The Hoboken Board of Education on an October 2025 evening recognized 54 teachers who completed Orton‑Gillingham professional learning and heard that the Hoboken Public Education Foundation (HPEF) will provide more than $500,000 in private support for district programs, including a new financial‑literacy lab at Hoboken High School.

The recognition came during the board’s public meeting when Assistant Superintendent Sandra Rodriguez Gomez presented certificates to the cohort of teachers who completed Orton‑Gillingham training and practicum. Rodriguez Gomez said the certification is “a promise to our students” that the district will expand research‑based literacy instruction.

Why it matters: Orton‑Gillingham training targets structured literacy instruction for students who struggle with reading; expanding teacher expertise can change classroom practice and curriculum across early‑grade classrooms. The HPEF funds also pay for new and expanded programs the board highlighted at the same meeting.

District and foundation details
Rodriguez Gomez told the board that the teachers being honored completed between 30 and 60 hours of Orton‑Gillingham Academy training and a year‑long practicum under an academy fellow. The district and HPEF previously funded 30‑hour training cohorts; the foundation supported expansion to full certification for additional teachers this year.

Allison Strobel, executive director of the Hoboken Public Education Foundation, told the board the foundation “will fund over a half a million dollars in new initiatives for the district in the 2025–26 school year.” Strobel listed funding areas the foundation prioritized, including experiential learning, college and career preparation, financial literacy, mental health and wellness, special needs programming, technology, performing arts and literacy instruction.

Financial literacy lab and related courses
Superintendent Dr. Johnson described a ribbon cutting held earlier the same day for a new Advanced Integrated Financial Literacy Lab at Hoboken High School. He said the lab — created through a partnership between HPEF and Advanced Realty Investors — includes a Bloomberg terminal and a live Bloomberg ticker and will host new courses. Dr. Johnson told the board the district will offer a business administration course through the Wharton School and a finance course through Cornell University that are taking place in the new lab, plus an elective called “Stock Market Essentials” in which students can earn Bloomberg Market Concepts certification.

What the board heard and next steps
Board members and district staff framed the investments as part of a broader goal to increase college and career readiness and early literacy supports. The board did not vote on the foundation’s grant at the meeting; HPEF presented its planned funding to the board and community. District staff said some courses in the lab will include opportunities for dual high‑school and college credit and that Advanced Realty Investors is covering enrollment costs for those seats.

Ending
The district plans to deploy the newly certified Orton‑Gillingham teachers and to integrate the foundation‑funded programs in classrooms and school labs during the 2025–26 school year. The board signaled support for the initiatives and recognized the foundation and school staff at the meeting.