What will a future Haddonfield graduate look like?
Superintendent Chuck Klaus provided an overview of the process, and a snapshot of the methods behind the goal, during the board of education’s Jan. 28 public session.
Operating under the philosophy that graduation is the bridge between two stages of life, the district, in recent years, has implemented a mission statement and three core strategic principles to ensure students are more well rounded than in years past when progressing to higher education.
“We like to believe we have done our due diligence in ensuring that they are ready,” Klaus said. “We assume the structure we have in place is going to work for them, but if we really want to ensure we’re doing that, we have to have a way to find exactly what we’re looking for, and measuring that.”
The underlying theme for the complete graduate, Klaus explained, lay not in high school, but in primary school, where specific traits and competencies that are valued in the long term are identified. Both are planned to be measured at the early childhood, elementary, then middle and high school levels.
A process for determining these facets of personal development is planned to receive input from students, educators, parents, recent alumni, and community and board members. Klaus said the process was to begin on Feb. 1 with solicitation of team members, with an expected presentation date to the board, for approval, in late May.
Klaus added that the portrait will have a visual component, with a common language, so it can be embedded in every classroom and on all district websites.
“No matter who you speak to in (whatever building), they understand that these are our valued traits and competencies,” he reasoned. “Not just getting an ‘A,’ but identifying what that means, what makes it better or different than anywhere else.”
Regarding COVID-19 numbers and the need for students and staff to quarantine during a post-holiday spike in confirmed cases, the district was revealed to be doing better than the period of a sharp surge in cases between the first week of November and the Christmas break.
The highest number of active cases (five students, two staff) were confirmed at Haddonfield Memorial High School. The high school also recorded the highest number of quarantined persons at 47 (43 students, four staff) among the 78 necessary quarantines across all five schools. Elizabeth Haddon and Tatem elementaries each logged eight student quarantines.
In anticipation of moving toward the long-rumored and long-awaited Phase 2 of in person instruction, Klaus offered a glimpse into what is expected. Kindergarten classes are scheduled to be in school five days a week, for a total of 20 hours. Grades one through 12 will remain in class four days a week. Virtual Wednesdays are expected to remain for all grades.
Indicators of a successful implementation of the plan are based on a revised set of guidelines from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, as well as several metrics: the CALI (COVID Activity Level Index) scale of two; a case rate either leveled or declining from 25 per 100,000; and an overall, county positivity rate of less than 9 percent.
Returns to the classroom are expected to be staggered, with kindergarten through second grade at the beginning of March, third through fifth grades in mid-March and the remaining grades at the end of the month.
Further details on all presentations can be found on the board of education website: https://haddonfieldschools.org/announcements-and-news-releases/
In other news:
- The board passed a resolution requesting that Gov. Phil Murphy include district employees in the state’s front-line worker designation, in order to receive the COVID vaccine.
- The governing body also passed, on second reading, an amendment to district grading and regulation policy. The new policy can be viewed at: https://boe.haddonfieldschools.org/policies/.
- Haddonfield Memorial High School Principal Tammy McHale praised outgoing student council representatives Danny Cavanna, Evie Ellis and Marc Laprocido. Klaus then issued the oath of office, via Zoom, to new reps Madeleine Cush, William Kennedy and Cyrus Marwaha.
- Middle school Principal Tracy Matozzo recognized four pupils on the student council executive cabinet: Maeve Hurly, Chase Degilio, Dash Lin and Grace Farrell. Degilio, Sam Schwab and Chase Carlyle were honored for being a part of the service organization known as Service Dawgs.
- During a commendation for the district’s nursing staff on dealing with the pandemic, Klaus revealed staffers would receive a framed varsity letter in recognition for their unflagging efforts over the past 10-plus months.
- On behalf of Adam Puff and the Haddonfield Educational Trust, board reps to the HET, David Siedell and Lynn Hoag, presented the board with a check for the innovative teacher grant awards, a total of $7,672, to fund three future projects. One grant is expected to fund an individualized online math program to test math literacy at Haddon Elementary, one is slotted for the purchase of an iPad Pro for advanced graphic design students at the high school and the final grant is slated for an inclusive book collection at the middle school.
