Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Regional school board approves option for Mendham, Chester students to attend West Morris Central due to high enrollment.
With the attendance at Mendham and Central High schools unbalanced, a resolution was adopted to ameliorate the situation. The problem can be rectified if students residing in the Chesters and Mendhams have the option to enroll at Central. It will be on a voluntary, first-come, first-served basis with a maximum of 100 students. The West Morris Regional Board of Education unanimously approved the measure, which was formally introduced by Superintendent Mackey Pendergrast earlier this month. "Saying the Mendham and Chester residents can come (to Central) really is to mainly alleviate potential population problems that we have over at Mendham over the next couple of years," Pendergrast said. The resolution states that transportation will be …
Monday, March 25, 2013
Two major events follow each other Monday night.
There’s plenty going on during this first full week of spring in Washington Township, but two main events take place Monday, March 25 you should know about. First, at the Washington Township Municipal Building from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m., Congressman Leonard Lance (R-7) will host a town hall-style meeting open to all residents. Lance, who recently visited eighth graders at the Long Valley Middle School to answer questions about everything from gun control to federal debt, became Washington Township’s representative in 2013. The area was previously represented by Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-24) prior to redistricting in 2011. The meeting is available to the public. Also on Monday night over at West Morris Central High School, the regional board of …
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Sunday, March 24, 2013
First annual technology summit held at Mendham High School, with progress as a main topic.
Technology is here, and it needs to be embraced. That was the central theme at the first-ever Technology Forum hosted by the West Morris Regional High School district in front of a near-capacity crowd at Mendham High School. "If Bell Edison showed up to the town today and said they were going to chop down a couple thousand or so tree trunks and spring wires from them we would not have widespread electricity or telephones based on people fighting it," Bill Davidson said. Davidson, senior vice president at Qualcomm, was the first of three guest speakers and drove home the point that technology is advancing and changing the world in which we live. "Say I get off the plane in Tokyo, I have no idea how to read Japanese and I need to get to my …
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Forget feasibility studies–should Washington Township's education system encompass all school buildings in the municipality?
When residents of Washington Township first realize the area's students will attend two separate school districts during their K-12 careers, there's usually an immediate question: Why are there two districts? Washington Township School district offers grades kindergarten through eight, then students move on to West Morris Central High School, which is part of the West Morris Regional High School District. Since last week's question regarding the naming of the town went so well, we thought we'd ask another serious question. There's been talk not just for the past two years, but decades, about consolidation of school districts in our area. Many of those discussions lead to feasibility study queries and then too-hard-to-fight legislation …
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Leading experts in technology, community will gather Thursday, March 21 for first-ever event.
It’s about the community coming together and discussing the value of technology in education. That’s the reason West Morris Regional High School District Superintendent Mackey Pendergrast has championed the upcoming technology summit, scheduled for Thursday, March 21 at Mendham High School. Since he took over as the district’s top administrator just a year ago, Pendergrast has been beating the technology drum consistently, overseeing the implementation of a District Supervisor of Technology and a new policy that will allow students to bring in their own electronic devices to the classroom. “I’m very excited about the tech summit. When I interviewed for the (superintendent) position, I said I didn’t really believe in a five-year long-range …
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Graduation scheduled for June 20; excess snow days to be pulled from Spring Break.
The West Morris Regional Board of Education approved its 2013-14 school calendar this week, which includes an unorthodox start date and lengthy winter recess. The Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah falls on Thursday, Sept. 5 in 2013, closing the high schools. The two days prior–Sept. 3 and 4–will be used for professional development days for faculty and staff, according to Superintendent Mackey Pendergrast. This leads the district to start its school year on Friday, Sept. 6 for a one-day school week. Winter recess begins with Friday, Dec. 20 being a half-day, and students not returning to class until Thursday, Jan. 2–a 12-day break including weekends. The calendar notes four snow days are being allocated to the school year, and if additional …
Monday, March 4, 2013
Board will vote on giving Chester, Mendham residents ability to go to West Morris Central as enrollment packs Mendham High School's classes.
Mendham High School is “bursting at the seams,” according to West Morris Regional High School Superintendent Mackey Pendergrast, and has proposed to the board of education a measure that has never been approved in the history of the district. At its March 25 meeting, the board will decide to give Mendham High School students the option of attending West Morris Central High School if they are interested in doing so. Mendham High School currently has its largest enrollment ever, Pendergrast said, and has noticed in the past few years that the approximately 20 to 30 students who would normally go to private school after graduating eighth grade have not done so. “We’re looking at a situation where we just won’t have the classrooms to put the …
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Despite largest funding package in New Jersey history, Washington Twp., West Morris Regional schools receive same amount as 2012-13.
State aid for the Washington Township and West Morris Regional school districts remained flat from 2012 to 2013, as figures were released Thursday afternoon. The Washington Township School district will receive $7,997,562 for the 2013-14 school year, the same amount it received for the 2012-13 school year. That figure, however, was a 5.6-percent increase from the 2011-12 school year when the district received $7,166,698. The West Morris Regional High School District will receive $4,369,441 in state aid, the same as the year prior. That figure was a 7.7-percent increase from the $4,056,834 in 2011-12. A three-scenario budget approach was outlined by the Washington Township school board on Feb. 26 with projected changes in overall spending …
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Federal aid would be impacted at local level if Congress doesn't stop $85 billion in cuts.
A Congress-allowed sequestration would impact local school budgets, but not enough to worry officials from Washington Township and West Morris Regional High School Districts. Budget discussions have been ongoing for more than two months, according to West Morris Regional Superintendent Mackey Pendergrast, and the sequestration topic has “fallen under the umbrella” of usable figures when expenditures are analyzed. “At this point, it is difficult to ascertain the impact it will have to New Jersey and school aid for this year and next,” Pendergrast said. Education funding in the state could be cut by nearly $30 million along with drastic cuts to healthcare programs and environmental protection should Congress fail to halt $85 billion in …
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Neighboring Mt. Olive High School on cusp of hiring full time, armed retired police officer.
The security of students in school has become a national issue in the past month, after a 20-year-old man opened fire in a Newtown, Connecticut elementary school, killing 26 people before turning the gun on himself. Locally, steps have been taken to enhance security measures in various school districts. In Marlboro, New Jersey, the school district’s board of education approved the implementation of armed security guards in each of the town’s nine school buildings less than a week after the Connecticut shooting. On Thursday, it was announced by neighboring school district Mt. Olive that the high school there is one board of education vote away from installing an armed, retired police officer in that building. The topic has now been brought …
LVMom
12:32 pm on Friday, April 26, 2013
Gee Matt and you wonder why the central kids hate the mendham kids so much... wow nice to know we are that sucky! I wish we would dump mendham and just be our own school district. then dump the IB go all AP (and I mean offer a TON of AP options) and have the freedom for kids to take a variety of classes yet dig deeper into the areas of their interests. Nothings better then seeing as STEM kids do … more ›