Hillcrest School ‘Future Ready’ Team Honored By Board Of Education

Members of the Hillcrest Elementary School “Future Ready” team were honored Nov. 29 by the Board of Education.

Hillcrest Elementary School has joined the list of township schools designated as “Future Ready.”

The school’s “Future Ready” team was honored at the Nov. 29 Board of Education meeting.

The New Jersey Future Ready Schools program is an offshoot of the national effort to boost digital learning in the nation’s schools. To be certified, schools must win a certain number of points by satisfying a variety of requirements and indicators, Edward Ward, the district’s supervisor of instructional technology, told the board.

With Hillcrest’s achievement of “Bronze Level,” all but Claremont Road School, Pine Grove Manor School and Franklin High School have achieved the certification in the district.

Edward Ward, the district’s instructional technology supervisor, explains the “Future Ready” program at the board meeting.

Those schools should have their certification by the end of the school year, schools Superintendent John Ravally said.

Hillcrest principal Albert Fico thanked the board for recognizing the school’s team.

“Although I stand before you, the ladies and gentlemen in the audience deserve most of the credit for this accomplishment,” he said. “They’re a great team who put in countless hours helping Hillcrest to attain the Bronze status.”

Board member Rich Seamon said “it’s been wonderful for me to watch the schools in the district go through the process and gain this status. It’s terrific and I’m pleased for our school district that we were able to put this together in a cohesive manner.”

Ravally said that he envisions a district-wide Future Ready team once the final three schools are certified.

“That would be really significant, not many districts have been able to do that yet,” he said. “We’re well on our way.”

“The process and everything that goes on on a daily basis that supplies the evidence for the indicators is what’s important and what’s meaningful,” Ravally said. “That takes leadership, and it takes leaders like Mr. Ward and Mr. Fico and his team …  and the end result … students actually applying the technology, that’s the meaningful part.”

“I’m very proud at what’s going on in Hillcrest,” he said. “Congratulations, continue to grow, continue to do wonderful things like that, make technology come to life and marry it to curriculum, that’s what it’s all about.”

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