Monday, May 20, 2013
Others were honored for recent projects.
Four teachers were honored for their retirement during Thursday’s Bedminster Township Board of Education meeting, including two who had been named the district’s teachers of the year in previous terms. Retiring are Patricia Kowalski, a disabilities teacher who started at Bedminster Township School in 1975 and was teacher of the year for the 1998-1999 school year; Donna Lykes, a kindergarten teacher who started in Bedminster in 1993 and was teacher of the year in the 2002-03 school year; Ronnie Marell, a learning disabilities teacher who started in Bedminster in 1998 but has been a teacher for 19 years; and Julianne Straccia, a middle school social studies teacher who began in Bedminster in 1998 and has been a teacher for 34 years. Also …
Possible increase squeezes already tight budget, board formalizes staff reductions.
The hits just keep on coming. In a year when budget woes are squeezing an already tight budget, the district received more bad news when school board member Jeff Reaves announced at Thursday’s board meeting that the budget is taking another hit—a 29 percent hike in health insurance premiums when the budget only calls for a 15 percent increase. Reaves said the school district will be soliciting more quotes from other providers, and then they may use those quotes to bargain. “We already have been scrambling,” he said. The impact of that unexpected increase on the budget is unknown, business administrator Philip Acosta said. The news of the health premium increase came on a night when the school board was formalizing its previously discussed …
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Kids of all ages eat, play and enjoy a day in Basking Ridge
The streets of Basking Ridge were filled with the callouts of children, the smells of sausages, onions and other tempting foods, and the sounds of music Saturday as Bernards Township's 19th annual Charter Day was celebrated. Much of the event was on South Finley Avenue in downtown Basking Ridge, closed to traffic, and spilled onto the Henry Street parking lot and field behind the Oak Street Elementary School. Although a few showers punctuated much of the day, few people seem to be discouraged into leaving the community's biggest annual celebration — the commemoration of the founding of the Township of Bernardston on May 24, 1760, by order of King George II of Britain. Here are more scenes from Charter Day.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Summer enrichment program offers ways for students to explore various skills and prepare for college.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Performers, complete with dancing, can be one way of topping off Charter Day.
St. James School in Basking Ridge is getting ready to present a student production this weekend of the spring musical, Fame Jr., with over 30 students expressing their creativity through song and dance as well as back stageproduction and poster making to promote this lively show. The cast has been actively rehearsing as the dates approach. Fame Jr. will be showing at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 17 and on Saturday, May 18. Tickets will be sold at the door at $5 per person. The school is at 200 S. Finley Ave. in Basking Ridge. The spring musical can be an added entertainment treat for the whole family during next Saturday's Bernards Township Charter Day, with St. James School being just a few steps from downtown Basking Ridge. The talented young …
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Saint James School
200 S Finley Ave, Basking Ridge, NJ
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The DePodwins, who said they had a group of residents, continue to question school board's methods in moving ahead with plans for fields.
Editor's Note: The following is a letter from Jeanne and David DePodwin, who say a proposal to build athletic fields that would extend into trees behind their homes is "flawed." To the Editor, Over the last three months, the Board of Education’s desire to push-through the proposed tree cutting / “regrading” project of the BHS/Olcott pocket woodlands appears to have overshadowed their ability to perform the due diligence required of a project of this scope. To date, as taxpayers and property owners, we believe we have not been well-served by our Borough Council, our Board of Education nor the Board of Education’s (BOE) engineering consultants, T&M Associates. Despite repeated attempts by the public to insure thoroughness and transparency, …
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Somerset Hills school board publicly recognizes teachers from each of the district's three schools for 2013 award.
The Somerset Hills Board of Education last Wednesday announced the 2013 Educators of the Year at each of the district's three schools, and publicly recognized each. The principals at each school building announced the names at the school board's meeting on Wednesday night. They include Melissa Leonard, a fourth grade teacher at the Marion T. Bedwell Elementary School; Kimberly Flynn, literacy teacher at the Bernardsville Middle School; and Bernards High School English teacher Allison Snyder. Here is what each of the principals had to say about this year's three honored educators: Amy Phelan, Bedwell principal, said of Melissa Leonard, "Mrs. Leonard has proven herself as a respected educator who performs her duties enthusiastically each and…
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Ridge moves on to face Montgomery in Somerset County semifinal on Sat.; Bernards next to play Randolph.
The Ridge High School girls lacrosse team made the most of having the hometown advantage on Thursday afternoon in a high-scoring win over the Bernards High School girls, in a game that would determine which team would move ahead in the Somerset County tournament. By the time the final buzzer sounded at Lee Field, the Ridge Red Devils just had scored their 18th goal, to end the game at 18-4. Ridge's Devon Brown scored the last goal, assisted by Meagan Quigley. Bernards' Kate Conte scored a final fourth goal for that team. Now 12-2, the Ridge girls team is scheduled to face Montgomery in the county semifinal game that will be played late Saturday morning at Ridge, after Montgomery's defeat of Watchung Hills on Thursday. On Wednesday, the …
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Board interviews four applicants before naming selection Wednesday to finish Jerry Dorr's term.
The Somerset Hills Board of Education separately interviewed four applicants for a vacant seat on the board before unanimously voting to appoint Paula Kurschus to serve out the last eight months of Bernardsville representative Jerry Dorr's term. Kurschus was not present when the vote was taken in public. Board members had interviewed the four applicants ahead of time in a closed personnel session. "We liked the fact that she has students at Bedwell [including one entering Bernardsville Middle School in the fall] and is former HSA [Home School Association] president," said board President Donna Coons. Kurschus previously had worked in human resources for a finance company, Coons said. The board had received four applicants — Kurschus, Greg …
But the reports do not fully measure the work of students who are on shared time.
The Somerset County Vocational & Technical High School received a bronze ranking through the U.S. News & World Report’s list of the best high schools in the state. “The designation is a wonderful acknowledgement of the work we do with a diverse group of students,” said Chrys Harttraft, superintendent of the school. “We won a bronze medal of excellence this year and last, based on the exam scores of our students.” Harttraft said the rankings are given by using three criteria, including overall student performance and disadvantaged student performance on language and math proficiency tests. Harttraft said the focus for the school is on career and college readiness, which is not actually considered in the filtering of requirements for …
