Long Valley School Board Members Brainstorm District Goals

LONG VALLEY, NJ - Student achievement, social and emotional learning, finding better ways to communicate with families and professional development for staff, were among some of the Washington Township Schools goal-setting suggestions for the school year.

Charlene Peterson of the New Jersey School Boards Association worked with the Board of Education to hone in on some possible yearly goals at a special meeting on Tuesday night.

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When a district hires a new superintendent as Washington Township Schools had with Dr. Peter Turnamian, who started in October, Peterson said goal-setting is important for districts with their new superintendents, to understand needs and to clarify them.

Superintendent evaluations, Peterson added, are based on district goals. Districts should choose approximately five areas, she said, that are important in helping the district to move forward.

Those goals are set from July 1 until June 30 each year, with evaluations done approximately in May.

The process to set goals, she said, begins with what was done well in the past year and what goals could help the district to springboard into the next year.

The board began discussing the potential goals, which Peterson said they'll vote on at an upcoming meeting.

• Student achievement and social and emotional learning; data analysis and when intervention and improvement is needed.
• More alignment between all elementary schools, academically and in operations.
• A focus on maintaining and upgrading facilities
• Keeping technology updated, with heavier use during the pandemic
• Professional development for staff
• STEM and STEAM focuses

Turnamian said he's been conducting a "listening tour" since he started with the district and has community forums on Dec. 9 and 15, where he will gather more information from the community, which will help with the goal process.

RELATED: Long Valley Families Can Come To School-Hosted Community Forums

In speaking with school leaders and staff during his listening tour, better communication tools and processes were suggested to Turnamian, he said. The board discussed a potential overhaul of the district's website and having a dedicated person gather information and "good news" stories for families. One member said the website should be more user-friendly, especially in how parents can access the curriculum.

Turnamian also suggested more dashboards for data analysis of student progresses, to help determine if any intervention is needed. He additionally proposed a phone app for parents that could make the information better accessible.

Watch the video below to view the entire discussion at the meeting:

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