School News

A dance recital, two fundraisers and a social event were among the “happenings” April 24 in township schools. MacAfee Road School’s administration and staff staged a “pasta night” to help raise money for a new playground.

A foundation has been formed to administer the annual Martin Luther King Community Breakfast and scholarship fund. Previously run through the Board of Education, the 18-year-old scholarship fund has awarded more than $120,000 in scholarships to Franklin high school graduating seniors.

The FR&A dropped in on the Franklin High School players’ dress rehearsal of “Jekyll & Hyde,” the award-winning Broadway musical based on a book by Robert Louis Stevenson. The show is about a doctor who brings out the dark side of himself through conducting experiments with chemicals.

(Updates at end of story). Social media is being monitored by the company that created the PARCC test, in an apparent effort to stop students from posting about the tests, according to a published report.

Arnav Tolat got a pretty big surprise March 4 when he walked into the Franklin Middle School library. Waiting for the 8th Grader were a number of his classmates, teachers and school and district administrators,  all of whom gathered to congratulate Tolat on wining two major awards in the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Foundation’s InvestWrite competition.

Tickets are on sale now for a charity fundraiser presented by the Independent Wrestling Federation, set for 7:30 p.m. May 1 at Franklin High School, 500 Elizabeth Ave., and which stars an FHS graduate. The fundraiser will benefit the FHS freshmen class and the DeSarno Family Fund.

A dozen years after it was ended, a program through which township police officers read to children at Pine Grove Manor School has been given new life. The program, Police And Children Engaging in Reading, or PACER, allows elementary school children to see police officers in a different light, said township police Sgt. Sean Hebbon. Hebbon and Officer Nick Gambino were …

Township Councilman Ted Chase, (D-Ward 1) and the Middlesex County Sheriff were honored Feb. 11 by the Thomas Edison EnergySmart Charter School on the occasion of Edison’s 168th birthday. Edison’s legacy is celebrated by the school each year on his birthday, according to a press release on the event. The school hosts local and statewide leaders to discuss innovations and technology …

Final rehearsals are underway for the Sampson G. Smith production of “Beauty and the Beast.” The show features the Sampson G. Smith Players, with a special performance by the SGS Dance Troupe.