Monday, January 7, 2013
Regional BOE expected to take action at annual reorganization meeting Monday.
At its first meeting of the new year, the West Morris Regional Board of Education has a full slate of business to get to as it swears in new and returning members, as well as adopts new policies. The annual reorganization meeting is set for Monday at West Morris Central High School at 7 p.m. Washington Township representatives Joseph Galayda, John Meyer and Tom Richar will all take the oath of office for their new terms after being re-elected in November 2012. In addition to those three, and for the first time, a Chester Borough representative will be sworn into a three-year seat. Donald Storms received enough write-in votes in November to win the seat. The board will now have four Washington Township representatives, two Chester Township …
Monday, December 10, 2012
Superintendent Mackey Pendergrast implores board on values technological use would bring to district.
What's the norm in the real world may become the same inside the classroom at the West Morris Regional High School district. Since Mackey Pendergrast took over as Superintendent March 1 this year, he's consistently banged the drum on taking the next step in the implementation of technology in the classroom. The district has even hired a supervisor of technology this school year to oversee that process. "Wi-Fi is the new oxygen. If you can't have everybody on, then it's useless," said Pendergrast Monday evening at the board of education's regular meeting. That was the general theme of his presentation to the board to bring the latest technology to the district. Pendergrast is lobbying for the use of student-owned technology at the high …
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
West Morris Regional school board will discuss potential changes to 2012-13 calendar.
The West Morris Regional High School Board of Education announced Tuesday it would hold a special meeting Monday, Nov. 26 to potentially make changes to the 2012-13 school calendar. The meeting is scheduled to be held at 6 p.m. in the West Morris Central High School Library. Before this announcement, the next scheduled board meeting wasn't until Dec. 10. The notice distributed by the district said changes to the calendar would be discussed, and action may be taken. At its most recent board meeting, the district added school days to both Martin Luther King, Jr. and Presidents' Day–originally scheduled to be closed. The need to use those as school days came from the inclement weather days amassed from Hurricane Sandy's impact. During that …
Monday, November 12, 2012
Regional school board votes to hold class on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents Day to make up for school missed from Hurricane Sandy.
Students and teachers in the West Morris Regional High School District will be feeling Hurricane Sandy’s impact well into the winter months. As local residents get back to a new normal in New Jersey following a two week struggle to regain electricity after the devastating storm, the regional board of education unanimously approved a change in the school calendar that now has classes being held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January and Presidents Day in February. Four inclement weather days were allotted to each school building at the start of the year. Due to Hurricane Sandy’s damage, Mendham High School used eight inclement weather days rather than the full 10, as classes were held on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 8 and 9. West Morris …
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Schools undergoing 'tsunami' of technological advancements, superintendent says.
The goal is to be the most effective school district in the country. And to get there, Superintendent Mackey Pendergrast said, means a major shift in technology and focusing on its uses. Pendergrast gave a 20-minute presentation to the West Morris Regional Board of Education Monday night on the topic of technology and its meteoric evolution, and how it’s changing the style in which students learn. The presentation began with the airing of a commercial for the Samsung 10.1 S-Note, a tablet computer with a multitude of capabilities that can be utilized in the classroom. “Back in March, I said this district was poised for progress,” Pendergrast said. “We’re preparing students for the next academic challenge, and for life.” The district is …
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
District spent first four school days with assistant principals overseeing traffic duties.
The administration at West Morris Central High School won’t have to use assistant principals or faculty members to monitor morning and afternoon traffic or keep an eye on students attempting to leave the campus anymore, now that board of education approved a contract for a facility monitor at the school. The monitor, John Notte, has been working three hours a day, five days a week in this capacity at that school for the past two years. But when a renewal of his contract was up for vote by the board in August, it received a 4-2 plurality and did not pass. A full majority of the board–five ayes–were needed for approval. Notte’s pay became a bone of contention for board member and Chester representative Marcia Asdal, who felt the $35 per hour…
Monday, September 10, 2012
Principals to reflect, students to learn about infamous day in U.S. history.
The learning communities of West Morris Central and Mendham High Schools will take time to acknowledge the terrorist attacks that took place on Sept. 11, 2001, and honor those lost in the 11 years since. Principals Steve Ryan and Mike Matyas of Central and Mendham, respectively, will share a message of remembrance Tuesday morning, followed by a moment of reflection, according to the district's history supervisor Rosann Lichatin. "Students will be encouraged to recognize the courage of those who not only gave their lives on that day, but also the men and women who continue to serve our country today," Lichatin said. "Students will have the opportunity to commemorate the event in history classes as teachers emphasize the idea of public …
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Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Mendham High School drops 19 spots, Central slips nine.
Both West Morris Regional high schools dropped in New Jersey Monthly Magazine’s annual rankings released this week. Mendham High School had the more drastic decline, slipping from number 26 to 45 year over year, while West Morris Central fell from number 43 to 56. Factors in the rankings include School Environment, Student Performance, and Student Outcomes, according to the magazine’s methodology. To learn more about the methodology, go here. The rankings are a result of the 2010-11 school year’s performance. The monthly rankings also include a category of top schools by district factor group, a socioeconomic classification of schools. West Morris Central, an “I” school, and Mendham High School, a “J” school, both missed the top 10 in this…
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Administrative shuffle part of statewide changes.
Falling in line with new rules from the state Department of Education designed to restructure school administrations, the West Morris Regional Board of Education approved the establishment of four new positions at its regular meeting. Doing away with the district’s lead teacher position, Superintendent Mackey Pendergrast and the board established District Supervisor positions in the subjects of English, math, science and history. The changes will take effect July 1. Pendergrast said earlier this year that that having one district supervisor for the subjects would allow better coordination between the district’s two high schools. The changes will save about $100,000 because of the elimination of the lead teacher positions, Pendergrast said…
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
West Morris Central and Mendham High Schools had low rate of HIB misconduct, administrator says.
In its first year of implementation through New Jersey schools, the statewide harassment, intimidation and bullying program has made a change in students at the West Morris Regional School district, according to Anti-Bullying coordinator David Leigh. From the outset, the goals of the new anti-bullying laws were considered ambitious, Superintendent Mackey Pendergrast said, but clearly worth striving toward. “We were all concerned at the beginning of the year,” Pendergrast said. “The goals of HIB are important and admirable. We know you can’t learn in an environment if you don’t feel safe.” Leigh provided the board of education a presentation reflecting statistics of HIB violations in the district from the 2011-12 school year, and the …
Abraham Clark
2:34 am on Wednesday, January 9, 2013
My tenant is a project manager and he is addicted to adderol ( speed). The only way he has been able to compete with constant layoffs at his job where his boss then hands him the fired employees workload. He also got a "free" laptop so now he has no free time or weekend. Because he is bothered at any time and expected to use his free laptop to do unpaid extra work. He is now semi-delusional and … more ›