in the school and for living in Hoboken.

The Hola Dual Language School is a free public school that was founded by individuals who were independent of the existing public school system, and included local citizens, researchers,  and educators. Originally, Hola was intended to be a part of the Hoboken Public School system but this proposal was voted down by some members of the Hoboken Board of Education including Theresa Minutillo, Rose Marie Markle, and Carrie Gilliard in Feb of 2009

Hola was granted the right in 2015 to expand to seventh and eighth grade, although the expansion was initially challenged by the Hoboken Board of Education.

In 2017, they also received permission to add six students per grade. This year, the expansion was included as they re-applied. According to information from the state Department of Education, each grade will have 50 students by the 2025-2026 school year:

CLICK TO ENLARGE

The state said, "HOLA submitted its renewal application on October 13, 2023 and has been evaluated by the New Jersey Department of Education (Department) on its academic performance, fiscal viability and operational stability. Through the renewal process, HOLA requested to increase its maximum enrollment from 438 seats to 450 seats by the 2025-2026 school year." On Jan. 31, Hola announced that it was pleased to have had its charter renewed for the third time, saying, "We are happy to share fantastic news with all of you — the NJ Department of Education just officially renewed our charter. This is the third consecutive renewal and a significant achievement for our entire community ... In New Jersey, a charter renewal is a significant process, including a review of a school's financial performance, operations, governance, and academic achievement."

In the past, the proposed expansion of charter schools in Hoboken, and proposals for new schools, was met with frustration and lawsuits by some who argued that they might be taking funding and resources away from other schools in addition to fallacious claims of "white flight.. You can read more about the controversy and lawsuits here.



Thursday, February 15, 2024

The Fires: Hoboken 1978–1982 in partnership with the Hoboken Historical Museum, Diaspora Solidarities Lab, and New Jersey Council for the Humanities from February 1–April 15, 2024

"The Fires: Hoboken 1978–1982," in partnership with the Hoboken Historical Museum, offers a poignant lesson in resilience, community strength, and the power of collective response to urban challenges. The project sheds light on the devastating fires that swept through Hoboken during the specified period, serving as a historical lens into a community's ability to overcome adversity.

Through this collaboration, we learn the importance of documenting local history, as it preserves the collective memory of a community and fosters a sense of identity. The fires, while destructive, became a catalyst for community mobilization, demonstrating the capacity for solidarity in times of crisis.

The project also underscores the need for proactive urban planning and fire prevention measures. Understanding the historical context allows for informed decision-making to create safer and more resilient urban environments.

Ultimately, "The Fires" emphasizes the enduring spirit of community and the lessons it imparts about the shared responsibility of preserving and learning from our collective past for a more resilient and informed future. -Dr. Petrosino

CENTRO, The Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College, has announced the opening of the exhibition, The Fires: Hoboken 1978–1982 in partnership with the Hoboken Historical Museum, Diaspora Solidarities Lab, and New Jersey Council for the Humanities from February 1–April 15, 2024. CENTRO is the largest university-based research institute, library, and archive dedicated to the Puerto Rican experience in the United States.


Centro's Directora is Dr. Yomaira C. Figueroa-Vásquez, an Afro-Puerto Rican writer, teacher, and scholar who was born and raised in Hoboken. In addition to serving as CENTRO's Directora, she is a Professor of Africana, Puerto Rican & Latino Studies at CUNY Hunter.

The exhibition, first installed at the Hoboken Historical Museum, features the work of Christopher López, a Puerto Rican Lens-Based Artist, Educator, and Public Historian.

Dr. Figueroa-Vásquez expounds, "The Fires: Hoboken 1978-1982 is a multidisciplinary show that surfaces the living histories of the fires and arsons that transformed the city of Hoboken from the 1970's-1980's. Through a violent cocktail of intimidation, greed, corruption, and indifference, over 50 Hoboken residents, mostly children, lost their lives in fires that ravaged the city during the era of post-industrial urban renewal. Arriving four decades after the apex of the fires, photographer Chris López, a Bronx native of Puerto Rican parentage, critically engages the afterlives of arson, displacement, and dispossession. Unlike the historic and well documented history of fires in the Bronx, very few photographers captured images of the arsons in Hoboken and even fewer scholars have studied the phenomenon. The existing archive is deeply indebted to the work of journalists, the painstaking work of community organizers, and a few documentary filmmakers who captured the terror, uncertainty, and destruction of that time period. In this context, The Fires represents the first exhibit of its kind to visit this history alongside those who were most deeply impacted."

We encourage everyone to visit this powerful exhibit, which will be displayed at the Silberman School of Social Work in El Barrio, located at 2180 3rd Ave. Visiting hours are Mondays-Fridays 10am-5pm.

Monday, February 5, 2024

Petrosino to Serve on Committee at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Associate Dean at the Simmons School of Education and Human Development invited to serve on Board on Science Education committee for PreK-12 STEM Education Innovations

Associate Dean for Research and Outreach at Simmons School of Education and Human Development, Anthony Petrosino, has recently been invited and has accepted the invitation to serve as a member of the Board on Science Education committee on PreK-12 STEM Education Innovations. This board is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and seeks to identify and understand any “research gaps or factors that impede or facilitate widespread implementation of new initiatives at local, regional, and national levels.”

Dr. Petrosino’s board appointment will last until April 2025.

Description

An ad hoc committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will conduct a consensus study to: 

  1. Review the research literature and identify research gaps regarding the interconnected factors that foster and hinder successful implementation of promising, evidence-based PreK-12 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education innovations at the local, regional, and national level;
  2. Present a compendium of promising, evidence-based PreK-12 STEM education practices, models, programs, and technologies;
  3. Identify barriers to widespread and sustained implementation of such innovations; and
  4. Make recommendations to the National Science Foundation, the Department of Education, the National Science and Technology Council’s Committee on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education, state and local educational agencies, and other relevant stakeholders on measures to address such barriers.

Friday, January 12, 2024

Seeing the World through a Mathematical Lens: A Place-Based Mobile App for Creating Math Walks

Dr. Anthony Petrosino's grant with the National Science Foundation receives recognition.

Dr. Anthony Petrosino and colleagues have received recent recognition for a $2,448,189 NSF grant (# 2115393) with the National Science Foundation. Petrosino (Co-Principal Investigator) along with colleagues Candace Walkington (Principal Investigator), Cathy Ringstaff (Co-Principal Investigator); Koshi Dhingra (Co-Principal Investigator); and Elizabeth Stringer (Co-Principal Investigator) are involved in work developing an application for learning math outside of school.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Math is everywhere in the world, but youth may see math as disconnected from their everyday experiences and wonder how math is relevant to their lives. There is evidence that informal math done by children is highly effective, involving efficiency, flexibility, and socializing. Yet, more is needed to understand how educators can support math engagement outside of school, and the role these out-of-school experiences can play relative to the classroom and lifelong STEM learning. 

This Innovations and Development Project seeks to conduct research on a location-based mobile app for informal mathematics learning. This research takes place at 9 informal learning sites and involves iteratively designing an app in which learners can view and contribute to an interactive map of math walk stops at these sites. Learners will be able to select locations and watch short videos or view pictures with text that describe how mathematical principles are present in their surroundings. For example, learners could use the app to discover how a painting by a local Latino artist uses ratio and scale, or how a ramp in downtown was designed with a specific slope to accommodate wheelchairs. 

Research studies will examine the affordances of augmented reality (AR) overlays where learners can hold up the camera of their mobile device, and see mathematical representations (e.g., lines, squares) layered over real-world objects in their camera feed. Research studies will also examine the impact of having learners create their own math walk stops at local informal learning sites, uploading pictures, descriptions, and linking audio they narrate, where they make observations about how math appears in their surroundings and pose interesting questions about STEM ideas and connections they wonder about. 

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Deadline Fast Approaching for Hoboken's PUBLIC (free) Charter School Lotteries

For all those interested in entering the lottery for Hoboken's Public (free) Charter Schools. Keep in mind, the reason why there is a lottery is because the demand exceeds the seating capacity of each of these charter schools. 


CLICK TO ENLARGE

 Hoboken families are encouraged to learn more and apply to enter the lottery for the city’s public charter schools – Hoboken Dual Language Charter School (HoLa), Elysian Charter School and Hoboken Charter School. The three public schools are free, open to all Hoboken residents and do not have any entrance testing requirements. Because demand exceeds available seats, students are randomly selected for entrance to the schools through a lottery system. All three schools offer a weighted preference for Hoboken families who live in public or subsidized housing or receive public benefits. The collective deadline to apply to the three public charter school lotteries ends January 11th, 2024 at 5pm. 

Learn more below:

Elysian Charter School: www.ecsnj.org

Hoboken Charter School: www.hobokencs.org

Hoboken Dual Language Charter School: www.holahoboken.org


Saturday, December 16, 2023

Hoboken's HoLa Dual Language School Exceeds at Brown University's Science Olympiad Invitational AND is Recognized by the New Jersey School Board Association with a School Leader Award for 2023; Hoboken District Schools Continue to Flounder Under Johnson

Congratulations to these middle schoolers from the Hola Dual Language School in Hoboken, NJ. These students brought home 13 medals including several top-three finishes at the Brown University Science Olympiad Invitational.



Earlier this week, Hola was recognized by the New Jersey School Board Association with a School Leader Award for 2023. The award is formal recognition for HoLa as a leader in dual-language programs in New Jersey. 


HoLa continues to enjoy diverse and independent recognition for school success. Unfortunately, it is too bad the rest of the Hoboken Public School district is rather disappointing. As an example, some might remember recent revelations that Superintendent Johnson professionally and personally misrepresented herself about having a doctorate for well over a decade. Others might recall a recent US News and World Report showing that over half of the high school students are reading below grade level; only 8% of all students were proficient in Algebra; and 1% of students were found to be proficient in Science.








 

Friday, December 15, 2023

The Mathematics of a Resiliency Park- Does Holding 400,000 Gallons of Water Impact the Flooding Impact of 17,400,000 Gallons of Water?

Real world application of mathematics and science are consistent with national STEM reform efforts. Such skills also are consistent with better informed citizens who are often asked to participate in critical infrastructure efforts. 

One current example involves the chronic flooding in Hoboken, NJ. Some will recall, Hoboken was severely impacted by Superstorm Sandy and still floods often and regularly. 




The city has implemented a number of efforts over the year (water gardens for example). One effort is the notion of a resiliency park where rainwater would be retained in large underground containers during heavy rain events. Will these efforts be effective? One way to look at this question is via mathematics and science rather than by public relation campaigns. 


Here is how a middle to high school problem may be posed centering around a problem which attempts to mitigate flooding. 

Question: A new park in a city will include underground infrastructure to withhold 400,000+ gallons of rain to reduce flooding. If the town is one square mile, how significant is this infrastructure in reducing the chance of flooding?

Note: The amount of rain considered to be capable of flooding is roughly in an hour can vary depending on the location and the type of precipitation. However, generally, rainfall rates of 1 inch (2.54 centimeters) or more per hour are considered heavy or intense, and may cause flash flooding and other hazards

Mathematical Calculation: A rainfall of 1 inch over square mile is equal to 17,400,000 gallons of water. A resiliency park capable of holding 400,000 gallons of water would represent 2.29% of the rainfall that falls during a 1 inch rainfall


Answer: Please assess the relative effectiveness of this resiliency park. 






Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Presinzano wins Hoboken 1st Ward Council Seat

Paul Presinzano is now the councilman-elect in Hoboken’s 1st Ward, winning the first runoff in the Mile Square City since 2009 by an unofficial tally of 692 to 529.

John Hines of Hudson County View reports: (
full article

This was the first runoff election since Peter Cammarano defeated Dawn Zimmer for the mayor’s seat in 2009. Thanks to Operation Bid Rig, Zimmer would become the acting mayor about a month later when Cammarano was arrested on corruption charges.

Presinzano lost decisively in the 2021 council-at-large races where he ran on a slate without a mayoral candidate, however, he remained involved on the political scene ever since and announced a 1st Ward council run in January.

He took the fight to Mayor Ravi Bhalla and the administration on countless occasions, eventually drawing an opponent in Rafi Cordova – the chair of the rent leveling and stabilization board.

Cordova announced on May 18th with the support of Bhalla and former 1st Ward Councilwoman Theresa Castellano, who lost to current local representative Mike DeFusco in 2015.

DeFusco announced he wasn’t seeking re-election on May 2nd, prompting Cordova to jump in the race shortly thereafter.

While Presinzano fell just short of 50 percent plus one on November 7th, a contest that also included former Health and Human Services Director Leo Pellegrini – who came in a distant third – he managed to come out on top again this evening

Cordova received 10 less votes in the runoff than he received in November, 2023. 

Council Runoff Results

Here are the unofficial results as of 9 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 5, as reported by the county of Hudson. 

  • Paul Presinzano: 692
  • Rafi Cordova: 529
  • TOTAL: 1,221

6,264 people are listed on the registered voter rolls in the 1st Ward.

For comparison, these were the official results from the three-way race last month:







Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Former Hoboken Assistant Superintendent of Schools Dr. Miguel Hernandez Passes Away at 58

Sad news about former Hoboken Assistant Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Hernandez.


Hernández, who held a doctorate in education leadership, served as Assistant Superintendent of Schools in Hoboken, New Jersey. 

In February 2021, Hernández released a 104-page book titled “Letters from My Students” to encourage teachers and those aspiring to enter the profession during the pandemic.

Hernández was a standout athlete for the Red Raiders of Keyport High School, shining on the gridiron and the wrestling mat. He graduated with the Class of 1984.

Hernández is survived by his wife of 15 years, Janine Hopkins Hernández, and his father, Hipólito Hernández. He had four brothers and two sisters, according to his obituary.

A funeral Mass was scheduled for Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. at Our Lady of Fatima Parish at 376 Maple Place in Keyport.