CHS principal on leave, acting principal named

MAPLEWOOD — Columbia High School Principal Frank Sanchez is on leave from his position and Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Ann Bodnar is serving as acting principal of Columbia High School until further notice. A letter sent to parents from Kevin F. Gilbert, acting superintendent of schools for the School District of South Orange […]

Veteran English actor directing CHS performance of ‘DNA’

Veteran English actor directing CHS performance of ‘DNA’

A group of teenagers accidentally commit a crime. Friendships fracture and relationships go awry as they try to cover their tracks. The dark comedy, “DNA,” is being presented by Columbia High School (CHS)’s Parnassian Society and performed at the Black Box Theater this November. It’s the first production directed by James Bale Dyer, an English […]

Achieve hands out grants for dogs, darkrooms and cooking

Achieve hands out grants for dogs, darkrooms and cooking

MAPLEWOOD — Therapy dogs, a new darkroom, cooking classes, and the next phase of an environmental project, are just a few of the programs that have been awarded funding through the Achieve Foundation’s Fall 2023 Educator Grant Awards. In total, checks were delivered across the District’s schools to fund 22 different projects this fall. “These […]

Learning to study like a champion

Learning to study like a champion

  MAPLEWOOD — Teacher Christina Luzzi’s psychology class at Columbia High School is all about the brain, and one of the first things she wanted her students to know this year is how they can best use their own brains for success in school. That is why last week, Luzzi enlisted Regan Gurung, a psychologist […]

Work underway at CHS as part of $157.5 million project

MAPLEWOOD — An asbestos abatement project that has begun at Columbia High School is part of the first phase of $30 million in facilities improvements that will be completed during the next three years. “These are very exciting renovations that will help us provide Columbia High School students with a 21st-century education while maintaining the […]

Columbia High School artists explore African masks in new exhibit

Columbia High School artists explore African masks in new exhibit

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Art students at Columbia High School joined forces with the social studies department for an exhibit in the Domarecki Art Gallery, spending a month building three-dimensional African masks in tandem with learning about them in class. In groups of three or four, students chose an African country and constructed their own version […]

Columbia High School students win at the Ramapo College Film Festival

Columbia High School students win at the Ramapo College Film Festival

MAHWAH, NJ — Columbia High School students recently won awards at the Ramapo College Film Festival.  Junior Jarrett Jackson and senior Joshua Apostolico won the Best Screenplay Award for their film “Tardy!” This is the first time Columbia High School students have won this award at Ramapo. Jackson Apostolico also starred in the film, with […]

Columbia High School students win prizes at 2023 Emerging Artist Exhibition

Columbia High School students win prizes at 2023 Emerging Artist Exhibition

UNION, NJ — On Sunday, Jan. 29, students, parents, visual art educators and arts administrators from across New Jersey gathered at Kean University’s James Howe Gallery, located on the Union campus, to celebrate the 35th Emerging Artist Exhibition, sponsored by the Art Administrators of New Jersey. This exhibit presents artwork produced by high school art […]

Columbia High School’s Guildscript takes top honors at competition

Columbia High School’s Guildscript takes top honors at competition

MAPLEWOOD / SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The 2022 Guildscript art and literary magazine at Columbia High School won first place in the American Scholastic Press Association contest. The annual magazine received high marks in design, organization and presentation. According to the ASPA, Guildscript exhibited “superior efforts of talented and creative editors, writers, artists, photographers, layout/graphic […]