FREEHOLD – Teachers and administrators in the Freehold Borough K-8 School District welcomed children back to school for the 2017-18 academic year on Sept. 7.
There are three schools in the district: the Freehold Learning Center elementary school, the Park Avenue Elementary School and the Freehold Intermediate School.
Administrators said 1,700 children are enrolled in the district; a slight decrease from the 1,715 pupils who concluded the 2016-17 school year.
Because the district enrolls more pupils than it can accommodate, administrators will continue to rent classrooms in the neighboring Freehold Township K-8 School District. One pre-kindergarten classroom will be rented in the First Baptist Church of Freehold in the borough.
Approximately 150 Freehold Borough students will attend class in Freehold Township or at the church, according to district administrators.
Freehold Borough rents nine classrooms in Freehold Township: four kindergarten classrooms at the West Freehold School; two pre-kindergarten classrooms at the Joseph J. Catena Elementary School; and one pre-kindergarten and two kindergarten classrooms at the Marshall W. Errickson Elementary School.
The 2017-18 school year will feature the following initiatives for the district, according to administrators:
- Funded through a grant with the United Way of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, Freehold Borough will obtain the services of an advance practice nurse to service students;
- Students enrolled in the 21st Century program will have the opportunity to study Mandarin Chinese after school;
- Working with the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank and with other school districts, Freehold Borough will initiate training in teaching techniques designed to help students retain their classroom material;
- Administrators will organize a 1:1 computer initiative for one grade level, putting a Google Chromebook laptop computer in the hands of each student in that grade, with the selected grade level still under discussion;
- The district will start teaching elementary science to standards required by the Next Generation Science Standards;
- Administrators will work with the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University to bring in instructors to assist with the district’s instrumental music program;
- 13 students from New Taipei City, Taiwan, will visit the Freehold Intermediate School on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 and attend classes throughout the day;
- The construction of additions and renovations at the Park Avenue complex and at the Freehold Learning Center, Dutch Lane Road, is scheduled to occur through the summer of 2018.
“The Freehold Borough school district in 2017-18 will stay focused on three main areas,” Superintendent of Schools Rocco Tomazic said. “We will work to construct our new additions and renovations in a safe and timely manner.
“We will work to resolve our ongoing underfunding in state aid by working with state leaders and seeking judicial intervention. We will focus on student achievement to ensure all our students are prepared for high school and their future beyond,” he said.
