The goals and the accomplishments of Red Bank Regional High School were shared recently by Superintendent Louis Moore and the members of the Borough of Shrewsbury Council.
The school district’s three ongoing goals for the school year are improving educational technology options, possibly adding two new academy programs and continuing to expand access to career/college readiness programs, according to Moore.
Moore spoke about the school’s achievements and continued goals during the council’s regular meeting on Dec. 18 at the municipal building.
“The purpose of the session is that I wanted to first share some of the remarkable accomplishments of our students and staff since September,” Moore said.
According to Moore, Red Bank Regional continues to earn both national and regional recognition for the excellent of its programs. The Washington Post recognized the high school this year in its national ranking as the second most challenging high school in Monmouth County, Moore also pointed out.
The district’s first major goal area is an ongoing commitment to improving educational technology in the district, Moore revealed.
“The major activities this year have been to provide every ninth-grader with a Google Chromebook. Now, moving forward into next year, we hope to continue this. We hope to also provide Chromebooks to upperclassmen and upperclasswomen as we go forward,” Moore said. “At some point, we are envisioning that Red Bank Regional will be a true one-to-one environment where all students receive their own Chromebook to utilize.”
The school is considering adding two new four-year academy programs, according to Moore.
“About half of our students enroll in four-year academies, and what this means is that about roughly one-quarter of their academic program focuses on a specialty area,” Moore said. “What we are looking into is the possibility of bringing two new academies: one in bio-medical science and the second is in education. So we are looking into that, and we are doing some planning steps to make those two new academies a reality here at the school.”
Currently, Moore said, the school has four academy programs that are visual and performing arts, finance information technology and engineering.
“It’s complicated because these are programs that are Career Technical Education (CTE) certified, which have federal and state standards that are mandated,” Moore said. “You can’t just create a program and call it a CTE academy. There is a rigid process that you have to go through to be recognized. The four other academies do have that recognition, so we are very proud of that. We are aiming to achieve that certification, but…it’s a fairly long-term process.”
According to Moore, the school will apply to get the two new academies CTE certified during the 2018-19 school year.
Moore explained that the district’s third goal area is to continue to expand access and enrollment in programs that link students to career options and college readiness.
“What we want to do is expand these programs and also find programs that are lined with a range of learning interests. This would include coursework that is going to transition right into college, but [also] work that is going to help transition into careers,” Moore said.
Moore revealed that this year, 200 students are taking dual-enrollment courses where they are earning college credits as they complete their high school program.
“Simultaneously, we are continuing to expand partnerships that allow us to implement dual-enrollment courses. These are courses that carry college credits right now,” Moore said. “For example, what we are looking into is new courses with Rutgers University [and] Syracuse University. We currently have existing courses through Fairleigh Dickinson University, Georgian Court University and Brookdale Community College.”
The school is going to hold a night program where residents are welcome to attend to learn more about the school district’s five-year strategic plan. That event is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Jan. 11 at the high school’s Media Center, located at 101 Ridge Road in Little Silver, according to Moore.
“We have an excellent staff, we have a remarkable student body [and] strong support from our communities. So by any standard, Red Bank Regional is thriving, and its a pleasure to work and lead here. We are excited about the new year,” Moore said.
For more information visit www.rbrhs.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=851.
Contact Vashti Harris at vharris@newspapermediagroup.com.
