4.30.21

Letter from the Superintendent

2020-2021 Wayne Township Public Schools Assessment Information

Dear Parents and Guardians:

Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:7C-6.6, school districts are required each year by October 1 to provide notification to parents and guardians regarding information on any state assessment or commercially developed standardized assessment that will be administered in the school district during the current school year. A tentative calendar was shared at that time.

However, given the recent NJDOE guidance on assessments, please see the updated version of our testing calendar. This version reflects the decision to cancel the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments for this year. As part of the federal waiver on assessments, we will still be required to give the following assessments this year and at the onset of next school year.

Please click here for the complete letter and the attachment.

Both Wayne High Schools Ranked Among the Best

The Wayne Township Public Schools are proud to announce that when US News and World Report released their 2021 Best High School Rankings, both Wayne high schools were included among the best high schools in New Jersey and the United States. Wayne Valley was ranked 95th among 406 high schools in New Jersey and 2,047th among 17,857 high schools from across the United States. This places Wayne Valley among the top 25% of all New Jersey High Schools and in the top 12% of all high schools nationally. Wayne Hills was also ranked highly by US News and World Report and was 103rd among 406 high schools in New Jersey and ranked 2,217th among 17,857 high schools nationally. This places Wayne Hills among the top 25% of all New Jersey High Schools and in the top 12% of all high schools nationally.

Please click here for the full Press Release.

Monday, May 17, 2021: Save the Date for Wayne Township's Community Forum

This year’s Community Forum is hosted by Wayne Township's Mayor Chris Vergano and Wayne Township Public School's Superintendent Dr. Mark Toback. This event will feature presentations from The NJ Mental Health Players and the Drug Enforcement Agency. An expert panel discussion will follow to address Mental Health, Current Substance Use Concerns and the Stigma that comes along with both. This event is generously sponsored by the Wayne Teachers, Secretaries, Paraprofessionals and Custodians.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FLYER WHERE YOU CAN REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT.

Event Date: Monday, May 17, 2021 at 6:30pm - 8:00pm

OPTION 1: Wayne Valley High School Auditorium, 551 Valley Rd, Wayne, NJ 07470 (Ltd. Seating of 100 adults 21+)

OPTION 2: Virtual Viewing Available

Questions? Email alliance@waynetownship.com

Wayne Student Support Services Offers Parent Support Webinar for English as a Second Language Families

On April 13, 2021 the Student Support Services Department, in conjunction with our dedicated ESL teachers, offered an engaging evening of support for the families and caregivers of our English as a Second Language Students. Wayne Township Public Schools welcomed Meredith Alvaro, National Literacy Consultant and the former Director of Student Teaching in the Elementary Inclusive Preservice Program at Teachers College Columbia University, who provided strategies for families and caregivers to use while supporting children at home as they grow literacy skills in more than one language.

The theme of the presentation, aligned with the ESL department vision in Wayne, was a focus on developing biliteracy and bilingual skills in our students by supporting English language development while building upon native language skills and culture. The event was followed by a question and answer period with Mrs. Alvaro and Mr. Burkholder, Title III Coordinator for the Wayne Public Schools, to discuss educational and family support programs for eligible Wayne families.

This session was part of our ESL program expansion efforts and the aligned Wayne Board of Education goal related to supporting Inclusion, Equity, and Diversity in our schools. The ESL program any given year boasts between 28-31 unique home languages spoken in our student’s homes which truly shows you the diversification of Wayne’s community and the excellent opportunity we have to celebrate our multiculturalism and learn from one another in our schools.

The "At Home Language Learners" Google Folder found here has links to parent activities, a link to the video recording of the session, and numerous other parent support resources, for almost all of the languages we currently service.

Phase V Reopening

On Monday, April 26th, Wayne Township Public Schools continued with the district's Phase V Reopening Plan. The district's nine elementary schools grades 3-5 returned for five abbreviated days without any cohorts.

Pictured are Ryerson Elementary students in their classrooms and outside.

Safety Town 2021 is Coming!

Please see flyer for additional information. Click here to register.

Memorial Day Weekend Update

The Board of Education adopted a calendar for the 2020-2021 school year, which incorporates four emergency days in the schedule. To date, we have used two of those days. As a result, we will have an expanded Memorial Day break.

Please be advised that if we have no additional emergency school closings prior to May 28th, school will be closed on Friday, May 28th and Tuesday, June 1st , as well as the scheduled Memorial Day, which is on Monday, May 31st.

School will resume on Wednesday, June 2nd.

WTPS Foodservices: PHASE V PLAN

Wayne Public School’s Return to School Plan Phase 5 begins on Monday April 19, 2021. This letter is to help the school community understand what the Wayne Schools foodservices team is offering to every student. The Phase 5 plan will expand the secondary school’s (Middle & High Schools) day to a full day schedule by cohort with a lunch period. For elementary schools, the K-2 cohorts will be eliminated on 4/19 and the 3-5 cohorts will be eliminated on 4/26. Elementary school dismissal will remain at 1:45pm without a lunch period. Wayne Schools is approved until the end of June 2021 to serve free breakfast and free lunch to every student in the district.

The Preakness Early Childhood Center and Elementary schools will still have the option to preorder their lunches each week to be delivered to the classroom at dismissal. The preorder lunch site is open every week starting on Wednesday at 5pm and closes on Sunday by 4pm for the upcoming week. The site link can be found on the district website’s Foodservice Page. Click on the Fork & Knife on right side or copy & paste in your browser https://sites.google.com/wayneschools.com/lunchforms/home

The students attending in person instruction at the Secondary Schools (Middle & High Schools) do not have to preorder their lunch. The Foodservices Team is planning to feed every student the free lunch that will distributed during the lunch period. We will follow the school menu that is posted online. The lunches will be prepared in a safe kitchen and individually packaged for service. If you do not want your child(ren) to receive the free lunch during the school lunch period: Please complete the slip at the bottom and bring it to their school cafeteria before or at lunch time.

Any student that is staying home for all Virtual Learning can continue to preorder the weekly meal packs on line(see details above) or contact the foodservice office to sign up until June 30, 2021.

Please contact the foodservice office at 973-317-2239 with any questions or more information on the services offered.

Click for the full letter.