New school year brings changes in Tinton Falls
BY LINDA DeNICOLA
Staff Writer

Above: Third-grade teacher Joan Seeley prepares for the new school year by putting tags on the tables in her classroom at the Mahala Atchison School last Friday. At right: Howard Gallin, a resources teacher at the K-3 Tinton Falls school, unloads material for the new academic year.

TINTON FALLS - Students returning to the borough's K-8 schools today will experience a number of changes.

But, said Superintendent of Schools Leonard Kelpsh, the number of students in the district - 1,625 - remains relatively unchanged from last year.

Although the student population has not grown, it has shifted a bit so the K-3 Mahala Atchison School on Sycamore Avenue will be a bit more crowded with the addition of another first-grade class. There will also be a new principal at the school.

There is also a new principal at the Swimming River School on Hance Avenue.

Kelpsh explained that David Hallman, the former principal at Atchison School, will be taking the helm at the Swimming River School since former Principal John Russo has left the district.

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Also, Mary Polese, who was the facilitating teacher under Hallman, has become the new principal at the Atchison School. Susan Ross has been appointed to Polese's former position as facilitating teacher.

Kelpsh added that the district has hired a number of new teachers because of retirements and extra enrollment in the lower grades.

In addition, there is a new reading curriculum at the Atchison School. Called "balanced literacy," it involves getting away from the typical essential readers approach, Kelpsh said.

"We think it's a much better way to go. Teachers can make more of the decisions about what books to read, and it departs from reading through a series," he said.

Besides developing new curriculum over the summer, the Swimming River School will also be implementing a new fourth- and fifth-grade elementary keyboarding program as well as adding an additional Montessori class in the second grade.

The popular Montessori program was implemented three years ago in kindergarten and when it proved to be very popular, it was expanded to include first grade.

Parents sending their children to school for kindergarten can choose between three options, Montessori, looping and multiage. Kelpsh said they have found that there is a group of students who do very well in the Montessori setting, but also manage to make the transition to regular classes each year.

He explained that when parents have to make a decision about which program to choose, they can sit down with the principal and go over the options. "The principal can guide them. Between both the principal and the parents, they can find the best program for the child," he said.