BPW to file lawsuit against school district over racial disparities

SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The SOMA Black Parents Workshop announced its intention to file a lawsuit against the South Orange-Maplewood School District during a press conference Tuesday, Nov. 14, after data released by the district showed continued racial disparities and little improvement to the achievement gap in the district, especially at Columbia High […]

West Orange opens skate park at Jenkins

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Chilly weather didn’t keep local skateboarders away from the grand opening of the West Orange Skate Park on Sunday, Nov. 12, as a crowd gathered at Jenkins Park with skateboards, scooters and bicycles for the ribbon-cutting and introduction of the halfpipes to the town’s parks system. The West Orange Township Council […]

WOSD scores perfectly in 4 of 5 NJQSAC sections

WEST ORANGE, NJ — West Orange Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Rutzky presented the 2017-2018 New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum report to the Board of Education at its Nov. 6 meeting, revealing good scores in the five categories that the process evaluates. NJQSAC monitors and evaluates New Jersey’s public schools districts based on research and […]

Reading Buddies grows, benefits students and seniors

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Schools throughout Essex County have partnered with the RSVP Center of Essex and Hudson Counties, part of the Jewish Family Service, for the Reading Buddies program, which makes the most of intergenerational friendships. The Reading Buddies, a group of senior citizens, read to small groups of children in Essex County to […]

CHS to address censorship, segregation in ‘Alabama Story’

MAPLEWOOD / SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Columbia High School’s 100-seat Black Box Theater will be filled with theatergoers from Nov. 16 to 19, when the Parnassian Society debuts its production of “Alabama Story,” a play by New York City playwright Kenneth Jones. The CHS production is the play’s high school debut, after premiering at the […]

WO teen arrested in stabbing of other WO teen in Montclair

WEST ORANGE, NJ — A 14-year-old male from West Orange sustained multiple stab wounds during an altercation in Montclair’s Nishuane Park on Thursday, Nov. 2, according to the Montclair Police Department. Officers were called to the park at 6:50 p.m. for an injured child, and found the victim with multiple stab wounds. The suspect, also […]

Teens sound off on issues of race, free spech on panel

WEST ORANGE, NJ — West Orange’s Human Relations Commission, Public Library Teen Advisory Group and the high school Unity Club came together at Town Hall on Oct. 25 for a panel discussing race, diversity and responsibility. The panel featured 11 high school students from WOHS, Seton Hall Prep and the Pingry School discussing social issues, […]