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Superintendent Michael J. Ritacco
with Board of Education member Betty Vasil.
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Summer 2010
Toms River Regional has moved from a three-tier to a four-tier
bus schedule. In this challenging economic climate it is
important for the district to examine every possible cost-saving
measure. This tier change will adjust the opening and
closing times of our schools and save approximately 1.5 million
dollars per year. None of these savings could have been
accomplished without the cooperation of our bus driver's union.
We appreciate and offer our thanks for their contribution to
making the new tiered system possible. The new schedules
are available at
www.trschools.com/calendar.
Parents who are registering their children for school should
visit the Central
Registration web site for information and forms. Their phone
number is 732-505-2600.
We hope everyone is having a wonderful summer.
May 2010
Calendar Update: The end of year schedule and the
graduation dates and schedules are as follows:
April 2010
The Toms River Regional budget passed on April 20, 2010.
We'd like to thank the community for their support.
Budget Highlights:
- Proposed: $194,595,838
- $1.3 million in spending less than last year
- $14 million loss of revenue
- 800 employees have agreed to a wage freeze and health care
changes. We are continuing to negotiate with other unions
- Changing the bus tier from three-tier to four-tier will
save one million dollars.
- Eliminate most part-time positions and utilize split
shifts among support staff to greatly reduce over-time costs.
- As administrators, teachers, and support staff retire, we
will re-evaluate the positions and replace only those critical
to current operations.
- Negotiations are also in progress to allow the
continuation of all extra-curricular and athletic activities.
Many employees will be making personal sacrifices in their
compensation to allow these programs to continue.
March 2010
We will be introducing the 2010-2011 budget at the March
18, 2010 Board of Education meeting at Intermediate North. The
budget will then move to the county superintendent for approval.
After the budget has been released from the county
superintendent's office, we will have the budget hearing.
The budget hearing will be at 6:00 p.m. at High School South on
March 26, 2010.
January 2010
As
school reopens following the winter recess, we would like to
once again recognize the acts of kindness demonstrated by
students, faculty, and staff during the holiday season. A
special thanks to all of the charitable endeavors taken on
throughout the Toms River Regional School District. These
events made the holiday season brighter for many in our
community.
We would like
to begin 2010 with a commitment to high expectations. We look
forward to the accomplishments and achievements of the Toms
River Regional students in the year ahead. Happy New Year!
December 2009
December is a
month where the commitment of our students, faculty, staff, and
administration to the community shines brightly. Here are just
a few examples of upcoming events and charitable activities:
High
School North’s
Interact Club will be singing carols at the senior center on
December 16th.
Intermediate East
will be having their Vocal Orchestra Concert on December 17,
2009 at 7:30 p.m.
Intermediate South’s
Early Act Club is collecting food for their needy Seminole
families and selling holiday stuffed bears to benefit the March
of Dimes. The Intermediate South staff is collecting Toys for
the Salvation Army’s “Adopt an Angel program”. The Student
Council is doing a Toys for Tots toy drive.
Beachwood Elementary
teamed up with the Girl Scout Troop and conducted a coat drive,
together they collected over 200 coats. The Student Council
along with our PTO held a can food drive and sold bracelets to
purchase Shoprite gift cards for needy families during the
holidays. The faculty and staff of Beachwood have organized a
"Giving Tree" and have supplied gifts for seven Beachwood
families. Our Kindergarten Holiday Concert is on Dec. 11th, AM
at 9:30, and PM at 1:00. Our PTO Santa Holiday Gift Shoppe and
Cookies with Santa is set for Dec. 11th from 6:30-8:30. The
Winter Chorus Concert is set for Dec. 16th at 1 PM.
The
Cedar Grove Patriots
are busy all year round, engaging in activities which benefit
our community. These are some examples: A food drive was held
in September for Hunger Awareness Action Month. Many boxes of
nonperishable food staples, donated by pupils and staff, were
gratefully accepted by the House of Hope in Toms River. The
staff participated in a Jeans Day in October to benefit breast
cancer research. We used the money paid for the privilege of
wearing jeans to school to sponsor a colleague in the Making
Strides for Breast Cancer walk.
In November,
another staff Jeans Day raised funds for our holiday giving
needs. Two families of pupils made extremely generous donations
towards this effort. Several faculty members donated bicycles.
Two classes buddied-up to “adopt” a family who is experiencing
financial difficulties. Many children from our school, along
with their parents and extended families, will have a brighter
holiday, thanks to the kindness of so many among us. Classes,
grade levels, and individuals initiate altruistic, cooperative,
selfless activities throughout the year. At Cedar Grove, every
season is a season for giving!
Hooper Ave.
Elementary School
participated in the tree lighting at TD Bank and sang carols.
Walnut Street
Elementary
participated in the tree lighting ceremony downtown and have
their Orchestra/Band concert on 12/16.
Washington
Street Elementary
first graders are making gingerbread houses!
We wish the best
for your families during this magical time of year. All schools
will be closed for the holidays and winter recess from December
24-January 3. We will welcome our students back in the new
year on Monday, January 4, 2010. Happy New Year!
October 2009
School has been open for a month now and all classes,
activities, and sports are well underway. There are many
interesting events happening in our school community.
On October 10, 2009, the PTO and staff of
Intermediate South invite you to enjoy a morning of
healthy living. The fun day will feature our first 5.8K (3.6
miles) RUN/WALK. The fun day will begin with registration at 8AM
directly across from the new Seminole water tower. Registration
will include a tee shirt for the event. The start time of the
5.8K is 9AM. After completing the course, there will be
refreshments available at the school. Call Intermediate South at
505-3900 for more information.
The BOE student reps from the high schools have informed us of
the following events at the schools. At High School East, FCCLA
will be attending the Breast Cancer Walk October 18 at Point
Pleasant Beach. In addition they will be holding officer
elections this month. FCCLA is also proud to announce that last
year they raised enough money to send food out for 800 families
through the Feed the Children Organization.
The HSE Student council is planning “Good Neighbor Day”!
Students will put a full plant on all the neighbor’s porches
saying, “Greetings” from our Raider Neighbors. Look out for the
30 minute news show, “Toms River Schools Today” broadcasted by
East’s’ TV21 journalism students.
At HSS, many of South’s various clubs and organizations are off
and running to make a difference. The Interact/Red Cross Club
has already begun to collect donations for the March of Dimes
“Save a Premature Baby” campaign. Their goal is $750.00,and they
are off to a great start! Additionally, the TEAM students at
South have started to plan for their upcoming presentation at
South Toms River Elementary, and the Big Brother Big Sister
program has also started to plan for the upcoming year. Last,
but most certainly not least, Toms River South’s very own
charity, the Indian Givers, fundraised at Back to School Night.
They also continue to run the school store, Indian Outfitters,
which carries clothes and school supplies. All items in the
store are free for any student who needs them, and all funds
raised by the Indian Givers go to help South students and
families in need.
At HSN, the “Mariner’s Port” opens. This school store is a
welcome addition providing Mariners a way to purchase last
minute school supplies and school spirit items year round. The
cafeterias have been renamed from North and South to Blue and
Gold.
On October 7th
and 8th, all of the district's third-graders will be treated to
a performance from the HSS English Department. High School South
Thespians will be performing the musical A Year With Frog and
Toad at the High School North auditorium.
The cast features Andy Brown a South senior as the character of
Frog and Michael McMahon a fellow senior who is playing Toad.
The group which boasts nine of our finest Thespians have been
practicing under the direction and choreography of Kristine
Perry all summer and under the musical direction of Faith E.
Kline who is also the musical director for the South musicals.
Additional cast members include Anna DeBlasio, JJ Merrell,
Samantha Cassidy, Joey Diaz, Nicole Clark, Janet Gleason and
Chole Stratton.
The show is based on the beloved Frog and Toad series of
children's books written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel. The
show is described as sweet and funny. The show chronicles
a year in the life of two friends. As they travel through
the seasons, they learn lessons of friendship and family using
song and dance and some help from friends like the birds,
turtle, snail and mouse, characters who appear throughout the
books as well.
Halloween is coming! The Halloween parade is scheduled for
October 31, 2009. The traditional trick or treat day in Toms
River and surrounding communities is Friday, October 30, 2009. To ensure of a safe and
happy Halloween, please be sure children are traveling
together in well-lit areas accompanied by a responsible adult..
For more information of the Halloween parade, please visit www.tomsriverhalloweenparade.com or call 732-349-0144.
September 2009
First Impressions
First Impressions
As the 2009-2010 school year begins, we would like to welcome
everyone back for the start of the new year. Each new school
year begins with hope and new promises, and many new faces.
First impressions are important to us. We work hard all year to
provide students with a learning environment that includes the
cleanest and most updated facilities. We take pride in our
schools and the professional staff that teaches encourages and
challenges our student body to be the best that they can be. We
offer a technology infused curriculum that educates over 17,300
students from K-12. We offer sports, clubs, and the arts to our
students. We offer the history of a school system where kids
come first. Many of our students had parents who graduated from
Toms River Regional and remained here to raise their children in
the schools they attended. We have many teachers who once
attended our schools as students and returned to share their
gifts and knowledge with our district. We are always impressed
with the accomplishments of our alumni.
We welcome all new and returning families and their children to
the TRRS family. We are committed to high expectations for a
successful school year. Please take advantage of all that the
district has to offer your family and your child. And, please
seek assistance in any area that you need help. We are here for
you and your student.
Please visit our online calendar for the most updated school
events, times and information @ www.trschools.com/calendar.
Helpful links for parents are listed under News and Notes at
www.trschools.com/newsnotes.
We wish you a wonderful school year. We look forward to watching
your child learn new subject areas, uncover hidden talents, and
grow as individuals.
Summer 2009
As summer winds
down, the Toms River Regional District is looking forward to the
return of our students for what is sure to be a memorable
2009-2010 school year.
This summer, we
have been working on several cost effective initiatives to
expedite procedures within the district. In our continual effort to go
green, we are transitioning our traditional printed calendar to
an improved online calendar. Parents will be able to
conveniently access this regularly updated online calendar right
from our district webpage under Calendar Connect. This
project will be debuting soon.
Secondly, in an
effort to stay in contact with our alumni, we are working to update our high school alumni
database. Our alumni will be contacted by Harris Direct
for updated information. We will then be able to share ideas,
alumni profiles, and information with our vast number of
graduates.
Lastly, as of
September 1, 2009, all those seeking employment with the district will
be directed to fill out an online application. This will improve
efficiency by making
the application procedures easily accessible from our website.
We look forward to helping the environment while improving the
application process.
We are sure that
all of the new initiatives will prove not only to be more cost
effective, but also more efficient and convenient. We look
forward to opening schools on September 2, 2009.
June 2009
We hope everyone has a safe and happy summer. Congratulations to
our 8th grade and high school graduates.
April 2009
Thank you to all of our taxpayers in Toms River,
Beachwood, Pine Beach, and South Toms River for passing the
school budget 5595-2820. We appreciate your confidence in
these difficult economic conditions.
Congressman John
Adler visited Hooper Ave. Elementary and brought good news of a
$6.1 million dollar federal stimulus check for Toms River
Regional Schools. Read all about his visit by clicking
here.
Budget
Information:
I am pleased
to announce, for the third year in a row, a ZERO tax
increase for Toms River Schools (Toms River, Beachwood and Pine
Beach) and a slight increase for South Toms River of 1.5 cents.
This comes as much needed relief during these unprecedented
economic times. Surely, you have read about how many local
districts have been coping with these tough economic situations.
Some have been forced to layoff staff, end student programs,
close schools and other drastic measures. Fortunately, Toms
River Regional Schools’ excellent fiscal management and unique
business model has provided alternate sources of revenue to
supplement our budget and control the cost of services.
Our solar
initiative continues to pay off. Solar RECs (renewable energy
credits) bring over a million dollars annually back to the
budget. Other alternative funding projects provide revenue that
is used to purchase items that otherwise would be added to the
regular budget. These enterprise accounts have paid for
renovations needed to provide for high school closed lunches and
also paid for the purchase of technology equipment and buses, to
name a few.
This year,
we constructed a lean budget with no new staff, programs or
projects. As a direct result of these combined efforts, we have
been able to maintain the lowest equalized tax rate, the second
lowest per pupil cost and the seventh lowest administrative cost
in the state of New Jersey. As Superintendent, I am fortunate
to be able to give you this good news.
As you know,
the school budget vote will be held on April 21st.
You will be receiving a personal letter from me under a separate
mailing. The purpose of that letter is to provide you, the
taxpayers, with the facts that you deserve in order to best make
an informed decision.
More
budget news
Michael J. Ritacco
Superintendent of Schools
mritacco@trschools.com
March 2009
We
would like to express our sincere appreciation to United Water
for their generous donation of $12,000 to fully fund the SAT
Online Prep program. This unique program is guided by certified
teachers and provides additional academic enrichment
opportunities to high school juniors during lunch periods. The
support and partnership of local businesses allows the district
to offer more programs to our students.
The district offers several academic enrichment programs for
high school students to prepare for the SAT test. All High
School students have access to the SAT Online program which is
designed to
help each student gain the confidence needed to score high on
their official SAT test.
Each student has been given a log on and password in order to
practice taking the exam and working on specific problems.
Students are able to take an online exam, receive the results,
and customize his/her studies to individual strengths and
weaknesses.
English and math teachers have integrated SAT type questions
into their curriculum in order to better prepare the students
for the exam. Teachers also use the College Board sponsored Word
of the Day exercise. This is an SAT sponsored activity where an
actual SAT problems are sent to students and teachers. Many
schools offer contests to engage student
interest.
The Board of Education was honored on January 20,
2009 for Board Appreciation Month. The students participated in
the event with cards and letters, poems, and live performances
from the High School North Cheerleaders, the High School East
Color Guard, and the High School South Band.
Established in 2002, the purpose of Board
Appreciation Month is to demonstrate our gratitude for the time,
energy, commitment and untiring efforts that a Board of
Education contributes each year. Our board of education has over one
hundred years of experience between them.
We would like to thank our Board of Education for
their service to the students, employees, and our community.
Serving on the Board of Education takes a great deal of time and
dedication in order to create policies and make informed
decisions that are in the best interest of the students and our
community.
Michael J. Ritacco
Superintendent of Schools
mritacco@trschools.com
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