Long Branch School Year Opens With New Programs, Policies

The Long Branch School District will have a bevy of new programs and polices for the 2012-13 school year and Long Branch School District Superintendent Michael Salvatore said he is excited about the possibilities.

One new program is called Treasures, a literacy program for grades K-6.

"The goal is to make learning more individualized and it's about engagement at the students' level," Salvatore said. "The teacher modifies it to fit their needs."

Salvatore said standardized test results should not be the first indicators if a student is struggling and that the tests should "just be to confirm what you already know."

The previous literacy program, Success for All, had been used by the district since 1999, but Salvatore said he was not satisfied with the results.

"It was able to lift us from low proficiency to average rates," Salvatore said. "The goal for the new program is to put the keys in the teachers' hands and drive the students to a new level."

He said the program also has interesting features such as 7,000 novels available through an online catalog that are printable and projectable. Teachers can also find activities through the program that students can complete throughout the day.

Salvatore said there will a different learning style this year for children as well, as teachers will teach different lessons to different groups of students based on their performance levels.

"The teachers are excited about it, but it's definitely more work," Salvatore said. "No audience will understand just one lesson."

Parent Portal

The district is starting a parent portal program called Genesis this school year that will allow parents to view their child's report car and attendance record.

The program also allows staff members to see the student's profile, assessment results, teacher, siblings and other important information.

Salvatore said the parent portal will not be available as the start of the school but will be online soon.

Salvatore said one of the most important aspects of Genesis is that it will allow the district to keep a better record of students' attendance.

"We have far too many students exceeding 20 days of absence," Salvatore said. "There is a high corrolation between attendance and proficiency rates."

Teacher Evaluations

The district will utilize a new evaluation system, McRel, for teachers and principals this school year, according to Salvatore.

"It's a process, not a form, that is all about goal-setting and it's something everybody will benefit from," Salvatore said. "The only thing that improves people is timely feedback."

Salvatore said data about the staff member is compiled and is used to evaluate them.

"It's a very objective program and it helps rule out subjectivity in evaluations," he said.

The state's new tenure laws will also be in effect this year.

Salvatore explained that any teacher hired after Sept. 1 can achive their tenure after four years and one day, as opposed to the old law of three years and one day.

He also said that a teacher can lose their tenure after two years of unsatisfactory evaluations.

"It's very different for public education, but it's a step in the right direction," he said. "It will raise awareness of the evaluation process."

Harassment Intimidation and Bullying

Salvatore said he has mixed feelings after the first year under the state's new Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying law. 

"What it did was create a uniform system for reporting incidents," Salvatore said. "I think the programs were not new to Long Branch but increasing the effort benefited the district."

He said the downside of the program is that it can slow down the time it takes for a bullying issue to be resolved by district.

"There are so many procedures and there is more time associated with fulfilling the system."