Woodland Park School District

Welcome back to another exciting year! I truly hope you were able to take some time to relax and enjoy the lazy days of summer with your family and friends. This time each year, I take a moment to sit back and ask myself, “Where did the summer go?” It seems to slip through my fingers faster and faster every year. At the same time, here in our schools, we have been working tirelessly to ensure that we are ready for the students' return.

As we finalize preparations for our students to return to school on Sept. 7th and we begin our eleventh year together, I remain energized and enthusiastic about our direction. We continue to build upon and grow all academic programming while at the same time, remaining committed to working towards refining what is already in place. We are excited to continue the work of supporting all learners by implementing new resources that will help with differentiation and small group instruction.

The administrative team has worked tirelessly throughout the summer to ensure the day-to-day operations are set and ready for the return to the school buildings. This summer, we also implemented a full school district reregistration process in order to ensure ALL proper proof of residency has been collected for ALL students. While this has not been an easy process, it proved to be much needed and worthwhile.

The facilities are in great shape thanks to the hard work and long hours put in by our custodial team. In addition, the office staff has also been working on compiling teacher packets, memos, student packets, etc. Due to the efforts of these individuals, our schools are prepared and ready for a smooth opening. I extend a sincere and heartfelt “Thank You” to all!

As we return to the school buildings, we continue to build upon and grow all academic programming while at the same time, remaining committed to working towards refining what is already in place. This includes our partnership with Discovery Education for students in grades K-5 and Amplify for students in grades 6-8 in order to continue to effectively support science instruction. Both programs support teaching of the Next Generation Science Standards and take an inquiry based approach to teaching and learning.

In addition, time was spent this summer revising curricula in the areas of Physical Education and Health, World Language, Social Studies and Visual and Performing Arts.

In math, we are in year three of implementing Ready Classroom and i-Ready. We are committed to using the comprehensive data made available through the i-Ready platform to provide families and students with real-time data in order to inform instructional decisions and enable powerful conversations between the student and teacher in order to drive student learning. In addition, the information collected will be used to strengthen instructional practice in turn supporting the increase of student achievement. We are reminded that these resources are designed to assist all stakeholders, families, students and teachers alike, to better understand the areas in which individual students need assistance and support.

In the area of ELA, we are now in Year 4 of the NJTSS Early Literacy Grant. The purpose of this grant is to support the implementation of a tiered system of supports for all grade levels. Data analysis and progress monitoring allows us to target and accelerate instruction. This year’s focus is progress monitoring. ELA will continue to implement the Readers and Writer’s Workshop model. Students in grades K-3 will maintain the use of Fundations, while students in grades 4 and 5 will utilize Words Their Way for Word Study. DIBELS 8th and Running Records will be used as benchmarks for all students in grades K-8.

Supplemental resources such as RAZ Kids, NEWSELA, Flocabulary, Starfall, Generation Genius, I-Xl and BrainPop have been renewed for the upcoming year to support instruction.

In the area of Special Education, we began the development of our Growing Minds Life Skills Apartment and prevocational room. This is a dynamic new space designed to empower our students with essential daily living skills in a realistic and supportive environment. The apartment provides a safe setting where our learners can practice cooking, cleaning, self-care, office skills, and more. By integrating these life skills into their routine, we’re helping them build confidence and independence, setting the foundation for a brighter future.

The technology team has been busy preparing for the opening of school. All technology, such as computer carts, devices, SmartBoard Panels, printers, and desktops, just to name a few, have been sorted, reassembled and are ready to use for the new school year.

Memorial School received new Chromebooks for students in grade 6 and Beatrice Gilmore received new Chromebooks for students in grade 5. These machines will remain in an “always on" case in an effort to reduce damage to new machines.

Memorial School has received 8 new Smartboards and BG has received 2.

A new backup server and a new backup domain controller for the local network has been installed. This will assist with speed, redundancy and security of the network. Four new network racks and 5 new multi-gigabit switches are being installed throughout the district as well which will improve the overall speed for our wireless network.

The new phone system saw the bulk of the work done this summer. The entire phone system was replaced with all new phones in every classroom and office. Besides the upgraded look, there are some additional functions. This is the first phase of a long term goal of making the entire school district more secure for both staff and students. The second phase of this project has been started at Memorial School, whereby all current paging speakers are being checked, adding additional speakers where needed, both inside and outside the building and replacing the head-end that controls the paging system. There will also be a tie-in between the phone system and the paging system. This work is ongoing and will continue throughout the school year.

Our custodial team has been working tirelessly this summer in order to get the buildings and grounds ready for the opening of school. In addition to all of the regular cleaning and routine maintenance which takes place during the summer months, the team was able to complete many enhancement projects and painting districtwide.

For increased safety, additional alarms have been installed and exterior doors have been replaced throughout the school district.

We are thrilled to be able to say that the playground on our ECC property has finally been installed and is ready for student use. We can’t wait to see the children’s faces in September!

Our electrical system has been upgraded at BG School and the AC project is now complete! Stage one of the Memorial School classroom AC project has started with the science labs and three classrooms receiving individual units. In addition, repairs to the heating system have been completed at Memorial.

The blacktop area at Memorial has been repaired and sealed and new basketball courts have been painted.

Parking barriers have been installed at School One for student safety.

Improvements to the storage area in the music room at Memorial School have also been completed.

These are only some of the many things that have been happening here in the schools this summer. As you can see, we have been quite busy! As we begin our eleventh year together, I continue to remain enthusiastic about our direction. We continue to work together to move the district forward and it is truly amazing to be a part of the process. Our continued hard work, dedication and commitment to our families and love of our life’s work as educators is a true testament to our sustained growth. We continue to grow because we remain focused on accomplishing our Mission:

“To promote educational experiences which will prepare our students to develop high levels of academic achievement, engage in a lifelong desire to learn and develop a deep respect for life and its diversity in our global society”

If we truly believe this in our hearts, then we will achieve! Remember: We are all in this together.

Please make sure you read the principal’s message located in the Principal’s Corner Tab on each school webpage for specific information relative to arrival and dismissal procedures and important information regarding school opening. The Parent Portal will be opened and accessible on Thursday, Aug. 31st for families to access final student schedules. In addition, please make sure you regularly check all social media for the most current and updated happenings throughout the school district.

Thank you for your ongoing support and I truly look forward to continuing to work closely with you as we embark on a new school year.