001Good evening. At this time, I would like to call to order the November 12th, 2025 Hamilton Township Board of Education. This meeting is being held in compliance with the Sunshine Law, having been advertised in the press of Atlantic City, and notices posted at the Township Clerk's Office, Maze Landing Post Office, Misba Post Office, Atlantic County Library, as well as the schools of the district. This meeting is being recorded. Roll call, please. >> Miss Anker, >> Mrs. Bachelor, >> here. >> Dr. Mrino >> here, >> Mrs. Dirks >> here, >> Mrs. Jackson >> here, >> Dr. La Hawk >> here, >> Mrs. Pto, >> Mr. Rogers, >> and Mrs. Bart >> here. Can I please have a motion to convene in to executive session? Motion. >> Second. >> Motion by Miss Bachelor, second by Miss Jackson.
002All in favor? >> I >> oppose. Resolved that pursuant to sections seven and eight of the open public meetings act the public shall be excluded from that portion of the meeting involving discussion of legal matter attorney client privilege personnel matters and HIV. Be it further resolved that the discussion of such subject matter in executive session can be disclosed to the public when formal action is taken on such subject matter or at any other appropriate time. Be it further resolved, the board may take action on items discussed in executive session. Now therefore, be it resolved, the board will be in executive session for approximately 30 minutes. Good evening, everyone. Welcome to our November 12, 2025 Hamilton Township Board of Education meeting. At this time, can I please have a motion to close executive session and reconvene
003to public session? Motion by Miss Sturks. >> Second by Miss Jackson. All in favor? I oppose. >> This meeting is being held in compliance with the sunshine law having been advertised in the press of Atlantic City and notices posted at the township clerk's office, Maze Landing Post Office, MSBA post office, Atlanta County Library, as well as the schools of the district. This meeting is being recorded. There are two opportunities to address the members of the board. The board values and welcomes comments and opinions from residents as long as remarks are not personal or discourteous. The public comment portion of the meeting allows the board to listen to community members and to hear their opinions on school policy and operations. The first public portion is reserved for persons wishing to speak about agenda items only. The
004second opportunity following the action items is when residents may address the board on any school related issue. Each speaker is asked to limit their comments to three minutes and you are not permitted to yield your time to another. The public comment portion of the meeting during both sessions will not exceed 30 minutes. Upon being recognized, persons wishing to speak should stand and identify themselves by name and address. We please stand for the flag seat. Please take a moment of silence for private reflection. >> Thank you. All right. At this time, I will turn it over to Dr. Zto. We have a lot of presentations and celebrations this evening. >> Turn this on. Uh, can I please have Mrs. Bryant please come up to present our reading challenge winner for this month. Good evening. Wow. Um,
005the November summer reading challenge winner is Emilyn Levven, uh, who is in Mrs. Jordano's fourth grade class. Uh, Mrs. Jordano says, "Emilyn is hardworking and excellent and an excellent reader who loves sharing what she learns with her classmates. She is helpful and always willing to lend a hand." Congratulations, Emilyn. I see your shirt. It says greeting rock. It's at this time. Mike, can you play the uh staff members for the month of October? Staff of the month. >> Ding. Staff of the month. Staff of the month. >> Of the month. Can we give a big round of applause? A big shake of our shakers for Mrs. Stevenbody. >> Boys and girls, I'm so excited. >> You are. You do a great job. >> Thank you. >> So, friends, Miss Stevens is being recognized by her
006friends and all of the people in the building. And some of the nice things they say about I'd like to share with you. They say, "Miss Stevens always goes above and beyond to spread love and kindness. Not only to all of the students, but also to all of the staff. She makes sure every child knows they are seen and cared for and that they always have a safe place with her. Miss Stevens deserves to staff of the month. Not only this month, but every month. Hi everybody. I'm back. >> We're going to interrupt for just a moment as you head to lunch. Our H school staff member of the month for the month of October is Mr. Ron. Welld deserved. >> Welld deserved. Right. Definitely. >> So this is this is what we wrote. There
007is so much to appreciate about Mr. Ron. From his terrible jokes to his way with the children. He always displays a positive attitude with great wisdom. >> He provides amazing support to the teachers in the classroom and goes above and beyond his duties. We appreciate his dedication. >> Thank you for everything. So, I just want to say before we break off into teams, I want to tell you a little bit about Mr. Levine. For those of you who don't know, when I first started a few years back, we had an opening for a vic and walked in the door and I called over to Atlanta to some people just to find out if they could tell me about him like what do you know about Lavine? Um, and I got a lot of really positive
008feedback. He has come into this this school and the word transformative doesn't even begin to explain what he has done. He doesn't sleep. Um and you know who know he's everywhere. He says good morning to the kids. He is in every teacher's room every day. He is out on the soccer field every night with the kids. Everybody knows him. You can't help but because he's everywhere. Um he's hit rodeos. He's hit um street hockey. He's hit ice skating. He's hit um >> Yeah. Who knew? Everywhere. And here at Davies, every month we have what's called a staff of the month. And how could we not give it to Mr. Lavine? >> I'd give him a hug, but those him that doesn't happen. So, thank you so much for all you do, not just today, all
009year. He loves our kids. You cannot deny that they are first. And if he's saying, it always is. We do what's said for kids no matter what. And take a look around. That's exactly what it looks like. >> Yeah. If anybody that got recognized is here tonight, can you please stand up? Put a bump. Come on, Mr. Lavine. Let's give him a nice round of applause. Also, by the way, just putting that out there. Mr. Sioka doesn't normally look like that. That was him with the crazy hair in the background. That was the night of our uh haunted halls. So, thanks. Thanks for being a good sport on that one. >> All right. At this time, can I please have Charlies Wagner come up to give her presentation? For those of you that don't know,
010uh, Charize is our human resource specialist. Um, and she recently returned home from a sixmonth deployment overseas. While she was deployed, Mrs. Wagner had a flag flown over uh over for the Hamilton Township School District which you'd like to present to us tonight. Come on, Chris. Go on up and grab Mrs. Wagner. That made us really proud and I want to thank you so much for doing that for us and thank you for your service. We'll hang this up in the board office. um want to mention a little bit about >> um so in addition to working here I'm in the air force um I'm a staff sergeant in the air force and I was just recently deployed to Aldafa air base in UAE or United Arab Emirates um I supported operation Spartan Shield a
011mission that's focused on um strengthening relationships and defense partners in the Middle East and that's pretty cool. Um and then deterring potential threats as well. Um I So when you fly a flag for like a family member or a lot of people fly them for um people that have passed away, uh dedicate them to businesses, dedicate them to like their employers and things like that. Um it's just to like say like, "Hey, thanks. I'm thinking about you while I'm gone." Um honor, service, gratitude, all the things. Um, so this flag was flown on a reconnaissance mission um somewhere over the Middle East. Maybe um could be Yemen, could be Iran, could be Israel, could be. I don't know. That information's um not for me to know, maybe not for you guys to know either. But
012um today I dedicate this flag to the school um as a piece of me that'll always be here. Sorry, Mrs. B. We have a lot of presentations tonight. I apologize. All right, our next presentation. Can I have Mr. Kowalsski come up? Um, Mr. Kowalsski is going to talk about our district uh initiative of a district radio station. Good evening board members. Uh my name is Mark Wowski. I'm the media teacher here at Davies. I have two presentations for you today. Um but I am not going to speak for the first one. So Jameson, come on up, buddy. Um I'm going to toss it to one of my student leaders. This is Jameson Riley. Uh and he is going to speak about our new initiative, our Hamilton Township Radio Station. My name is Jameson Riley. I'm
013the student program director of our school radio station, which we are calling Positive 105.9. I'm here to introduce it to you in our community as the latest addition to our state-of-the-art innovation center. Thank you to Mr. Kane and to all of you for giving me a chance to speak. It can be used for live event commentary. Oh, I'm sorry. Skipped a part. Our radio station has a potential to benefit our school in meaningful ways. It can be used for live event commentary. special broadcast and classroom updates. Teachers could play coverage during lessons without needing to stop everything to turn on the TV. We could also replay announcements throughout the day so no one misses important information. Most importantly, this station helps build build community. It gives students and staff something we all can share. Our
014own voice, our own space, our own our own space, our own school culture. I hope we can continue to grow and support the radio station so it can become a lasting part of our school, not just this year, but for years to come. The radio station will launch on December 1st and will be able to be hear heard on 105.9 on the radio dial here at Davies and everywhere online playing positive music programmed, coded, and hosted by Davies media students. Thank you. All right. So the creativity, the passion, the organization, the teamwork, and the incredible achievements of the William Davies Middle School media program come directly from our students. They are the driving force in everything we do. And one student in particular has set the standard for what leadership truly looks like. Uh Lucas
015Brochard, an eighth grader in advanced media and technology, serves as the executive director of the Dragon Network, and I'm going to invite him to come on down now. Yay, Lucas. >> So, in that role, he oversees projects, he helps his classmates, and he keeps our productions running at a professional level. Uh, his peers describe him as always willing to help, kind, and a true leader. He's also the only student that I have that can get away with calling me a doofus, but that's besides the point. Uh when Lucas applied for the position last year, he wrote in his essay, media class is like another family to me and it makes me want to come to school. That line captures exactly who he is. Someone who brings people together, creates community, and leads with his whole
016heart. The student leadership in broadcast journalism award is presented in partnership with the Associated Press. It recognizes a student who embodies the highest standards of journalism, integrity, kindness, collaboration, and professionalism. These are the values upheld by AP, one of the most respected news organizations in the world with thousands of reporters who mirror Lucas's qualities. Lucas is that student. His kindness, dedication, and passion make everyone around him better, and his leadership has left a lasting mark on our program. I'm so proud of this kid. So, congratulations to Lucas. And there's a little Thank you. So, our next presentation is for um one of our veteran teachers who's just not only an amazing teacher, but an amazing human. Um I want to start it off by um showing a quick video. It's only a minute long. Um
017that will kind of introduce what we're going to present. So, Mr. If you don't you don't mind Mike putting that up. Welcome to Maze Landing, New Jersey. Population, a little over 6,000 residents. And curiously enough, although some of the residents are not old enough to drive, they can handle a saw and hammer-like pros. Now, these middle schoolers are not only learning a trade, they are competing in Skills USA's first middle school competition. Thanks to the vision and passion of a great teacher and the support of great principles, this middle school found an unlikely spark of transformation in the sound of saws and the smell of fresh cut wood. >> It's really been an experience doing um the hands-on activities. So from from woodworking, what the kids are learning most of all is working together and
018that most importantly it's they're going to make mistakes but to learn from them. >> Those resources from training to lesson plans to materials and tools came from one place, Maple Woodshop. >> Created Maple Wood Shop 9 years ago to help youth kids like you develop life skills through woodworking. Since its inception, the program has been nailing it, not only with their students, but with their proud parents. It's workforce development in its purest form, where great schools truly lead to great jobs. >> Blake is definitely hands-on. He loves wood shop. Um, this has been a great club for him. Um, he loves everything outdoors, um, his quads and his dirt bikes. But hidden in all that cutting and nailing wood, there's something extra being built. Beyond the fun and hands-on creativity, students are gaining employability skills,
019teamwork, empathy, and confidence. >> Some of the benefits that I see for the woodworking class are um you know, being hands-on and being able to be handy around the house is very beneficial. >> I teach pre-alggebra 8th grade. So in terms of the math, it's really learning I see it as life skills math with how to read the tape measures or hand how to handle a combination square being able to read the units of measurement on there. It's like almost like a new style math. Students are asking more complicated questions in their math classes connected to the rather wood shop. So hey listen, can we go back over area real quick? I really need to figure out this problem at which school and it's really neat. They're discovering that internships and work experiences aren't far
020down the road and that this wood shop class is helping set them on a path towards long and fulfilling careers. And you can make a lot of money without going to college and and taking loans out. So, if this is something you're really interested in, there's a real viable uh career path for you. Uh when you can make a great career and living and and lifestyle and and working in the trades, >> he does he would like to try and get into a technical school. I think that's a skill that can help them, you know, later down the line in life and hopefully this sparks an interest in them when they go on to high school or if they apply to different technical schools. The results of the program have been fantastic with students even
021earning awards from Skills USA in this competition. Proof that a career centered education can begin earlier than anyone expected. It gives the students the self worth that they capable of doing something to show what they're capable of doing and all kind of tasks they can do. And the only thing that we really require and for me it's it's worth if the kids go in and say I did my job. I did the best job possible. >> We're seeing it in involvement. Kids on the friends that might not be involved in some of our other clubs or programs. We're seeing improvements in grade. Uh we absolutely love this program and we can't wait to expand. Mr. Lavine, can you come down with Mr. Sykes and just talk about the program for a second? >> Oh, man.
022So, I'm happy to introduce Mr. um one of our very best who did recognize the need for a program like this to reach more of our students which in the end is our goal to reach every single one of our students have involved and part of the greater community that we're building here at Davies and Hamilton Township as a whole. Mr. Sykes came to us with this idea for the woodworking um club program and really just ran with it. I need to point out that in that exact competition you watched, we won. Those were our kids getting meddled, which they have, and we brought them here tonight, some of them, which we can talk about. Um, some of the stars are right there. See them in a minute. Um, but who we're talking about right
023now is Mr. Sykes, and I'd love to have him come up and share more about the program, what he's done, and how he's gotten this program to bloom into what it is right now. Our numbers have tripled and we have a wait list at a two-part program for the first and second part of the year. So, Mr. Sykes, >> Mr. Sykes also asked that I read him the prompt questions just like they did in the video. >> All right. Yes. Okay. Of course. First question. >> Please discuss what you do. Um each project starts with the students making their project templates from a blueprint. Um from there they will measure and mark their lines and the lesson plans are provided by Maplewood Shop. Um basically direct them step by step. So we also have a
024video as backup in case we come across an area that all right when we were following this print for some reason it jammed us up. Let's go back and watch them do it again step by step and and go from there. Um it's basically and I'm going to go a little off key here. basically wood shop for for dummies because the fact that I'm running it, my parents find that completely hilarious. So, um, but no, I I'd be remiss if I didn't, you know, thank everybody here from my building administration to everyone here for allowing me to start this. And like I said, it's um it's in its infancy steps here or it's baby steps, one step at a time. But I cannot be happier of what we've accomplished and where we're going with it.
025um actually with the next the next prompt. Thank you, Ann. Um talk about the partnerships. Uh it's was actually the Carpenters Union that reached out to me several years ago. Um there were several executives that um got in touch with me about the possibility of starting just a basic fundamental wood shop just to give the kids the basics. Um nothing with power tools or anything like that. just basic handheld tools just so as the kids work their way through high school if they do they do wood shop whether it's at Oakrest Cedar Creek um ACIT if they were to go into a different trade it didn't necessarily have to be the carpenters union it could be any of the local unions that they would have that those basic fundamentals like all right with with this
026print I got I know I have this these tools and I know how to use them. So, it really started with, you know, a local union coming to me and and getting started. And from there, I met um the gentleman in the video, Mike Schloff, who created Maplewood Shop and John Kylie. And they're the ones that, you know, gave me the tools I needed to get started. Um like I said, it's it's really basic fundamental stuff and they make it fun for the kids to learn and go through and it makes it easy. Again, like if I can do it, I know they can do it. So um that which came to the competition like as the the program was building and I was in more and more contact with them. They put me in
027touch with uh Chris Garinger of Gateway um high school. Yeah. Gateway Regional High School and he suggested going into this competition with Skills USA where we were brought on as a charter and we he invited us to this competition the Skills USA competition where it was the first time that we had middle schoolers go up. So we had other other schools there and we basically broke down into groups and you know part of my team's here. They came back to to be recognized and again I cannot thank them enough to want you know for their hard work. Shakila, Elijah and Blake and I know Ava's not here but like I said those kids went up there they they really worked hard and it was you know just an all day exercise of a hands-on project
028where they didn't know what they were going to get. They could have been one that they already did or something that they never saw before. They posted up the blueprint and I was like, "All right, have at it." And they had a certain window of time to do it. And like I said, the video speaks for itself. And you know, the the fact that they came away recognized for that, it really made it worthwhile. So, you know, I thank you. I thank them for that and I thank you guys for giving me that opportunity to pursue that. Um, in terms of going forward, it's I've had more kids come out this year for the pro for the program and having several of the students come back from last year and help out where they're all
029it's more of a team building exercise now. So, I got the kids from last year helping the kids this year. So, that encourages more kids to to stick around and say, "Hey, look, even though I'm not getting it right this time, maybe next go around I can get get it right." So it's that that team of like that sense of ownership where we're going to work through this and we're going to get it done that it makes it all worthwhile. So like next year when I when we come back, you know, I want to add like another group. So I have an advanced group, an intermediate group, and a beginner group of sixth graders that are coming up and just just to keep it going from there. So again, you know, I' I've been a
030district employee for a long time here and I just want to say thank you to the people in attendance and to all you guys for allowing me to pursue this. So, thank you ladies and gentlemen. Thank you so much. >> Mr. S, can we call the students down? >> Oh, absolutely. I have Elijah Moya. Would you come on down? Uh Blake Blake Mueller and Shakila Jameson Gil. These were the past events for October. On October 20th, the D the Davies academic team competed at the 17th annual quiz bowl at St. Augustine Prep and won second place out of 24 24 schools. The team demonstrated incredible teamwork, knowledge, and quick thinking throughout the competition. We are so proud of their hard work and impressive performance. On October 25th was our first ever Hamilton Hallways of Horror
031where the school was completely transformed into a haunted house. Thank you to Mr. Lavine and all the families, teachers, and volunteers that made the spooky event possible. We cannot wait for next year. The Halloween dance and parade were both great successes with excellent student participation and a wonderful display of school spirit. Vienna will now be saying the November events. Up. Upcoming events for November. 8th grade choir students sang the Star Spangled Banner on the morning announcements yesterday to commemorate Veterans Day. On November 17th, we are honored to welcome several local veterans who will be visiting our school to speak with 8th grade students. They will share their personal experiences and reflections on service, providing students with a meaningful opportunity to learn about history, sacrifice, and patriotism firsthand firsthand. Kindness club and the PTA have teamed
032up to hold our annual Thanksgiving food drive. Together, we are working to collect nonp perishable food items to support families in our local community who may be in need during the holiday season. The annual eighth grade flag football frenzy is coming up on November 26th. And excitement is already building among students and staff. This fun schoolwide tradition promotes teamwork, sportsmanship, and school spirit as students take to the field for a friendly competition. It's always a highlight for the fall season and a great way for our eighth graders to celebrate together before the holidays. On November 29th, the Davies Band and Choir will perform at the annual Town Tree Lighting at 5:45 p.m. This cherished community tradition brings families together to kick off the holiday season. And our talented student musicians are excited to share their
033music and represent Davies at this festival event. Thank you. >> Excellent, guys. Thank you. All right. Now, we've already gotten a preview of this riveting, amazing presentation, but can I please have Mr. S come up and do our performance reporting for the spring uh NJSLA uh presentation? Thank you. >> Exactly. Thank you. I'm uh Scott Seryaka, the uh supervisor of instruction here, and this is a presentation on the standardized test that we do during the year. This is something the state asked us to do every year. Um we usually do it around this time. So, this presentation is on the board agenda and I'm hoping by tomorrow we're actually going to put it on the curriculum website. So, I'm going to go through it. We had a lot of great presentations. I'm sorry mine is
034last. Um, but you know, you can look at it and ask me questions or get in touch with me and everything. So, I'll try to go quickly through it. There are a lot of slides though. Okay. So um the three main um assessments that I'm going through are the access test which is for our multilingual or ML student uh students here, the DM which is uh used for uh students with uh severe cognitive disabilities that can't actually take the NJSLA wouldn't be appropriate. And then of course the NJSLA which I'm sure we're all familiar with. Um, I will go to our notable achievements and uh just to because we get to brag a little bit there. And just to remind you, NJSLA, here are the um the levels, the bands uh and we're looking meeting
035expectations, exceeding expectations. There are some slides in here where we're adding those up because that's really our goal and we compare that to how we were last year at the state. Um we we get compared to the state as well on those levels. So, um, it was reversed. Sorry. Uh, we're going through those. And, oh, I went the wrong way. Sorry, Mike. Mike told me the right way to use this. Uh, science, we have proficient and advanced proficient are the the level three and four. For some reason, they do four levels. Uh, and then the DM at target advanced are what we're looking for. And access results. These are the number of participants. We do have quite a few. This is the ML students. Um, and we actually do have some that are that do
036test out and meet expectations. So once an ML student meets expectations, they actually are kind of testing out of that program and it really generally means they're they're good enough in English to go into the the normal classroom and they're they're done. It's really amazing um that we do that. Uh DM, here are some DM results. We have at target and advanced and this is uh for our ELA and we have our math result couple at target and some approaching and our science a lot approaching and everything. Okay, the NJSLA uh just to remind you third through 8th grade third through 8th does ELA and math and fifth and eighth they take the science test. Okay. So just to give you an idea here, this is first column. It works but not that far. Okay.
037So first column is last year meaning 23 24 years ago really and the second column is the last year's test the spring of 2425. So we have grade three, grade four, grade five, grade six compared over the years. This is ELA and we're really looking for the uh the top green. That's interesting. That that looks just like the yellow. There is a top light green in there. If you look at the first one, 19% that's actually the met expectations. And then the greener green is the 1% that is exceeded expectations. So, what we're looking for here is from year to year having more students in those met or exceeded expectations. And you can see across here, and I'll let you look at this on your own as well. You can see we are increasing that
038in almost all of our grade levels in ELA. Oh, I hit it again. Okay. We also have math. Same thing through the grade levels. And we're increasing the met and exceeded expectations in um in most grade levels, which is very good. Science, same thing. Remember, there's only four and we can see we want the same thing to happen from year to year. And that that is happening. Fifth grade, eighth grade, it was close. Um and we kind of go from there. There it is. Okay. This is I'll I'll forego the tables because the tables are also in the charts. This is kind of based on a template the state gives us. So these are all the um the changes in levels one and two. The changes in level three and four over the years. Number
039of students testing. This is another thing we we have to report on. Um and this is just the number of students we had. We don't have a lot of refusals or anything like that. So most of our students do test and this is for math and for science as well. Okay. So now we get into some some comparisons to the state. Um our district compared to the state and I believe I have this right here. Yep. So first column is district, second is state. We have grade end grades three through 8th grade. Um, we're kind of a little bit behind in the state, but you have to remember the state average is every single district in the entire state. So, if you are familiar with the old DFGs, the district factor groups, um, Hamilton was
040not a very high district factor. It just takes a lot of that different things and income and all that stuff. So, um I always look at this and take it with a bit of a grain of salt because there's there's some other schools in here that have a lot more um resources and everything to go around. So, we're not too far behind. And I and this has been increasing each year, which is very good. And this is for math. Same thing. We're, you know, we're just right there as we go. Oh, by the way, this um we're we're doing a new test this year. So, I don't know if I'm going to be able to compare next year, but that's a new thing coming around. You've probably heard about it. So, all the positive stuff,
041just keep that in mind. It was very, it was going in a good direction. Okay. And we have science as well compared to the state. We also report on subgroups. One of the subgroups groups is race. And you can see across our um if if we have something that's under I think it's 20 students, we're not allowed to report on it. We have plenty though. Um, and you can see you want those those second or the last two columns to be as high as possible. Those are the meeting and exceeding expectations. And um, you can see they are they are getting pretty high as we go. And the same thing for math right here. and for science. Oh, this was the sorry, let me go back here. That was the annual comparison. And you'll see
042that we want the dark blue to be going up and we are that would that means we're increasing over the years and ELA is definitely increasing. I wanted to show you that. Okay. So, subgroup program. Uh the program being an L if they're an ML student, a free and reduced lunch which are which is our economically disadvantaged students section 504 and our special ed students. So, this is from the year before and you can't really I'm sorry with the coloring. I didn't know it would come up like that. So, we do a three-year comparisons. The big point here is it's go we want it to be going up and it is going up. That's ELA. And same thing for math. And we have the same comparisons with science. Again, we want them going up. And
043these are the programs of that the students are in the uh the free and reduced lunch. That's something very difficult to get to increase over the years. Um and it has been increasing which is very um you know teachers and everyone should be proud of that. We I als we also do gender the males and females. One thing to note of gender it used to be that um the males generally in math usually did better than than the uh girls but um it's kind of evening out now and I think that's because we've been trying to push um and make sure that that does happen. and then also in science for gender. Okay, so just some of the achievements, some of the highlights. All grades were higher in meeting and exceeding except for one grade
044level. Um for this year, the district went up from 31 to 40% of our students in the meeting and exceeding uh category since the last test. That's very good. This is all for ELA, sixth and eighth grade ELA. This is a big deal. the percentage of students at meeting and exceeding for the first time went over where we were before COVID. Um, that's that's great. We've all been looking for that over years. My my old district, same thing. It has not been happening yet. So, we're I hope that means we're starting to get back to where we were. I know it took a long time, but that's a great positive sign. And, uh, the meeting and exceeding has been rising every year since 2122. um as I look at the longitudinal data um science fifth
045grade did go up and we did add a new science program in the middle school this year and so that's actually aligned to the um NJSLS which is aligned to the next gen standards and in uh in math third and eighth grade above where we were before COVID the 1819 year very good um meeting and exceeding we we're all of this stuff right here is stuff we use to kind of figure things out. I we compare this to our MAP test and our other assessments we do um just so we're not taking one assessment, but some of this is is things we're talking about as as earlier it was earlier this week talking about what we can do with some of this information to go to the classrooms and actually improve and we continue to
046exit ML uh students which is which is great. So, intervention plans, here's where I talk about we do have some new programs. We have um new ELA program. It's the second year of our SAVIS program. Um grades K to 8. We've added uh the Envisions program, the math program in fourth and fifth grade. Now, I think fifth grade is on its second year, fourth is on its first. Uh we also have the um the new science program like I mentioned before. So those are different things that come along at that we you know we use some of this data but when we see things uh going down or anything like that we look at our programs themselves and same thing with math and I'll let you go through this and same thing with the different
047areas and everything. We are we are looking at tier two and tier three. We're revamping that program. So that's something that that is new for this year as an intervention. Okay, that was one of the quickest I've ever done. Um, I hope it wasn't too quick. Do you have any questions though? Does anyone have any questions? Again, it's going to be on the website and it's on the agenda and then you can just get in touch with me if you do have some specific questions. Okay, I'm always happy to talk about it. All right, not too bad, I don't think. How long? All right, thank you so much. >> Thank you so much, Mr. Serio. I appreciate that. And thanks to our staff, our students. This is Brian. Great job doing this curriculum stuff. We
048got it going on. We're doing better. This is good stuff. So, thank you. All right. On to my superintendent report. As we move into November, I'm proud to look back on a busy and rewarding October across the Hamilton Township School District. The month was filled with meaningful connections and community spirit. from reading to every first grade class at the Hes Educational Complex to participating in events that brought our schools and families together, including the PTA meetings, trunk or treat, and the unforgettable Horror in the Halls. It was also great to see our schools represented throughout the community during the Maze Landing Ghost Walk and other fall festivities that showcase the pride and unity of Hamilton Township. Instructionally, we continue advancing, as can be seen by our slideshow, our district priorities with a focus on student
049engagement, data informed instruction, and the ongoing development of our MTSS and INRS practices. I met with the administrators and supervisors to strengthen consistency across the schools, observed classroom practices, and continued our collaborative discussions to support teacher growth and student achievement. operationally oper October and also included key leadership meetings including uh our newly formed computer science task force and the school resource officer meetings as well as ongoing planning for our upcoming centennial celebration. I also attended the New Jersey school boards association conference which provided valuable insights into statewide best practices and innovation in public education. As we approach Thanksgiving, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our staff, students, and families and community partners for their ongoing dedication and support. Each of our each of you contributes to the success and spirit of our
050district. I wish everyone a peaceful and restful Thanksgiving break and I look forward to the excitement and possibilities that this December and the new year will bring. some of our dates to remember. Uh, Wednesday, obviously tonight's our board meeting. November 14th is the PTA movie night at Hess at six o'clock. I think they're doing Lilo and Stitch, the live action version. That's it, Emily. Right. Good. Um, on November 17th uh will be our next uh virtual PTA meeting. uh the links for the VTA, but it'll also be here. But we did change our site to now the Board of Education uh office conference room at 7 o'clock PM. November 27th and 28th, schools will be closed for Thanksgiving. On December 2nd, the Hess Winter Band concert at Hess a Auditorium will be happening at 7
051o'clock. December 4th, the Hess 45 choir concert at the Hess Auditorium at 7 o'clock. On December 10th will be our next board of education meeting for a 5:15 executive session and 5:45 regular session right here again in our Davies school cafeteria. On December 11th a Davies winter concert which will be the Davies band and choir. They'll be at the Hess auditorium at 7 o'clock. 24th of December to the 31st will be closed for winter's break. We'll reopen uh January 1st and 2nd. We're also closed uh for New Year's. And that concludes my superintendent. >> Thank you, Dr. Zto. At this time, we will open public comment. There are two opportunities to address the members of the board. The board values and welcomes comments and opinions from residents as long as remarks are not personal or
052discouraged. Seeing none, we'll close public comment and open board member comments. I promise I won't be long. I just I just want to point out um the great work that I heard here tonight with uh Mr. K, Mr. Lavine, Mr. Sykes, and it's it's so refreshing to me to see two different types of uh programs from two different ends come together and bring leaders out of our students. And and that's what I see. I see these as leadership building opportunities. And I'm I'm beyond thrilled to see all the technical stuff that's happening because I'm I'm a technical geek. Although no, people might say I'm not. So, but I think I might be. But the woodworking was so awesome. So, thank you for thinking of all different types of skills that our students are um are
053talented in. So, thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Seno. Any other board members? >> I just wanted to say thank you to Miss Wagner for her thoughtfulness on the flag. I thought that was very special. Um, and thank you for your service. >> Thanks. Others, just again, congratulations to everyone that was celebrated tonight from the staff members to the students. There's just so many great things happening. And additionally, our seeing state testing results um increase. That means our students are achieving things that they haven't achieved in a while. But we know that the programs don't do that work. It's truly the teachers that do that work. So, thank you to the staff who day in and day out try things, learn, fail, succeed right along with the kids. So, we see you. We thank you.
054Um, but it's incredible to have those results and and be celebrated. So, just kudos. It's so nice to have so many presentations that are celebratory and it's hard to like wrap it all up, but it is wonderful. So, thank you everyone. Any others? Okay. At this time, can we I please have a motion to approve the minutes of the regular and executive session meeting of October 8, 2025. Motion by Dr. Sero. >> Second by Miss Bachelor. Comments or questions? Roll call. >> Mrs. Anker, >> yes. >> Mrs. Bachelor, >> yes. >> Dr. Serino, >> yes. >> Mrs. Dirk, >> yes. >> Mrs. Jackson. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Perto and Mrs. Bar. >> Yes. Thank you. Okay. Miss Jackson. Personnel. >> The personnel policy committee met on Monday, November 10th. Uh we met virtually. In attendance
055was myself, Miss Bachelor, Mrs. Durks, Dr. Zto, Miss Lzitzki. Um on the agenda, we discussed new hires, some leave of absence, separation of employment and retirements. um some homebound instruction and stipened updates. Um our next meeting will be held on December 3rd. That'll be a virtual meeting at 6:15. So may I would like to motion to approve the items in section 10 from 102 to 10:14 10:13. So move >> motion by Miss Bachelor. Second. >> Second by second by Dr. Serino. Comments or questions? 10 two to 104. Roll call. >> Mrs. Anker. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Bachelor. >> Yes. >> Dr. Serino. Mrs. Dirks. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Jackson. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Pedto. and Mrs. Bar. >> Yes. >> Right. And I y >> welcome Brianna. Welcome to Hamilton Township. >> Finance. Dr. So,
056we had our finance and operations committee meeting on Monday, November 10th at 4 pm virtually. Um, uh, I was myself and Na, Mrs. Bar were there along with Dr. Zto, Mr. Benenziani, and Mr. Nelson. Um, that's Ian Nelson. Um, Mr. Nelson recapped the building projects that have been completed completed over the winter break. I couldn't believe how much he had gotten done. So well done. We discussed the Shainer addition bids and we re received all reviewed all plans and upcoming projects as well as discussing uh the request for proposal for a construction manager for the Shainer edition. Our next virtual meeting will be uh December 3rd at 4 PM and I would like a motion to approve 11.1 to 11.25. >> So moved. >> Motion by Miss Bachelor, second by Miss Anchor. Comments or questions?
057>> Roll call. >> Mrs. Ank. >> Yes. >> Mr. M Bachelor. >> Yes. >> Dr. Serino. >> Mrs. Dirks. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Jackson. >> Yes. >> M. Mrs. Per. And Mrs. Bar. >> Yes. >> Okay. Curriculum. M. Anchor. >> Okay. The curriculum committee met uh virtually who was uh present was myself uh off uh Beverly Pedo, Dr. Joe, and uh Mrs. Brian, we discussed the presentation that um Mr. Sarako uh made today at the board um on New Jersey student learning assessment, the dynamic learning assessment and the MAP assessment. We also discussed the multilingual night for families which was which was well attended and well received by the families and we discussed the purpose and consistency of grading across the grade levels. Um the our next meeting will be virtual December 3rd uh coming
058up and I would like to make a motion to approve items 12.2 and 12.3. >> So second motion by Miss Bachelor. >> Second by Miss Durk's comments or questions. Roll call. >> Mrs. Anker. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Bachelor. >> Yes. Dr. Serino, >> yes. >> Mrs. Dirks, >> yes. >> Mrs. Jackson, >> yes. >> Mrs. Perto, >> and Mrs. Barn, >> yes. >> Thank you. >> Okay. At this time, we will go to old business. Is there any old business that any board members would like to comment on this evening? Okay. Any new business that any board members would like to introduce this evening? Perfect. And at this time, we will receive comments from the public in accordance with the board's policy on participation at a board. Seeing none, can I I will close public
059comment and may I please have a motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> Motion by Miss Bachelor, second by Miss Jackson. All in favor? I. >> Thanks everyone. Have a great evening.