ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — As schools across the nation regain their cadence with the return to in-person learning and the reduction in mandates, the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation celebrates its 2022 list of Best Communities for Music Education. Now in its 23rd year, the 2022 program has recognized 738 school districts across 44 […]
SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Two separate ethics complaints have been filed against current and former members of the South Orange–Maplewood Board of Education, with a court hearing scheduled for July 11 and a second hearing on July 13 if necessary. Current board members Elissa Malespina and Johanna Wright filed ethics charges against board […]
MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The South Orange–Maplewood School District announced that Columbia High School was ranked No. 59 as one the best public high schools in New Jersey by U.S. News & World Report. This publication shared on April 26 that 406 New Jersey schools out of a total of 445 were ranked on six factors […]
SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — South Orange–Maplewood Board of Education student representative Noah Morros asked the BOE for another social worker to be hired at Columbia High School, citing the number of students who are struggling with mental health issues, especially in the wake of the death of sophomore Cole Longworth at the end […]
ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — South Orange, Maplewood, Orange and West Orange residents are rallying around Anthony Brooks and his family in an effort to find him a kidney donor. Brooks lost one of his kidneys to cancer in 2017, and now the disease has spread to his remaining kidney. Now looking for a living kidney […]
MAPLEWOOD / SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — For Amy Popp, a media specialist at Tuscan Elementary School, receiving a fellowship from the Achieve Foundation in March has special significance. She is one of five educators who were awarded Michelle T. Riecke Fellowships totaling $5,073 to pursue professional development programs this summer. Popp will attend the week-long […]
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The South Orange–Maplewood School District broke ground on another portion of the Long Range Facilities Plan at South Mountain Elementary School on March 22, starting the 18-month process to build nine new classrooms, a courtyard and a revamped playground. The fifth project to get off the ground, South Mountain’s expansion is […]
SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The South Orange–Maplewood Board of Education reached an agreement in principle with the South Orange–Maplewood Education Association, the teachers union, early Friday morning, March 25, for a contract that runs from July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2024. “After 14 hours of negotiations, the South Orange–Maplewood Board of Education […]
SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The South Orange–Maplewood School District and South Orange–Maplewood Education Association’s negotiations on a new contract for the teachers union broke down and, after attending several mediation sessions since the beginning of January, the two groups will now be moving forward with a fact finder, who will propose a solution […]
SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The South Orange–Maplewood School District announced March 10 that, as of the following Monday, March 14, face masks would be optional in K-12 schools, on school buses and in district office buildings. The district had originally announced on Feb. 22 that masks would remain required in school buildings, despite […]