By Dana Drake
Happy New Year! But before we wrap up 2014….
We are excited to announce that for the second consecutive year, Lawrence Township Public Schools was named an Advanced Placement District of the Year by the A.P. College Board. The 5th Annual AP District Honor Roll includes a list of 547 school districts across the U.S. and Canada offering increased access to AP course work while simultaneously maintaining or increasing the percentage of students earning scores of three or higher (out of five) on AP exams.
Congratulations to our school administrators who are committed to expanding the availability of AP courses, our teachers who are dedicated to improving student performance, and our increasing number of high school students enrolling in these more challenging AP courses.
We were pleased to see over 175 parents, community members, staff, and students attend the Dec. 3 Community Conversation. We appreciate the time people took to attend the evening and offer opinions and ideas as we begin to draft the district’s next five-year strategic plan.
For those who were unable to attend, the conversation began with a brief update on the district’s progress on the current strategic plan. Then attendees formed four breakout groups. Each group was asked to consider the same question, “What are 3-5 skills (in academic, social, emotional, behavioral areas) students need to learn to prepare them for the future?”
The skill areas identified in the four breakout groups included: communication, critical thinking/analysis, personal management development, executive functioning, creativity, foundational skills, global citizenship, and problem solving.
This was just the beginning, and the conversation will continue in the coming months as we explore strategic solutions to make certain every student is prepared for the future when they graduate. We will “Continue the Conversation” on Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 6:30 p.m.
As we begin 2015, the Board welcomes Shinh-Heh Fay Lopez, who joins the district this month as one of three assistant principals at the Lawrence High School. From Highland Regional High School, Lopez is a former middle and high school English teacher and is fluent in Spanish and Korean. Lopez is replacing Alyson Fischer, who was appointed as the district’s new Director of Health, Physical Education, and Athletics. Fischer is replacing Ken Mason, who retired Dec. 31, 2014 after 16 years with the district.
On Wednesday, Jan. 7 the board will hold its annual Reorganization Meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the Lawrence High School Library. At this time, Glenn Collins, Max Ramos and I will be sworn in, and then the new board will elect a president and vice president.
The board will hold its regular meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. in the Lawrence High School Library.
Reminder, school will be closed Monday, Jan. 19 for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Dana Drake is a member of the Lawrence Township Board of Education. Let us hear from you – if there are any particular issues you would like addressed, please email askaboardmember@ltps.org.
