School News

The Franklin Township High School Project Graduation Committee won $1,000 in a contest sponsored by Let’s Yo yogurt stores. The group received their check on Nov. 11 at the Let’s Yo on Elizabeth Avenue. The contest involved schools getting credits for purchase points earned by customers after the customers texted a school-specific code to a central phone number, said store …

Come early next year, members of Non-Governmental Organizations registered with the United Nations may have an easier time finding each other. That’s because a group of Rutgers Preparatory School students are designing a software app that will give users quick access to the UN’s database of its NGOs. The students hope to be testing the app by January 2014, with …

Students at the Thomas Edison EnergySmart Charter School celebrated Diwali, the Indian “Festival of Lights,” during a special presentation Nov. 5. The celebration included dancing, singing and violin playing, said Oguz Yildiz, the school’s principal. “The performances put on by the students and parents were extremely impressive,” Yildiz said in an email about the event. “There was even a fashion …

Updated with response from Julia Presley. Eight ethics complaints filed against Board of Education president Julia Presley by three board members and a former elementary school principal will be heard by an Administrative Law Judge. The state Department of Education’s School Ethics Commission on Oct. 29 adopted recommendations from its Sept. 24 meeting to forward the complaints – filed by …

Incidents of violence, vandalism and harassment are decreasing in all nine of the district schools, according to a district official. Orvyl Wilson, director of school management, told the Board of Education at its Oct. 17 meeting that not only is there a “downward trend” in all of the categories of violence, vandalism, substance abuse and student discipline that are reportable …

A modified version of a controversial program designed to ease Franklin High School’s freshmen into the high school life was approved by the Board of Education at its Oct. 17 meeting. The program, known as “Freshman Focus,” was the subject of controversy and much comment at the last two school board meetings. Detractors say it’s nothing more than a study …

Now that the bleachers and press box at the Franklin Township High School athletic complex have been officially opened, the district administration is setting its sights on the project’s next phase. School district and township officials gathered on the football field prior to the Oct. 12 homecoming game against Elizabeth High School to formally cut the ribbon on the complex’s …

The school district is preparing to embark on an $8.4 million project predicted to save about 30 percent of the district’s energy costs. An “Energy Savings Improvement Program” was approved by the board at its Sept. 26 meeting. Through the program, the district is predicted to see cuts in energy as well as service and parts, Josh Costell, of Tozour …

In what was almost an anticlimactic vote, the Board of Education Sept. 26 voted to not offer a new contract to schools Superintendent Edward Seto. The board voted 5-1 for the resolution to not offer Seto another four-year contract when his contract ends in June, 2014. Board member Richard Seamon cast the only “no” vote. Board members Thomas Lewis and …

A program supporters say was designed to help ease the transition of freshmen into high school came under fire at the Sept. 19 Board of Education meeting. The program, called Freshman Focus, was started at the high school this year, principal James Bevere told the school board during a 15-minute presentation. Although Bevere spoke highly of the program – which …