FLOW Area February 23, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 9 Three University Programs no longer exclusive by Frank J. McMahon The Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District will no longer offer three University Programs on an exclusive basis. Superintendent C. Lauren Schoen recently advised the public that the change will take effect at the start of the 2011-12 school year. The three programs include the theater arts and communications programs provided at Ramapo High School, and the information technology offered at Indian Hills High School. The theater arts and the communication programs were introduced at Ramapo in 2000, and the information technology program was introduced at Indian Hills in 2002. “The administration, with the support of the members of the Education Committee, recommends that these three programs should no longer run as exclusive programs effective with the 2011-12 school year,” Schoen said. “We will begin to review the courses in each of these three programs to determine how these courses will be offered as electives for the 2011-12 school year.” Beverly MacKay, the district director of curriculum and articulation, emphasized that the change will apply to all incoming freshmen in September 2011, but will not affect the students currently enrolled in these three programs. In December, Schoen reported that the district did not have an overwhelming increase in applications to assure that no change would take place in these three programs. At the Feb. 7 board meeting, she advised that 17 students had applied for the theater arts program, 13 for communications, and 16 for information technology. An 18 student threshold had previously been established by the school board’s Education Committee. Schoen advised, however, that there were 31new applicants this year for the international studies and business program; 29 for the science, medicine, and research program; and 22 for the engineering and design program. Those three University Programs will not be changed, she said. According to enrollment figures provided by the school board, the total number of students enrolled in the University Programs who will graduate between 2011 and 2014 include 42 in communications program; 46 in theater arts; 53 in information technology; 94 in international studies and business program; 65 in science, medicine, and research; and 62 students in engineering and design. In August 2010, the school board announced its intent to discontinue the three University Programs due to decreasing enrollment. The board explained there was an interest in finding another way to share the resources for these programs with more students by expanding the elective courses in the three UP programs with lower enrollments to the entire student body, and not just to those students who make a four-year commitment to those programs. Parents of University Program students were very vocal at several school board meetings, including one held in the Indian Hills High School auditorium where more than 75 parents and current and former UP students were in attendance. At that meeting, members of the public voiced their objections to discontinuing the three programs, claiming the exclusivity of the programs provides camaraderie for the students and that the intermingling of students from different grades in some of the programs provides a special benefit to the students. The New Jersey Department of Education has issued the annual report cards for the two high schools in the Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District. The report cards for the 2009-10 school year contain detailed statistical profiles of both public schools in the district in the areas of school environment, student information, student performance indicators, staff information, and district financial information. 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. Commenting about the school district in the report, Superintendent C. Lauren Schoen emphasized that the district prides itself on a long tradition of excellence. “Opportunities are available for all students to excel and be ready to face the challenges of life in the 21st century,” Report cards received from state They extolled the value of the programs to the students and urged the board not to discontinue the programs. Instead, they asked the board to keep the programs intact, at least for another year, and to aggressively market the programs to eighth grade students entering the district in September 2011. In response to the public’s objections, the Education Committee in September recommended that the school board take no action at that time regarding the modification of three programs from their current exclusionary, four-year commitment structure. The committee instead recommended that the programs be promoted at the Open Houses held for eighth grade students in October and that any modification of the three programs take place beginning in 2011-12 unless the enrollment in those programs met certain enrollment thresholds. In an open letter to the community in September, the committee explained its rationale for proposing the discontinuation of the three programs and set a minimum threshold of 18 incoming freshman student applicants that would be needed to continue the exclusionary nature of the programs. she stated. “The district sends approximately 97.5 percent of high school students to two- or four-year colleges each year with many going on to the nation’s premier institutions. We truly believe that each and every learner graduating from our two high schools is ready to face (his or her) post-secondary experience, whether it be college, university, the military, technical school, or work.” According to the report cards, the 2009-10 enrollment at Ramapo was 1,175.5 students, an increase of 121.5 students over the previous year. At Indian Hills, enrollment was 1,144 students, a decrease of 102 students, for a total enrollment of 2,319.5 students, an increase of 19.5 students over the previous year. The average class size was 21 students at Ramapo and 20.1 students at Indian Hills. The High School Proficiency Assessment test results (continued on page 21) Just a Click Away! 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