JANUARY 2020 MESSAGE FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT
At the end of 2019, New Jersey Governor Phil
Murphy signed legislation (S3160) requiring the Department of Education to
establish a four-year pilot program testing later school start times for five
high schools. The law will assess how shifting start times would impact
districts overall, including how extracurricular activities may be impacted and
how transportation to and from school would be affected. "Research also shows that academic
progress may be negatively impacted by starting school too early," Murphy
said. "By testing the viability of changing start times, we are exploring
ways to improve learning outcomes for New Jersey students." Under the legislation, Education Commissioner
Lamont Repollet was charged with selecting five school districts to participate
in the pilot program that could open schools as late as 8:30 a.m. "The pilot program on later start times
for high school students will also allow the Department of Education to gain
important impact on how students and families would be impacted by changes to
the school day," said Repollet. (from
the NJDOE website).
Clay Dillow of POPSCI.COM speaks to the tech wonders which lie ahead in 2020, “Get ready for the first complete synthetic human brain, moon mining, and much more. Maybe robotic moon bases, chips implanted in our brains, self-driving cars and high-speed rail linking London to Beijing. According to a dazzling number of technology predictions that single out the year 2020, it's going to be to be one heck of a year.” For those of us old enough to remember George Jetson and his flying car, such rapidly-emerging innovative technologies are at once thrilling and startling. While we welcome the visionary work that continues to significantly impact daily life, we are aware that the quest to attain peace in an unsettled world remains. President John F. Kennedy was eloquent in penning his perspective on peace, “Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.” So, as we look ahead to the new, amazing technology structures which will fill us with wonder, and the new, quiet structures built by global citizens to promote peace, please accept my best wishes for a new year filled with health and joy.
Sincerely,
Dr. Marie Cirasella