F R E E H O L D R E G I O N A L H I G H S C H O O L D I S T R I C T
Season2 0 1 4 A2003N N U A L R E P O R T T O T H E C O M M U N I T Y 2XU6FKRROV A Diverse Community of 11,600 Students and 1,500 Professional Staff
Colts Neck High School Colts Neck High School unveiled a new Veterans Memorial Garden. 59 Five Points Road, Colts Neck, NJ 07722 NJROTC Cadet Daniel (732) 761 - 0190 Elice designed the space
Freehold High School 2 Robertsville Road, Freehold, NJ 07728 Freehold High School Principal (732) 431 - 8360 Linda Jewell accepts the 2013-
2014 Freehold Regional High Freehold Township High School School District State of the 281 Elton Adelphia Road, Freehold, NJ 07728 Schools Spirit Award (732) 431 - 8460
Howell High School Freehold Township High 405 Squankum-Yellowbrook Road, Farmingdale, NJ 07727 School’s field hockey team wins the 2014 Central Jersey (732) 919 - 2131 Group IV Championship
Manalapan High School 20 Church Lane, Englishtown, NJ 07726
(732) 792 - 7200 Howell High School’s wrestling team celebrates Marlboro High School their victory as the 2013- 95 North Main Street, Marlboro, NJ 07746 2014 Central Jersey Group IV Champions (732) 617 - 8393
Central Administration
11 Pine Street, Englishtown, NJ 07726 Manalapan High School’s Save (732) 792 - 7300 a Brave Club won first place in the UGotBrains competition Who We Serve sponsored by the Brain Injury Alliance of New Jersey Colts Neck Township, Englishtown Borough, Farmingdale Borough, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Howell Township, Manalapan Township and Marlboro Township
Freehold Regional High School District Mission Marlboro High School students visited the New The schools of the Freehold Regional High School District form a diverse and supportive community offering innovative and York Stock Exchange comprehensive programs that inspire students to maximize their potential, preparing them to navigate an evolving global society.
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From Our Superintendent
It is hard to recognize all the fantastic accomplishments seen last year in the Freehold Regional High School District (FRHSD) in the limited pages of this report.
The FRHSD continues to serve as a lighthouse district for school districts in providing the highest quality educational experience for students. We are now in year three of our Strategic Plan, also known as Compass, and continue to implement new practices and policies to best serve our students.
Among the many accolades that the FRHSD has received over the past several years, I enjoyed the opportunity to represent our district at President Obama’s ConnectEd Summit at the White House back in November. This summit brought together superintendents from across the country who had moved their districts forward in the transition to digital learning. The old paradigms--traditional classroom settings, isolated and disconnected discipline-specific conversations, and lecture-based linear learning--no longer suffice. Today’s and certainly tomorrow’s problems demand that we use technology to connect students to one another and the larger world in more profound ways. Most importantly, the trappings of the industrial age are finally melting away, giving rise to the development of tools that allow students to pursue their passions and educators to provide a more personalized educational path.
The FRHSD’s Workplace Training Program earned recognition by the New Jersey School Boards Association as a part of their 2014 Innovations in Special Education Awards. The awards program recognizes exemplary programs in special education. The award-winning FRHSD Workplace Training Program offers eligible students exceptional transitional services that emphasize functional academics, career exploration, and life skills development. The program closely links school-based classroom instruction with community-based workplace training to help prepare students for life beyond high school. The 2014 Innovations in Special Education Award is one of four consecutive Program of the Year awards bestowed upon the FRHSD in various categories by the New Jersey School Boards Association.
For the fourth year we were placed on the annual AP® District Honor Roll. This award recognizes districts who have increased access to AP course work while simultaneously maintaining the percentage of students earning scores of 3 or higher on AP Exams. Since 2012, FRHSD has dramatically increased the number of students participating in AP classes while maintaining the number of students earning AP Exam scores of 3 or higher.
While there were many successes this past year, we continue to look for ways to improve the educational experience for all of our students. I look forward to another exciting school year of teaching, learning, and extraordinary student accomplishment.
Warmest regards, Charles Sampson
Charles Sampson, Superintendent of Schools
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2 )5+6'6FKRROV ,QQRYDWLYH &RPSUHKHQVLYH3URJUDPV Comprehensive Educational Program The Freehold Regional High School District offers a variety of programs to allow students to reach their highest academic potential and prepare them for success in achieving their postsecondary goals. Learning Centers and Academies Our Learning Center and Academy programs continue to provide opportunities for students to engage in academic study related to their individual interests and abilities. We offer twelve magnet programs focused on particular topics, ranging from humanities and law to medical sciences and engineering. By joining one of these unique learning communities within our six high schools, students have access to advanced level courses, including Advanced Placement and college level classes. Students also engage in real-world activities with recognized experts in fields related to each program. Students in these programs distinguish themselves on the national and global stages. They earn millions in scholarships, place at the highest levels in competitions, and attend the nation’s best colleges, universities, and trade schools. Competition to enter our learning centers and academies is quite high. This year, 1,168 eighth graders applied to our Learning Centers and Academies. Special Services The Freehold Regional High School District is committed to the principles established by both the Individuals with Disabilities Educational Improvement Act (IDEIA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as these acts support the educational experiences of students. FRHSD offers a continuum of program options and specialized services to meet the social, emotional, and educational needs of students with disabilities within the least restrictive environment. Each of the high schools offer special programs designed to accommodate individual student needs, talents, and interests. Knowledgeable and caring professionals are hired and trained to support our diverse student population, to enable students to reach their full potential. Our high schools’ child study teams, related service specialists, guidance counselors, and teachers plan collaboratively with students and families to pursue students’ short and long-term academic and career goals. Transition planning and goal setting are essential to a student’s program plan and are realized through educational and post -secondary planning activities throughout their high school career. Guidance & Counseling Services The Freehold Regional High School District’s school counseling staff members provide quality comprehensive services to students throughout their high school career. Our professional staff offer and coordinate multiple programs and activities that address the unique developmental as well as emergent needs of each student. The department’s initiatives, programs and activities highlighted include:
Counseling Curriculum: The counseling curriculum contains structured developmental lessons designed to assist students in achieving the desired competencies and to provide all students with the knowledge and skills appropriate for their developmental level. The counseling curriculum is infused throughout the school’s overall curriculum and is presented systematically through classroom and group activities.
Individual Student Planning: School counselors coordinate ongoing activities designed to assist students individually in establishing personal goals and in developing future plans.
Responsive Services: The school counselors provide professional responsive services whenever they are necessary to address urgent student issues. These services include counseling, consultation, referral, or other supportive measures and are usually necessitated by life events or conditions that impact our students.
Career Planning: School counselors initiate a series of learning experiences that foster career awareness, facilitate career planning, and develop career decision-making skills through the Family Connection component on Naviance. Counselors facilitate students’ career exploration activities including their completion of a comprehensive self-assessment, and interest and aptitude testing, as well as developing an individual career plan and choosing a post-secondary path.
4 0RYLQJ)RUZDUG $FFUHGLWDWLRQ Middle States Association of Colleges & Schools The Freehold Regional High School District is completing an important self-study which started in 2014 as the basis for system -wide accreditation by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA). The MSA, is a nonprofit, peer-administered organization and was established in 1887 as one of six regional accrediting organizations that together serve schools in the United States and in many countries around the world.
Excellence by Design, A Self-Study and Accreditation Protocol (Systems Version) is an accreditation protocol that defines the process of and requirements for accrediting a school system and its component schools through one self-study and accreditation process. The protocol was designed to recognize and honor the reality that, when a school is a component of a larger system, achieving the levels of student performance desired and expected by the school’s community of stakeholders is best achieved when the system of which it is a part is organized and operates as an organic whole rather than a confederation of component schools.
The self-study and accreditation protocol is organized around the 12 Middle States Standards for Accreditation of School Systems. These Standards provide a succinct description of what quality looks like in an effective, accredited school system.
Foundational Standards: Standards addressing best practices in the components of a school system that provide the foundations for quality in the education program, services, and results in terms of student learning.
Standard 1: Philosophy/Mission
Standard 2: Governance and Leadership
Standard 3: Planning for Growth and Improvement Standard 4: Finances
Standard 5: Facilities
Standard 6: System Climate and Organization
Operational Standards: Standards addressing best practices in delivering the education program, services, and activities to the students.
Standard 7: Health and Safety
Standard 8: Educational Program
Standard 9: Evidence of School System Effectiveness
Standard 10: Student Services
Standard 11: Student Life and Student Activities
Standard 12: Information Resources
The district is asked to reflect deeply on what it has been able to accomplish as well as what it is aiming to achieve. Reflection, evaluation, and planning for growth and improvement in the quality of programs and/or services are also important elements of the self-study process. In setting a course for continuous growth and improvement, a district must not only describe its current state, but it must also thoughtfully and critically identify its major areas of strength and areas in need of growth and improvement so that improvement plans can be developed. Accreditation through the protocol ensures that a school system’s work is focused sharply on its most important responsibility — producing student performance at the levels expected of it by the district’s community of stakeholders. An on-site accreditation team will visit Freehold Regional High School District in fall 2015. 5 0RYLQJ)RUZDUG &KDUWLQJ3DWKZD\VWR3UHSDUHGQHVV Assessment for College and Career Readiness
Our standardized district assessment program this past year included the ACT Aspire. This digital assessment system fully connects student performance to ACT College Readiness Benchmarks aligned with the Common Core State Standards. Student performance was measured through summative assessments in English, mathematics, reading, and writing. Student performance was the focus of ongoing, targeted individual academic assistance to our students. Prioritizing a strong foundation of targeted support for grade nine students is critical for student success throughout the high school years. PARCC Implementation
The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is a multi- state, mostly online test administered to about five million students.
PARCC test questions go through a rigorous multistep process before being selected and approved. PARCC consortia teachers and other educators were involved in nearly every step of the creation and field-test process and review all items before they make it onto a test. Test items are reviewed for cultural and other bias or insensitivity, to be sure that the content of a question or the way it is worded does not put any group of students at a disadvantage.
The PARCC assessments in high school, measure whether students are on track for college and high skilled careers. The tests measure understanding of concepts, reasoning, and problem-solving; they also measure students’ ability to write in every grade. Students whose PARCC test scores indicate that they are on track to be “college and career-ready” may be able to bypass college placement tests and remedial, non-credit bearing courses. Public colleges and universities in PARCC states have stated that they intend to accept PARCC assessments with sufficient scores as evidence that students are ready for college-level work for credit.
The first set of test results will be available to parents in the fall of 2015. The district will review individual results to provide ongoing, targeted academic support to our students. AchieveNJ New Jersey's TEACHNJ Act mandates many requirements for statewide educator evaluation and links tenure decisions to evaluation ratings. In 2013, the State Board of Education approved regulations outlining specific evaluation policies for the 2013–2014 school year — the first full year of statewide implementation of this new system, known as AchieveNJ.
The Freehold Regional High School District implemented the new educator evaluation law with a commitment to ongoing staff and observer training. Teacher evaluation consists of two primary components: Teacher Practice, measured primarily by classroom observations, and Student Achievement, measured by Student Growth Objectives (SGO). The 2014-2015 school year saw a redistribution of the system components from the initial year as follows: teacher practice decreased from 85% to 80%, and SGO scores increased from 15% to 20%. The district utilizes the educator evaluation framework known as iObservation based upon the research of Dr. Robert Marzano to assess teacher and administrator performance. The system integrates data gathering, information sharing, and professional growth resources. Twice each year, the District Evaluation Advisory Committee convenes to discuss the implementation of the educator evaluation system including any state regulatory changes, staff concerns with system implementation, and the need for additional professional development trainings on the system.
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0D[LPL]LQJ6WXGHQW3RWHQWLDO Outstanding Performance
Freehold Regional High School District students excel on every indicator, outperforming state averages on the SAT, ACT and HSPA. Our magnet programs rival the top schools in the state and the country.
Pursuing Their Dreams
Graduates in the Class of 2014 received invitations to the attend some of the nation’s most highly selective colleges and universities, including:
Brown University Johns Hopkins University University of Chicago Columbia University The Julliard School University of Michigan Cornell University Massachusetts Institute of Technology University of North Carolina Dartmouth College New York University University of Notre Dame Duke University Princeton University University of Pennsylvania Georgetown University Rutgers University University of Virginia Harvard University Stanford University Yale University
7 $FDGHPLF$FKLHYHPHQW &ROOHJHDQG&DUHHU5HDG\ Abundant Learning Opportunities The Freehold Regional High School District is a diverse school community bringing students together from Colts Neck, Englisht own, Farmingdale, Freehold, Freehold Township, Howell, Manalapan and Marlboro to a first-class learning environment offering access to college level courses, Advanced Placement courses, honors courses and vocational courses. We offer our students approximatel y 250 courses in various subject areas. Students also have opportunities to obtain internships through community partnerships with local businesses that often lead to future employment. Dual Enrollment
The Freehold Regional High School District articulates with Brookdale Community College, Culinary Institute of America, Johnson & Wales University, Fairleigh Dickinson University and Mercer County College to allow students to earn college credits while in high school. Advanced Placement Courses (AP)
The Freehold Regional High School District has many opportunities for students to take Advanced Placement (AP) courses. Students who enroll in AP courses are better prepared for college level courses. They can even earn college credits towards college course requirements. Participation in AP courses has risen to 24 percent in the FRHSD. In fact, many of our students are AP Scholars.
It was an extreme honor for the FRHSD to bring home the College Board’s Advanced Placement Recognition Award for a fourth year. The College Board’s Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) is recognized as a national standard of educational excellence. The AP Recognition Award recognizes individuals, such as Superintendent Sampson, who have demonstrated significant involvement with Advanced Placement and have made substantial contributions to their school or district’s program. All FRHSD staff work collaboratively to increase Advanced Placement enrollment and access for all students, believing strongly that more students should be exposed to the challenge of AP coursework.
The Advanced Placement offerings available to FRHSD students include:
Biology Macroeconomics
Calculus AB Microeconomics Many of our students are Calculus BC Physics I AP scholars. An AP Chemistry scholar is a student who Physics II Comparative Government and Politics demonstrates outstanding Physics C: Electricity and college-level achievement Magnetism Computer Science A through AP courses and Physics C: Mechanics English Language and Composition exams. The student must score a three or higher on Psychology English Literature and Composition at least three AP exams. Spanish Language Environmental Science
Statistics European History Studio Art—Drawing Portfolio French Language U.S. History Human Geography U.S. Government and Politics Italian Language and Culture
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The Freehold Regional High School District consistently takes a prudent approach to fiscal planning by balancing the community’s expectations with the organization’s financial capacity. The financial oversight of an educational organization with an operating budget of $196 million dollars is an expansive task. Our fiscal management professionals are exceptional in their ability to manage the rigorous demands of long- and short-term budgetary development in a shifting and uncertain economic environment. Appropriations by Function
Budgeted Fiscal Year 2014-2015
Lowest spending among high school districts in our socioeconomic grouping for the last four years
Revenue Budgeted Fiscal Year 2014-2015
Below Tax Levy Cap for the fourth consecutive year
Continuation of progress on technology infrastructure and student computers; alignment to curriculum mandates; and development of professional staff
The Freehold Regional High School District’s fiscal outlook is in great standing based on the 2013-2014 yearly audit conducted by Suplee, Clooney & Company. Suplee, Clooney & Company is a firm of certified public accountants, registered municipal accountants, and licensed school accountants who have provided services to governmental, non-profit, and commercial entities for more than 50 years.
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Committed to President Obama’s ConnectEd Initiative Guiding Our Students’ Futures Superintendent Charles Sampson was invited to Students at the Freehold Regional High attend the inaugural “ConnectEd to the Future” School District use Naviance, a summit at the White House in November after web-based comprehensive college and taking the #FutureReady pledge. career readiness tool that helps align student strengths and interests to The Future Ready effort provides districts with post-secondary goals. resources and support to ensure that local technology and digital learning plans align with instructional best practices, are implemented by highly trained Naviance provides the tools and teachers, and lead to personalized learning experiences for all students, resources to bridge the gap between particularly those from traditionally under-served communities. student aspirations and student achievement. Naviance is a Mr. Sampson and other exemplary district leaders from across the United comprehensive and engaging blended States were recognized for their leadership in helping transition their districts to program that allows students to take a digital learning. Model schools and districts across the country are using personality assessment, explore technology to create personalized learning environments. The convening careers, create a resume, research brought leaders together to share promising approaches for using technology to colleges, and organize their college impact teaching and learning. applications. Naviance also utilizes a Scattergram tool that allows students to compare Technology in the Classroom GPA, standardized test scores, and Technology is driving district data analysis efforts. Students use systems like other statistics to actual historical data Empower 3000 to grow in their reading levels, and to provide teachers from FRHSD students who have information about specific strengths and weaknesses. Teachers use data applied and been admitted. warehouses like Performance Matters to understand student achievement across multiple assessments, and will soon be able to administer common online assessments through our Bring Your Own Device network. The Technology Education Department at Colts Neck High School has been using a new 3D printer for students to gain a better understanding of product design by designing and printing cell phone cases. Students in the Computer Science Academy at Freehold High School used video streaming as a part of their efforts to teach middle school students about computer coding. Students visited middle schools in Freehold Township to show their younger peers that computer coding is not as intimidating as it may seem. Portable devices have led to station learning in some Howell High School classrooms. Students move about the room to several different learning stations. Each station has students accessing websites providing visual and audio information. Principal Dr. Adam Angelozzi and Manalapan High School were recognized by the Technology Student Association for providing exemplary science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) resources to students. The school also received a $10,000 grant from the OceanFirst Foundation, a portion of which will be used to upgrade one of the technology classrooms.
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Freehold Regional High School District has phenomenal educators with outstanding teaching abilities who make extraordinary contributions to student academic achievement. Achievements:
Kathleen Andrejco: W. Carey Edwards State Volunteer of the Year
Camille Blair: Elected Vice-President of Programs for the NJ Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Executive Committee Todd Briggs: 2013-2014 Star-Ledger State Coach of the Year Howell’s Regina McAllen was recognized as Teacher of the Year Joseph Cantaffa: Grammy Music Educator Award Nominee Michael Carbonaro: Teacher Who Rocks Award Exceptional Educators Dave Clampffer: 2014 National Federation Coaches Association Award
Joseph Fritsche: Teacher Who Rocks Award Teachers of the Year John Gagliano: District 21 Coach of the Year and New Jersey 2013 - 2014 Wrestling Coaches Association Coach of the Year Kathleen Churchill, CNHS - Math Teacher Edward Gattsek: Elected President of the All Shore Band Director’s Association Brian Simpson , FHS - Social Studies Teacher Laurie Hunter: Elected Board member to the New Jersey Writers David Patterson, FTHS - Math Teacher Alliance Regina McAllen, HHS - Music Teacher
Mary Lubrano: 2014 New Jersey Education Association Achievement Jackie Landers, MNHS - English Teacher Award for Educational Support Personnel Patrick Scinto , MRHS - Business Teacher Amy Meyers: Starred in a production of “The Light in the Piazza” at Villanova University Amanda Morman: 2014 New Jersey Council for the Humanities Teacher of the Year Nominee Freehold Township’s Kathleen John Natoli: Central Jersey Coach of the Year Andrejco accepts the W. Carey Edwards Sate Volunteer of the Major Gregory Penczak: Teacher Who Rocks Award Year Award Sherry Roses: Keynote speaker at Technology and Engineering Conference at Brigham Young University Jim Schlentz: Shore Conference Coach of the Year
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Exceeding Expectations
Colts Neck High School
Named to Newsweek’s 2014 Top High Schools List Eighty-eight Cadets from the Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) traveled to Maryland on the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Baltimore and the group also presented our Nation’s Colors at a Yankees vs Orioles baseball game
Won 1st place in the 2014 Team Challenge event sponsored by the Greater Monmouth County Chamber of Commerce
Albert Cao was selected as a 2014 YoungArts Winner, a part of the National YoungArts Foundation Margaret Powell earned a perfect score on the SAT Math and Writing sections and a 760 in Critical Reading for a total of 2360 Nicolette Gurgone earned a perfect score on SAT Writing Girls Basketball won the Central Jersey Group IV title Girls Soccer won the Central Jersey Group IV title The CNHS Mock Trial Team won the Monmouth County Colts Neck High School NJROTC presented Championship our Nation's Colors at a Yankees vs Orioles Two Video II students have been working with the Colts baseball game in Maryland Neck Business Association to assist them in developing a series of videos Michael Cappelluti was accepted to the All Shore Jazz Ensemble Amanda Grieco was selected for the New Jersey State Honors Choir A new Veterans Memorial Garden was unveiled in front of CNHS which was designed by NJROTC Cadet Daniel Elice as his Eagle Scout project The Dance Team raised more than $1,700 for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk Emma Tucker won the Monmouth Judiciary’s Law Day 2014 Essay Contest with her entry focused on the issue of protecting civil rights from ballot initiatives in a politically Colts Neck High School won the 2014 Team Challenge polar climate sponsored by the Greater Monmouth Chamber of Commerce The Free the Children chapter at CNHS reached their year goal of $10,500 to help build a school in Nicaragua 12
Exceeding Expectations
Freehold High School
Named to The Daily Beast list of top high schools in America
Recipient of the 2013-2014 Freehold Regional High School District State of the Schools Spirit Award
Tessa Valentien and Andrew Lee were ranked 3rd place overall in the 9th Annual Widener University High School Programming Contest The Culinary Arts & Hospitality Management Academy was featured in National Geographic for its unique comprehensive program Liezel Puzon received a $2,500 National Merit scholarship and the $10,000 Generation Google Scholarship Applied Art I students created a totem pole made of ceramic that was displayed in the 2014 K-12 Student Art Exhibition at The College of New Jersey The totem pole created by Applied Art I students was displayed in the 2014 K-12 Student Art Exhibition at The John Bostic received the Vince Lombardi Outstanding College of New Jersey Linemen Award Lindsay Cerio received the 2014 John Cobb Girls Senior Excellence Award by the Shore Soccer Officials Association Twenty-six students competed in the New Jersey DECA conference with five of the students winning multiple awards Six students were selected for the All Shore Chorus Field Hockey earned Central Jersey Group IV Sectional Champions Girls Soccer was the B-North Division Champions Girls Gymnastics was the B-North Division Champions Girls Tennis was the B-North Division Champions and the Monmouth County Champions
The CyberPatriot team earned 3rd place in the New Jersey The CyberPatriot team earned 3rd place in the New Jersey CyberPatriot VII State Round CyberPatriot VII State Round Paintings by art teacher Daniel Finaldi were selected to hang in the U.S. Embassy in Djibouti Students won People's Choice Gold, People's Choice Silver and Chef's Choice Bronze in the American Culinary Federation Winterfest
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Exceeding Expectations
Freehold Township High School