- Pinelands Regional School District
-
Pinelands Regional School District Superintendent: Dr. Detlef Kern Business Administrator: Stephen Brennan Address: 520 Nugentown Road
Tuckerton, NJ 08087Grade Range: 7-12/9-12 School facilities: 2 Enrollment: 1,848 (as of 2009-10)[1] Faculty (in FTEs): 187 Student–teacher ratio: 9.88 District Factor Group: B Web site: http://www.pinelandsregional.org/ Ind. Per Pupil District
SpendingRank
(*)7-12/9-12
Average%± vs.
Average1 Comparative Cost $14,086 24 $13,359 5.4% 2 Classroom Instruction 7,902 23 7,564 4.5% 6 Support Services 2,309 34 1,827 26.4% 8 Administrative Cost 1,474 14 1,520 -3.0% 10 Operations & Maintenance 1,731 21 1,738 -0.4% 16 Median Teacher Salary 50,255 2 57,840 Data from NJDoE 2009 Comparative Spending Guide.[2]
*Of 7-12/9-12 districts with any number of students. Lowest spending=1; Highest=47- "Pinelands Regional" redirects here. For the high school located within the district, see Pinelands Regional High School.
Pinelands Regional School District is a regional school district in Ocean County, New Jersey, serving students from Bass River Township, Eagleswood Township, Little Egg Harbor Township and Tuckerton Borough.[3]
As of the 2009-10 school year, the district's two schools had an enrollment of 1,848 students and 187 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.88.[1] Both schools are accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and the New Jersey Department of Education.[4]
The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "B", the second lowest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.[5]
In 7th grade, the students are divided into three "teams": The Green, White, and Gold. Each "team" has a certain circuit of teachers for that year, but then abandoned once 8th grade comes.
Contents
History
Pinelands Regional High School officially opened on September 5, 1979 as a Junior-Senior High School, originally housing grades 7-12 from Tuckerton, Little Egg Harbor, Bass River, and Eagleswood. Prior to the opening of the school, students from those towns attended Southern Regional School District in Manahawkin.
The building originally held grades 7-8 on the third floor, 9-10 on the second, and 11-12 on the first. The building featured an experimental "Open classroom" design, where a large group of students of varying skill levels would be in a single, large classroom with several teachers overseeing them; and contained no interior walls. However, this format didn't last long, and in the 1980's, the rooms were walled off, and separated by floor-to-ceiling folding partitions.
In 1991, Pinelands Middle School opened across the street for students in grades 7-8. Also in the 90s, a new building was completed next to the high school, which houses a daycare center called "Rainbow Express". Students taking Child Care classes go to class in this building to help with the daycare kids. In 2002, the Middle School was expanded and the 9th grade was moved there. When the expansion was completed at the Middle School, it was renamed "Pinelands Regional Junior High School" while the High School was renamed the "Senior High School", although this name is rarely used.
Most of the High School is centered around a "Commons" area, which is a two-story open court with skylights, benches, and planters. The commons is home to many of the school's events, such as the Junior Prom, Semi-formal, and Jazz & Java Art show. Most of the commons feeds into a 3-story mall-like hallway where most of the classrooms are off of. Most elective classes, such as Art rooms, Shop classes, Auto tech, etc. are located in the one-story "D-wing" away from the rest of the classrooms, surrounding the Auditorium. This wing also houses remedial and self-contained classes, causing the remedial students to be called "D-wingers". Some of these classes have since been moved to a new off-site building built near the Athletic fields that opened in 2009.
Most of the school, especially the Commons area, has remained unchanged since its 1979 opening. Elements from the decade, such as globe lighting, planters, and earth tones are present. Recent major improvements to the school include renovated science labs and locker rooms, expanded parking lot, permanent lighting for the football field, and repainting of the lockers, which were formerly painted in a 70s-esque repeating orange-yellow-red-brown pattern were painted a dark green.
In 2010, severe budget cuts resulted in the removal of several teachers and programs, including Freshmen sports and the 3-day Pinelands Experience, which was held annually at the school since the opening.
Schools
Pinelands Regional Junior High School
Pinelands Regional High SchoolSchools in the district (with 2009-10 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[6]) are:
- Pinelands Regional Junior High School: 899 students in grades 7-9. Opened in September 1991.[4]
- F. Eric Pschorr - Junior High School Principal
- James Garibaldi - Junior High School Assistant Principal
- Pinelands Regional High School: 931 students in grades 10-12. Opened in September 1979.[4]
- Thomas Normile - High School Principal
- Alfonso Cirulli - High School Assistant Principal
Both schools are located directly across the street from each other near the Little Egg Harbor - Tuckerton border on Nugentown Road.
Board of education
The Board of Education is composed of nine citizens elected to serve terms of three years each. Representatives are elected on the basis of constituent population: six from Little Egg Harbor Township, and one each from Bass River Township, Eagleswood Township and from the Borough of Tuckerton.[7]
WCAT
WCAT is a Television station on local channel 21 for the area that the district serves. Most of the cast and crew is made up of students who take the class as an elective. The channel shows live morning announcements at 7:32am daily, followed by a commercial or short skit made by members of the WCAT class. Throughout the day, especially during lunch periods, other school programs or past school events are shown on the channel, usually shown on TVs in the cafeteria. Throughout the rest of the day, however, the channel is composed of school or community announcements typical of public-access television cable TV networks.
Pinelands Experience
The Pinelands Experience was a 3-day program for 7th graders entering the district, usually held in mid-October. Student chaperones from 9th grade and up were also involved, to chaperone groups. It was formerly an overnight camping trip that lasted several days, but was eventually scaled down to in 2002 due in part to hazing performed by upperclassmen, as well as budget cuts.
The three "color teams" were divided into sub-groups, and do 3 activities:
- Bass River State Forest Trip
Students go to the BRSF to go canoeing, a treasure hunt, and a pond ecology lesson, where students go into a lake to catch fish and other organisms.
- Ropes Course
Students go to the ropes course at the High School, which includes a rock wall and a zip-line. Although the course itself isn't used in the Pinelands Experience (It is used by the High School students), students participate in many activities, including obstacle courses.
- Character Counts
The students stay at the Junior High, but learn a variety of lessons, including a geocaching "treasure hunt", using a GPS.
In 2010, after severe budget cuts, the Pinelands Experience will not return for the 2010-2011 school year, with the 2009 event being the last year.
Paw Prints
There used to be painted-on Wildcat footprints on Nugentown Rd. leading into the driveways for both schools, and were paved over in mid-2006 but were re-painted around mid-summer 2007. A few years back, Weird NJ magazine printed an article featuring many photos of paw prints that closely resemble the Pinelands ones, painted in random places throughout New Jersey. That caused many to think that the other findings were connected to the school, but aren't.
Notable Alumni and Faculty
- Aronicimo Richotti (born 1979), heavyweight boxer.
- Lemmie Eastburn - member of Discovery Channel TV series Swords.
- Lily McBeth - former transgender substitute teacher at the school who made national news after she underwent a sex-change operation
- Saraan Kraushaar - former vice-principal of the school, who was the mistress of murderer Robert O. Marshall, whose slayings inspired the bestselling book Blind Faith, and was later a film with the same name, in which a character based on Kraushaar and a fictional incarnation of the school is featured.[8]
Administration
Core members of the district's administration are:[9][10]
- Dr. Daniel Loggi, Interim Superintendent
- Stephen Brennan, Business Administrator / Board Secretary
References
- ^ a b District information for the Pinelands Regional School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed October 18, 2011.
- ^ Comparative Spending Guide March 2009, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed October 28, 2009.
- ^ Greenfield, Dr. Bruce. "Ocean County Report On Consolidation and Regionalization", Report of the Executive County Superintendent, March 15, 2010. Accessed April 21, 2011. "Pinelands Regional - Eagleswood, Tuckerton, Bass River, Little Egg Harbor"
- ^ a b c About Us - Pinelands Regional School District. Accessed October 18, 2011.
- ^ NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed October 27, 2009.
- ^ Data for the Pinelands Regional School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed October 18, 2011.
- ^ Board Of Education, accessed February 18, 2007.
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099148/trivia?tr0597997
- ^ Board of Education Members, Pinelands Regional School District. Accessed April 21, 2011.
- ^ Ocean County School Directory, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed November 5, 2009.
External links
- Pinelands Regional School District
- Pinelands Regional School District's 2009–10 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
- Data for the Pinelands Regional School District, National Center for Education Statistics
Coordinates: 39°36′45″N 74°21′30″W / 39.612389°N 74.358295°W
School districts of Ocean County, New Jersey K-6 Beach Haven · Berkeley Township · Eagleswood Township · Island Heights · Little Egg Harbor Township · Long Beach Island · Ocean Gate · Ocean Township · Seaside Heights · Seaside Park · Stafford Township · Tuckerton
K-8 K-12 7-12 9-12 Atlantic · Bergen · Burlington · Camden · Cape May · Cumberland · Essex · Gloucester · Hudson · Hunterdon · Mercer · Middlesex · Monmouth · Morris · Ocean · Passaic · Salem · Somerset · Sussex · Union · WarrenCategories:- New Jersey District Factor Group B
- School districts in Ocean County, New Jersey
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