By Donald Gilpin

The cleanup projects are being completed, and the teachers have been coming in to organize their classrooms. Teachers and staff will be reporting for in-service preparation and meetings next week, and the first day of school for all of the nearly 4,000 Princeton Public Schools (PPS) students is Tuesday, September 5.

“I’m very excited for the school year,” said Johnson Park Principal Angela Siso Stentz. “I’m excited to see our students. We’ve missed them. It’s felt like a long summer, and I’m waiting for them to arrive at our front door. I’m also excited to see my staff next week and to get the school year going.”

“Belonging and Community: Where Every Learner Thrives” is the official district theme for the 2023-24 school year. In a message to PPS  parents, Superintendent Carol Kelley expressed her gratitude for the parents’ support in the education of their children. “The trusting relationships, open communication, and partnerships between you and PPS staff provide the supporting conditions for our students’ success,” she wrote.

Kelley went on to point out three priorities that the schools will be focusing on this year: progress in literacy and numeracy for students aged 3 through third grade; wellness, inclusion, and support for all students with a sense of belonging and meaningful relationships with at least one adult in their school; and “a meaningful life for all students beyond graduation from Princeton Public Schools.”

Siso Stentz noted that attention to social emotional learning has been a high priority for her and other administrators in implementing the district’s strategic plan that was approved last spring.

“We’ve been spending a lot of time as an administrative team really working on the goals for the school year, and a lot of it is rooted in social emotional learning, making sure that our students feel safe, feel loved, and are supported in their learning,” she said. “We’re excited about that.  It’s a good goal to have for our school.”

She went on to point out that in the current post-COVID-19 period the aftereffects of the pandemic are more social and emotional than academic. “We’ve been

pleasantly surprised at how our students have caught up and have met grade level benchmarks and really are doing a great job with academics,” she said. “But we have noted students’ behaviors, and we’re still working on putting incentives in place for students to make sure that they’re being kind to one another and they’re sharing.” 

She continued, “Their behavior has at times been more than we expected, and that’s a direct effect of students staying home for so long and not really interacting with their peers. But it improved by the end of last year, and we’re starting off really strong this year with clear expectations and some community building. We talk about this at all four elementary schools, how we can start reducing those behavior infractions.”

Siso Stentz added that she is pleased to report that Johnson Park is fully staffed with “really strong teachers for our kids,” along with a new school counselor, a new special education teacher, and a few new instructional assistants, as well as balanced class numbers and a total school enrollment of 378. Her only staffing concern was a shortage of substitutes, which is a problem throughout the district.

The Tuesday, August 22 PPS Board of Education (BOE) meeting took place after press time, but the BOE was expected to approve a bond proposal question for a facilities referendum bond of $12,998,050 to be placed on the ballot for the November 7, 2023 election.

Kelley stated that the referendum “addresses the district’s most immediate building needs to better serve our students and staff.” The proposed projects include security and technology upgrades at all schools, athletic field resurfacing and cafeteria renovations at PHS, roof replacement at Princeton Middle School, and replacement fencing and improved drainage for playground areas at the elementary schools.

“We look forward to sharing more information about these proposed projects and how they fit into our strategy for steady improvement and maintenance through fiscally responsible planning,” she added. “By holding a bond referendum, Princeton Public Schools is eligible for state aid toward debt service to offset the amount needed through property taxes. The state aid is only available if the referendum is approved.”

PPS Business Administrator and Board Secretary Matthew Bouldin emphasized that this is “a fiscally prudent proposal,” noting that the state would reimburse the district for more than 31 percent of the debt service. He added that by including the referendum on the general election ballot in November the district could also avoid extra election costs.

Another item of interest on the Tuesday night BOE agenda was the extension of the appointment of PHS Interim Principal Kathie Foster for an additional month through September 30, 2023. The BOE was expected to approve that extension, as they continue the search for a permanent principal for PHS. They had originally hoped to have a new principal in place by the start of the school year.

Foster has been on the job since April, following the dismissal of former principal Frank Chmiel. A PPS announcement last week stated that applications for the principal position had been screened and candidates would be coming in for interviews with the search committee in late August.

Update: The PPS BOE did approve the bond proposal question for the facilities referendum to be placed on the ballot for the November 7 election.