REMINDER: TOWN HALL TONIGHT ABOUT THE SORRY STATE OF OUR SCHOOLS

I thought so. Unfortunately I wasn't able to do a tinyurl on my phone

Sorry to see that negative headline. Way to go Hank Zona!!

Via email this afternoon:

Hello from early June at CHS!

Thank you to the many families who have reached out this week to let us know how their students are doing in light of the recent events at CHS and MMS. We regret the choices that students and their families have made that led to the incidents and assure you that we work every day to make sure conditions at CHS are safe and secure for teaching and learning.

To that end, please know that CHS, contrary to rumors and online conversations, was not at any time in a lockdown on Thursday. Information about a student in potential possession of a weapon – real or otherwise – had already led to that student being safely with school administrators when I made the decision to place CHS students and staff into a “Code Yellow”. A “Code Yellow” is a ‘shelter-in-place’ status in which we ask all to remain where they are with closed doors so that we may make any decisions we need to in order to manage the building and the situation without interference. As we continued to work with the Police, we continued to update the staff and students periodically over our PA system, letting them know to continue instruction, and within about 15 minutes, we were able to let them know we were anticipating release from the Code Yellow. Please take a moment to review with your student that it is critical in any emergency situation that students listen to and follow all directions from their teachers and any other staff in charge during such a situation. The smooth and safe end to our Code Yellow – and your students’ attention to our state-mandated drills each month - is testament to our students’ good decision-making and we thank you and them for it.

Also contrary to the rumors, there have not been “three weeks of fights” or “fights every day” or “nine fights in one week” at CHS. Over the past week, a very small number of students chose to start and/or resolve conflict with violence. Two of the altercations happened off-school grounds. One happened outside during lunch, and one happened when two students chose to disregard school rules about where they were supposed to be during class time. This past Friday was a smooth and regular school day at CHS. While our average daily absentee rate was a bit higher than usual, nowhere near “half of Columbia” stayed home. In fact, it seemed to us that students were being particularly aware of the need to be thoughtful and considerate to our staff and each other throughout the day. We are proud of them.

We regret the choices a very small number of students made last week that so negatively impacted many of us, and our school administrators, support, guidance, and counseling staff continue to offer multiple routes to conflict resolution and mediation for all of our students and their parents and guardians. We thank and continue to work with the Maplewood and South Orange police departments when students break the law. Students who break school rules and state laws will encounter consequences as appropriate.

On Friday morning, I addressed our students about the lockdown and weapon recovery at Maplewood Middle School. I reminded students that the drills we engage in at school, as required by state law, are so that in the event of a situation such as ours on Thursday yesterday, all staff and students are protected as law enforcement agencies do their work. I also reminded students of the high expectations we have for their behavior, our commitment to their safety and learning, and our focus on learning through our final exams. My remarks to students in such a public venue is, of course, general to protect the privacy of students involved in these events.

Last week, CHS staff visited our 2015 graduation venue, the newly- re-air-conditioned gymnasium at Essex County College, to make final arrangements for graduation – we are looking forward to a beautiful ceremony at 4 pm on Wednesday, June 24.

Speaking of visits, we welcomed back a member of the Class of 2000 last week to speak with Mr. Tumolillo’s current and next year’s science research class and Ms. Biasucci’s biology students. A graduate of CHS, Boston University (undergrad and grad) and Harvard, her work in her post-doctorate fellowships at Harvard and Cornell have resulted in her receiving a National Institute of Health $1 million dollar grant to set up a lab at Albany Medical School, where she will continue her work on atherosclerosis. Congratulations, Dr. Gabrielle Fredman!

Final exams are scheduled for June 17, 18, and 19. That schedule is attached to this email and has been widely posted at school. Please be sure that your student continues to monitor his or her grades and attendance on Powerschool. Should you need an updated password to the parent portal on Powerschool, please contact Mrs. Voorhees at rvoorhee@somsd.k12.nj.us.

Our first-ever “Pops on Parker” concert was a resounding success yesterday. Peter Bauer and our musicians rounded out a gloriously musical year with old and new pieces for the free lawn concert. We hope this is the first in a long tradition of outdoor CHS concerts.

Film and animation teachers Paul Marigliano and Richard Cutrona hosted a fantastic CHS student film fest last week. Congratulations to sophomore Edmund Toussaint on being anointed the “student to whom the film-making torch is passed”, and to MacKenzie Bowles for his fine work on his ‘Captain America-takes-Columbia’ film shared with our students the next morning. We were especially impressed with the 6-second shorts made up of 80 – yes, count them – 80 – drawings made by teams of student filmmakers. Bravo and see you at the Oscars someday!

Thank you to Youthnet and our CHS students who did a great job at the first Youthnet/CHS talent show on June 7, 2015, and congratulations to the first-year participants, who each earned a well-deserved spot on stage at the South x South Orange (SOxSO) festival scheduled for June 26-28. We can’t wait to see them on the SOPAC stage!

We have lots of congratulations to offer these days:

Many of our students were honored last week at our annual Senior Recognition Night. Thank you to the teachers and supervisors who worked so closely with our students during their 4 years here to make such accomplishments possible…

Kudos to our mens’ Ultimate Frisbee team, who are NJ state champions, and our JV team for being second in the state this season. Congratulations to our senior Emilie Cowan, who placed FIRST in the state Meet of Champions last week in the 400… and to Brett Reckling, Jimmy Martinez, Jared Loadholt, and Donte Rolley for their school record and personal best by a FULL SEVEN SECONDS in the mens’ 400 at that meet as well…..kudos to Tae McLaughlin, who received the America’s Youth in Concert/Universal Academy for Music’s Natinal Oustanding Musician Award…our students in AP Studio Art whose art is on display at the SOPAC 2nd and 3rd floor art galleries – please stop by to see it. Their work is also on display in our own Domareki Art Gallery on the first floor of CHS. Stop by!

Job well done to our many track athletes and CHS track Coach Lisa Morgan, who hosted the first-ever USATF-sponsored Run, Jump, Throw clinic at Underhill yesterday for our community. It was great to see the ‘next generation’ of Cougar tracksters at work under the tutelage of our high schoolers, and many thanks the track parents who helped make this day such a huge success.

Students in Mrs. Bachenheimer's biology classes recently concluded their genius hour projects by sharing their accomplishments with their peers. Genius hour is based on an idea made popular at Google and other companies, where employees are encouraged to spend 20% of their work week working and developing products of their own choice. Genius hour in the classroom establishes a student driven, passion-based learning environment. Some examples of students genius hour projects included: the children's book "My Island Home" available for purchase on Amazon.com, a trailer for a movie called "House Dare", the accumulation and reporting of various new sports achievements, care packages being sent to troops overseas, and strategies to increase memory, organization and prevent procrastination.

This is a big week for our choral groups at CHS. Please add some music to your life and share the schedule of our week’s performance with your friends:

Monday 6/8: Unaccompanied Minors (a cappella group) @ CHS,7pm

Tuesday: 6/9 Choir and Orchestra Spring Concert @ CHS, 7pm

Friday 6/12: Excelsior Singers @ St. George's in Maplewood, 7:30 pm

Saturday 6/13: Canens Vocem and "BroChoir" at St. Andrew's in South Orange, 3:30 pm.

Members of those groups, as well as the Excelsior Singers, Canens Vocem and the Combined Chorus of Columbia High School traveled to Kutztown University on Friday, May 29 to compete in the Music in the Parks Festival. Each of the three choirs placed first in its division with the highest possible rating of Superior. Columbia High School also won the trophy for Best Overall Choir. Additionally, sophomore Charlotte Steiner won the Best Student Accompanist medal. The choir spent the rest of the day celebrating its success at Dorney Park in Allentown, PA.

All concerts are free but $5 donations to the program and non-perishable food pantry donations will be accepted!

Our students in several Drivers’ Education classes worked with the Nikhil Badlani foundation to create beautiful new art for CHS’s 2nd floor D-wing walkway windows and promote driver safety. Their work is also being featured on NJ Transit buses, and light rail, and on the walls at our local train stations.

Students in our art classes spent a cloudy but fun Friday several weeks ago at Storm King sculpture park in New York. They returned inspired! Students in Dr. Bustrin’s English classes spent a day in Manhattan seeing the Tony-award winning play The Curious Incident in the Dog of the Night-time (after having read the book!) and got a ‘behind the scenes’ visit to the New York Times’ newsroom courtesy of a CHS parent. We so appreciate the support of CHS families to make such experiences possible for our students.

Students in our Shakespeare class visited SOMS English classes last week to share tips and insight into studying and living the Bard. Interactive and multi-modality lessons led by the CHS students brought the works of the writer and poet to life in the SOMS auditorium.

Kudos to our CHS womens’ lacrosse goalie, nominated in the Newark Star-Ledger’s goalie contest: Delaney Prenovost made 244 saves this year!

More musical kudos go to Matthew Schilling, Claire Evans, Aijah Raghnal, Josh Ciolkowski-Winters, who were each awarded the National Band Association Outstanding Musician Award – in recognition of Excellence in Musicianship, Citizenship, and Learning….Zach Heinze received the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award: in recognition of outstanding achievements in the field of jazz as demonstrated through superior musicianship, character, and individual creativity, and Russell Pinzino received the John Philip Sousa Band Award in recognition for outstanding achievement and interest and instrumental music, for singular merit in loyalty and cooperation, and for displaying those high qualities of conduct that school instrumental music requires. These seniors leave big shoes to fill in the CHS music program but we know the classes of 2016, 2017, and 2018 are up the challenge.

Friday night saw the annual Guitar Club show, which was a fantastic display of our musical talents, from beginner to advanced.

While some of us were still sleeping, 9th graders Sage Savoia-Di Gregorio, Zoe Gonzalez and Isabella Vitalo came in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the girl's 17 and under age group in the North Jersey Pride 5K in South Orange on Sunday. Way to go, Cougars. Our a cappella group also gave up its Sunday morning to sing for the runners. Bravo to all!

Jake Silberg, CHS class of 2011, was the Undergraduate speaker for Harvard Commencement 2015! We congratulate him and fellow Columbia-now-Harvard grads Ben Donald, Priya Duvvuri, and Brian Kaneshige (all class of 2011) for their accomplishments. Enjoy Jake’s speech here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy2FG5-p7EM&feature=youtu.be

His CHS Class of 2011 classmate Marques Brownlee, was recently named Best Technology Reviewer on the Planet (Business Insider). Check him out here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu11moOICpU

We are still diligently working to craft schedules for our students for the 2015-16 school year, and on May 27 hosted our incoming 9th graders and their families for information sessions on life at CHS and athletics participation in high school. Both middle schools’ 8th graders will make visits to the CHS next week to get tours of the building from our Peer Leaders and get the inside scoop on all things Cougar. FYI, the current course catalog is available on the CHS website:

http://www.somsd.k12.nj.us/cms/lib7/NJ01001050/Centricity/Domain/94/Course%20Offerings%202015-16%20FINAL.pdf

Thanks to staff at LOFT family and student services for sharing a story on internet and cellphone safety. Though the cases reported are from Wall, Howell and Manasquan we know our students may encounter the same things:

http://pix11.com/2015/05/31/parents-warned-of-unknown-person-texting-middle-school-kids-to-meet/

We know it truly does take a village to do what we do in SOMSD for our students, teachers, and families. To that end, on Friday, June 19th, Broadway star and local parent, Charlie Pollock and a group of his talented friends will be at The Woodland to help us celebrate the end of the school year and the start of Summer 2015. This special concert supports the Vanessa Pollock Music Initiative of the Achieve Foundation, which was established earlier this year with proceeds from the Charlie Pollock and Friends Holiday Concert last December. Its goals are to improve the inventory of musical instruments for the entire South Orange/Maplewood School district, provide scholarships to in-need students for instrument rentals and provide private music instruction for exceptionally talented students in our district who have financial need.

There is much work for our teachers and students to do in the last seven days of classes before exams begin. Please be sure to help your student get to school on time, be diligent about homework, and make good decisions for these last weeks of school.

Thank you, as always, for your support of all things Cougar,

Elizabeth Aaron

I would consider going, but the A Capella concert is much too compelling an alternative.

I would seriously consider going to support the administration, but the a capella concert is much too attractive an alternative.

https://youtu.be/nUlHAfQq6kY

Seems to me the school handled the gun situation perfectly. Not sure what the OP wants, presumably to reduce the probability that a kid will bring a gun to school? Not sure how you want to that without seriously undermining inclusivity. If you want a metal detector go live in fscking queens.

"Seems to me the school handled the gun situation perfectly. Not sure what the OP wants, presumably to reduce the probability that a kid will bring a gun to school? Not sure how you want to that without seriously undermining inclusivity."

Joke right?????

It's happening everywhere.....

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/06/08/new-jersey-school-security-scares/

I agree regarding the shrill finger-pointing etc. Already the conversation has degenerated into the "non-residents invading our schools" discussion (see the CHS thread). I think that one of the original issues was lack of communication, and it seems that the outpouring of complaints has already led the MMS administration to send continuous emails with many more details about security measures, counseling etc, that I don't believe would have been part of the communication if the parents hadn't spoken out. There is undoubtedly a more lax approach to discipline in the Middle School - I have had several kids attend that school and can attest to multiple fights, groping etc every year that we have been in the system...Does this in some way lead to a child thinking they can get away with bringing a gun in? Would stricter rules and more severe consequences result in better behavior from the kids? I happen to think so, but this is one of the things I think should be up for a calm and reasonable discussion.

sunnybrook said:
I thought about attending tonight because I care about our schools (parent of a high school student) and I want to support thoughtful conversation about how we navigate these kinds of situations. However, if this is more about shrill fingerprinting and blame, then it's not what I have in mind and I don't think it's helpful. Everything I've read and heard tells me that our administrators, in both buildings, did exactly what they should have done given the circumstances. I am interested in working towards better monitoring/supporting of kids who are prone to violence, but, if tonight's meeting is going to be about angry grandstanding, then I'll pass. Just one mom's opinion...

A part of me wishes this were being broadcast or recorded so I could sit back and watch the mayhem.

I wonder if a fight will break out among the participants?

considering how many local news people live in SOMA, I'd be surprised if it isn't on the news. and of course, if there's someone really outraged, and really loud, that's the person who will be shown on video during the telecast.

ParticleMan said:
A part of me wishes this were being broadcast or recorded so I could sit back and watch the mayhem.
I wonder if a fight will break out among the participants?

Just bet the Mrs. 5 bucks at least one person will have to be removed.

ml1 said:
considering how many local news people live in SOMA, I'd be surprised if it isn't on the news. and of course, if there's someone really outraged, and really loud, that's the person who will be shown on video during the telecast.

Because they are clearly representative of the people who live in SOMa

That's what happened with the parcc. They only interview the people who oppose loudly.

hankzona said:
Id like to have a town hall to discuss the sorry state of some of the people who live here.

Count me in. I will book the venue and bring the donuts and coffee. The schools are not in a "sorry state." There are a lot of good things.

We sent our son out of SOMA because Columbia would not be a good fit for him, but it's ludicrous to imply that the schools here are bad. We are experiencing challenges that other districts face in a country with access to guns, drugs and other things that teens may be exposed to. Let's just hold the district accountable to stay ahead of addressing these issues.

FilmCarp said:
That's what happened with the parcc. They only interview the people who oppose loudly.

Given the opt out rates, I'm guessing it isn't to hard to find people opposed to the PARCC.

onadare said:

hankzona said:
Id like to have a town hall to discuss the sorry state of some of the people who live here.

Count me in. I will book the venue and bring the donuts and coffee. The schools are not in a "sorry state." There are a lot of good things.
We sent our son out of SOMA because Columbia would not be a good fit for him, but it's ludicrous to imply that the schools here are bad. We are experiencing challenges that other districts face in a country with access to guns, drugs and other things that teens may be exposed to. Let's just hold the district accountable to stay ahead of addressing these issues.

I'd venture a guess that that's what most who attend the meeting really want. Whether some paper-waving lunatic fearing another Columbine gets the press should have no bearing on the outcome

ParticleMan said:
A part of me wishes this were being broadcast or recorded so I could sit back and watch the mayhem.
I wonder if a fight will break out among the participants?

I thought someone posted several days ago that the meeting would be telecast. Can anyone verify this and if so identify whether it will be a live broadcast (assume the usual local access channels) or whether it will be on YouTube for later viewing?

Not set up for live broadcast at MMS. I believe it is being recorded for later.

tjohn said:
Gangs: What exactly is the gang presence in town and schools. I'm not going to debate whether or not there are gangs or gang elements in M-SO. But somebody needs to define the impact. It doesn't seem to be like some cities where gangs enforce strict control over areas of town.

According to the 2010 NJ State Police Street Gang Survey (at http://www.nj.gov/njsp/news/pr012811.html -- you can download the pdf), which is the most recent information I could find online, there were then eight gangs in Maplewood with a total of 65 members, and two gangs in South Orange with a total of 4 members.

My understanding is that in that time period there was no gang presence in the high school.

Doesn't seem to be on any of the public access channels. Will it be available for recorded viewing, and how?

Hurray for Elizabeth Aaron and CHS!

And boo hiss to the OP who, if I'm not mistaken, has called for her resignation along with the rest of 'the administration'

Hey Goodjob: Stop raving. The administration at CHS is topnotch...now. Welcome to the real world where there is controversy and diversity in the community. You sound like the type of person who can "tell everyone what to do" but have very little involvement in solving any problems. If you knew anything about the schools in the South Orange Maplewood School District, you would know that it is anything but "sorry state of schools." Shame on you, contribute or be quiet, things are not always okay but students are involved, and teachers are top notch and YES we have a very diverse population of...well...everything. Don't say that you care and then call for everyone to be fired. Both middle schools and the high school run a tight ship, we can't control every element all the time. Jump in, volunteer, be present. Do your homework. Hate to sound so cliche, but join the solution!

Teacher1017 said:
Hey Goodjob: Stop raving. The administration at CHS is topnotch...now. Welcome to the real world where there is controversy and diversity in the community. You sound like the type of person who can "tell everyone what to do" but have very little involvement in solving any problems. If you knew anything about the schools in the South Orange Maplewood School District, you would know that it is anything but "sorry state of schools." Shame on you, contribute or be quiet, things are not always okay but students are involved, and teachers are top notch and YES we have a very diverse population of...well...everything. Don't say that you care and then call for everyone to be fired. Both middle schools and the high school run a tight ship, we can't control every element all the time. Jump in, volunteer, be present. Do your homework. Hate to sound so cliche, but join the solution!

Well said, and I totally agree

Teacher1017 said:
Hey Goodjob: Stop raving. The administration at CHS is topnotch...now. Welcome to the real world where there is controversy and diversity in the community. You sound like the type of person who can "tell everyone what to do" but have very little involvement in solving any problems. If you knew anything about the schools in the South Orange Maplewood School District, you would know that it is anything but "sorry state of schools." Shame on you, contribute or be quiet, things are not always okay but students are involved, and teachers are top notch and YES we have a very diverse population of...well...everything. Don't say that you care and then call for everyone to be fired. Both middle schools and the high school run a tight ship, we can't control every element all the time. Jump in, volunteer, be present. Do your homework. Hate to sound so cliche, but join the solution!

Amen!

So, did anyone actually attend tonight?

Heard it's a full house. Not sure it's over. I was at the a capella concert.

It was SRO. The panel spoke for about an hour before opening up the microphones to comments and questions from the audience. I had to leave around 9 before all the parents were done speaking. The people I heard raised the issues of support for troubled students, security, communication, interestingly no one brought up gangs while I was there, and the bugaboo of non-residents. Someone asked if the student who brought the gun to MMS will be entering CHS at any point in the future and the answer to that was rather too long in coming. Ms Aaron, to her credit stepped up when no one wanted to answer and said that as the principal that decision would be hers to make. Several parents expressed concern about bullying that went unaddressed. No one was able to answer the question of why the student brought the gun to school. There was a lot of appreciation for the students who came forward and the response in both schools that prevented the incidents from being tragic.

The school board promised to have answers for all the questions on the webpage (which one? they didn't say) because it was clear that not a lot of answers were going to be found tonight. Some of the answers are about the easy availability of guns, the Mayor of Maplewood brought up the possibiilty of a buy back program to get them out of homes.

It was SRO. The bad behavior and angry ranting predicted by some did not occur. The administrators mostly reiterated what's been said in other places and emphaiszed that the problems have emanated from a tiny fraction of students. It ended around 9:45.

Gangs were brought up toward the end by a parent who is an administrator in a different district that had dealt successfully with gangs. Ms. Aaron said no gang problems have been identified at CHS and the police chiefs seemed to concur.

Gangs and non residents was brought up after you left. BOE member J. Wright chimed in that as a teacher in the district she saw many students who were not residents and reported them, only to see them still at the school.