Ridgewood Public Schools
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| Ridgewood Public Schools | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Superintendent: | Dr. Timothy Brennan (Interim) | ||||
| Business Administrator: | Angelo DeSimone | ||||
| Web site: | http://www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us | ||||
| Ind. | Per Pupil | District Spending |
Rank (*) |
K-12 Avg. |
%± vs. Avg. |
| 1 | Comparative Cost | $12,133 | 64 | $12,180 | -0.4% |
| 2 | Classroom Instruction | 7,243 | 67 | 7,194 | 0.7% |
| 6 | Support Services | 2,002 | 69 | 1,913 | 4.7% |
| 8 | Administrative Cost | 1,429 | 88 | 1,275 | 12.1% |
| 10 | Operations & Maintenance | 1,237 | 37 | 1,477 | -16.2% |
| 16 | Median Teacher Salary | 66,950 | 97 | 53,549 | |
| Data from NJDoE 2007 Comparative Spending Guide.[1] *Within K-12 districts with 3,501+ students. Low=1; High=103 |
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The Ridgewood Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district serving students in Kindergarten through twelfth grade from suburban Ridgewood, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.
As determined by the New Jersey Department of Education, Ridgewood is a socioeconomic J district, the highest level of the eight District Factor Group categories.
Contents |
[edit] Awards and recognition
Benjamin Franklin Middle School was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive, during the 1998-99 school year.[2]
For the 1993-94 school year, George Washington Middle School was named a "Star School" by the New Jersey Department of Education, the highest honor that a New Jersey school can achieve.[3] For the 1995-96 school year, Benjamin Franklin Middle School was named a "Star School".[4]
[edit] Schools
The district consists of nine public schools and one additional school facility, which houses a BOE-run pre-school program and a private day care center. Schools in the district (with 2005-06 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[5]) are:
- Pre-School
- Glen School (Pre-School and Private Day Care Center, 39 students)
- Elementary Schools (Grades K-5)
- Henrietta Hawes Elementary School (413)
- Orchard Elementary School (314)
- Ridge Elementary School (506)
- Irwin B. Somerville Elementary School (463)
- Ira W. Travell Elementary School (397)
- Willard Elementary School (480)
- Middle Schools (Grades 6-8)
- High School (9-12)
- Ridgewood High School (1,665 students). Ridgewood High School athletic teams are nicknamed the Ridgewood Maroons.
[edit] Athletics
Ridgewood High School's sports teams are nicknamed the Maroons. Ridgewood High School is one of twenty public and private high schools from Bergen, Essex and Passaic Counties that are members of the Northern New Jersey Interscholastic League.
[edit] Administration
Core members of the school district's administration include:[6]
- Interim Superintendent - Dr. Timothy Brennan
- Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment - Mrs. Regina Lemerich Botsford
- Director of Human Resources and Quality Improvement - Dr. Brian Bulger (Though 6/30/08)
- Business Administrator - Angelo DeSimone
[edit] Superintendent search
The Ridgewood Board of Education had been searching for a new superintendent since July 1, 2006, with Paul Arlotta serving as an interim replacement during the year-long search. The Board hired Martin Brooks as Superintendent, effective July 1, 2007. However, in mid-June, Brooks declined the invitation for what the Board described as personal reasons, though there was community opposition to Brooks' appointment that was said to have made him "feel unwelcome". This has the led to the beginning of another search, and another year of the district hiring an interim superintendent, until a permanent replacement is hired and assumes the position.[7] The New York Times reported that this is the result of a dispute over the district's reform math program. Reform math is also known as fuzzy math. Because of the fuzzy math in Ridgewood, there is a plethora of tutoring centers in town, such as Kumon, Score, Huntington Learning Center and Achieve Academy. Parents feel the fuzzy math is subpar since Ridgewood has a fairly high tax rate. The school budget is over 83,000,000 and this year the district is looking to raise it to around 87,000,000. The district seems married to an ideology of constructivism. Parents are hoping that the next superintendent is not a "constructivist" since that pedagogy does not work well with math and the sciences.[8]
[edit] References
- ^ Comparative Spending Guide March 2007, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 5, 2007.
- ^ Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982-1983 through 1999-2002 (PDF), United States Department of Education. Accessed May 11, 2006.
- ^ Star School Award recipients, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed May 23, 2006.
- ^ Star School Award recipients, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed May 23, 2006.
- ^ Data for the Ridgewood Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 5, 2008.
- ^ District Administration, Ridgewood Public Schools. Accessed October 15, 2006.
- ^ Coutros, Evonne. "Ridgewood's new schools chief quits", The Record (Bergen County), June 13, 2007. Accessed June 18, 2007. "The district's new superintendent has backed out of the job two weeks before he was to begin work, a startling move that the school board blamed on a hostile reception by some residents to his hiring. Martin Brooks, the former superintendent of the Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District on Long Island, cited "personal reasons" for his withdrawal from the post. But a statement by the board on the district's Web site said he had been made to "feel unwelcome."
- ^ Winnie Hu. "Battle Over Math in New Jersey Drives Off a New Schools Chief", The New York Times, 2007-06-14. Retrieved on 2007-06-18.
[edit] External links
- Ridgewood Public Schools official website
- Ridgewood Public Schools's 2006-07 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
- Data for the Ridgewood Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics
- Village of Ridgewood Math -- concerned parent group
