Metuchen School District

Good afternoon. This is Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Vincent Caputo. I hope this message finds you and your family well, both physically and mentally. These are hard times for all of New Jersey and for many of our neighbors right here in Metuchen. Thanks to all those in the Borough who make our lives just a little easier every day. This includes the first responders and frontline workers who care for us even when their work puts their own health at risk. As you know by now, Governor Murphy announced this week that all New Jersey schools would remain closed for the remainder of the school year. When I first announced that we would be closing back on March 12th, we knew this was a possibility and we have been planning for remote education and holding meetings about the special events at all of our schools. While most of these are cancelled, the principals are working hard to come up with viable alternatives for some of them. Be on the lookout for further information. As we conclude Teacher Appreciation Week, let’s remember to celebrate our educators all year long and to recognize the four members of the Board of Education who are also educators: Mrs. Cook, Mrs. Killean, Mr. Glassberg, and Mr. Derflinger. Have a restful weekend and Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms in Metuchen and in your extended families. Here are some updates and announcements: · This week we continued delivery of lunches to students eligible for free and reduced lunch. New guidance has been released and in partnership with our food service provider, Pomptonian, we are now able to provide meals even to students who were not previously eligible. Until we reach capacity, starting May 18th, we can deliver to any students whose families are in need or struggling during these difficult times. Please reach out to me or to your principal to request these daily lunches. · Typically in May, the business office sends out information to families eligible for partial courtesy bussing for the following school year. With so much uncertainty this year, the communication of details, including cost, will be delayed. · Campbell School received back their Sustainable Jersey Schools application and they have 235 points worth of approved actions! That means they exceeded their goal for this school year in becoming recertified with Bronze Level status. Special congratulations to the Campbell School Green Team. · Jodie Zeng has been named the NJSIAA scholar athlete for Metuchen High School. Jodie’s selection by the administration and the athletic department was based on her outstanding academic record and her significant contributions to the field hockey program during her career. We are proud of Jodie’s accomplishments. As a reminder, we are always here for the community. Reach out via phone, email, or social media with any questions or comments. We appreciate your support and your input. Once again Happy Mother’s Day and enjoy the weekend.

Good afternoon. This is superintendent of schools, Dr. Caputo. While it’s rainy today, nice weather is expected this weekend. Please follow Mayor Busch’s guidance: continue to maintain social distance, wear face coverings, and avoid the temptation to congregate. As a reminder, all schools and district grounds remain closed. That includes all the playing fields and the MHS track. There should be nobody on school property except for our district essential employees. Last night, our state education commissioner sent out a message of hope and thanks. He wrote, “May 4-8 is Teacher Appreciation Week. In these unprecedented times, our appreciation for these educators takes on a whole new meaning. Our teachers and administrators are finding a way to make it work. Teachers strive to continue to provide instruction and stay connected with the students they have cared for all year long. We know that our educators remain a lifeline for our students. The stories I’ve seen of New Jersey educators rising to the challenge have been, quite simply, inspiring.” So after you unplug this weekend, enjoy your families and the nice weather. Then next week, in the words of Commissioner Repollet, “please be sure to recognize the dedication of the educators serving the students of our community.” Thanks. Be healthy and be safe. Here are some additional updates and good news: · The individual principals have shared much information with you already. Here’s just an overview of the grading procedures. Campbell School will continue to use their standards-based report card; the school leadership team is discussing the indicators used to provide parents with feedback. Edgar School has gone to a pass/fail system for the fourth marking period. Metuchen High School has changed the weights of the first three marking periods to 28% and the weight of marking period four to 16%. Final exams at MHS have been cancelled. · Three teams won winter season championships this year: Winter Cheer, Boys Swim, and Girls Swim. · Two Individuals won winter season championships: In Swim, Bridget Thomas was a 1st Place winner and new record holder from the GMC Meet. For Individual Indoor Track & Field: Lucie Lee was the Sectional Champion in Pole Vault. · Our MHS students continue to achieve academically at high levels. On the SAT Subject Tests, for school year 2018-19, the following students earned perfect scores: Jocelyn Chou – Chemistry, Yun J. Hyon – Math Level 2 and Chemistry, Rafael Lacson – Math Level 2, Andrew Lau – Math Level 2, Sophie Lipshutz – Math Level 2, Aaron Puerzer – Math Level 2, Joseph Schugel – Math Level 2, and Allie Tay – Chemistry · On the SAT Subject Tests, for the current school year, the following students earned perfect scores: Prajit Dhuri – Math Level 2, Charlotte Haq – Literature, Christopher Hyon – Math Level 2, Sanando Kanjilal – Math Level 2, and Swagato Kanjilal – Math Level 2 · And finally, there are many local businesses supporting Structured Learning Experiences for our students, ages 16-21. We are so thankful to the following businesses and organizations and appreciative of their partnerships: Dean’s Café, Moss Elementary School, ShopRite, TJ Maxx, MHS Custodial Department, What’s the Scoop, Metuchen Diner, Edible Arrangements, Pomptonian (MHS Food Service), Abilitees, and Edgar Child Care Center-YMCA. We promise to do the best we can for the families of Metuchen. Please feel free to reach out if there is anything we can do. You can always contact me via phone, email, or on social media. Thanks again for your support and enjoy the weekend!

Good afternoon. In the midst of this pandemic, it’s my hope that these Friday messages provide you with useful information and bring you some amount of comfort. Thanks to all the first responders in Metuchen. They are working to protect the rest of us. The least we can do is to stay home and reduce the spread of the virus. I’d also like to thank our essential district employees including our maintenance workers and custodians, bus drivers and aides, and our technology staff. These folks show up every day and continue to keep the district operating. We continue to deliver lunches to 44 of those students who are eligible to receive them. There are many other families who are not yet taking advantage of this delivery service and we encourage them to contact us. As you know, Governor Murphy’s executive order keeps all New Jersey schools closed until at least May 15th. We remain hopeful of a return to in-person schooling, but we are preparing for remote learning for the remainder of the school year and for our summer programs. We have also begun to have discussions about what September might look like and how to best prepare for future remote learning if necessary. Please stay safe and healthy. Take care of yourselves and your families. We are always just a phone call, email, or social media post away. Please contact us if you need anything. We’ve all been dealing with lots of bad news recently. Today, I have several pieces of good news to share with you. · Welcome home to assistant principal, Brian Stike. He is back in the United States, at home after a multi-month military deployment in the Middle East. We are thankful for his service. We look forward to his return to civilian work around May 13th. · Each year, Metuchen High School student-athletes are honored with county and statewide awards. This year, the GMC Sportsmanship Awards went to Arielle Benderly and Elijah Ervin. The GMC Scholar Athlete awards went to Daniel Schleif and Sophie Lipshutz. Congratulations to all four outstanding student-athletes. · U.S. News and World Report releases annual rankings of high schools across the nation. We are happy that Metuchen High is included in the national and state rankings. It’s a great honor and we are proud. We will continue to strive to do even better in the future and build upon our academic and social-emotional curricula for students, supporting the whole child. · Finally, Metuchen High School had 24 students, the most in recent memory, qualify as merit scholars for the National Merit Scholarship Program – Class of 2021. This is a great academic accomplishment. Congratulations to these two dozen students - and keep up the good work.

Good afternoon. I hope this message finds you and your families healthy or on the way back to full health. This is still a very critical time in battling the pandemic. Please continue to practice social distancing and certainly continue to wear face coverings when you must go out. Do it for yourself and do it for all the first responders, the essential workers and those residents with underlying conditions that make them more susceptible. As you may have heard, yesterday Governor Murphy extended the closure of all New Jersey schools through at least May 15th. He also explained that decisions about schools beyond that date would be made based on science. Like everyone we are hopeful that we will return this year, but we are planning for remote instruction through June and even for our summer programs if needed. Whether we are in-person or via remote learning, we remain committed to providing the best education and also the necessary social-emotional support for both our adults and children. Stay healthy and safe and have a wonderful weekend. I think Sunday is the better day for hot dogs and burgers on the grill. That’s what we will be doing. Below are some updates: · We have 152 students eligible for free or reduced lunch and are making daily deliveries to the homes of 42 of those students. If you are eligible for free or reduced lunch, we are ready to deliver to your homes. Please let us know. Additionally if you or your neighbor think they might be newly-eligible, please let us know and we will provide you with assistance completing the eligibility paperwork. · Mr. McPeek and Mr. Peragallo will be sharing information with parents and students regarding marking period four grading. · There is a strong possibility that some or all of the year-end activities at our schools will be cancelled, postponed, or modified in some way. Please know that we are having those discussions daily and we will share details when we have them. · We are continuing with wellness checks on our students. We are here to offer academic and emotional support for students and families. Checks may include phone calls, video chats, email, and even home visits. · Thank you to those parents who have reached out to me with feedback. Many of you have been so complimentary of our teachers. Thank you. I know how hard they are working and how much they care. The positive affirmations are appreciated. · As always, I am here to help. Feel free to reach out to me via phone, email, or social media.

Good afternoon. The next Metuchen Board of Education meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, April 14, 2020 at 8 pm. The meeting will be broadcast live via Facebook on the “Metuchen Public School District” page. Members of the public can also listen to and participate in the meeting by dialing into the call via telephone, as follows: 1 (929) 205-6099 Meeting ID: 870 159 966 Password: 176150 We ask that when dialing into the call you place your phone on mute. The meeting will be open to the public for comment or question at 3 different times as you can see on the agenda attached. At that time only, call in users be able to ask your questions or provide comment. You will be asked to identify yourself with a full name and address just as we do at the regular Board meetings. We will also attempt to monitor our Facebook page for questions that we can address during the meeting but can not guarantee we will see them all. Please also feel free to email questions in advance to the Superintendent Dr. Vince Caputo at vcaputo@metboe.k12.nj.us or the Board President Justin Manley at jmanley@metboe.k12.nj.us

As always, I hope this message finds you and your family healthy or fully recovering. I trust that your spring break brought many opportunities to connect as families and for you to enjoy some truly free time. Next Tuesday, we will resume with our remote instruction. But before then, I know that many of us have been and will be celebrating religious holidays. As unusual as this may seem, it is critical that all of us refrain from the typical gatherings. Stay at home. Continue to make the small sacrifices so that our first responders can remain healthy and can stay on the job protecting all of us and our loved ones. Here are some updates on topics of interest: · We have 152 students eligible for free and reduced lunch. Currently, we are making home deliveries to 38 of those students. If you are eligible, or think you may be eligible for free and reduced lunch, please contact us. You can email Deb Finden at dfinden@metboe.k12.nj.us. · Special education continues as close to normal as possible. Student IEPs are being met. Services are being provided. Child study teams are meeting virtually. Planning is underway for the summer extended school year. We will plans to be ready to provide services in-person or remotely. The same planning applies for our MHS summer institute, where we open our schools for enrichment and remediation courses and college prep assistance for students. · Eighteen parents have opted out of live online group instruction. Teachers will do their best to continue remote instruction for those students. If you would like to reconsider your decision, please change your response in Genesis or contact your school principal. · We are continuing with our wellness checks on students. These checks may be emails, phone calls, and even home visits in extreme cases. If you are struggling, or if you know families who are, please contact us. · Clubs and sports are continuing virtually. Please reach out if you have not been included thus far. · As a reminder, all statewide assessments are cancelled for this year. College Board AP exams will still happen next month. They will be 45-minute, open book, free-response-type tests. · In addition to thanking the folks around the borough who are still working in-person every day, we have a number of district employees still working in-person, including maintenance and custodians, bus drivers and aides, and our technology department. Thanks everyone! · Keep up the social distancing. Do it for yourself and for your neighbors. Enjoy the holiday weekend and “see” you for remote instruction which resumes on Tuesday, April 14th. · As always, you can contact me via phone, email, or social media. Dr. Caputo

Good afternoon. This is Dr. Caputo. I hope this message finds you and your families healthy or recovering. While remote learning has posed some challenges, I am so proud of our initial preparation and the execution of our pandemic instructional plan. Our students, parents, and staff have been amazing the last three weeks. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone in our school community. Student learning continues. Teaching and grading will be very different. But now it’s time for a break. The Metuchen Public Schools will be on spring break next week, until remote instruction returns on Tuesday, April 14th. During this time, our teachers and counselors and child study team members will be off so that they can recharge and care for themselves and their families. There will be no direct instruction; nor will there be any assigned homework. So I encourage you and your families to relax and enjoy some well-deserved family time. One important reminder – all school fields are closed until further notice. Please stay home and prevent the spread of the virus. I remain available to you via phone, email, and social media throughout the break. Be well and stay healthy. Here is some additional information: 1. We will continue to deliver lunches over the break to all students who qualify for free or reduced lunch. If you are eligible and would like to start receiving lunches, or if you want us to determine if you are eligible, please let me know or contact Deb Finden via email at dfinden@metboe.k12.nj.us 2. District staff, including teachers, counselors, child study team members, and administrators will resume doing wellness checks on students after spring break. If you or someone you know needs assistance while we are on break, please contact me. 3. Please complete the notification of remote learning form in Genesis so that your child can continue to benefit from live lessons offered by our teachers. 4. All board of education fields remain closed. We are working closely with the mayor’s office to reduce the spread and keep your neighbors in Metuchen safe and healthy. Stay off the fields and track. Find other ways to enjoy the outdoors. 5. Spring sports coaches and club advisors will continue to support their students with virtual and online learning opportunities. Please enjoy your spring break, and as always, let me know how I can help.

Good afternoon. This is Dr. Caputo. I hope this message finds you and your family healthy or recovering. We have completed two weeks of remote learning. I want to personally thank the students, parents, and teachers. While we are still learning and improving every day, I have seen some amazing efforts. Governor Murphy announced that he will not even consider the question of when to open New Jersey’s schools again until mid-April, so the Metuchen Public Schools are closed through at least April 17. We are all here for you. Stay well. Be healthy. And we should be thankful to our first responders, health care workers, and all those who are working to keep our lives as normal as possible. we ask that you continue to practice safe and smart social distancing. I'm sure all of your kids are getting a bit stir crazy and it's tempting to relax but we will only get through this quicker if we flatten the curve. It's OK and needed to get outside but kids shouldn't be gathering in groups. Make sure to wash your hands and practice smart hygiene. Here are a few additional updates: 1. We have been delivering 50 lunches every day. If you are eligible for free or reduced lunch, and would like to start to receive delivery, please contact us. 2. Jersey Mike’s is again offering free sandwiches this weekend to Metuchen students. If you can, support our local businesses. 3. We’ve been developing and refining a home-instruction support process. Parents are expected to request home instruction help by emailing support@metboe.k12.nj.us. When an email is sent, it’s usually a hardware, account, or other networking issue. While our technology team is handling those issues at Moss, they can’t always get to instructional issues like connecting to Classrooms, Meets and Zoom sessions, or questions about software features. Building techs will address those questions if the teachers are unable to. 4. The school principals will be sending out communications regarding parent-teacher conferences. 5. As I shared at the beginning of this closure, learning would still happen, but teaching and grading would need to be different. No final decisions have been made yet, but we are having on-going discussions about the challenges that grading poses in a remote learning format. More information will be shared in the future. 6. All New Jersey standardized testing has been cancelled for this school year. Advanced Placement tests for high school students are still on, and College Board’s plan is to have students take them remotely. We will share more information as the testing dates draw nearer. 7. Spring sports coaches and club advisors will still be overseeing their activities in a virtual setting. If students haven’t heard from them yet, they will hear from their coaches and club advisors shortly. Once again, we are here to help. Feel free to reach out to me via phone, email, or social media. Thanks for all your patience and support.

n response to the announcement today from Governor Murphy, the Metuchen Public Schools will be closed until further notice. As you know, we proactively closed for this week out an abundance of caution. And now, we will be closed at least until March 30th, and possibly longer. We will be in touch with updates should anything change. Teaching and grading will be different, but remote learning began today and will continue until schools are open again. Free and reduced lunch deliveries also began today. Everyone in the district is here to support students and their families. Contact your teachers, principals, or any of us with your questions or concerns. Your physical and mental health are our top priorities. Stay well and stay in touch. All the best from Dr. Caputo.

The Metuchen Public Schools will be closed next week, March 16 to March 20. All activities are also cancelled. After consultation with the mayor and the board president we have decided to do our part to flatten the curve. We don’t take this decision lightly and we know there will be disruptions to normal routines. Remote learning will begin on Monday. Our administrators and teachers are prepared. Learning will occur. Teaching and grading will be a little different. We are here for you and we will maintain the district services that you expect. Good luck. Be well. We will stay in touch frequently.

The district is closely following news from the CDC, the NJ Department of Health, and the NJ Department of Education regarding Coronavirus (Covid-19). Our administration, teachers, and support staff are continuously reviewing our plans and communicating when there is any new information to report. The district has created a ‘Coronavirus Update’ Tab on the main page of the website that includes all communication and information that has been disseminated. On March 5, 2020, the Commissioner of Education for the NJ Department of Education Provided Guidance Regarding Requirements for Public Health-Related School Closures. This document explains the importance of planning and preparing prior to having to potentially close school or cancel events. It also provides some information about how they will address the 180-day requirement for school districts in case of a health-related school closure. Each district is required to submit a plan to the County office this week, outlining how teaching and learning will continue via a distance learning model if any mandatory closures are ordered by the NJDOE or NJDOH. If the plan is approved, and our schools are required to close, any days of distance learning would count toward the 180 days. Our administrative team is working with the teachers to prepare a plan for that possibility. We share this information so parents can be informed of the latest updates and guidelines that our schools have received.