Gloucester City Board of Ed President Pleased With Improved Scores

VIRGINIA R. EARNEY, of Audubon

Mt. Ephraim BOE Approves Pre-School Day Care Plan

Gloucester City Board of Ed President Pleased With Improved Scores

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

By Linda Boker-Angelo

NEWS Correspondent

Gloucester City School Board President Louisa Llewellyn told the NEWS she was thrilled by the improving scores posted by Gloucester City High 11^th graders in 2007-08.

She stopped by the office the day after last week’s Board of Education (BOE) meeting, pointing out that the students scored better in both Mathematics and Language Arts.

Some 78.4 percent of last year’s 11^th graders were either advanced or proficient in Math, compared to 67.8 percent in 2006-07, and 52.8 percent in 2002-03.

“It is a remarkable turnaround,” said Llewellyn, a former teacher in the school district, who said she was very proud of the students, teachers and staff at the High School.

In Language Arts, 86.2 percent of the students were either advanced or proficient, compared to 77.9 percent in 2006-07, and 69.5 percent in 2002-03.

During the meeting, School Board members were pleased to once again hear comments by students selected to represent each of the City School District’s schools.

Kindergartener Matthew Camp told the Board that “Cold Springs School is a lot of fun and I have a lot of fun learning.”

Camp described some of the activities which were planned for Cold Springs students, including a Valentine’s Day celebration.

Jarret Ziegler, 10, a fifth grader at Mary Ethel Costello School, spoke about some of his teachers and classes.

Principal Ken Wagstaff said Ziegler’s teachers described the Honor Roll student as “a hard worker and extremely polite.”

Sophomore Frank Klemowitz talked about some of the faculty members and programs at Gloucester City High School.

A football player and member of the Tech Club, Klemowitz currently would like to either go to college to pursue a career in the technology industry, or to attend culinary school to be a chef.

In other business, Superintendent Paul Spaventa praised teachers, students and community members who donated lengths of their hair during a Locks of Love donation drive January 14.

Spaventa reported that 280 inches of hair were donated at the event, which was held at Tia’s Hair Care in Gloucester City. Locks of Love is a non-profit organization which provides hairpieces to underprivileged children suffering from long term medical hair loss.

Spaventa also recognized Gloucester High basketball player Erin MacAdams, who scored her 1,000^th point during a game February 5.

With regard to a possible consolidation with the Brooklawn School District, Spaventa said following the meeting that, at a recent caucus session, the Board authorized him to see if any state funds are available to cover the cost of a feasibility study to explore pros and cons of such a merger.

Board Secretary Margaret McConnell noted that the Board will hold a public hearing on the district’s 2009-10 school budget at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 2, in the media center of Gloucester High School.

The Board will meet again at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 5, for a caucus session. The next regular meeting will be Tuesday, March 10, at 7 p.m. in the GHS media center.