Get ready! Schools open next week

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Bloomfield schools are preparing to open their doors and Superintendent of Schools Sal Goncalves could not be happier. Entering his 43rd year in the district and seventh as superintendent of schools, the word to describe him these days, he said, would be “optimistic.”

“The last six years have been financially responsible,” he said in his Administration Building office on Friday, Aug. 23. “We’ve grown the curriculum and there have been no layoffs. Our health report is A-plus. We’re not perfect, but we’re going in the right direction.”
He pointed toward the five-year strategic plan, which highlights developing the whole child; a safe and secure learning environment; student diversity; transparency with the community; and retaining and attracting staffing.

A “holistic approach to school safety” will include initiatives that promote social/emotional learning and the district is working with a Sandy Hook Promise representative, he said. Among the activities scheduled will be Start with Hello Week, World Kindness Day, Week of Respect, National Suicide Prevention Day and the Out of the Darkness Walk.

“I think social/emotional learning is foremost in our minds now,” he said. “Children have a lot more pressure. We’ve enhanced our guidance services, crisis intervention services. We’re providing additional services in mental health to our coaches. The coaches interact with students on a different level than teachers.”

Not only are coaches being taught how to recognize a child with social/emotional needs, but so are non-certified district employees, such as custodians. Goncalves said there are times when a child may share information with them and training to spot potential problems are given on a voluntary basis.There is also a club at the high school, he said, that deals with sexual identification.
“Bullying can follow a student 24/7,” Goncalves said.

Video cameras will be inside and outside the schools, but not in the classrooms. These cameras will connect to the Bloomfield Police Department. Panic buttons are also to be installed in school main offices. Goncalves said this guidance is from the N.J. Department of Education and based on Alyssa’s Law, which was signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy in February and named after a former N.J. resident who was killed in the Parkland, Fla., school shooting on Feb. 14, 2018.

Goncalves said his greatest fear is students being unsafe.
“We’re seeing an uptick of young people harming themselves,” he said. “That’s what we’re trying to address. But that said, we’re also seeing some of the finest young people in Bloomfield schools and I’ve been in the district for 43 years. I’ve seen a lot of good and bad.”

Mental and physical health are a chief concern for everyone connected with the district. The message is being broadcast to staff about health care opportunities available to them.

“Weight is at the center of a lot of health issues,” Goncalves said. “But it’s a touchy subject.”
Goncalves is happy to talk about his weight loss. He has been able to shed 80 pounds by walking and looks forward to adding the Morris Canal Greenway route to his regimen. Like anyone who has kicked a habit — Goncalves is a self-declared foodie — he had advice for the overweight: Do whatever you have to do to lose weight and cause a necessary lifestyle change for yourself.

“We’re very concerned about our student population if you are at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale,” he said. “We try to educate parents through the home and schools. Let’s look at what we eat and the importance of sitting down and having a meal together.”

There will also be significant additions to district staffing this coming year. Joe Fleres, the director of elementary school curriculum, will become the assistant superintendent and director of curriculum, districtwide. There will also be a new position of supervisor of mental health. This will be filled by Mike Bruno, the guidance counselor at Oak View Elementary. An additional districtwide elementary guidance counselor and districtwide nurse have also been added for the coming year, as well as a music technology teacher at the high school.

New to the curriculum this coming year will be an Algebra I course for college prep and honor students at the middle school; an introduction to computer science class at the middle school; at the high school, computer coding for honor students; at the elementary level, reading and writing courses for grades three to six; a new science program for sixth- to eighth-graders; high school honors biology, chemistry and physics; “Medical Detectives” and STEM design and modeling at the middle school; a K-3 social studies program; and revisions of health, physical education, and fine and performing arts guidelines.

Breakfast After the Bell, a program which provides breakfasts to students, will include Watsessing and Carteret elementary schools this coming year.

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