February 24, 2010 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 5 Mahwah Township schools receive report cards from state by Frank J. McMahon The New Jersey Department of Education has provided the Mahwah School District’s K-12 schools with their 2008-09 reports cards. The NJDOE has provided the public with information about every school in New Jersey since 1995 when the state legislature mandated the annual accountability report. In his narrative about, Superintendent Charles Montesano explained that the Mahwah public schools serve a culturally and economically diverse population of approximately 3,400 students in six schools. He said the mission of the Mahwah schools is to provide every student with the opportunity to maximize his or her educational and career potential in safe, high quality facilities by well trained and dedicated administrators, teachers, and support staff. According to Montesano, Mahwah students continue to outperform their peers from across the state on all standardized tests, demonstrating that they are meeting the benchmarks of the New Jersey Core Content Standards. “We are particularly proud of the sustained upward trend of our math scores across all grade levels,” Montesano stated. “Additionally, the number of Mahwah graduates taking Advanced Placement tests continues to rise, and the number of students (who) go on to formal post graduate study is at an all time high.” Montesano emphasized that the NJDOE report cards do not consider areas of school performance such as music, art, and drama, and they do not address issues such as student and parent satisfaction. “The only way to assess these qualitative factors is to become directly involved in your community’s schools,” Montesano stated. “To learn firsthand how our schools are performing, we encourage all Mahwah residents to attend board of education meetings, become active in school related organizations, attend school sponsored events, or arrange for a visit to any of our six schools.” The report card information is arranged under five categories: school environment, student information, student performance indicators, staff information, and district financial data. A complete listing of all the statistics in the report cards for all the schools in the township can be found on the Internet at http://education.state.nj.us/rc. During 2008-09, enrollment at the high school was 1,028 students, an increase of 36 students over the previous year. The average class size was 22.8 students while the state average was 18.4 students. The High School Proficiency Assessment test results indicated that, in language arts literacy, where 254 students were tested, 94.5 percent of the students tested were at or above the proficiency level. In mathematics, where 255 were tested, the percentage was 94.5. The comparable averages in the state were 84.5 in language arts and 73.7 in mathematics. The average SAT scores at Mahwah High School were 548 math, 515 verbal, and 531 essay, combining for a total average SAT score of 1594. Some 19.6 percent of the students in g rades 11 and 12 pa r t icipated i n the (continued on page 8) MSF hosts fundraiser Matthew Walters, Jenna Walters, Katie Kjellberg, and Chip Kjellberg promote the 11th annual Mahwah Schools Foundation Trustee Dinner, which will be held this week (Feb. 23) at Seasons in Washington Township. The event includes dinner, dancing and prizes. For more information, contact Debbra Aiello at (201) 906-6568. ��������������������� �������������������������� NORTHERN JERSEY E.N.T. ASSOCIATES P .A. ������������� ���������������������� �������������������� ������������������������� ������������������� ���������������������������������������������������������������� ��������������������� ����������������� ������������������� ������������������� ���������������������� �������������������� Caring for Your Beautiful Landscape is our Specialty ����������� LET THE PROFESSIONALS SAVE YOU TIME AND MONEY We offer three levels of Property Maintenance & Garden Service Basic or Premium Lawn Care Design Contruction (Design Fees Apply) ��������������������������� ���������������������� ������������������������ ������������������������������ ���������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������������������� Irrigation Lighting Service Residential & Commercial N.J.D.C.A. Lic#13VH01114000 www.chrisjameslandscaping.com info@cjlands.com (201) 670-9000