West Orange Public Schools

Infobox School District
name = West Orange Public Schools
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grades = PreK - 12
superintendent = Jerry P. Tarnoff
students = 6,327 (as of 2005-06)
teachers = 577.1 (on an FTE basis)
location = 179 Eagle Rock Avenue
West Orange, NJ 07052
contact number = 973-669-5430
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website = [http://www.westorange.k12.nj.us District web site] The West Orange Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district serving students in Kindergarten through 12th grade in West Orange in Essex County, New Jersey, United States.

As of the 2005-06 school year, the district's 11 schools had an enrollment of 6,327 students and 577.1 classroom teachers (on a FTE basis, for a student-teacher ratio of 11.0. [http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch/district_detail.asp?Search=2&details=1&ID2=3417610&DistrictID=3417610 District information for the West Orange Public Schools] , National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed August 5, 2008.]

The district currently consists seven elementary schools, three middle schools and one high school. In the 1990s, the district was ranked among the top 1% of schools in the nation by "The Washington Post".

Awards and recognition

During the 2008-09 school year, Hazel Avenue School was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education [ [http://www.ed.gov/programs/nclbbrs/2008/2008-schools.html U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon Schools Program: 2008 Schools] , United States Department of Education. Accessed September 23, 2008.] , the highest award an American school can receive. ["CIBA cited as one of the best by Education Department", "Journal Inquirer", November 16, 2006. "The Blue Ribbon award is given only to schools that reach the top 10 percent of their state's testing scores over several years or show significant gains in student achievement. It is considered the highest honor a school can achieve."] ["Viers Mill School Wins Blue Ribbon; School Scored High on Statewide Test", "The Washington Post". September 29, 2005. "For their accomplishments, all three schools this month earned the status of Blue Ribbon School, the highest honor the U.S. Education Department can bestow upon a school."]

Schools

The schools in the district (with 2005-06 school enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics [ [http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_list.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3417610 West Orange Public Schools] , National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed November 11, 2007.] ) are as follows:

;Elementary Schools (grades K–5)
* [http://www.westorange.k12.nj.us/Schools/Gregory/ Gregory Elementary School] – 471 students
**John Z. Nittolo, Principal
* [http://www.westorange.k12.nj.us/Schools/Hazel/ Hazel Avenue Elementary School] – 334 students
**Marguerite De Carlo, Principal
* [http://www.westorange.k12.nj.us/Schools/MtPleasant/ Mount Pleasant Elementary School] – 350 students
**Michael Schiavo, Principal
* [http://www.westorange.k12.nj.us/Schools/Pleasantdale/ Pleasantdale Elementary School] (includes pre-Kindergarten) – 454 students
**John Halak, Principal
* [http://www.westorange.k12.nj.us/Schools/Redwood/ Redwood Elementary School] – 496 students
**Barbara Kivlon, Principal
* [http://www.westorange.k12.nj.us/Schools/StCloud/ St. Cloud Elementary School] – 363 students
**Adam Geher, Principal
* [http://www.westorange.k12.nj.us/Schools/Washington/ Washington Elementary School] – 412 students
**Marie DeMaio, Principal

;Middle Schools (grades 6–8)
* [http://www.westorange.k12.nj.us/Schools/EMS/ Thomas A. Edison Central Sixth Middle School] – 483 students in sixth grade
**Xavier Fitzgerald, Principal
**Steven Melendez, Assistant Principal
* [http://www.westorange.k12.nj.us/Schools/LMS/ Liberty Middle School] in grades 7-8 – 528 students
**John P. Vogler, Principal
**Robert J. Klemt, Assistant Principal
* [http://www.westorange.k12.nj.us/Schools/RMS/ Roosevelt Middle School] – 438 students in grades 7-8
**Frank A. Corrado, Principal
**Lionel J. Hush Jr., Assistant Principal

;High School
*West Orange High School – 1,998 students
**Arthur J. Alloggiamento, Principal
**Dr. Kimberly M. Jiurdano, Assistant Principal
**Hayden Moore, Assistant Principal
**Eric Price, Assistant Principal

Defunct school facilities

*Three schools have occupied the same location on Gaston Street. The first was the original West Orange High School, built in 1898. It burned down in 1913, was rebuilt, and linked by a shared auditorium to Fairmount Avenue Elementary School. In 1912, the elementary school had been built behind the high school with its entrance on Fairmount Avenue. (At that time, Fairmount Avenue ran parallel to Gaston Street but it no longer exists.) In 1922, when a new high school was constructed on Northfield Avenue (now Seton Hall Prep), the old high school was transformed into Gaston Street Junior High School. Fairmount Avenue Elementary School remained the same. In the 1950s, Gaston Street Junior High School closed, and the building was transformed once again, this time into the Board of Education offices. In 1972, Fairmount Elementary School dropped the "Avenue" from its name and it was moved to a new building on the corner of Northfield and Gregory Avenues (now the Solomon Schechter Day School Lower Campus). The Board of Education offices remained on Gaston Street and took over both old school buildings. In the late 1970s, both buildings were demolished and the Board of Education offices were relocated to Eagle Rock Avenue School. The Gaston Street/Fairmount Avenue land parcel became the site of the Fairmount House (now the John P. Renna, Jr.) Senior Citizens Housing Complex. A small portion of the land became an extension of the parking lot for the adjacent Town Hall.
*Eagle Rock Avenue Elementary School – Converted into new Board of Education offices.
*Fairmount Elementary School – Sold and became [http://www.ssdsofessexandunion.org/lower/lower.html Solomon Schechter Day School Lower Campus] (Jewish).
*West Orange High School (Northfield Avenue) – Sold and became Seton Hall Preparatory School (Catholic).
*West Orange Mountain High School – Built in 1960 as a second high school, located behind Abraham Lincoln Junior High School with its entrance on Conforti Avenue. It became the "new" West Orange High School when the two high schools merged in 1984.
*Abraham Lincoln Junior High School – On Pleasant Valley Way, it was adjacent and connected to West Orange Mountain High School through a shared auditorium. Later, when West Orange Mountain High School became the "new" West Orange High, Lincoln was closed and the building absorbed by the "new" high school in order to enlarge it.

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are: [ [http://schools.woboe.org/District/Pages/DistrictAdministration.aspx District Administration] , West Orange Public Schools. Accessed August 5, 2008.] [ [http://liberty.state.nj.us/cgi-bin/education/directory/directory1.pl?string=co_code13&maxhits=1000 New Jersey School Directory for Essex County] , New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed August 5, 2008.]
*Superintendent, Jerry P. Tarnoff
*Assistant Superintendent, Dr. Donna Rando
*Business Administrator / Board Secretary, Mark Kenney

References

External links

* [http://www.westorange.k12.nj.us/ West Orange Board of Education / Public Schools]
*NJReportCard|13|5680|0|West Orange Public Schools
* [http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_list.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3417610 West Orange Public Schools] , National Center for Education Statistics