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12-13-13 Education in the News
NJ Spotlight - Tragedy in Connecticut Spurs School-Safety Response in New Jersey…Surprise drills, contingency planning have been focus of statewide effort in aftermath of Newtown massacre

Star Ledger - College Tips: Admissions counselors pay attention to bouts of 'senioritis'

NJ Spotlight - Tragedy in Connecticut Spurs School-Safety Response in New Jersey…Surprise drills, contingency planning have been focus of statewide effort in aftermath of Newtown massacre

John Mooney | December 13, 2013

 

In the aftermath of the school shootings in Newtown, CT, last year, New Jersey’s schools stepped up their vigilance in a number of ways: tighter security at the front doors of schools, more detailed plans for how to respond to intruders, and even a few cases in which police were assigned to school buildings.

A continued focus has been on conducting regular drills to simulate possible crises, ranging from the horrific prospect of an “active shooter” to bomb threats -- and even the old-fashioned fire-emergency drill.

A year after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School left 26 people dead, 20 of them children, New Jersey officials say school security continues to improve, thanks to new training and screening procedures.

“Post-Columbine and now post-Sandy Hook, we are seeing our schools more stringent and more diligent,” said Anthony Bland, the school safety coordinator for the state Department of Education. “You can see the sense of urgency in what they do.”

New Jersey had long had some of the more expansive requirements for schools to conduct drills and have emergency plans, but last winter’s events brought still more attention, especially regarding the drills.

Among the biggest changes has been the state’s stepped-up review of emergency drills, including unannounced visits to schools as they stage mock emergencies.

In all, 109 such visits took place in the last year in 46 districts, covering virtually every county. Most were public schools, but charter schools and private schools were also part of the spot checks.

By and large, state and local officials said it has been a productive exercise. In Mount Laurel, a surprise visit in September from a state team that included the state’s attorney general certainly caught their attention.

“Nothing like them showing up at the door,” said Marie Reynolds, that school district’s communications director.

Bland, the state coordinator who has been involved in much of the training and reviews, said that, by and large, districts have responded well.

The monitors take a thorough look at each school and its emergency procedures.

For example, in a lockdown for an “active shooter,” the checklist includes whether all classroom doors are locked or whether the doors even have working locks. Other questions center on how alerts are communicated and whether any staff members may have missed the alert and continued to work during the drill.

Bland said the reviews have looked at other specific elements, too, including communication plans for families, coordination with police, and planning for extraordinary circumstances.

“Whether it could be during a change of classes, maybe during a lunch period, it gives you an authentic look of what it really looks like,” he said.

In Mount Laurel – one of nearly 50 districts to get a surprise visit from the state this year -- Bland led a team that included state Attorney General Jay Hoffman to see how the Burlington County district would respond to a crisis.

Showing up at the door of Hartford School, the team – which also included state Homeland Security Director Edward Dickson -- asked the administration to call a drill for an “active shooter.”

“They just showed up and told us what they wanted to see,” said Reynolds, the district’s communications director.

She said the lockdown was successful in itself: “The doors were locked, the windows closed, the teachers took students into corners of the classrooms where they weren’t visible.”

But she said it was also important to test the response to different contingencies, such as whether classes were outdoors or between classrooms.

“The staff may not know it, but there is always a scenario we are testing behind the scenes,” she said. “We are not just locking down for the sake of locking down, but the principal has a whole scenario he wants to see.”

In the end, Reynolds said, every drill should be a learning experience, showing something that administrators and staff can improve. The state team suggested a few variations, she said, including trying drills during lunch or dismissal or even during bad weather.

“Every time you have a drill, you hear more ideas,” she said. ‘There is always at least one staff member who said it got them thinking about what would happen in their classroom, and maybe something more they can do.”

 

Star Ledger  - College Tips: Admissions counselors pay attention to bouts of 'senioritis'

By Peggy McGlone/The Star-Ledger The Star-Ledger Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on December 13, 2013 at 7:42 AM, updated December 13, 2013 at 7:43 AM

Senioritis — an often chronic malady that strikes 12th graders with bouts of laziness and apathy — can be a problem for college applications.

High school seniors may not want to hear this, but grades matter, even those that are earned after the Common Application has been submitted.

“It’s the first thing I look at when I open a file,” Matt Middleton, the College of New Jersey’s associate director of admissions, said. “What courses are they taking their senior year and what are their grades? They are critical.”

Middletown said first quarter and first semester grades from senior year tell admissions officers a great deal about the applicant.

“I want to see are they continuing to challenge themselves or are they coasting along,” he said.

Many applicants think junior year is the showcase year, since the application process begins before senior year starts. And for students who apply early, applications are filed before the year’s first tests are taken.

But colleges have until March to make their final decisions, so Middleton cautions students from slacking off.

“If I’m looking at a file second time, if I see students doing well, it might move them from the wait list to admitted, or from the denial pile to the wait list,” he said.

“Our attitude is that senior year is the springboard to college,” he added. “We want you to continue to push.”

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