April 2 was a very busy day in the district in terms of curriculum development and curriculum implementation. A quick summary follows:1) Holocaust Curriculum Committee- Members of the Holocaust Curriculum Committee are in the second day of a three day sequence of activities which will result ultimately in the near completion of the Holocaust Curriculum (also including genocide education) across most grades in the district. Curriculum Committee members Tara Donnelly, Mari Rosenblum, Beth Tomlinson, and Elise Granovsky have been working from noon to 4:30pm each day putting the final touches on this special and often overlooked part of the NJ Curriculum. Some regular readers of this blog may recall that this past summer the group met with representatives of the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education at Calabro School. For more details on that meeting click HERE.
2) PTO Advisory Council- Today was the inaugural meeting of the PTO Advisory Council. This group, consisting of each school's PTO President and a representative chosen by the building principal, was suggested by a parent as a means to establish more and better communication between parents and central office. The group will meet monthly and an evolving agenda will be establish. Today's meeting consisted of general introductions, school handbooks, general communication issues and some discussion on the new curriculum.
3) Principal's Meeting- Each week the Superintendent meets with building principals and other district leaders to discuss immediate, short term and long terms goals and activities of the district. This week's meeting was largely dedicated to the issue of curriculum implementation. Issues such as professional development, communications, feedback, monitoring, and assessment were discussed. It is safe to say that there is great excitement and anticipation as the final versions of the curriculum roll out and implementation strategies are established. The curriculum will begin in September 2009.
