Lincoln School named a New Jersey "Promising Practices" school; district highlights family engagement and data use

Lincoln School has been named a Promising Practices school by the New Jersey Department of Education, the Caldwell‑West Caldwell Board of Education heard Tuesday night.

The recognition, part of the state's Promising Practices project, spotlights schools the department says have developed “unique, replicable, and innovative approaches to teaching and learning.” Lincoln was one of 52 schools statewide and one of three in Essex County the state identified, the district said.

The recognition was introduced at the board's public conference by Mr. Geyer, Lincoln School principal, who described five areas the state team highlighted: redistributing resources to economically disadvantaged families; the district's pandemic response; use of data to inform instruction; school culture; and family and community engagement.

"We have terrific students. We love all of them. We have a wonderful faculty, very professional, very dedicated to our students, and we have a highly engaged family population," Mr. Geyer said, describing the combination he called "a recipe for a successful school." He told the board the district received a draft of the state's report in November or December and expects the final report to be made public later this winter.

Nut graf: The district said the Promising Practices recognition singles out replicable programs at Lincoln School that district leaders believe helped students recover from the pandemic and improve continuity across the elementary schools. Board members were shown examples of the practices the state found notable and were told the district will share the full report when it is released.

The district described several specific practices the state cited. To reduce barriers for economically disadvantaged families, the Lincoln Home & School Association established an anonymized fund that accepts donations and pays for needs such as technology, Wi‑Fi access, school supplies, book‑fair purchases and student activities. Mr. Geyer told the board the HSA‑run fund helps make extracurricular and classroom opportunities available to all students.

Ms. Goldman, a Lincoln School teacher who spoke during the presentation, emphasized the school's use of assessment data. "We don't just share data according to our district guidelines, but we also use it," she said, describing post‑assessment meetings among teachers and intervention staff to develop student growth plans. She named the school's interventionist, Ms. Karabakis, as a regular collaborator in that work.

The district also credited changes made during the pandemic that the administration said produced lasting benefits: a refined district curriculum, a pacing and assessment guide, common benchmark assessments across the elementary schools and expanded use of video conferencing for cross‑district collaboration. The administration said the schools have also formalized social‑emotional learning time, delivered by the school counselor and classroom teachers.

Students and families joined the presentation. Fifth‑grader Mariela Dautter spoke about Lincoln's annual Veterans Day and USA Day programs, and invited the public to this year's program on May 21. Parent Lauren Fornorado described multiple family engagement opportunities — classroom math games, reading partners, holiday fairs, field day, ice cream days and volunteer chaperone roles — as central to the school's culture.

Mr. Geyer also noted extracurricular and arts programming, including a new fifth‑grade choir and a district‑wide elementary choral program. The meeting opened with a performance by the James Caldwell High School Retromen and a plug for an area acapella festival to be held at James Caldwell High School on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

Ending: Board members thanked the Lincoln staff and families for the presentation and were told the program portion of the evening concluded; the formal business meeting continued with routine and calendar items.