MAPLEWOOD, NJ — On Feb. 15, the Maplewood Police Department released an update detailing the incident that occurred at Columbia High School on Jan. 31 at approximately noon, in which the school entered a “code yellow,” aka shelter in place, in response to a fight between students. The MPD Detective Bureau conducted an investigation related […]
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — A code-yellow shelter-in-place was initiated at Columbia High School on Monday, Jan. 31, after two students were involved in an altercation in the school’s library that involved an “irritant similar to pepper spray.” According to CHS Principal Frank Sanchez, two staff members were able to separate the students. A full lockdown, also […]
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — On Oct. 14, the Harlem String Quartet visited Columbia High School via an artist-in-residence program curated by the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University. The Harlem String Quartet is the Cali School’s new quartet-in-residence, introducing composer-in-residence Jessie Montgomery and inaugurating a new weekly residency program that will include […]
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The board of trustees at the Achieve Foundation, a nonprofit organization promoting high-quality education that prepares South Orange–Maplewood School District students for the future, has announced the recipients of its fall 2021 education grant awards. Local SOMA educators will receive $66,000 in grants that fund 34 varied projects and programs to support […]
WEST ORANGE, NJ — The eighth annual West Orange High School Marching Band Invitational, held on Oct. 9 in Suriano Stadium at WOHS, entertained crowds throughout the day as Class A, AA, AAA and AAAA bands performed. The invitational welcomed bands in the New Jersey Marching Band Directors Association circuit, sending the competition season into […]
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — In a recent video and letter home, Columbia High School Principal Frank Sanchez discussed three recent acts of vandalism in a boys bathroom at the school. The video was released Sept. 30 and the letter was sent to the CHS community on Oct. 1. “We reminded students that according to the code […]
MAPLEWOOD / SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The members of the Columbia High School marching band didn’t even wear their uniforms last year. The fall 2020 season was different from usual, the COVID-19 pandemic still upending what a normal school year looked like even six months after lockdown began in March. So the planned marching band […]
SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The South Orange–Maplewood School District, through a partnership with MediMobile, will be offering weekly, voluntary COVID-19 testing at Columbia High School’s gymnasium parking lot on Valley Street. Testing is open to all district staff and students, the SOMA community, and any Essex County resident. We encourage staff, students and […]
SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — After his contract was not renewed at the end of the 2020-2021 school year, former Columbia High School choir director Desmond Moulton requested a Donaldson hearing, which allows nontenured teachers to make their case before the Board of Education. The South Orange–Maplewood BOE did not take action at the […]
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — South Orange–Maplewood Superintendent of Schools Ronald G. Taylor announced July 7 that — after many conversations and assessments of the current security infrastructure at the Underhill facility with our Maplewood Township officials, Maplewood Police Chief Jimmy DeVaul, Board of Education President Thair Joshua and Columbia High School Principal Frank Sanchez — the […]