Cedar Grove Approves Trips, Presents State Test Results

Cedar Grove High School students will hit the road this spring for three separate overnight school-sponsored trips for musical competitions and sightseeing in our nation’s capital.

The Cedar Grove Board of Education unanimously approved the trips at its meeting Tuesday night at the North End School.

The trips include:

• An April 2-3 trip by the music department to southwestern Vermont for an annual concert exchange program at Mt. Anthony Union High School in Bennington. The music ensembles will visit and perform in a music department benefit concert at the school. The Vermont high school’s music ensemble will reciprocate when they travel to Cedar Grove April 5-7 for a benefit concert, also for the music department.
  The Cedar Grove ensembles will be performing Les Miserables in Vermont, Cedar Grove Music Director Jennifer Jessen-Foose said, which will provide the students with opportunities for a wide range of voices.
  A curriculum guide explaining the story behind the musical will accompany the student’s learning and reading.
• The board also approved the music department’s trip to Sandusky, Ohio from May 30 through June 2, 2013 to perform in a music festival. The trip will cost about $600 per student.
  While there, the students will visit Kahalari Resort, the largest water park in the country, visit the Hard Rock Café, the Cedar Point Amusement Park and the Great Lake Science Center.
• The board also approved a five-day trip by The Advanced Placement U.S. History and Government and Politics classes to Washington, D.C., leaving May 16 and returning on May 20.
  While in the nation’s capital, the class is expected to witness a debate on the floor of the U.S. Congress, visit the Supreme Court as well as other sites such as the Vietnam Memorial, the White House, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Smithsonian Institution. The trip will cost $500 per student.
  “Last year the experiences students had were amazing,” said Steven Gallagher, one of the teachers organizing the trip. “This will be an experience they are not going to get in the classroom.”
  “I firmly believe some of these kids will one day be working in Washington,” he said.

In other news, the board presented state standardized assessment results from the 2011-2012 school year.

The board said it was pleased to see many of the scores were above state averages, but also looked for areas of improvement, singling out the Grade 7 NJASK scores, which were only 56.8 percent proficient.

Principals from each of the Cedar Grove Schools presented initiatives and ways to improve test scores to the board.

Many of the initiatives included incorporating open-ended questions and analyzing text into more classes while also holding monthly meetings between language arts teachers and math teachers to discuss areas where students may be struggling and how to improve.

“Each year it seems the (assessment) presentation gets more informative and more in depth,” said Cedar Grove Board of Education President Frank Mandala. “This year we are above the state average in many areas. I only see us getting better and stronger from here.”

NJASK Language Arts and Literacy Proficiency:

• Grade 3 North End School – 90.7%
• Grade 3 South End School – 79.4%
• Grade 4 North End School – 86.2%
• Grade 4 South End School – 63.8%
• Grade 5 Memorial Middle School – 73.5%
• Grade 6 Memorial Middle School – 79%
• Grade 7 Memorial Middle School – 71%
• Grade 8 Memorial Middle School - 93%

 NJASK Mathematics Proficiency:

• Grade 3 North End School – 92.2%
• Grade 3 South End School – 86.8%
• Grade 4 North End School – 93.1%
• Grade 4 South End School – 80.9%
• Grade 5 Memorial Middle School – 92.8%
• Grade 6 Memorial Middle School – 88.1%
• Grade 7 Memorial Middle School – 56.8%
• Grade 8 Memorial Middle School – 85.1%

NJASK Science Proficiency:

• Grade 4 North End School – 100%
• Grade 4 South End School – 94.2%
• Grade 8 Memorial Middle School – 92.1%

HSPA Language Arts and Literacy Proficiency:

• Cedar Grove High School – 96.7%

HSPA Mathematics:

• Cedar Grove High School - 89%