Please note that Second Marking Period Report Cards will be issued on February 7, not on January 31 and again on February 7 as listed in our printed Calendar and Family Handbook. We apologize for the error.
Watch for news this month of new means of receiving important messages from our schools. In anticipation, you may want to check the emergency numbers you have listed in PowerSchool and make sure cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses are correct.
Welcome to the Mount Laurel Schools!
"The
speed of communications is wondrous to behold. It is also true that speed can
multiply the distribution of information that we know to be untrue."
Edward R. Murrow
We are proud to welcome you to the Mount Laurel Township Schools' website. As a district, we have long recognized the World Wide Web as a valuable communications tool. In fact, our first site appeared in 1991, before commercialization of the medium began. A website's worth, however, is only as valuable as the information it shares.
Mount Laurel's Board of Education and Administration have established policies and procedures that dictate transparency in all aspects of our operation. You will find board of education meeting agendas, exhibits and minutes posted here each month. Our annual district budget, guides to the curriculum used in our programs and our complete district policy manual are also posted.
But, as Edward R. Murrow noted long before the advent of the Internet, misinformation often travels swiftly. We hope that our website opens the door to conversation with those who use it. If ever you come to this site to confirm information you have heard and are unable to find that validation, please use this link to contact us and pose the question directly. As partners in the education of the children of Mount Laurel, it is incumbent upon each of us to make intelligent use of the tools we have at our disposal.
Mount Laurel School District Receives $15,000 STEM Grant
Mount Laurel School District
has received a $15,000 grant from The Sallie Mae Fund to expand its Science,
Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) initiative to sixth-grade students next
year.
"We are ecstatic to
receive this news," said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Antoinette Rath.
"We started our STEM Program last year at grades five, seven and eight.
The Sallie Mae Fund Grant will allow us to extend this exciting educational
opportunity to our sixth-graders next year also.
"Utilizing Lego
MindStorm Robotics, Mount Laurel's sixth-graders will experience mechanical design, construction, programming and
teamwork skills in the new curriculum. Students will build robots and program
them via computer to move, react and make sounds to solve challenges. Local,
regional, national and international robotics competitions," said Dr.
Rath, "will allow students to test their product and their knowledge in a
wider arena."
The Sallie Mae Fund is a
charitable organization sponsored by Sallie Mae. Its mission - to increase
college access for America's students - is achieved by supporting programs and
initiatives that help open doors to higher education. The Fund supports
communities where Sallie Mae employees live and work, and has contributed more
than $123 million in grants since its inception.
"It is well documented,"
said Dr. Rath, "that students exposed to engineering and computer sciences
at an early age are more likely to follow this track throughout high school and
pursue STEM-based college degrees. Since the inception of our program last
year, we have witnessed tremendous interest on the part of students.
"Offering four years of
STEM education prior to high school gives our students the added exposure
necessary," she added, "to compete in the workforce of the future.
This expansion would not have been possible without the generosity of The
Sallie Mae Fund. We are very grateful."
Board of Education
Superintendent
Did you know that the Mount Laurel Board of Education meets, in general, twice each month?
All of our agendas are
posted prior to our meetings, and our minutes are posted on the Board
Meeting page once they have been approved. All presentations from staff
and administrators made during board meetings are also posted on our
meeting page for your review. Stay in the know ... visit that page
often!
The Board of Education's Work Session meeting for January will be held on January 24 and the Regular monthly meeting will be held on January 31 at the Hattie Britt Board of Education Offices, 330 Mount Laurel Road.
These meetings are open to the public. The Board welcomes public
participation in meetings, and you will find complete agendas and
minutes on our webpage throughout the year.
Looking ahead to 2012, we are excited about what we are still to learn in this school year!
If you have visited your schools during American Education Week or attended one of our special events or winter concerts, you've seen the progress students have already made this year. As a parent, I always treasured those moments with my children. But I remember over the years the smaller, more subtle indications of growth also. A television show about meerkats that launched Michael into a five-minute dissertation about the 14-year life span of the animal that often lived in families of 50. Or the very serious conversation with Elizabeth about why the need for vaccine still exists in third-world countries for diseases we no longer experience in America.
Sometimes, this evidence of their knowledge takes you by surprise and makes you marvel at how quickly they are growing. Always, it makes you smile with pride. Enjoy it!
This Is A Great Time To Update Your Emergency Contact Information
In the coming weeks, our Mount Laurel school family will hear about new means of communicating important or emergency notices from our schools. In anticipation of the new services being added to our current communication vehicles, this is a great time to update your family information. Please take a moment this week to look at your emergency contact information in PowerSchool. Be sure you have added cell numbers, changed old numbers and added e-mail addresses where you might be contacted during the day and in the evenings. We want to be able to reach you at all times with news that impacts your children.
Change in 2012 Kindergarten/First Grade Roundup Dates
Please
note that the dates listed for Kindergarten Roundup in the 2011-12
Calendar & Family Handbook are incorrect. Kindergarten Roundup will
be conducted the week of March 12 to March 16, 2012. Families with
children entering Kindergarten in September of 2012 are encouraged to
register during Roundup to take full advantage of orientation services.
Any
student who is currently attending a private kindergarten but will be
coming to our first-grade classes in September should also be registered
during this special week. Full Roundup details found here.
January 31,Board of Education-Regular Meeting-7:30 p.m.
February 7, Report Cards Issued
School Closed February 20-Presidents' Day
Early Dismissal February 3- Teacher In-Service
Mount Laurel Schools Voted Best Employer in New Jersey for
2010 & 2011!
MISSION STATEMENT OF THE MOUNT LAUREL SCHOOL DISTRICT
The mission of the Mount Laurel Township School District is to prepare all children to
be successful citizens and workers in the 21st century. As aligned with the New Jersey
Core Curriculum Content Standards, this includes educating students to read with
comprehension, write clearly, compute accurately, think critically, reason, discover,
innovate, collaborate, and use information to solve problems.
District Anti-Bullying Coordinator is Kelly Neiman, Mount Laurel Hartford School, 397
Hartford Road, Mount Laurel, NJ 08054, Telephone - 856-231-5899