School News

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 …

For at least the rest of the month, members of the MacAfee Road School community won’t have far to go to get fresh produce. In fact, they’ll only have to go as far as Susan Zega’s special education classroom. That’s because the vegetable garden tended by Zega’s students is producing a bountiful harvest. The garden, located next to the school’s backyard greenhouse, …

A dream nearly 20 years in the making came to fruition Sept. 9 with a ribbon-cutting signifying the rebirth of the old Kingston School on Laurel Avenue. Mayor Phillip Kramer led a delegation of township representatives to the event, which served as the official opening of the building’s new tenant, the relocated YingHua International School. The school had previously been …

More than 100 Hillcrest Elementary School students received backpacks and school supplies Sept. 8, just in time for the start of the new school year. The backpacks came courtesy of a program run by state Assemblyman Joe Danielsen (D-17), who solicited donations from businesses and organizations. Danielsen is distributing a total of 800 backpacks to schools in all five towns …

Students at Franklin Park School Sept. 7 got to meet a real-life G.I. Joe, in the form of the father of one of their school mates. Capt. Yemi Daramola, an 11-year Army veteran, was feted by students and staff at the school as he prepares to leave for his second deployment to the Middle East. Daramola’s son, Joseph, is a …

Faced with student opposition to aggressive enforcement of existing policies and some new procedures – opposition manifested in an online petition with more than 1,000 signatures – the new Franklin High School principal is planing to convene a committee of students and parents to discuss their concerns. In a letter that is planned to be sent to parents on Sept. 7, …