Tenafly Public Schools

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Tenafly Public Schools
Address
500 Tenafly Road
Tenafly, NJ 07670
United States
Coordinates40°55′46″N 73°57′58″W / 40.929331°N 73.966016°W / 40.929331; -73.966016Coordinates: 40°55′46″N 73°57′58″W / 40.929331°N 73.966016°W / 40.929331; -73.966016
District information
Gradespre-K to 12
SuperintendentShauna C. DeMarco
Business administratorYaz Usami
Schools6
Students and staff
Enrollment3,732 (as of 2017-18)[1]
Faculty303.4 FTEs[1]
Student–teacher ratio12.3:1[1]
Other information
District Factor GroupI
Websitewww.tenaflyschools.org
Ind. Per pupil District
spending		 Rank
(*)		 K-12
average		 %± vs.
average
1ATotal Spending$18,72058$18,891−0.9%
1Budgetary Cost15,5997114,7835.5%
2Classroom Instruction9,511818,7638.5%
6Support Services2,093402,392−12.5%
8Administrative Cost1,8961021,48527.7%
10Operations & Maintenance1,740601,783−2.4%
13Extracurricular Activities3498926830.2%
16Median Teacher Salary69,8057764,043
Data from NJDoE 2014 Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending.[2]
*Of K-12 districts with more than 3,500 students. Lowest spending=1; Highest=103

The Tenafly Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Tenafly, in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.

As of the 2017-18 school year, the district and its six schools had an enrollment of 3,732 students and 303.4 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.3:1.[1]

The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "I", the second-highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.[3]

Students from Alpine attend Tenafly High School as part of a sending/receiving relationship.[4][5]

Awards and recognition[]

Tenafly High School was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award, awarded by the United States Department of Education at a special assembly to the Tenafly High School Community on September 20, 2005. Tenafly was the only high school in New Jersey and one of 38 public high schools in the U.S. to be recognized with the award that year.[6]

The district's high school was the 17th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology, and had been ranked 3rd in the state of 328 schools in 2012.[7] Tenafly High School was the 3rd-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 322 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2010 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", after being ranked 3rd in 2008 out of 316 schools.[8] The high school was the 2nd ranked public high school in the state out of 316 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2006 cover story on the state's Top Public High Schools.[9]

The Tenafly Middle School 8th grade string orchestra, conducted by Erika Boras Tesi, won first place in the American String Teachers Association's National Orchestra Festival in 2006, earning the title of number one public middle school orchestra in the United States.[10]

Schools[]

Schools in the district (with 2017-18 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics)[11] are:[12]

  • Malcolm S. Mackay Elementary School[13] (391 students; in grades K-5)
    • Brenda Yoo, Principal
  • Ralph S. Maugham Elementary School[14] (411; K-5)
    • Jennifer Ferrara, Principal
  • J. Spencer Smith Elementary School[15] (360; K-5)
    • Daryl George, Principal
  • Walter Stillman Elementary School[16] (393; K-5)
    • Gayle Lander, Principal
Middle school
  • Tenafly Middle School[17] (917; 6-8)
    • John Fabbo, Principal
High school

Administration[]

Core members of the district's administration are:[19][20]

  • Shauna C. DeMarco, Superintendent of Schools[21]
  • Yaz Usami, Board Secretary / Board Administrator[22]

The district is overseen by a nine-member board of education. Members serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with three trustee seats up for election each year.[23]

Public controversies[]

Adolf Hitler assignment controversy[]

In April 2021,[24] a fifth-grade teacher at Maugham Elementary School, a public grammar school in Tenafly, instructed a 5th grade student to dress up as Adolf Hitler to present a first-person essay he had written from the perspective of the Nazi leader touting his "accomplishments" as a part of a class assignment.[25][26][27][28][29] The student wrote a biography of Hitler that glorified the Nazi leader, stated that Hitler's "greatest accomplishment was uniting a great mass of German and Austrian people" in his support, framed the Holocaust in a positive light, and added that Hitler was "pretty great".[26][30][31] The student's essay was displayed publicly within the school's hallway during the month of April.[24][26][32][33][34] In May 2021, the details of the school assignment became known to the public, leading to outrage in the community, which has a substantial Jewish population.[24][26][32][35] After initially defending the teacher and the school's actions and asserting that "it is unfair to judge any student or teacher in this matter",[36][37][38] the board of Tenafly Public Schools suspended the teacher and the principal of the school with pay in June 2021 and opened an investigation into the incident.[39][30]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d District information for Tenafly Public School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed November 1, 2019.
  2. ^ Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending April 2013, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 15, 2013.
  3. ^ NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed October 13, 2014.
  4. ^ Alpine School District 2016 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed November 20, 2017. "The District's students in Grades 9 through 12 can attend Tenafly High School which is the partner school in a sending-receiving relationship. Enrollment is free for students with the cost of their tuition paid by the Alpine School District."
  5. ^ Alvarado, Monsy. "Alpine to keep sending students to Tenafly", The Record (North Jersey), April 4, 2003, backed up by the Internet Archive as of May 16, 2011. Accessed November 20, 2017. "Alpine - The borough's high school students will continue to attend Tenafly High School under a new contract approved by the Board of Education this week."
  6. ^ Schools selected as No Child Left Behind-Blue Ribbon Schools in 2005, United States Department of Education. Accessed October 13, 2014.
  7. ^ Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
  8. ^ Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed May 1, 2011.
  9. ^ Top Public High Schools in New Jersey Archived 2007-02-06 at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Monthly, September 2006
  10. ^ "ASTA National Conference , 2006", American String Teachers Association, May 1, 2006. Accessed November 20, 2017. "Other winners by division were: Middle School Orchestra - 1st place, Tenafly Middle School, Tenafly, N.J"
  11. ^ School Data for the Tenafly Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed November 1, 2019.
  12. ^ New Jersey School Directory for the Tenafly Public Schools, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 29, 2016.
  13. ^ Malcolm S. Mackay Elementary School, Tenafly Public Schools. Accessed November 20, 2017.
  14. ^ Ralph S. Maugham Elementary School, Tenafly Public Schools. Accessed January 12, 2020.
  15. ^ J. Spencer Smith Elementary School, Tenafly Public Schools. Accessed May 12, 2021.
  16. ^ Walter Stillman Elementary School, Tenafly Public Schools. Accessed January 12, 2020.
  17. ^ Tenafly Middle School, Tenafly Public Schools. Accessed January 12, 2020.
  18. ^ Tenafly High School, Tenafly Public Schools. Accessed January 12, 2020.
  19. ^ Faculty & Staff, Tenafly Public Schools. Accessed January 12, 2020.
  20. ^ New Jersey School Directory for Bergen County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 29, 2016.
  21. ^ Superintendent's Page, Tenafly Public Schools. Accessed January 10, 2020.
  22. ^ Business Office Business Office, Tenafly Public Schools. Accessed January 12, 2020.
  23. ^ About the BOE, Tenafly Public Schools. Accessed January 12, 2020. "The Tenafly Board of Education is comprised of a 9-member board of trustees, the chief school administrator and the board secretary/district business administrator."
  24. ^ Jump up to: a b c DeMarco, Jerry (31 May 2021). "Tenafly 5th Grader Dresses As Hitler For Class Project: 'Pretty Great Wasn't I?'". Daily Voice.
  25. ^ Eyewitness News (4 June 2021). "Teacher, principal on leave after student's project on Hitler in New Jersey town". ABC 7.
  26. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Beachum, Lateshia (1 June 2021). "Fifth-grader dresses as Hitler, lauds dictator's 'accomplishments.' A N.J. district is investigating". The Washington Post.
  27. ^ "New Jersey, bambina di 9 anni si traveste da Hitler per un compito. Scoppia la polemica: «È antisemitismo»". Il Mattino. 3 June 2021.
  28. ^ "Daily Kickoff". Jewish Insider. 3 June 2021.
  29. ^ Freda, Gerry (4 June 2021). "Entra in classe "travestita da Hitler". Bufera in una scuola elementare". Il Giornale.
  30. ^ Jump up to: a b Alexander, Dan (1 June 2021). "Tenafly, NJ 5th grade project on Hitler as 'great' being probed". NJ101.5.
  31. ^ Katzban, Nicholas (2 June 2021). "Jewish groups call on community to quell anger toward Tenafly student over Hitler essay". NorthJersey.com.
  32. ^ Jump up to: a b "NJ Elementary Student's Assignment Appearing to Glorify Hitler Sparks Outrage". NBC New York. 1 June 2021.
  33. ^ Ford, James; Cook, Lauren (1 June 2021). "'I was pretty great, wasn't I': NJ student's Hitler presentation under investigation, school district says". PIX 11.
  34. ^ "'I Was Pretty Great, Wasn't I?': Outrage Over Display of Flattering Hitler Bio at New Jersey Elementary School". The Algemeiner. 1 June 2021.
  35. ^ Sheldon, Chris (2 June 2020). "School reviewing 5th grade student's first-person Hitler essay". NJ.com.
  36. ^ Sheldon, Chris (4 June 2021). "Teacher who assigned first-person Hitler essay placed on leave, superintendent says". NJ.com.
  37. ^ Galluccio, Bill (3 June 2021). "New Jersey School Board Defends 5th Grade Teacher Over Hitler Assignment". NewsRadio WFLA.
  38. ^ Madani, Doha (2 June 2021). "New Jersey school board defends 5th grade student and teacher over Hitler assignment". NBC News.
  39. ^ Katzban, Nicholas (4 June 2021). "New Jersey teacher, principal on paid leave after student's report on Hitler's 'accomplishments'". USA Today. Gannett. NorthJersey.com.

External links[]

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