Long Valley Students Have Learning ‘PALS’ Within School District

LONG VALLEY, NJ — Students within the Washington Township Schools are getting an extra boost from their “PALS” within the district.

Dr. Peter Turnamian, the district’s superintendent, said a federally-funded program has come to Long Valley, through the Vanderbilt University PALS Program.

During the 2021-2022 school year, students who need academic support meet one day each week before or after school, as part of a program developed by university professors at Vanderbilt, a program Turnamian said has been “widely researched and published in educational journals.”

The PALS program selection process is guided by each student level of academic support within the general education program,” Turnamian stated in a news release. “As the title suggests, it is a peer activity, in which students take turns with the coach/peer team working as coaches."

Those peers work in small groups or one-on-one, on various math and reading skills, teaming up for math or literacy games, buddy reading, phonics, grammar and spelling.

“Collaborative efforts to enhance social and emotional connections to boost student academics and well-being are at the core of this program,” Turnamian said.

Meg DeFrance, the District Literacy Coach called the collaboration “just priceless,” with students whispering and working together each Wednesday in school library settings, supporting one another, she said.

“Watching this program blossom with the inspiration of our amazing teachers and the zeal of our young learners has been uplifting,” Debbie Russo, the district’s Coordinator for Teaching, Learning and Intervention, added.

“The PALS students have shown us what meaningful learning looks and feels like,” she said.

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