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| Photo by Ibrahim Rifath on Unsplash |
TGIF!!! Another great week in the #mpsworldclass District! Come out tonight and support our Bolts who have been on a roll since having a tough season opening. Tonight is round 1 of the Group 4 State Playoffs and our Bolts are prepared to leave it all on the field. Lets make sure we press the advantage of hosting the game! #homefieldadvantage
Last week I attended a Legislative Session where the panel included Senator Sweeney and many other NJ legislators. Although the panel was not accepting live questions, they did address several topics of major concern to all NJ Educators. I want the Phenomenal Friday to remain a positive beacon focused on highlighting all that is great in Millville and education. Therefore, I am only going to encourage all of you to get involved with this year’s election and political happenings. According to the panel, and our experience here, the State’s financial situation is strained. In order to bolster the State’s budget outlook, Senator Sweeney is demanding that educators (all of us) pay more. According to him, our pension system in unsustainable. I hold personal beliefs as to how our pension system became at risk, but again, going to keep it positive here. In addition to our pension and benefits coming under scrutiny, the funding for District’s like ours is only going to get worse.
I have shared before that the Millville community’s taxes support about 10% of our school budget (a budget of more than 100 million dollars). According to the State’s formula, this community’s ‘fair share’ is greater than 20%. I am not certain how they came to that number, I am quite certain it is not from coming here and visiting the community. If they did, they could see that a high percentage of the good people of Millville are struggling economically. The State’s plan, however, demands that this District’s ‘fair share’ double in the next 7 years. Their plan will reduce the aid we receive by 10%. I honestly cannot foresee a future where that is possible. I will continue to lobby and fight for more for this great community. The students of Millville need you to make your voice heard as well. The Senator all but said so by his referencing Kingsway Public School District as a community that was underfunded and made their voice so loud they demanded to be heard. The result was a substantial increase to Kingsway’s State Aid. Their increase came at the expense of our (and other former Abbott School Districts) decrease. We have barely held on over the last 9 years where the State Aid has been flat. That flat funding resulted in a 3 million dollar per year reduction in spending just to stay solvent. Any decrease in the future puts our future in jeopardy.
I apologize for sharing such news in what is a positive outlet for Millville School News, but this is that important. We need to all join together.
Now for the positives:
SHOUT-OUTS
"An enormous shout out needs to go to Amanda Gaunt for orchestrating the Miss Holly City ceremony this year!! Though I have attended it a number of years, it was not until this year when my daughter, Megan, was in it that I realized the absolutely huge amount of work that goes into having a successful program, and it is work that started way back in May. From picking the theme to picking the outfits the girls wear in the opening number to the 6:30 A.M. practices to creating the program and mostly to giving these girls lifelong memories, Amanda Gaunt has done it all with a smile on her face and a love for the girls she is working with in Miss Holly City. As an educator, and even more as a mom, I love that my daughter and all of these girls have such an amazing role model in Ms. Gaunt and a teacher who dedicates so much time to her students and our district. We are blessed to have her in Millville!!"
~ Melissa Sooy, Teacher
"To Jeremias Bermudez for all of the work that he and his team did during the recent Data Center outage. They did a mountain of work behind the scenes."
~Dan Wright, Chief Information Officer
"To Graham Gant and Jason Harrington who have created an exceptional learning opportunity for our German Foreign Exchange students as well as our Millville German students. They have arranged host families for our visitors to stay and provided unique experiences for all of our students to appreciate each other's cultures."
~Henry Hartman, Supervisor
"Kim Henry and Danielle Hyson for continuing to be patient and nurturing with their three year old class. They continually provide opportunities for their children to grow and learn especially in the social emotional domain. New children and their families are greeted with warmth and made to feel they are leaving their child in a safe and loving environment. Children are challenged with open ended questions and problem solving skills to build a better community of learners."
~ JoAnn Burns, Principal
"Karen Cossaboon has such great positive energy and optimism for all of the students at MSHS. For the past two months she has been case managing and working with all classified students while we wait for a new social worker to start next week. I appreciate and admire your dedication and willingness to take this challenge head on!"
~Steve Matusz, Exec. Director Special Services
"To Jennifer Backman for coming back over to Rieck Avenue School from the Millville High School for the first couple of months of the school year. She jumped into the role of being our school nurse as we transitioned to having a new nurse. Jen's willingness to pitch in, her kindness to our students and her professionalism are just some of the reasons she is such a great nurse and a great person. THANK YOU!"
~Brian Robinson, Principal
"Thank you to Dana Siniavsky and Megan Finney for leading the work with the PBIS committee for the high school. From fundraising to planning pep rallies and beyond, your efforts to encourage our students and to raise school spirit is greatly appreciated. #ThunderBoltPride"
~ Bridget Borlak, Dept. Chair
"History was brought to life by the eighth grade Social Studies team at Lakeside this week. Casey Clifford, Tim Garrison, and Cody Hand exemplify a cohesive team who created an engaging Revolutionary War Spy two day lesson. Students were actively engaged both days deciphering codes as they worked in cooperative groups. Casey, Tim, and Cody led the sessions throughout the day with each of their classes dressed in period outfits. Thanks to this amazing team!"
~Pat Wulk, Supervisor
"A big Holly Heights shout out to Sanya Brown and Lorraine Swaim. Sanya and Lorraine have been with us since the start of the school year doing maternity leaves at grades 3 and 5. Both have done an excellent job and are going above and beyond to provide a positive educational experience for their students."
~Steve Saul, Principal
"I'd like to give a huge GREAT JOB and shout out to Amy Gandy and Tim Trout, our two newest teachers here at Bacon. Amy has done nice work in 1st grade, and she puts time and effort into making the quality of her instruction the best it can be. Her transition into teaching has been smooth, and we are happy to have her on board. Tim has also done a nice job. He is bringing excitement to the chorus and band, and he has worked very well with our staff to ensure the music program here runs effectively. Both Amy and Tim are welcome additions to our Bear family. Keep up the great work!"
~Mike Coyle, Principal
"A Big Silver Run Shoutout goes out to Nicole Portik who procured a Young Audiences Arts Education Scholarship for the 2018-2019 school year. Silver Run was one of eight schools selected across New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania. The scholarship is for $5000 and will be used to further the arts education of our students. Thank you for going above and beyond in serving our students."
"A million thanks goes out to the Silver Run PTO (Heather Garrison, Michelle LeDent, Ashley Martinez, & Joanna Hackett) and the Holly City Development Corporation for all their handwork and dedication in making our Fall Festival a tremendous success. An event like this requires a massive amount of planning and produces an equally large amount of anxiety. However, the team’s success could best be measured by the smiles on the faces of the students and parents who attended that evening. The event was truly a gathering of the community. It was exciting to bring a Silver Run event into one of the neighborhoods we serve. Thank you to the staff whose efforts made this event possible: Danielle Cosgrove, Shannon Silvestri, Lenny Corbin, Patti Nedohon, Cheryl Ismail, Susan Groover, Lindsey DeFrancisco, Gretchen Andrews, Brandi Welch, Lisa Baran, Nina Crain, Sueann Irwin, Tina Stiles, Camille Howard, Gary Guadalupe, Danielle Williams, Donnie Garrison, Christine McCarron, Melody Billek, Dawn Dolan, Christine Armington, & Charlotte Phillips."
~Eric Reissek, Principal
"This shout-out goes out to the guidance staff. Their support and care for our students is needed more than ever. Like in many areas across the District, everyone is being asked to ‘do more with less’ as funding for our State continues to be an issue. In addition, the school social workers are equally talented and in high demand. What goes misunderstood in Trenton is how very important the services of counseling and home-outreach are to this community. Unlike affluent towns and cities in our State, our parents are working multiple jobs just to provide the barest of essentials. Our guidance counselors and social workers go above and beyond to help supplement the resources available to our students’ parents. I could not be prouder of their efforts!"
~David Gentile, Superintendent
Have an outstanding weekend!
Regards,
Dr. G.
* Saturday night/Sunday am set your clocks back and enjoy what feels like an extra hour of sleep!!!!!
Dr. David N. Gentile
Superintendent of Schools
“Lead Learner”
@drgentile_mps (Twitter)
856-327-6001
#MPSWC (MPS World Class)
#greatdaytobeabolt
Published by Spike Cook, Millville, NJ
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