Year in Review: West Deptford Schools

Every year, we can expect familiar school stories to emerge—West Deptford High School will get a new crop of alumni with , kindergarteners mark the of their school career and students will at the .

But it’s the individual stories that help years stand apart from each other, and West Deptford schools produced plenty of news in 2011.

The community began a debate this year: should West Deptford or perhaps just a ? The debate will continue into 2012.

Teacher contracts also loomed large in 2011. The year started off with and the sides using a to break the impasse before a finally came about in September.

New state laws also changed things, as anti-bullying legislation went into effect starting in September, and administrators and school board members started taking a look at what that means .

Inside the schools, students at Red Bank, Green-Field gave its students a , Oakview kids got a close-up look at and high school thespians staged . The high school physics team took gold at the and middle school students brought the past alive during . Students made sure kept up with the changing times and Red Bank and Green-Fields students similarly embraced technology for their . The West Deptford students who give back to others.

Don’t forget about the high-flying marching band. The Eagles in August and the hard work clearly paid off with a .

West Deptford schools also were in mourning this year when a student in the senior class .

On the administrative side, the school board had a this year, including the board president . Voters also the district’s annual budget.

The district also became to be approved for a new pilot program on teacher evaluations, giving West Deptford schools a chance to influence how the program will be run acoss New Jersey.

Although 2011 is ending, the school year is barely halfway complete. What do you think 2012 has in store for West Deptford schools? And what do you think was the ?

West Deptford Patch brought you 572 school stories in 2011. Stay in the know year-round at our schools topic page.