HPPS Board Bulletin
November 25, 2024
Click here to view the board meeting
Superintendent’s Report: Two well-deserving Irving students, Rebecca Gebrayel and Garrison Jenkins, were recognized for being good, kind citizens of the school. Congratulations! During the board meeting, Superintendent Susca provided a concise review of the timeline leading to the selection of a company to conduct the special education program evaluation. She introduced the Comegno Education Institute as the potential provider for the evaluation. John Comegno and his team attended the meeting, offering introductions, sharing their extensive background in education and program evaluation, and addressing questions from the board to ensure a shared understanding of the process and goals.
Curriculum & Instruction: The board approved three new courses at the high school: AP Computer Science Principles, Culture and Civilization: España y América del Sur, and Culture and Civilization - México y América Central. AP Computer Science Principles serves as an introduction to computer science and is designed to attract students underrepresented in STEM fields. The goal of the Culture and Civilization classes is to make language learning more accessible for students who may struggle with traditional grammar-focused courses by focusing on Spanish oral proficiency and the cultural aspects of Spanish-speaking countries and regions. The board approved several field trips including trips to the Rutgers Geology Museum, our new Super Fresh Supermarket, and to DECA competitions at Kean University and in Atlantic City. The committee report included more general discussions about the return of midterms and finals to the high school, the use of AI instructional tools, and health curriculum revisions. In addition, the committee reported that unfortunately due to budget constraints, there will be no Summer Holistic Intervention Program (SHIP) program during summer 2025. This will not impact students who receive extended school year (ESY) services through our Summer Teaching and Reinforcement (STAR) program. The full curriculum and instruction committee report begins at 1:47:37 of the board meeting recording.
Finance & Facilities:
The board approved Comegno Education Institute to do a special education program evaluation. In addition, the DMR proposal for mechanical structural repairs at Bartle Elementary was approved, as were proposals for waterproofing the Art and Music Rooms at Irving Primary School. Invo Healthcare was approved to provide related services, such as speech and physical therapy, as needed, and QBS LLC was approved to provide professional development in the area of de-escalation and safety care.
Personnel & Communications: The board approved Mr. DiPane as the Acting Middle School Principal to cover during Ms. Brady’s leave, Mr. Richardson was approved to move from the High School to the Middle School to cover as the Assistant Principal, and Mx. Perez was approved to be the Interim Assistant Principal for the High School. Please also join us in welcoming our new staff -
Wanda Lopez - Paraprofessional at Bartle School
Cala Nanda - School Nurse at Bartle School
Toby Marcus - Social Worker for Educational Services
Jana Hesham - Site Assistant - Bartle After School Program
Jayda Henderson - Site Assistant - Irving After School Program
Anaiah Dilworth - Site Assistant - Irving After School Program
Emma Shannon - Student Aide - Irving After School Program
Cora Kaper-Dale - Student Aide - Irving After School Program