School News

The blue and gold was on display Oct. 28 at the annual Franklin High School homecoming football game. During the course of the evening, Franklin Warriors honored their senior football players, cheerleaders and marching band members. Also introduced to the crowd was the Homecoming King and Queen and their court. On the gridiron, the Warriors lost to visiting Hillsborough, 46-10. Following …

Submitted by Suzanne Kafas. The Franklin High School Marching Band continues to shine this season with a first place win at Met Life Stadium on October 15th. Beating out eight other schools, the Warrior band won the judges over with a season high score of 85.013 and a caption award of Best Overall Effect.  This is the Warriors’ first performance with both band and color guard in their new uniforms. The …

Submitted by Sue Kafas. The Franklin High School Warrior Marching Band won first place in their division in the USBands competition in Somerville on October 1. The band’s overall score was 84.6, beating out its next closest opponent by 3 points.  The band also took first place awards in captions including Best Percussion, Best Music and Best Overall Visual Effect. The …

What would be the third charter school in the township – and all of Somerset County – was approved Sept. 30 by the state Department of Education. But in approving the Ailanthus Charter School application, the state DOE added a planning year, which means the school would not be eligible to open until September 2018. Three other charter schools approved …

For the second consecutive year, an army of Eli Lilly employees descended on MacAfee Road School Sept. 29 armed with hammers, saws, paint brushes and good intentions. The approximately 90 employees of the Bridgewater-based company were taking part in its Global Day of Service. They were at the school to spruce it up through building furniture, making new signs and …

Dignitaries from the business, political and civic worlds were on hand Sept. 29 for the ribbon-cutting of the new Thomas Edison EnergySmart Charter School building on Pierce Street. The school had been housed for the past several years on Cortelyous Lane, at the site of the Oak Crest Day Camp. The school purchased the Pierce Street building and renovated it …

Central Jersey College Prep Charter School has been named a 2016 National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. The school, located on Schoolhouse Road, is one of 279 public and 50 private schools being so named, according to a press release from the school. The school’s current Chief Education Officer, Namik Sercan, and Tarkan Topcuoglu, the principal …

Franklin Middle School students cheered Sept. 26 as a ceremonial blue ribbon was cut in front of the newly remodeled cafeteria kitchen. The ribbon was cut by Board of Education president Ed Potosnak, surrounded by school and district administrators. Boasting brand new, state-of-the-art equipment, a new floor and a new “traffic flow,” the district hopes the new layout will solve problems that …

Hillcrest Elementary PTO won an honorable mention in the “Recycled Playground Challenge,” sponsored by Colgate-Palmolive, ShopRite and TerraCycle. Hillcrest Elementary PTO earned a total of 907 Playground Credits by recycling waste and through online voting to place in the contest. The honorable mention prize winner will receive a $150 Shoprite Gift Card, 500 Colgate kids’ toothbrushes, and 500 Colgate kids’ toothpaste tubes. …

The 3rd annual Franklin Day Festival in Colonial Park was the biggest by far, both in what was offered and the number of attendees. The festival, held Sept. 24, attracted an estimated 10,000 people, said Township Councilwoman Roz Sherman (D-Ward 2), head of the event’s organizing committee and its creator. In addition to food and craft vendors, non-profit organizations and township …