Juniors and seniors at Haddonfield Memorial High School might soon be given the opportunity to go off campus during their lunch and study halls.
Tracy Matozzo, dean of student life at HMHS, gave a brief presentation on the Open Campus Concept at the Haddonfield Board of Education meeting on April 16. The program allows juniors and seniors with good academic standing and with a parent’s or guardian’s permission to leave the school campus during a lunch or study hall. She would like to have the program ready to be implemented into the school and student handbook by early May.
“We thought, ‘How we can alleviate some of that stress of being a high school student?’ Then we looked at other high schools similar to Haddonfield, and they had something at their school called an Open Campus,” Matozzo said.
According to Matozzo, sometimes students are in school for 6.5 hours a day and need a break, and if they have a lunch and study hall, sometimes the simple act of walking outside alleviates some of that stress and pressure.
“We think it is the first part of a plan to look to improve our climate and culture. We trust our students to not take advantage of the things they have. I think this is another way to continue the momentum of our district moving forward,” Matozzo said.
According to Matozzo, the Open Campus Concept is open to all juniors and seniors in good academic standing, and those students would be able to leave school grounds without adult supervision when not assigned to an academic or elective period. Any student not in good academic standing would not have this privilege.
There will be a letter sent to parents or guardians where they would either need to give or not give permission for their child to participate. If they choose to opt out, their children would be enrolled into a study hall, which would count as a class.
“Parents may opt out of Open Campus for their children. If that is the case, they would continue to attend the study hall, treated with the same academic attendance and behavior expectations,” Matozzo said.
Highlights of the requirements are: Open Campus is a privilege intended for only upperclassmen, juniors and seniors; junior and seniors interested in the Open Campus must submit the application with a signature from a parent or guardian, and a phone call to that parent or guardian will be made to verify; and the student must maintain a record of consistent attendance and punctuality.
An overview of infractions are suspension of privileges will be issued for a minimum of two weeks with additional time added depending upon the nature, duration and frequency of the infraction. An example of an infraction would be coming in late or not coming back to their academic classes. This is to deter students from taking advantage of the privilege.
The effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the program is something the school would review quarterly. It would run attendance reports and look at what happens at the end of each quarter; if they see 10 percent of the students aren’t returning to their classes, then there is a problem, and Open Campus is not something for which the district is ready.
“So this isn’t something that is instituted and is instituted for forever, it is something that will be reviewed, especially for the first year or two on a quarterly basis,” Matozzo said.
According to Matozzo, the school has already made the police aware of the Open Campus Concept, and many of the eateries have heard of it as well. Some of the local eateries are excited and are looking into doing some student specials, Matozzo said.
“It’s really a community-based effort. Something that we’ve been researching that many schools across the state similar to ours already institute, and we’ve tailored it to the needs of our own school,” Matozzo said.
All information will be shared with parents and students via eBlast within the next few weeks. According to Matozzo, she would need about two weeks to update the student handbook, get the letter sent to all the parents and guardians of the juniors and seniors, run a report of which students are not in a position to participate so she can be more proactive with their parents, send out all the information, and take a look at the duty rosters and reassign teachers so it is equitable. She would like to see this put into play in early May.
In other news:
• Spanish teacher Dana Pilla was given a commendation by state Sen. James Beach for being named FLENJ Teacher of the Year. Students were also honored with commendations for being named FLENJ video contest winners. In the elementary school category, Chloe Luci and Chase Degillio received second place, and Alexandra Brown and Joseph Poliafico received third place. In the middle school category, Anna Swartley and Tyler Christianson received second place.
• A resident came forward at last week’s board of education meeting with the request that the board look into a full-day kindergarten program. The board said it would look into at a future curriculum meeting.
• The board gave approval to the Haddonfield Youth Basketball Association’s Recreational Enhancement Project at Radnor Field.
They are looking to rebuild basketball courts and tennis courts and are applying for a grant to do so. They are doing it through the borough, but because the school owns it, they needed board approval.
• The public hearing and second reading for the budget, which the county approved, will be held at the next meeting on April 30 at 7 p.m. in the HMHS library.
