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Oct 14, 2014

That Little District in Warren County


 








Several years ago, my husband and I purchased a large home in Allamuchy Township with the intent of filling it with children. To become foster parents, we attended months of training and what seemed like even more months of intrusive and awkward meetings with DYFS workers. Within a week of completing our training, we were offered the opportunity to foster (and possibly adopt) three siblings. We were thrilled! Within a day of meeting our children, we knew that we never wanted to separate from these beautiful beings.

We registered the children for school with a mixture of concern and trepidation. Our children had many needs. We expected the school system to be resistant. I could not imagine that it would be “fun” to have us as parents. My husband and I have very loud and poignant opinions about all things pertaining to curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Nonetheless, what we found was an overwhelming amount of acceptance and support for our children.

The Allamuchy Township School District exceeded my expectations. In my career, I have worked with over 60% of the schools in New Jersey and countless other districts in the tri-state area. At no point did I plan to be critical or negative toward the district’s educators, but as it turned out, I didn’t have to be. As a parent, I think that we should leave our school system alone, unless an incident occurs where we have no choice but to intervene on behalf of our child. For my biological children, such a time happened only once in their entire public school careers.

Even though I do not believe in interfering, that does not mean that I do not pay very careful attention to what is going on. What we found at Allamuchy Township were over-the-top caring educators. Our oldest adopted child went from being a “C” student from an Abbott district to being an “A” student in Allamuchy. She also went from being partially proficient on the NJASK to close to advanced proficient in just two years. Her success was due in part to her hard work and our emphasis on academic success. But mostly, her success came from the sixth grade English teachers in Allamuchy.

I am not saying that Allamuchy is an educational Shangri-La. The district’s curriculum is weak. It does not capture the Common Core Standards, and the pacing chart is a list of months with no associated content or activities. I am always disappointed in a district’s administration when teachers do not have clearly defined objectives, activities, and resources. That means that the instructors must define instructional activities on their own. In this case, the instructors were brilliant! Our daughter never used to read, and now she reads every chance she gets because the school assigns challenging, engaging literature AND activities so often that reading has become second nature to her.

Her teachers have made a significant impact on who she is and who she will become. My husband and I were inspired by her social studies instructors. We still joke that we want to sit in on their classes. We also believe that she will choose a career in the field of science because of her science instructor. This past summer, during our family reunion, our daughter spent an inordinate amount of time playing in rivers and streams looking for “critters.” When I saw her with those ugly, black, slimy, snail-like animals, all I thought was, “Oh my, our princess is touching dirty animals.” But don’t worry, I never said that. What I said was, “Wow, that is so cool.  What is that?” After I got over my discomfort of her touching and exploring the riverbanks, I realized that she was passionate about any living creature due to her science teacher’s passion for the life and environmental sciences. And for anyone that knows me, knows that I say, “Math is THE most important subject for a young lady. Be a strong mathematician and you can write your ticket to your chosen university;” just know that I am smiling. Allamuchy’s practices (not necessarily their curriculum) are fully aligned with the very rigorous, very challenging Common Core. That is saying a lot!

Our sons too have had exceptional experiences. They are both young children with great needs. Nevertheless, once again, the district exceeded our expectations. Our sons’ teachers text or email us if there is EVER a problem. In my opinion, the major reason why our children went from 0 to 10 in a few short years is due to the instructors’ efforts, intelligence, and hard work.

In terms of teacher effectiveness, Danielson, Marzano, and Stronge would be proud. These instructors created quality lesson plans with far reaching instructional materials despite the absence of clear curricula. They established caring classroom environments and worked with us hand-in-hand to assist our children in reaching their academic potential. And they even displayed progress as measured by test scores, what the Harvard theorists call the “value-added model” of teacher evaluation.

So on the cusp of completing our adoption, we’re on our way to begin a new life with our children. I selected a community with schools that are ranked 10 out of 10. We are looking at blues skies and academic rigor as we go forward. But we will not forget the small district in Warren County that made such a large and significant impact on our children’s future. Thank you, Allamuchy Township School District instructors.

Victoria Pagonis
Founder and President
Standards Solution