001All right. I'd like to call the meeting to order at 7:04. Can I have a moment of silence, please? Please stand for the flag salute. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Roll call, Mr. Kenny. Here. Mr. Bramhall. Here. Ms. Falconero. Ms. Ayacone. Here. Mr. McGough. Here. Mr. Meeker. Here. Ms. Tadley. Here. Mrs. Trombetta. Here. Ms. Fitzwater, present. Statement is hereby made that adequate notice of this meeting was given by submission of said notice to the Burlington County Times, the Courier Post, the Cinnaminson Township Clerk, and the district website on the following dates: January 8th, 2025, January 7th, 2026, and January 12th, 2026. We're moving up to section 4, routine business.
002We have the Board Secretary's report for for December of '25, the receipts and appropriations adjustments for December of '25, the Treasurer's report for December of 2025, the monthly transfer report for December of '25, the high school activities report for January of '26, the food service management cost performance statement for January of '26, the certified bill list as of February 17th, 2026, and approval of minutes, the executive session on January 20th, and the regular meeting on January 20th. Mr. Kenny, can I have a motion to approve section 4, routine business, items A through H? So moved. Second? Second. Thank Mrs. Trombetta. Comments or questions from the board? Hearing none, we'll take a vote. Ms. Tadley. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. I. Motion approved. Moving on to section 5, routine matters. We have the enrollment
003report as of February 13th of '26, the health report for January of '26, the fire alarm report for January, the crisis drill report for January, and the Superintendent's monthly report. Mr. Capello. Again, Mrs. Fitzwater, members of the board, members of the public, thank you for being here with us this evening. A few other thank yous to go around. I want to wish my appreciation to Ms. Hallabrin, Mrs. Lanzoni, and all of their helpers from the middle school for another successful senior supper, which took place [clears throat] this week, excuse me, super supper for our senior members of the community, took place this week. Also, thank you to Mr. Bucanas and Mrs. Sigmund, and even Ms. Nelson who helped provide entertainment for the evening. We have another senior-facing community event on March 7th, a little bit
004more about that in just a second. I'd also like to recognize the members of our music performing arts department who hosted band day or band day coming up and choir day last week. These are great events where our students from Rush Middle School and the high school get together to celebrate the arts, one for vocal music and one for instrumental music, two very well-attended days. In between Valentine's Day and Presidents Presidents' Day this weekend, there was one other day that didn't happen to fall on a school day, but on February 15th, we recognized and celebrated School Resource Officer Appreciation Day, and I would be remiss if I didn't recognize the members of the Cinnaminson Police Department who work inside of our schools. The Memorial School, Officer Roger Moore, and New Albany School, Officer Tom Willigore.
005The Rush School, Officer Tom Campbell, Campbell, here at the middle school, Officer Rick Gunning, and at the high school, Officer Mark Williams. They do a fantastic job looking out for our students and immersing themselves into our Cinnaminson community. It is school musical season. We're very much looking forward to some of the shows that are ahead, if you actually around the corner right now, we may actually hear a little bit of it. Our middle schoolers are preparing for their musical Bye Bye Birdie, which debuts on 3/13. Want to recognize Mr. Serino, Ms. Lanzoni, Mr. Bucanas, Ms. Locke, Mr. Spencer, and Ms. Repper, who are the adults who are overseeing the musical production of Bye Bye Birdie. And also on February 27th, Little Shop of Horrors under the direction of Megan Schweizer debuts at Cinnaminson High School.
006So, I'd like to recognize the professionals who lend their talents to making sure that that show is a success. The aforementioned Ms. Schweizer, Mr. Kesten, Dr. DiSalvio, Ms. Pietro, Ms. Myers, and the entire cast and crew, we wish them the best of luck as they open the curtain on February 27th. And as I mentioned, on March 7th, we are having a matinee performance of Little Shop of Horrors, and just ahead of that, a luncheon for members of the senior community. So, seniors, if you are watching, information is circulating throughout the community on the district's website and on our senior email blast list. If you'd like to come out and take in the show and also take in lunch, it's a great opportunity to connect with the schools. The student performers usually come out and interact
007with the crowd, and our students from the high school serve as waitstaff that day, and it's always a very well-attended and excellent event. And finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention April 29th and 39th, excuse me, April 29th and 30th, the Rush musical Annie will be opening up, and we are looking forward to that as well. Speaking of the Rush School, the Eleanor Rush school-wide spelling bee was held on Thursday, February 5th at the high school, and it featured 28 talented student participants. Students demonstrated strong spelling skills and perseverance throughout the competition. Congratulations to fifth grader Gerard Gerard Dawson who won the Rush spelling bee and will be advancing to the regional spelling bee on March 7th in Philadelphia. We are hopeful that we can recognize Gerard here at the board meeting
008next month. Um Also happening this month, over at the New Albany School, the Cinnaminson High School AAPI affinity group read to kindergarten students on Thursday, February 12th. They read the story Friends Are Friends Forever by Dane Liu, and it's always a great experience whenever our older students get a chance to go and interface down at the New Albany School with their younger counterparts, and it is a great experience for all parties involved. Our future chefs competition, board members putting you on notice, will take place just ahead of the March 17th board meeting. So, we're very excited about that. That's always a fun annual event. Also, by way of information purposes, a little later on in the agenda this evening, Dr. Golburn is going to introduce a calendar change in his section. As folks in the
009community are aware, we did have to close schools for a snow day a couple weeks ago. As a result of this, we're looking to change March 13th, which was previously listed as a staff-only day for professional development, turning that into a hybrid day for staff and students. For the first time, we'll try something a little bit different in order to try to maximize our time for the day. Students from the New Albany School and Rush School will have a delayed opening, and students at the middle school and the high school will have a single session day where students will leave early with the balance of the day for staff professional development. A copy of the calendar will circulate out to the community later this week indicating those changes. Also, want to let the members of
010the community know, if you have not seen it, pretty soon you'll see the signs around town, but our kinder, or excuse me, our pre-K lottery has been open since January 26th. We're trying to touch all corners of the community to make sure that families who have students who would qualify as 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds are aware of the lottery, and it will remain open until March 15th, and that is a hard [clears throat] deadline because almost immediately thereafter, we would be picking the slots of the folks who will clear the lottery. And finally, I wanted to give a plug for the next Cinnaminson CPAC meeting, which is an open meeting scheduled to take place on Tuesday, February 24th. Uh drop in anytime between 6:30 and 8:30 right here at Cinnaminson Middle School, only not right here,
011down at the media center. And with that, Mrs. Fitzwater, that is the Superintendent's Report. Thank you, Mr. Cappello. Uh Mr. Trumpet, can I have a motion to approve section five, routine matters, items A through E? So moved. Second? Second. Thank you, Ms. Ayacone. Comments or questions from the board? Hearing none, we'll take a vote. Mr. McGough? I. I. I. I. I. I. [clears throat] I. I. Motion approved. Uh moving on to section six, our student representative reports. We will hear first from the high school student representative, Carly Trumpet. Good evening. The Golden Apple word for January was presented to Mrs. Amanda Mason by Jared Hiller. The students of the month for January are the class of 2026, Marin Warren, class of 2027, Nathan Calhoun, class of 2028, Aaron Madison, and class of 2029, Charlotte Leats.
012The winter sports are continuing their seasons. The winter track team has continued with a strong start to the season by having a solid outing at Group Two State Relays on January 16th. The boys distance medley and spring medley relays both finished fifth, with the SMR run with the SMR running the third fastest time in school history. At the Nike Elite SJTCA meet on January 21st, two Cinnaminson athletes medaled in the extremely competitive competition. Jacob Wickersham and Shafeeq Carrington earned medals in the 20 or 3200 and high jump, respectively. The team has a few more meets ahead of the sectional meet on February 15th and the state meet on February 21st. The boys basketball team picked up a 50 to 49 win at the Holy Cross Showcase versus Highland. They hosted Riverside at 3:45 in the
013first round of the Burlington County Open on February 10th in the Honor Gym. Senior Henry Stewart led the team with 14 points per game. The boys and girls will have a double header on the 17th. The girls basketball team is currently 18-1 overall and undefeated in the division. We have eight regular season games left and the playoffs get started on Tuesday, February 24th 24th. They had a charity game on Monday, February 9th where they honored the Otis family. The boys bowling team has a record of 15 and three and locked up a second play locked up second place in the BCSL Patriot division with two regular season matches remaining. They're seated fourth in the South Jersey Group Two playoffs and secured a first round bye. The girls bowling team has a record of 16-2 and
014has uh clinched the first place in the BCSL Patriot division with two regular season matches remaining. This marks the first division title in the girls program's history. The girls are seated fifth in the South Jersey Group Two playoffs and will host a first round match. The swim team wrapped up the regular season with an exciting win against Sterling on January 21st. On January 24th, the team competed at the SJISA Coaches Invitational at GCIT. Brendan Sharp placed second overall in the 200 individual medley and the 500 freestyle. He also qualified for the Meet of Champs Meet of Champs in in both events. Eden McNally placed third overall in the 200 freestyle and also qualified for the Meet of Champs. The team will face Ocean Township on February 2nd in the first round of the NJSIAA playoffs.
015The boys wrestling team is gearing up for a postseason push as we enter February, both as a team and individually. At the County Open, senior Dominic Marino placed first while David Guimaraes and Jake Barbec placed second and Levi Jander placed third. The overall team record is 11-8 with big wins over Absegami, uh Pennsauken, and Long Branch. Our senior night is Wednesday, February 18th versus Burlington Township and the school will once again host districts tournament on Saturday, February 28th. The girls wrestling team has had a relentless January on the mat and has finished the month with a hard-earned record of 8-8. The momentum continues into an action-packed February featuring dual meets and a jamboree at Howell. We look forward to seeing our athletes leave it all on the mat as they close out the season at
016the final takedown tournament. The Play Unified basketball team is off to a strong start this season. Last week, they traveled to Shawnee on the 12th to to win 53 to 47. Through teamwork, inclusion, and effort, this group continues to represent our school with pride. Best of luck this week. Keep competing, supporting one another, and playing unified. The indoor drumline and indoor color guard have been practicing hard to prepare for their first competition on Saturday, February 21st at Millville High School. Over 30 high schools from the New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware area area will be participating in the competition, so please come out and cheer on our pirates. We're also currently running two fundraisers, an apparel website featuring our brand new logos, and a bunco fundraiser at the Cinnaminson Community Center on Sunday, February 22nd from
01712:00 to 4:00 p.m. The Student Council hosted their third annual Super Bowl of Caring, which ended on Friday, February 6th with a total of 163 lb of soup. All soup was donated to the Food Bank of South Jersey and congratulations to Ms. Alvarado's second period class with the donation of 122 cans of soup. They received a bagel breakfast hosted by Student Council on February 13th. Thanks to everyone who participated in this event. The CHS Drama Club is excited to present Little Shop of Horrors for six performances. Our show dates are February 27th at 7:00 p.m., February 28th at 2:00 p.m., and 7:30 p.m., March 6th at 7:30 p.m., and March 7th at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The Drama Club has been rehearsing every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, and our cast is working hard
018to bring this show to life. Students who buy a ticket for any show can come back and see another show using the same ticket. We're looking forward to seeing you there. Furthermore, on February 7th, the Drama Club attended Moorestown Theatre Expo to promote Little Shop of Horrors, as well as being exposed to other music performed by neighboring schools. Overall, the Theatre Expo was a grand success. On February 12th, the Spanish Club visited La Luna Dance Studio in Bristol, PA where students participated in instructional lessons on bachata and salsa. 60 students also observed a live dance demonstration by professional salsa dancers and enjoyed an authentic Latin lunch. The senior class officers have been working really hard on finalizing details for the upcoming trip to Disney. They've designed t-shirts, provided updates on itineraries, and started working on
019a fun countdown to spark the excitement. February 9th marked 1 month until departure to the happiest place on Earth. On January 30th, the Adventure Fitness Club went on a ski trip to the Blue Mountain Ski Resort. The participants had a great time on the slopes and spent quality time with their friends. The next trip will soon take place as the club gears up for hiking in the spring. Every month, the Interact Club participates in a sandwich making service project where they prepare prepare peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to be donated to individuals experiencing homelessness. They're also currently preparing for Casino Night, which will be a fun and inclusive evening filled with games and prizes designed for adults with special needs. Additionally, they've met with the Rotary Club to discuss the opportunity to attend a summer
020camp focused on leadership development and community service. This experience would allow the members to further grow as leaders while strengthening our commitment to service. On February 6th, the National Honor Society held its annual blood drive and was proud to see a successful turnout for donations to the Red Cross. For the past 2 months, students have worked diligently during their lunch periods to develop creative strategies to attract as many participants as possible to the blood drive hosted at CHS. As a group, they chose a Stranger Things theme because it would appeal to the wide audience given the show's global popularity. They designed eye-catching posters featuring characters such as Vecna and incorporated the show's iconic light displays throughout the school to encourage students to sign up. To reach individuals beyond the high school community, they utilized social
021media platforms providing information about the event and an easy way to register. We're so grateful for the community members, faculty, and students who made the day such a great success. Congratulations to junior Abigail Grogan on winning the regional competition at Rutgers University for Poetry Out Loud. She will now represent our school at the statewide competition on March 5th. The Cinnaminson Affinity Group members have spent a meaningful day learning, reflecting, and celebrating Muslim Heritage Month. Students visited the Philadelphia Museum of Art to explore Islamic patterns in the Islamic-inspired art, then returned to CHS for a delicious catered lunch uh generously sponsored by the Cinnaminson Education Association. They wrapped up the day with an inspiring presentation from the CHS alum, Yuran Aika, and a faculty member, Yazmin Farhat, who shared why they why representation matters and why
022Muslim Heritage Month is so important. Grateful for a day that centered culture, community, and belonging. Congratulations to the Mock Trial team, which just finished its season placing third in Burlington County with a record of three to two. The team won trials against Northern Burlington, Bordentown, and Moorestown Friends. This year's criminal case centered on a swatting call to make a coffee shop in which a barista suffered serious burns. It was a great team effort this year. Shout-outs go to four team members, Quinlan Barnes, Samantha Danowski, and Lucas Witcheiser, who have uh who have committed hours of preparation for trial, but more importantly, had tons of fun and made many memories. Lastly, on Thursday, February 12th, members of the Asian American Pacific Islander Affinity Group and the Affinity Group leaders visited the kindergarteners at uh New Albany
023School to teach a lesson about Lunar New Year. Our big pirates read to our little pirates the book called Friends Are Friend Friends Are Friends Forever, and then they gave each student a red snowflake to cut out and colored a picture of a firehouse with the kids. Afterwards, the high schoolers returned to the CHS library to enjoy a bowl of traditional Korean soup eaten on Lunar New Year. Senior Ashley Chen shared a presentation she made about Chinese New Year and its various celebrations and traditions. Thank you. Thank you, Carly, for that very thorough report. >> [laughter] >> There is a lot going on at the high school. Yes. >> [laughter] >> And now for middle school report, Matt, you have a lot to live up to here. Matthew Kenny. Good evening to all of you.
024Our middle school student of the month for January are sixth grader Maria Shangarpuri, seventh grader Kyle Curry, and eighth grader William Minisall. The January faculty member of the month is Laura Munzel, and seventh and eighth grade special education teacher. Congrats to all. February is a busy month with lots of events planned. On February 11th, students in chorus classes traveled to CHS to connect with ERS and CHS choral members community for our annual choral day. And today, our band students went to CHS for band day. All the students had so much fun. CMS hosted the super supper for cinnamon and senior citizens on Wednesday, February 11th in the cafeteria. The students assisted seniors into the cafeteria and helped them. All of the cinnamon and seniors who attended had a wonderful time. The PE department and student
025council teamed up for students versus staff volleyball heart fundraiser last Thursday. The students beat the staff by one point in a really fun night with proceeds going to American Heart Association. And last week, eighth grade students and their families were welcomed to CHS by Mr. Gorman and his staff at course selection night. This Thursday, our high school counselors will visit eighth grade world language classes to provide an overview of high school courses and freshman electives. This Friday, sixth and seventh graders will have their winter snowball dance. On March 2nd, more than 200 girls will will participate in a girls empowerment event at CMS called lifting your voices. The student council is also planning an after school bowling trip for eighth grade students on Thursday, March 5th. The Pirate Players have been busy working on Bye
026Bye Birdie. The show dates are March 13th, 14th, 15th, 20th, and 21st. The cast can't wait for the show to come together and are so excited to show everyone their hard work. Spring sports will begin the second week of March. Students should listen for announcements in the morning for when the first meetings will be. Thank you and have a great night. Thank you, Matthew. Uh we're going to move on to presentations now. Uh Mr. Capella? Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> Mr. Miley, do you want to come down for a second? I thought we You're up for a second. We have uh some visitors with us this evening, so we're going to deviate from the schedule just a little bit cuz I'm sure some of our high achievers from the Future Cities program have homework
027to do and or other engagements this evening. So, in just a moment, I'm going to invite Mr. Miley, assistant principal from Cinnaminson Middle School, to talk a little bit about Future Cities and to recognize some outstanding students. Mr. Creel. >> [clears throat] >> I have the honor of recognizing Mr. Garwood Bacon's eighth grade project challenge class, which earned the excellence in regional planning at the Future City competition on January 25th. Their award-winning project, named Applewood, envisioned Tasmania in the year 2126 as a community that was completely eliminated food waste through sustainable circular economy. The project featured innovative solutions such as advanced agricultural hubs, alternative economic systems, and renewable energy sources, including biofuels. The team's thoughtful planning and creativity were recognized by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. A special thank you goes to our engineer
028in residence, Mr. John Meeker, who's also a standing board member, for his guidance and support of our students throughout the journey with this project. Congratulations to our eighth grade students on this outstanding accomplishment and their forward-thinking approach to regional planning. Okay. Um following students, please come on up if you're in attendance. Mr. Matthew Angelone. >> [applause] >> Grace Bezilla. >> [applause] >> Warner James Crockett. >> [applause] >> Natalie Freni. >> [applause] >> Joseph Hannigan. >> [applause] >> Thomas Klein. >> [applause] >> Theodore Meeker. >> [applause] >> And Jeffrey Weisman. >> [applause] >> Uh boys, how did you do describing Future Cities? Did we miss anything about the competition? The floor is open if you'd like to [laughter] augment his comments, though. Uh it's okay if you don't want to. Come on up, boys. We're going
029to take We're going to take a group picture and uh congratulations again for representing us so well. >> [applause] >> Mr. Meeker, do you mind coming up for the group picture? It's like paparazzi. It's tall. The question was, can we go now? Yes, boys, I'm sure you have lots to do. But you are welcome and encouraged to stay. At this point, I'd like to bring up Dr. Golburn, who will introduce our next presentation for this evening. All right, thank you very much. Uh each year we have a couple of presentations at our board meetings from our department supervisors and directors about what's new in their respective content areas. This year, we heard from our music teachers and our art teachers in two very well-done presentations. This evening, we're going to hear from our director of
030instruction, Mr. Matt Percucka, as well as two members of our New Albany staff, uh Miss Burson and Miss Nutt, and they're going to give us an update of what's new, what's going on, some real-life examples of lessons, and the focus in science instruction. So, with that, it's my pleasure to introduce Mr. Percucka, who will take it from here. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Dr. Golburn. I'm very excited to be here tonight to talk about the state of science in Cinnaminson schools. Um one of the many reasons why I love science is it provides us with a means to solve problems. I was a chemistry teacher for 19 years, and I'm no stranger to the question, "Why are we learning this? When am I ever going to need this?" And I always answer that question with
031this quote or based off this quote by Carl Sagan. "Science is much more of a way of thinking than it is a body of knowledge." And if we focus on the process of science and how it teaches us to address problems and critically think, it can provide anybody with something to use. As Dr. Golburn said, I'm I'm very lucky to have two excellent teachers joining me tonight from New Albany School, Miss Danielle Burson and Miss Lauren Nutt, who will talk about how we do science in at the elementary school and engage our youngest learners later on in the presentation. >> [laughter] >> Um the K-12 vision of science in Cinnaminson directly aligns with the state's vision, and that's built upon evidence-based classrooms. And that goes back to the Carl Sagan quote of focusing on the
032process of science rather than just the content. Um in in in evidence-based science classrooms, students are reading relevant information about the phenomena in the world around them, asking questions, and identifying problems. They're gathering data and analyzing data to construct solutions based off evidence and facts. With those fundamental skills serving as your uh framework for your curriculum, you can apply any content of science and provide students with valuable 21st century skills that help them moving forward. Now, I've seen many great examples of evidence-based science classrooms in my travels through the four buildings in our district, even five buildings in our district, Uh one of which is the Yellowstone Wolf series in fifth grade. Um topic is ecosystems. Now, I don't know about you, but I remember my ecosystem lesson when I was younger involved me cutting
033out magazine clippings of animals and making a food web and memorizing a pyramid with producer, consumer, and decomposers on it and then trying to put that back and memorize it for a test. Valuable content, but not so much in the way of skills. Our fifth-grade students are reading articles about how in the early 1900s, Yellowstone made the decision to eradicate wolves from the park to protect farmers' livestock. They're analyzing data and charts to see how that decision affected elk and vegetation and putting all of that information together to draw conclusions and engage in friendly debate with their peers acting as ecologists. And they can even compare what they decided as a group to what Yellowstone actually did. Literacy, reading comprehension, data analysis, written and verbal communication skills are all the wonderful skills our students can
034get from an evidence-based classroom. And this chart is the heart, the cycle of identifying a problem, collecting the information you need to solve the problem, constructing a solution and refining as necessary is the heart of the critical thinking process and can help our students become more informed citizens. Now, you might be thinking that's a very busy chart, and it is. And you might be saying, "How can we do this with first-first graders?" Well, we do start small. We focus on phenomena, things around them that even our youngest learners can understand and relate to. The weather, animals, the moon. And we take that complex thinking process and break it down to a smaller model called the claim, evidence, and reasoning model that Ms. Person and Ms. Nutt are going to talk about in just a few
035moments. And we try to harness that wonderful, beautiful, intrinsic, and creative nature that our youngest learners have. Um if you ever spent time around young children, you know just how curious they are. You put something new in their world, they're going to they're going to investigate it. They're not afraid to make mistakes, which is so powerful in science because you can't create anything new if you're not prepared to be wrong. And they're so excitable and eager. I remember dropping my picking up my daughter from school when she was in first grade and a young boy walked out. He had mud and grass stains all over his pants, spaghetti down his shirt, and paint in his hair. His mom her his mom looked at him and goes, "How was your day? Cuz you look like you've
036been through it." He goes, "Great! I made this in STEM." And handed some contraption to his mom. I couldn't tell what it was, but he was proud of it. And it's that excitement and enthusiasm that we have to harness and teach our kids to grow with their curiosity rather than out of it. Uh President Barack Obama once said, "We need our youngest children's and our youngest children to be not only consumers of technology investment of science, but also producers. We need to create the next wave of innovators and risk-takers." And our science and STEM program is built upon that idea of teaching our youngest students, all of our students, how to use technology as a tool rather than a crutch. Um in our STEM classes across the board, Mr. Angelone was just here, he left.
037Um they're doing wonderful things and teaching our students on computer literacy and programs of the Google Workspace, Tinkercad, uh 3D printing software. Uh they're learning how to program and code robots and they're using their hands to create and make. Even at our youngest levels, they're using user-friendly, safe Chompsaws to cut cardboard and and feel like they're using almost like a table saw, and it's wonderful to watch. Um physical education has had a very nice run as the most popular special in schools across America, and I hope with the wonderful and exciting things we're doing in STEM, we can give it a run for its money in the near future. So, I'm going to pass the podium off to Ms. Person and Ms. Nutt, who are going to talk about how we're doing evidence-based learning at
038our elementary school level. All right. So, we are going to run through how a unit works in second grade. So, we start with the phenomena, and that's something the students may know about in their everyday life or can apply to their everyday life, and this is our big idea for the unit. Students are shown a short video, and then they are asked and they are asked to write an I wonder question about what they observed in the video. And then there are readings which correlate with the phenomenon and give big ideas and information about the concepts that they need to take with them. So, the teacher guides the students through these readings and helps them complete the worksheets that go along with it, and this kind of prepares them and gives them the background knowledge
039needed to complete the investigations and the future lessons. So, once that background knowledge is built, it's time for the investigations. These are hands-on, interactive, fun activities for our students. We're going to show you a specific example on the next slide, but these are great because once those big ideas are built and the students can take ownership of their learning and apply the skills they were taught in these investigations. We conclude the unit with a CER response, which stands for claim, evidence, and reasoning, and this gives students a chance to reflect upon their learning and the big concepts that were presented in a constructive response form, allowing them to use their critical thinking skills to really wrap up the unit and prove what they learned and show what they've learned. So, this is the investigation we
040chose to discuss tonight, and it's the design a bridge investigation. We picked this one because it's one that our students love. As you can see in these pictures, um students are given bins of materials. So, there's pipe cleaners, wax paper, clay, construction paper, all different materials, and they're supposed to build a bridge. The criteria for this is that their bridge must be able to hold six blocks. They're little blocks, but six of them, and must withstand a spray test. So, their bridge is going to be sprayed with water. From there, it's up to them. They problem-solve with their peers and work together to build the best bridge possible. And it's really interesting to see what they come up with because every bridge is different. They take the materials and they use them how they see
041fit. Like in the bottom right picture, one of the groups used the popsicle sticks as guardrails for the bridge and chose to use the clay to hold it in place, while another group used the clay as a big protective layer to go across the bridge. So, the students being able to see other bridges in action allows for really great conversation in the classroom as well for what went well, what needs to improve, uh kind of demonstrating those engineering uh skills as well. So, we conclude our unit with the CER, which again stands for claim, evidence, and reasoning. For the claim, the teacher guides the students in writing the claim, and the claim is based off of the phenomena. From there, students are shown that same short video that they were at the beginning of the
042unit, and that's where we tell them to pull their evidence from, straight from that video. And finally, for the reasoning, students answer that question that's on the worksheet provided by TCI, and that really explains why the claim is true. So, you can see in this student example, she claims that bridges are made from different materials because they're used for different purposes, kind of the big overarching idea from the unit. And in her evidence, she uses what she saw from the video, which was a bridge made out of wood, and then her reasoning supports that claim and evidence and answers the question of where could you use a bridge made out of wood and rope by stating that a playground would be the best part part for that. So again, this constructive response kind of allows
043them to use those critical thinking skills and put it in a response to kind of deepen their understanding and show what they learned. This framework makes science fun for our students, allowing them to critically think, which will prepare them for all that's to come in science through elementary school, middle school, and high school. All right. Thank you so much, Ms. Person and Ms. Nutt. I'm going to close tonight by talking about what is new in the world of science in Cinnaminson and some future hopes for the world of science in Cinnaminson. Uh just last year, we started two new electives at the high school, um marine biology and sports medicine. Marine biology is taught by Mr. Craig Angelini, who has spent over 20 summers as a deep-sea fisher fisher boat cap- boat captain. Uh he
044brings a lot of expertise um about ocean eco- ecosystems. Um Mrs. Jennifer Alvarado is teaching her students about careers in physical therapy and physical tra- athletic training in sports medicine. Next year, we're going to be implementing an aviation and aerospace elective at the middle school where students will learn about rockets, uh aviation, and drones. Students will have opportunity to fly planes and flight simulators, pilot drones through various tasks, and learn about careers in aviation, which is an exploding field. Um I heard at a recent conference that in by the 2028 Olympics in LA, the young Olympians will be transported from their competitions back to the Olympic Village with drone taxis. So, it's a very much a developing field and there's a big career shortage in that industry. I hope in not the too distant future,
045I'm able to stand before you and say that we've brought and linked industrial arts connected to our STEM program. I hope to expand the aviation and aerospace program to the high school and have Cinnaminson Pirates with their drone license uh a part-time 16-18-year-old drone pilot can make $15,000 a year uh in the right under the right company. I hope to have the tech theater course where students are designing sound, light, and props for our musical productions and video game programming courses as well. Uh there's a big appetite for STEM and science at the high school. Um Ms. Lopez her and our science electives are always full to capacity, and I'm very excited to offer more opportunities and and feed that appetite moving forward. I really appreciate the support of the principals, administration, and the board
046with all our science endeavors, and I look forward to an exciting future. Uh thank you, and if you have any questions, I'm here to answer them. Where was all this stuff from, Warwick? >> [laughter] >> And as promised, Mrs. Fitzwater, I have created an alter ego of Sci-Guy Matt, and I have visited some of the elementary schools. >> [laughter] >> Questions? Thank you, Mr. Capello. Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> All right. We've got We're at section eight, correspondence to the board. Uh I know that I received a couple of uh emails from parents this uh month. They've been uh sent to the correct administrator for follow-up. Anyone else have anything that they need to add to that? All right. So, uh section nine is committee reports. We had
047a policy committee meeting uh this month. Uh Mr. Kenny, you want to give us the lowdown? Sure. Thank you. Uh the policy and legislation committee met on February 2nd via Google Meet. Policy met to discuss uh several policies that were tabled from the previous committee meeting, and we reviewed the policy following policies and regulations that are listed. Um They will be presented to the full board at the next regular meeting. As part of the Freedom to Read Act, Mr. Capello gave the committee a brief overview of the act as well as the supporting documentation from Strauss Esmay. The committee then discussed the Supreme Court case Mahmud versus Taylor, and the district's protocols for compliance with the Supreme Court ruling. And we reviewed several It says following, but I'm not going to read all of them.
048The policies in accordance with the Board of Education goal to continue the practice of conducting a cursory review of all BOE policies. Mr. Capello provided some background information about the policies and described the administrative practices that coincide with them. And after review, no changes will be recommended for these policies. They too will appear on the agenda for the next regular meeting on the board as having been reviewed, and the next meeting of the policy committee will take place on March 10th via Google Meet, where the board will review the next group of policies. Thank you, Mr. Kenny. Um Ms. Iacono, can I have a motion to approve section nine, committee reports, item A? So moved. Second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Meeker. Comments or questions from the board? Hearing none, we'll take a vote. Mr. McGough?
049Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Motion approved. Uh moving on to section 10, public comment on agenda items. >> [clears throat] >> Uh members of the public are reminded the comments in this section should be limited to items appearing on this meeting's agenda. There will be another opportunity during this meeting to comment on non-agenda items. All members of the public wishing to speak on agenda items only should raise their hand to indicate their wish to speak. When called upon, participants should state their first and last name and address clearly for the record. In accordance with the Cinnaminson Board of Education policy, comments will be limited to a maximum of 4 minutes per person. The comment period will be limited to 30 minutes in duration. And with that, does anyone have anything uh about
050any of the agenda items? Okay. We'll move on to um section 11, personnel. Mr. Capello? Thank you again, Mrs. Fitzwater. Under section 11, letter A, appointments and reappointments seeking the board to approve items one and two. That is certificated staff items A, B, and C, and non-certificated staff items A through F. Under resignations and retirements, seeking the board to approve number one, the resignation uh listed under number one in the agenda. Uh also number two, seeking the board to accept the retirement of bus driver Barbara Anderson. With regret, we wish her the best. Number three is that the board accepts the retirement with great regret of Tamara Beatty, special education teacher at Cinnaminson High School, and we certainly wish her the very best. And items four and five listed in the agenda. Under letter C,
051leave of absence, seeking the board to approve items one through four one through four listed by employee number in the agenda. Teaching overload, seeking the board to approve item one, which is linked uh in the agenda. Under extra duty appointments, letter E, seeking the board to approve items one through five. Uh there is one transfer for consideration under F1 in the agenda. Uh under letter G, seeking the board to approve the one item listed in the agenda. Under mentor teachers, letter H, also seeking the board to approve one item that is listed in the agenda. Under student teachers, letter I, seeking the board to approve the one item that is listed in the agenda. And under letter J, seeking the board to approve items one through seven as listed in the agenda. And that is
052for substitute teachers, non-certified and volunteers. And finally, under letter K, seeking the board to approve item A number A, excuse me, number one, items A through E as listed in the agenda. Mrs. Fitzwater, that is personnel, certificated and non-certificated. Thank you, Mr. Capello. Mr. Bramhall, can I have a motion to approve section 11, personnel, certified, non-certified, items A through K? So moved. Second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Trump A. Comments or questions from the board? Hearing none, we'll take a vote. Mr. Tedley? Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Motion approved. Moving on to section 12, curriculum and instruction. Dr. Golburn? Thank you very much. Under number 12, uh letter A, requesting board approval of the monthly professional development requests. Under letter B, requesting approval of the monthly field trip requests. No requests for C or
053D this month. Under letter E, uh requesting approval of the monthly HIP report for February. And letter F, the suspension report for the month of February. And under letter G, the calendar change that Mr. Capello alluded to a little while ago, uh making May 13th a day for students, 2-hour delay for K to five, and a single-session early dismissal day uh for the middle school and high school students to make up for the January snow day. Thank you, Dr. Golburn. Uh Mr. Meeker, can I have a motion to approve section 12, curriculum and instruction, items A through G? So moved. Second? Second. Thank you, Ms. Iacono. Comments or questions from the board? >> [clears throat] >> Hearing none, we'll take a vote. Mr. McGough? Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. [clears throat] Aye. Aye. Aye. Motion
054approved. Uh moving on to section 13, special education. Uh Mr. Lewellen? Thank you, Mrs. Fitzwater. Under letter A, contracts, seeking the board to ratify and affirm an agreement with Burlington County Educational Services Unit to provide to provide two one-to-one teacher assistants for two students, and the rates are listed in the agenda. Under letter B, student placements, seeking the board to ratify and affirm three tuition contract agreements. Number one, Burlington County Special Services School District. Number two, the Larc School of Voorhees, and number three, Y.A.L.E. School Incorporated for three students, and those rates are listed in the agenda. And letter C, consultant agreement, seeking the board to ratify and affirm an agreement with Brett DeNovio and Associates, LLC to provide one-to-one support at the rates listed in the agenda. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Lewellen. Mr.
055McGough, can I have a motion to approve section 13, special education, items A through C? So moved. Second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Trump A. Comments or questions from the board? Hearing none, we'll take a vote. Mr. Tedley? Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Motion approved. Uh moving on to section 14, policy. Mr. Capello? Thank you, Mrs. Fitzwater. Uh under number one, seeking the board to approve on second reading the adoption of the policies listed in the agenda. Uh under number two, seeking the board's approval for abolishing the policies listed under item number two in the agenda. And under number three, seeking the board to approve on first reading the policies and requisite um Excuse me, and um additional items listed under number three in the agenda. Thank you, Mr. Capello. Uh Mr. Tedley,
056can I have a motion to approve section 14 uh policy, letter A? So moved. Second? Second. Thank you, Ms. Iacono. Comments or questions from the board? Hearing none, we'll take a vote. Mr. McGough? Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Motion approved. Moving on to section 15, business and finance. Mrs. Wolking? Thank you, Mrs. Fitzwater. Under section A, grants, item number one, that the board approves the 25-26 IDEA amendment. Under section B, finance, item number one, that the board approves the staff mileage reimbursements. And item number two, that the board approves the 25-26 semi-corrective action plan. Under section >> [clears throat] >> C, operations, item number one, donations, that the board accepts with appreciation the following donations. $100 in memory of Edna Kessler to the New Albany school library. $400 from the Inventor's Shop
057to the Invention Convention. $100 from Tooth Town to the Invention Convention. And $500 from Community Foundation of New Jersey to the Invention Convention. Item number two, that the board approves the district public notice procedure. Under section D, contracts, item number one, that the board approves the bid solicitation, the rejection for 2526-0003 and the solicitation of 2526-0004, both for district custodial services. Item number two, that the board approves a professional service contracts for special counsel with Bush Law Group. And item number three, that the board approves the revised 2526 receiving tuition contracts. Thank you, Mrs. Fitzwater. Thank you, Mrs. Walkey. Mr. Kenny, can I have a motion to approve section 15 business and finance finance items A through D? So moved. Second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Meeker. Comments or questions from the board? Hearing none, we'll
058take vote. Mr. Magoulas? Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Uh we have no other business tonight. Uh so we're moving on to public comment. >> [clears throat] >> All members of the public wishing to speak uh should raise their hand to indicate their wish to speak. When called upon, participants should state their first and last name and address clearly for the record in accordance with Cinnaminson Board of Education policy, comments will be limited to a maximum of four minutes per person. The comment period will be limited 30 minutes in duration. Pursuant to the Open Public Meetings Act, the board will not publicly discuss or comment on matters involving personnel, litigation, negotiations, or the attorney-client privilege. The board may choose not to respond to comments made by members of the public during this portion
059of the meeting. However, all comments will be given appropriate consideration. Matters requiring follow-up will be referred to the superintendent for resolution. And with that, is there anyone who would like to speak? Good. Okay. All right, then we will go to Mr. Kenny for comments from the board. Thank you. Uh congratulations to Carly for getting through that high school report tonight. >> [laughter] >> Congratulations to the eighth grade project challenge students for their strong showing in the future city competition. Thank you to Mr. Per Cupka, Ms. Nutt, and Ms. Person for the presentation. And for your obvious patching passion for teaching science, it's some good stuff right there. We appreciate that. Thank you for all the donations. Best wishes to Tamara Beaty on her upcoming retirement. Good luck to the indoor drumline as they start their
060competition season. Break a leg to all of our students involved in the CHS and CMS shows, and good luck to all student inventors who will be taking part in the Invention Convention on March 2nd. Happy Chinese New Year, blessed Ramadan, and a joyful Lenten season to everyone. And the next regularly scheduled meeting will be on Tuesday, March 17th, right here in the cafeteria, and more information can be found on the district website. Thank you. Thank you. Uh we are going into executive session tonight. We will be we will have one other business item when we come out of executive session. Uh so, Mr. Trombetta, can I have a motion to convene into executive session? So moved. Second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Meeker. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? All right, we're now in executive session.
061Thank you, guys, and have a great night. >> Thank you. >> Mhm. >> I like a muffin. Mr. I can I have a motion to reconvene public meeting? So moved. >> Second? Second. Thank Mr. Trump. I all in favor? I. Opposed? We are back in public session. Mr. Bramhall, can I have a motion to approve section 21 other business letter A? >> [clears throat] >> So moved. Second? >> Second. Thank you, Mr. >> [laughter] >> All in favor? Opposed? Okay, the motion is approved. Mr. McGough, can I have a motion to adjourn? So moved. Hold on. Can you hit number 21 other business number two first? I did. You just did. I just did that. I thought you were making the motion to come back in. Okay, my apologies. Yeah, where were you? Normally I
062read the other business stuff. My apologies. >> oh, sorry. I got excited. >> [clears throat and snorts] >> Mr. McGough, can I have a motion to adjourn? So moved. Second? Second. Thank Mr. Trump. I all in favor? Opposed? We are finished.