January 2019
Dear Parent/Guardian:
Central registration for students who will be new to Cranford (either for kindergarten, first grade, READY, and any other grade level) for the 2019-2020 school year will be done on-line followed by an in-person appointment at Lincoln School (playground entrance) between the hours of 8:15 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 19 through Friday, February 22 with limited appointments available on Saturday, February 23, 2019.
Please read and carefully follow the instructions below:
Go to 2019-2020 Registration to schedule an appointment for registration.
* Please select the date and time that you would like to come to register your child and press submit.
* Once you have submitted the information, you will receive an email confirming your appointment and a link to InfoSnap.
* Enter all of your information on the InfoSnap site. Please make sure you print out your “Affidavit of Residency” and “Medical Enrollment Form and Medical History Form” before closing the program.
* All information must be entered on InfoSnap before you come for your scheduled appointment.
Please bring the following to your scheduled appointment:
* Original certificate of birth (Please bring original; we have to make a copy of it)
* If you are a single parent, please bring documentation with you that shows you as the custodial parent.
* Affidavit of Residency (Please download and have notarized prior to your appointment)
* Mortgage commitment, deed, property tax bill or lease agreement (If you are residing with a Cranford resident, the homeowner must attend the meeting with you)
* Utility Bill (electric, water or gas) - Phone bills will not be accepted
* Medical Enrollment Form and Medical History Form (Please download)*
* Driver’s license or state issued ID (optional)
In accordance with N.J.A.C. 6A:22-3.4, the District may accept other forms of documentation not listed above and shall not exclude any documentation or information presented to enroll the child. Enrollment decisions shall be based on the totality of information and documentation offered to enroll the child, and the failure to provide a particular document or subset of documents will not be a reason to deny enrollment.
*The Medical Enrollment Form must be completed by your child’s physician and submitted either at your appointment time or to your school’s nurse no later than the start of the school year.
Toward the end of this school year, you will be contacted by your student's principal about orientations or other programming that will help acquaint your child with the school building, routines, and other important information.
Thank you for your cooperation. We look forward to welcoming your child to our schools.
Sincerely,
Dr. Scott Rubin
Superintendent of Schools
The next community-wide meeting to discuss the Reimagining Cranford Public Schools initiative will take place on December 17, 2018. At this meeting, the District will present additional options along with the original reimagining proposal. The presentation, which will be taped by TV 35, will include a high level of detail for each plan, including pertinent budget information. Dr. Ross Haber, the demographer the District used to study options on how to implement full-day kindergarten, will be present at the meeting. Additionally, his final report, which is being utilized to help form the December 17th presentation was submitted to the Board of Education at its meeting last night, December 10. For anyone interested in reviewing the demographer’s report prior to the meeting, it is available on our website here: Demographic and Facility Study.
You can also find the latest presentations from the various school-based meetings here: School-based meetings These presentations illustrate the reasoning or “beliefs” behind the proposal to Reimagine the Cranford Public School System.
Separately, the District used Dr. Ross Haber’s services to study the potential impact of the 750 Walnut Avenue Development project on Cranford Public Schools. The impact study, which is separate and distinct from the full-day kindergarten study, can be found here: Potential Impact of 750 Walnut Avenue Development.
Community feedback continues to be instrumental in shaping the process of potentially Reimagining Cranford Public Schools. Based on various input, I would like to outline the current next steps. The meeting on December 17 will be informational. Although there will be no live Q & A segment, options for electronic feedback will be provided. We believe it is important for everyone to take time to consider all the information presented, therefore there will be four future meetings specifically for discussion of the options and Q & A. These community-wide sessions will take place at 7:00 pm as follows:
January 22 @ Livingston Avenue School
February 5 @ Orange Avenue School
February 7 @ Hillside Avenue School
February 19 @ Brookside Place School
More meetings will be scheduled if necessary. Electronic feedback gathered throughout the process will help guide discussions at the community-wide sessions.
Subsequent to these meetings, the District will send out a mailer to every household in Cranford instructing community members on how to access information on the Reimagining Cranford Public Schools proposals and how to provide input through an online survey. There will be an option for those who prefer to fill out a hard copy survey and the school will also provide dates for community members in need of technical assistance. One month after the survey is administered (approximately sometime in mid-March), a team of individuals, including a parent representative from each school, will take part in analyzing the feedback. All results will be shared publicly and will be used to guide the next steps in the process. If there is a consensus from the community as to a pathway forward, the District will form a series of task forces around specific topic areas, ie scheduling, extra-curricular activities, transportation (if applicable), referendum items, etc... There will be multiple pathways for community members to have input into each task force. If there is no consensus from the community survey, the District will still use the feedback to guide next steps.
The District may still be on target for a potential referendum vote to take place in November / December of 2019, but the community survey results will ultimately guide the process and timeline.
On behalf of the Cranford Board of Education, we cannot thank you enough for your participation and engagement in this topic as we all seek ways to enhance opportunities for our children. We look forward to continued dialogue.
Best,
10/30/2018 Community Meeting Presentation and Video
Important Message from the Superintendent - Upcoming Community Meeting to Discuss Reimagining CPSD Proposal - October 30, 7:00 pm @ CHS and FAQs
I want to remind you of the upcoming meeting on October 30, 2018, at 7:00 pm, in the Cranford High School Auditorium, to discuss the Reimagining Cranford Public School District proposal. It is the first of several meetings that will be held to engage in conversation about whether this initiative reflects our values and desires for our students.
The upcoming meeting will take place as follows:
October 30, 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm at CHS auditorium
Presentation Topics: K-2 buildings with full-day kindergarten, comprehensive grade 3-5 school, comprehensive middle school, high school career academies, budget, and Q&A.
As we continue to engage in discussion around this topic, we want to ensure that everyone has ample opportunity to be informed, share thoughts, and have questions answered. We are confident that this can be accomplished through the combination of large community and school-based meetings, Board of Education Meetings, continued correspondence, and ongoing dialogue. As for the upcoming community meeting on October 30, several stakeholders were consulted to determine the most productive way to deliver information while providing time for individual input. Collaboratively, here is what has been planned:
After the presentations have concluded, each person will have the ability to provide immediate feedback, comments, and questions through a shared public document that will be able to be viewed by all. This process will enable everyone to participate, including those, who may not be comfortable speaking publicly. The feedback will be used to drive the scheduled smaller school meetings, future community meetings, and additional correspondence.
We also realize that there are some who are looking forward to speaking publicly on the matter and we would like to afford them this opportunity as well. Therefore, after all feedback has been received electronically, an hour will be allotted for the community to provide comments / ask questions. Each participant will have a minute and a half so as to give others an opportunity to speak.
Please know that there will be many additional opportunities to speak publicly if so desired. Critical to this process is to hear from you, the community.
Remember, the Reimagining Cranford proposal will not move forward if the community is not in favor of it. The proposal can only be implemented if the community decides to vote for funding the capital costs associated with the plan through a referendum. While we feel there are a lot of benefits in the proposed plan, this is not and will not be a superintendent or Board of Education decision --it will be a community decision. All feedback and viewpoints are welcome!
As we look to Tuesday’s meeting, below please note a new list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) and responses.
Again, we look forward to engaging you in conversation about this proposal.
Best,
Scott Rubin
Reimagining Cranford Public Schools Proposal
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Now?
Providing students with full-day kindergarten is something that has been requested by the community for many years in Cranford. A full-day program would provide wonderful benefits for our students. You can read about some of the benefits here: https://www.nj.gov/education/
While exploring full-day kindergarten options, the idea to Reimagine Cranford Public Schools emerged. Not only would the proposal provide full-day kindergarten in a fiscally responsible way, it additionally addresses many topics that have been repeatedly brought up by various stakeholder groups. See some of the benefits in the pamphlet located here.
Was the plan to Reimagine Cranford Public Schools part of the Strategic Plan or Strategic Planning Process?
No, the Reimagining Cranford proposal was not a part of the strategic planning process. While many of the areas that were identified as areas of growth during the strategic planning process are addressed through the Reimagining Cranford proposal, such as equity/inconsistencies, full-day kindergarten, social-emotional learning, postsecondary partnerships, and college and career readiness, the Reimagining Cranford Public Schools proposal was conceived separately from the strategic planning process to address these opportunities.
Who approves this proposal?
You, the community, will decide whether this proposal represents what we want for our children. The capital costs associated with this proposal can only be approved through a referendum and that would be voted on by the community, not by the superintendent or the Board of Education.
What will be a part of the referendum?
If the community desires to move forward with the Reimagining Cranford proposal, currently, the referendum would include 4 additional classrooms and additional bathrooms at Hillside Avenue School as well as interior renovations at both Hillside Avenue School and Orange Avenue School. Additional proposed referendum items could include:
Updated Science Labs @ CHS
Updated Media Centers Districtwide
Enhanced Performing Arts Spaces Districtwide
Explored accessibility options @ CHS
Explored AC options
**We would partner with various stakeholders to develop the complete list
Will I know all information pertaining to the referendum prior to a referendum vote?
Yes!!! If the community wants to move forward with this initiative, the District would work in collaboration with stakeholders to build/design the programs at each of the schools. All information from this collaborative effort, including all fiscal information, will be provided to the community prior to any potential referendum vote.
Opportunities for Athletics / Performing Arts?
Several members of the community have expressed a concern that there could be fewer opportunities for students in the arts and in sports if there was only one comprehensive middle school. This initiative is intended to provide greater opportunities, not fewer. We are committed to not reducing options for students. Moreover, stakeholders should be involved in deciding how to best provide options for students and in what manner. Although Middle School sports is not overseen by the School District, we would reach out to our community partners to engage them in conversation about what works best for our community.
Would you bus students who are under 2 miles from a school in grades 3-8?
The original plan was to provide busing for students K-8 who live over 2 miles from their proposed school. However, based on community input, we are now seriously exploring the cost for providing busing for all students K-8 who would be attending a cross-town school.
Is this plan in response to the proposed development at 750 Walnut Avenue?
This proposal was not created as a response to the 750 Walnut Avenue development. If 750 Walnut goes through, as it is proposed, it would create a great hardship on the District. Nevertheless, this plan would put the District in a better position to deal with the influx of ongoing housing projects as the District would be unified, grades 3-12. It is important for the District to be forward thinking. The Birchwood development is already here and currently being built. Although this proposal will not accommodate what is currently being proposed at 750 Walnut (it seems likely that a whole school would have to be built), it does, at the very least, set us up better for the future.
Does this eliminate the neighborhood school model?
No, the neighborhood school model will still exist at the K-2 level. In fact, on each side of town, there will be only three grade levels that change to the opposite side of town. Our community is approximately 4 square miles, which may be, in part, what contributes to that small and welcoming community feel no matter where you are.
What will the District do to mitigate traffic?
If the community is supportive of the proposal moving forward, the District will engage a professional traffic engineer and work in partnership with a newly created Cranford Transportation Task Force to ensure safety and minimize the impact on the community.
Additionally, it has been suggested that busing could alleviate traffic issues in Cranford. According to the American School Bus Council, “every school bus on the road eliminates approximately 36 cars.” It could also make pick-up/drop-off a much smoother process as there would be designated bus pick-up/drop-off zones at the two additional schools that would have busing.
What are High School Career Academies?
Learn more about CTE (Career Technology Education) here: Career Academies. Additionally, “CTE provides students of all ages with the academic and technical skills, knowledge and training necessary to succeed in future careers and to become lifelong learners. In total, about 12.5 million high school and college students are enrolled in CTE across the nation. CTE prepares these learners for the world of work by introducing them to workplace competencies, and makes academic content accessible to students by providing it in a hands-on context.” CTE programs are ranked among the finest schools in the State and Nation. Creating Career Academies at CHS would not restrict students from following a traditional CHS pathway should they so choose.
We have a high achieving district, “Why fix what is not broken?”
We have a great school district, but it is our duty and responsibility to work collaboratively to always enhance our school community. “Achieving success is hard; staying successful is even harder.” --Frank Sonnenberg. Additionally, this proposal focuses on enhancing social-emotional opportunities as well as academics.
How are we getting the word out about this initiative?
We want everyone to be a part of the conversation regarding this proposal. In addition to holding meetings with groups, such as the Parent Teacher Council, the Joint Action Committee, and District faculty, we have also scheduled the following meetings:
Community Meetings:
Tuesday, October 30, CHS @ 7:00 pm
Wednesday, November 28, CHS @ 7:00 pm To be rescheduled
Monday, December 17, CHS @ 7:00 pm
Individual school meetings will be held:
Tuesday, November 13, WAS @ 7:00 pm
Thursday, November 15, HAS @ 7:00 pm
Monday, November 19, LAS @ 7:00 pm
Tuesday, November 20 - OAS @ 7:00 pm
Tuesday, November 27 - BPS @ 7:00 pm
Thursday, December 6, BAS @ 7:00 pm *This date changed from the original meeting scheduled for Dec. 3.
Tuesday, December 4, CHS @ 7:00 pm
**Please note that the presentation portions of these meetings will be taped and available through TV35
Additionally, we send out all correspondence to TapInto, the Local Source, and TV35. We have also dedicated an area of the Cranford Public School website to this initiative: https://www.cranfordschools.
We are arranging a meeting with the senior citizens center and we are also working with the Newcomer’s Club to arrange a meeting with their organization as well as similarly focused organizations.
Our goal is to engage the community in this dialogue about what is best for our children. If you or someone you know is not receiving information from the district, please email cammarata@cranfordschools.org and we would be happy to add them to all future correspondence.
Reimagining Cranford Public Schools
Please click here for more information on the Reimagining Cranford Public Schools Proposal
Greetings Parents, Guardians, Staff, Students, and Community Members,
As you know, last week, a proposal to reimagine Cranford Public Schools was presented, along with an invitation to attend three community meetings to engage in conversation about whether this initiative reflects our values and desires for our students.
Since that communication, I have received feedback from numerous community members that the addition of meetings at each individual school would afford a greater opportunity for all to be heard and ensure each localized school community receives the information they desire.
Therefore, in addition to the already scheduled public community meetings on October 30, November 28, and December 17, individual school meetings will be held on the following dates:
Tuesday, November 13, WAS @ 7:00 pm
Thursday, November 15, HAS @ 7:00 pm
Monday, November 19, LAS @ 7:00 pm
Tuesday, November 20, OAS @ 7:00 pm
Tuesday, November 27, BPS @ 7:00 pm
Monday, December 3, BAS @ 7:00 pm RESCHEDULED DUE TO HANUKKAH
Thursday, December 6, BAS @ 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, December 4, CHS @ 7:00 pm
As to the upcoming public community meetings, it has also been suggested that they would be more productive if the first two focused on particular topics. We ask that the community focus only on the areas that are presented that evening so that we may drill down on those topics.
These meetings will be as follows:
October 30, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm at CHS auditorium
Presentation Topics: budget, comprehensive middle school, comprehensive grade 3-5 building, K-2 buildings with full-day kindergarten
Q&A
November 28, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm at CHS auditorium
Presentation Topics: Transportation and District Configuration
Q&A
December 17, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm at CHS auditorium
Presentation Topic: Open Session
Q&A
It is important that the public has ample opportunity to discuss, and, ultimately, decide whether this proposal is best for our children. We believe this new meeting schedule is the start of many opportunities for healthy dialogue. Remember, the Reimagining Cranford proposal will not move forward if the community is not in favor of it. The proposal can only be implemented if the community decides to vote for funding the capital costs associated with the plan through a referendum. While we feel there are a lot of benefits in the proposed plan, this is not and will not be a superintendent or Board of Education decision --it will be a community decision. All feedback and viewpoints are welcome!
Again, we look forward to engaging you in conversation about this proposal.
Best,
Scott Rubin
132 Thomas StreetCranford, NJ 07016
Phone: 908-272-9100Fax:
