Wednesday, April 10, 2013
High school junior says she hopes the event will become an annual fair
A Mahwah High School Girl Scout looking to inspire younger students in the township to love science has created an event that she says will hopefully be an annual addition to Mahwah schools. Ariel Murphy, an MHS junior, has been working for several months to run a Science Fair at Ramapo Ridge Middle School. “Science fairs are things you see on TV all the time, but they didn’t actually exist in real life here,” Murphy said. “I always really wanted to do one, and I think it’s a great way to get kids more into science.” So, for her Gold Award, which requires Girl Scouts to dedicate at least 80 hours to a community service project, Murphy decided to create a science fair. She opened applications to the entire Middle School, and had 26 students…
Friday, April 5, 2013
And, they need your online votes to help them win!
Two Mahwah High School sophomores are finalists in the County Prosecutor’s anti-Bullying video contest, and they need help from the community to make it to the next step of the competition. According to High School Principal John Pascale, the school is excited to support Marisa Ganley and Olivia Marelic, who created an anti-bullying video to enter into the BCPO’s third annual “Don’t Stand by for Bullying” educational contest. Their video is one of two tenth grade finalist entries now posted on the Prosecutor’s website. The public can vote for their favorite videos through April 12, and then the winner of the contest will be announced at the county SNAP Conference at the end of the month. Winning entries will be displayed on the Prosecutor’…
Monday, April 1, 2013
Officials say the newly-hired Superintendent will play a role in hiring a permanent replacement next year
An interim principal who started at one of Mahwah’s elementary schools last year will stay in the township for one more school year before the district looks to hire a permanent replacement, district officials announced at a Board of Education meeting last week. Roger Bayersdorfer will remain principal of the Betsy Ross School for one more year, Assistant Superintendent Janet Donohue said last Wednesday. “We are very happy to have [Bayersdorfer] for another year,” she said. “He is a pro, has been an instructional leader, and is so gentile with the kids. He’s really great.” Donohue said the district decided not to look for a permanent replacement this year for a few reasons. First, she said the district is looking to provide stability at …
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Joyce Kilmer students competed against kids from Ramsey and St. Paul's in the Bee
- SCHOOLS
-
Thursday, March 21
Mahwah students have out-spelled their neighbors. Fifth graders at the Joyce Kilmer School recently competed in a Spelling Bee. The Bee’s finalists won the opportunity to compete in the Ramsey Junior Women's Club Spelling Bee at the Dater School in Ramsey on Feb. 6. Students from Joyce Kilmer, Ramsey and St. Paul's competed against each other. JK Student Juliet Corless won the local Bee, and went on to compete in the Regional Bee. Submit your questions or news tips to jessica.mazzola@patch.com. And, remember to sign up for Patch's daily newsletter, and get updates on Facebook and Twitter.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Mahwah's budget considers adding a few staff members and taking on some facilities improvements this year
The Mahwah Board of Education proposed a preliminary $64.8M budget for the 2013-14 school year Wednesday night. The budget calls for a 1.8% increase in school taxes. The majority of the budget, about $57.6M, will come from the local tax base, district Business Administrator Ed Deptula said during a preliminary budget presentation Wednesday night. “The good news is that state aid stayed the same,” he said, so Mahwah will once again be getting over $2.3M from the state. The rest of the funding for the 2013 budget comes from grants, capital reserve money and other sources of income to the school, like renting out facilities, he said. Some of the considerations in this year’s budget include hiring a full-time social studies supervisor. …
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Mahwah's calendar includes a shorter February break and the second day of school off
- SCHOOLS
-
Wednesday, March 6
The 2013-14 school calendar in Mahwah includes an early start date, eight-day Holiday Recess, six-day Spring Recess, and allows for four snow days. The Mahwah School District posted next year’s school calendar on its website after the schedule was approved by the Board of Education at a recent meeting. Major features of the calendar include: Submit your questions or news tips to jessica.mazzola@patch.com. And, remember to sign up for Patch's daily newsletter, and get updates on Facebook and Twitter.
Friday, March 1, 2013
The district released statistics citing incidents in its schools from September to December 2012
Mahwah schools saw 72 acts of violence, vandalism, bullying, and other incidents from September to December 2012, district officials reported last week. Because the state has not yet released a comprehensive report on Violence and Vandalism in New Jersey Schools, district officials said they could not compare the number of incidents in Mahwah to those in other districts. Last year, the school reported a total of 98 such incidents during the 2011-12 school year. According to the most current report, the following incidents occurred during the first semester of this school year: Reporting Category Count Violence 9 Vandalism 30 Weapons 2 Substance Abuse 19 HIB 12 Unduplicated total 72 None of the reported incidents occurred at the district’s …
Township schools will receive over $2M, the same amount of aid they got for the 2012-13 school year
Mahwah schools will receive the same amount of state aid next school year as they did for the 2012-13 school year, the Christie Administration announced Thursday. According to an NJ Department of Education document, Mahwah is slated to receive $2,246,181 in state aid, the same amount it got last year. According to a release from the Governor’s office, Chris Christie’s proposed budget includes nearly $9 billion in educational state aid, an increase of $97.3 million over 2013. Mahwah residents will not be voting on the 2013-14 school budget, as the district switched last year to a new system in which any budget that comes in at or under the state-mandated 2% tax levy cap can be passed by the board of education without a popular vote. The …
Monday, February 18, 2013
President’s week was cut down to two days thanks to Sandy, and school officials say the same two-day break schedule will likely be a part of next year’s school calendar
The original 2012-13 school calendar had Mahwah kids off for a whole week beginning Monday. Thanks to Hurricane Sandy, that break was cut short, and kids will now be back in school on Wednesday. At a recent Board of Education meeting, Assistant Superintendent Janet Donohue said the proposed school calendar for next year nixes the weeklong February break from the get go. “We found that [teachers, students and parents] weren’t too upset to see it go this year,” she said. Though the 2013-14 school calendar has not yet been finalized, kids will likely have a repeat of this year’s Sandy-fied schedule, in terms of the February break. So, Patch wants to know, what would you prefer? Think Mahwah students should get the whole week off, or is it …
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Current Ramapo Indian Hills Superintendent Dr. Lauren Schoen will make the maximum allowed under the state-imposed superintendent salary cap, officials say
Come July 1, Mahwah schools will have a permanent leader for the first time in two years. Dr. Lauren Schoen, a former elementary school teacher and principal and current Superintendent of the Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District in Oakland and Franklin Lakes, was officially hired by the Board of Education as Mahwah’s new Superintendent at a meeting Wednesday night. The board approved a five-year contract for Schoen starting this summer, which district business administrator Ed Deptula said will pay the most the district legally can. “We are prepared to offer the maximum amount allowed [under the state’s superintendent salary cap], which is $167,500,” he said Wednesday. The contract will likely also include the possibility for …
Leaking Ink
1:35 pm on Monday, April 15, 2013
Good job. Back in my school days, 1969 and before, we always had science fairs. They were mandatory. I just assumed that the schools were still doing them. It was eye-opening to learn that they weren't. Thanks for keeping me in the loop Patch. more ›