Westfield Schools

Westfield NJ Board of Education Mission Statement

The Mission of the Westfield NJ School District, a system built on successful cooperation among family, school and community, is to prepare all students to reach their highest potential and to become production, ethical and responsible citizens through rigorous education programs, which respect individual differences and diversity.

Message from the Westfield NJ Board of Education

Superintendent-Margaret Dolan, Ed.D

We measure success as a school district in many ways. In June we witnessed the graduation of more than 400 seniors, with 93% of those graduates now attending universities and colleges across the country. To prepare our students for college and the workplace, we start with the basics. We regularly review what we teach our students at every level from kindergarten to twelfth grade. In 2006-2007 we revised 22 curricula, ranging from Spanish and Italian, to how to conduct research on the Internet, and how to create and interpret spreadsheets in science, social studies and mathematics.

Test results are certainly another way to measure student success. I am pleased to say that all nine of our schools met the 2006 adequate yearly progress required under the No Child Left Behind legislation. You will read many other examples of how well our students perform on national examinations in the "Marks of Distinction" section of this report.

As noted in our mission statement, Westfield NJ is a school system based on successful cooperation among family, school and community. The community once again demonstrated support for education in 2007 by approving a bond referendum in January and passing the school budget in April. One of the main goals of the 2006-2007 school year was to provide adequate space and programs for a growing student body. Thanks to the research and recommendations from the Citizens Advisory Committee on Enrollment, the grass roots efforts of the Citizens for Education and the financial support of the Westfield NJ community, we are now on our way to alleviating overcrowding in the elementary schools. Lincoln School, which has served the town for 8 decades, is being renovated as an Early Childhood Learning Center. All kindergarten students, as well as pre-school disabled students, will begin attending Lincoln School in September 2008.

Success is not the result of an institution, but of its people. Our volunteers, including our Board of Education; our parents; town leaders; community members; administrators, faculty and staff; and most importantly, our students, contribute to the accolades that are included in this annual report. I am excited as I take on the leadership of the Westfield NJ Public School Schools knowing that the solid foundation and strength of our people will build on a tradition of excellence. Our students deserve no less.

Westfield NJ Board of Education School District Profile

Our Schools:

Westfield High School

 

2 Intermediate Schools:
Edison & Roosevelt

 

6 Elementary Schools:
Franklin Jefferson McKinley Tamaques Washington Wilson

 

2006-07 Enrollment:

Elementary: 2857

Intermediate: 1421

High School: 1782

Total: 6060

 

Enrollment increase:

28 in ten years

Elementary: 20  Intermediate: 23  High School: 21

 

Average Class Size:
Elementary: 20  Intermediate: 23  High School: 21

 

Length of School Day:
Elementary: 6 hrs. 25 min.  Intermediate: 6 hrs. 40 min  High School: 7 hrs. 15 min.

 

Highly Qualified Teachers:

Classes taught by teachers certified in subject/grade	100%
Teachers with advanced academic degree	56%
Teachers with over 20 years of experience	26%
Teachers with 10 -20 years of experience	22%

Total Staff
586 professional and 198 support positions

Points of Pride

A sampling of distinctions received by students, staff and schools in 2006-2007:

• Presidential Education Awards presented to 192 graduating seniors.
• Edward Bloustein Distinguished Scholars included 38 WHS seniors.
• National Honor Society inducted 129 WHS juniors based on outstanding scholarship, leadership, service and character.
• National Merit finalist status was achieved by 4 WHS seniors and Letters of Commendation were received by 21 WHS students; National Merit scholarships awarded to 2 seniors.
• Perfect SAT I & II scores of "800" were achieved by 10 WHS students.
• Advanced Placement exams taken by 566 WHS students, with 84 achieving grades acceptable for college credit and 90 students receiving perfect scores.
• Star Ledger named WHS Girls Soccer coach and Bowling coach, Union County Coaches of the Year; Courier News selected
• WHS coach of Boys' Tennis, Coach of the Year.
• 9 Watchung Conference, 10 Union County, and 10 New Jersey athletic championships won, with 1,300 students participating on athletic teams.
• New Jersey State Championships won by WHS Girls swim team and Boys tennis team.
• First Place and Most Outstanding High School Newspaper awarded to Hi's Eye, WHS's student-run newspaper from the American Scholastic Press Assn.
• American Civil Liberties Union Award received by 2 Hi's Eye reporters.
• National Council of Teachers of English awarded national ranking to WHS's Folio for excellence in production of a school literary magazine and awarded two seniors with top prize.
• Second place in the Fed Challenge Competition, involving 150 schools, awarded to WHS team.
• Third place in Euro Challenge, academic competition sponsored by Federal Reserve Bank of NY involving NY, CT and NJ schools, attained by WHS team.
• United Nations co-moderator of international girls' forum was WHS junior.
• Third place at the State level Spelling Bee attained by Wilson fifth grader.
• First place for script-writing for a Drug-Free New Jersey Middle School Public Service Announcement awarded to Roosevelt Intermediate School students.
• First place for short story submitted in General Federation of Women's club national contest won by Washington student;
• State poetry contest won by Franklin student.
• NJ Brain Bee, a neuroscience contest, won by WHS senior.
• Best design award in 16th annual statewide Applied Physics/Technology competition won by WHS Physics students.
• Congressional Bronze Medal, highest honor for youth service, awarded to WHS senior.
• WHS Community Service Club collected and delivered 269 winter coats, 300 lunches and hundreds of toiletry items for the needy
• More than 1,000 lunches were delivered to the homeless, and school supplies and holiday gifts donated to the needy by Jefferson School Early Act Club; $3000 collected from Tamaques School's Read-a-Thon for urban school to start its own library
• Donation of $18,500 raised by Roosevelt Student Council for visually impaired children and $4000 donated by Roosevelt Club Fact to American Cancer Society; $1125 raised for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation from Edison Intermediate School Art Club.
• Woman of Excellence Award bestowed on current Human Resources Supervisor by Union County Commission on Women.
• College Board presented plaque honoring WHS Italian language teacher for expansion of world languages.
• $25,000 for football team won by WHS junior from Toyota online sweepstakes.
• First Place in division at the US Scholastic State Championships won by WHS Color Guard and Marching Band.
• State winner in the Tar Wars poster contest, sponsored by the NJ Academy of Family Practice Physicians, was Franklin School fourth grader.
• 2007 Governor's School program accepted 5 members of the WHS junior class to attend.
• First place award from Parenting Publications of America presented to WHS English teacher.
• First place prize from NJ Drama and Forensic League for drama and comedy won by WHS students.
• Top honors garnered at Model United Nations Conference by 137 WHS students.
• Second place captured at the Stevens Institute of Technology for underwater robotic creation by WHS Science students and teachers.
• Bucks County Playhouse competition awarded Best Director and Best Actor to WHS students.
• All-State Mixed Chorus selected 3 WHS students; All-State Orchestra chose a WHS student as a member.
• National School Orchestra awards presented to 6 WHS students.
• Highest score in NJ on the National German Exam achieved by WHS student.
• Second place on National Italian exam earned by WHS student. First and second place prizes won in the annual Italian Teachers Assn. of NJ Poetry Competition.
• First place in the Advanced Level of Latin in the William Paterson Poetry contest achieved by WHS junior.
• Top ten students nationwide in the National French exam were WHS students.
• First and second place rankings went to WHS students taking the National Spanish exam.
• Second place in the Eric Steiner Composition competition for original piano composition awarded to WHS freshman.
• Region II orchestra accepted 11 intermediate school students from Edison and Roosevelt.
• Global Finals reached by Destination Imagination teams from Wilson School and Roosevelt Intermediate School.

2008 Update

• Westfield High School's 2008 edition of Folio earned highest rating from the National Council of Teachers of English. We are one of four New Jersey schools to earn this honor.
• Zach Connolly, a Westfield High School senior, who was selected as one of five students who will represent the state of New Jersey in the national youth poetry competition in Chicago.
• Edison seventh grader Rachel Holtzman and Roosevelt eighth grader Kate Chin progressed to the State level in the National Geographic Bee.
• Westfield High School Boys Swim Team State Champs! Both Boys and Girls WHS Swim teams won the Union County Championships.
  Julian Seltzer on the Westfield High School Drama Competition Team captured 3rd place at the Speech and Theatre Association of New Jersey's 2009 Governor's Awards.
• Nine more Westfield High School students ended the year with perfect scores on the Nov/Dec SAT: Andrew Weiss; Vladislav Bouchouev; Melissa Shulman; Ming Chen , Edward Purcell; Marc Cervantes; Graeme Stahl, Monica Hong and Joseph Lee.
• At the Regional Science Olympiad Competition at NJIT,Edison students finished 4th overall and Roosevelt's team placed 8th out of 20 teams. 20 of our students received honors including 1st place in "Experimental Design" to Pat Terry and Joseph Obiajulu.
• Hershey, PA., Model United Nations Conference led by WHS senior Daniel Morse.WHS earned the Outstanding Delegation Award. Other awards included: Premier Diplomat, won by Joshua Schwartz and Daniel Krack; and Outstanding First Year Delegate, presented to Corey Lipschultz and Joshua Solomon.
• Glenn Kurz was Voted Union County Coach of the year by the Union County wrestling Coaches Association. Assistant Coach John Cheddar was voted Assistant Coach of the Year.
• John Barnes won the "Outstanding Wrestler" award, voted on by the Union County District 11 coaches from 9 different schools. Westfield High School wrestlers won the District 11 championship with three wrestlers winning firstt place - John Barnes, Nick DeFreitas and Christian Barber
• WHS student musicians were chosen to perform with the Central Jersey Music Educators Association Region II Ensembles: Leslie Bartsch, Alex Goldschmidt, Jason Isbit, Alison Ricardo, Christopher Walsh, Yixiao Wang, and Deborah Wu.
• Four WHS students garnered seats in the New Jersey Music Educators Association All State Symphonic Band and will perform at the NJPAC on February 21 with select musicians from high schools throughout New Jersey. They include: Leslie Bartsch , Alison Ricardo, Yixiao Wang, and Deborah Wu.
• Seven student musicians from WHS were chosen to perform in the New Jersey Youth Symphony ensembles for the 2008-2009 season: Jason Qin, Alison Ricardo, Christopher Walsh, Yixiao Wang, David Osterman, Caroline Fahey, and Tim Ko.
• Westfield Intermediate School students named to the Central Jersey Music Educators Association Region II Intermediate Band: From Edison Intermediate School - Clay Beyert, Kevin Galasso, Samantha Gruskin, and Kevin Smith, and from Roosevelt Intermediate School - Jeff Marino.
• Central Jersey Music Educators Association Region II Intermediate String Orchestra selected: Edison students - Kristin Hauge, Francis Wong and Cindy Xiao, and Roosevelt students Cindy Gong and Edmund Han.
• Kristin Hauge and Jingyan (Cindy) Xiao, both seventh graders at Edison Intermediate School, performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall on December 6, 2008 as part of the Russian Music Festival sponsored by the Talented Young Musicians Association of New Jersey.
• Roosevelt eighth graders Megan Ariola and Sonya Khedr, and sixth grader Amber Johnson were accepted in the Region II choir.
• 38 WHS seniors are recipients of the Edward J. Bloustein Distinguished Scholars Award. Their names are posted at www.westfieldnjk12.org/news.
• WHS art teacher, Mrs. Annora Happe-Conway is the 2008 recipient of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Visual Arts Initiative Award.
• WHS Gymnastics Coach Melissa Bryan, was named the Star Ledger Gymnastics Coach of the year.
• McKinley School has been chosen as a recipient of a 2008 Union County Green Grant.
• Westfield High School named public high school with most athletic wins in New Jersey in 90-years.
• Forensics Club captures first and third place at statewide competition.
• WHS Marching Band won second place in the Northern States Championships and received the Best Percussion award. The band placed 5th out of 20 school bands in NJ in the State Championship.
• 131 WHS students earned "AP Scholar" designation by the College Board for exceptional achievement on the college-level Advanced Placement Program (AP) Exams. . . a 27% increase over the number of students in 2007.
• 6 WHS Students named semi-finalists in the National Merit Scholarship program: Devin Cline, Alice Li, William Perry, Samantha Ritter, Moira Smith, and Alan Workman.
• 29 Westfield High School students have been named Commended Students in the 2009 National Merit Scholarship Program, placing among the top 2 ½ % of more than 1.5 million students.
• Ninth grader Mary Barber was selected to the Region Women's Chorus.
• Jennifer Frega's fifth grade artwork at Franklin was selected by the Art Educators of New Jersey to be part of the 2009 AENJ Calendar.
• Westfield High School Concert Choir performed with the Westfield Symphony Orchestra at PNC Arts Center to an audience of 3,000.
  Catalina Gaglioti, a Westfield High School 10th grader and member of the Concert Choir, won the 2008 National High School Coaches Association Teen Idol singing competition, surpassing 150 teen performers from around the country.
• Girls tennis team, with first year Coach Frank Geiger, won the Union County Tournament Oct 3, 2008.
• Hi's Eye ,the weekly student newspaper at Westfield High School, earned a silver medal from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, earning 917 points out of a possible 1000.

Colleges Attended by Top Ranked 2007 Westfield NJ High School Graduates

2007 Westfield NJ High School Graduation Rate: 99%
2007 Westfield NJ High School Graduates Continuing Education: 93%
 

(Printed with permission of the Westfield NJ Board of Education)

Westfield Schools:

Westfield is a wonderful place for education, featuring some of the best schools in the area, including Westfield High School which is frequently listed among the top ten schools in New Jersey; Westfield students are also known for scoring above average on the SATs. Based on a survey of residents twenty five years of age and over it was determined that:

• 95.4% had a high school diploma or higher,
• 62.5% had a BA or higher, and
• 29.8% had a Graduate or Professional degree.

The Westfield school district includes a number of elementary and intermediate schools as well as the Westfield High School. The district public school profile is as follows:

Early Childhood: (K)

Lincoln School Early Childhood Learning Center 728 Westfield Ave.

Elementary Schools:

Franklin Elementary School (1-5) 700 Prospect Street (908) 789-4590
Jefferson School (1-5) 1200 Boulevard (908) 789-4490
McKinley School (1-5) 500 First Street (908) 789-4555
Tamaques School (1-5) 641 Willow Grove Road (908) 789-4580
Washington School (1-5) 900 St. Mark's Avenue (908) 789-4600
Wilson School (1-5) 301 Linden Avenue (908) 789-4605

Intermediate Schools:

Edison Intermediate (6th-8th) 800 Rahway Avenue (908) 789-4470
Roosevelt Intermediate (6th-8th) 301 Clark Street (908) 789-4560

High School:

Westfield High School 550 Dorian Road (908) 789-4500

For those preferring a private or religious school, there are numerous choices as well.

Pre Schools:

and many others are all within easy driving or busing distance of Westfield.

Westfield is also within commuting distance to a number of area colleges and universities including:

• Union County College Cranford
• Kean University Elizabeth
• Seton Hall University south Orange
• Drew University Madison
• Rutgers University New Brunswick & Newark
• University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
• Newark, New Brunswick, Piscataway, Stratford, Scotch Plains, Camden
• Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken
• Montclair State University
• Fairleigh Dickinson University Madison
• New Jersey Institute of Technology‎ Newark
• And while it's a 50 minute commute, we must mention Princeton University, home of Einstein, Fitzgerald and Shields