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Principals highlight student awards, early-literacy programs, STEAM electives and one-to-one device rollout
Summary
Principals from Asbury Park elementary, middle and high schools presented student-of-the-month recognitions, early-literacy collaborations, STEAM and elective programming, and reported the district is more than one-to-one on devices after recent Chromebook/iPad purchases and cart deployments.
Principals from several Asbury Park schools used the board meeting to recognize students and staff and to summarize ongoing instructional and after-school programs across the district.
School recognitions and programs: Dr. Kirk Padilla, principal of Atterbury Park High School, recognized senior student-athlete Elric Delgado and co-students of the month Julia Rojas and Yadira Herrera Ortiz and praised school nurse Kristin McNulty for districtwide support. Dr. George Shultz, principal of Bradley Elementary, described increases in third- through sixth-grade ELA and math proficiency after administering a schoolwide NJSLA-style shutdown and reported higher benchmark growth across grades. Mrs. Zakiyah Dolorbe, principal of Thurgood Marshall Elementary School, outlined early-childhood initiatives including a kindergarten-through-second-grade emotional-regulation program, an early-reading workshop in partnership with the Asbury Park Library, a preschool registration kickoff that enrolled about 50 families, Read Across America plans and a Black History Month event.
Curriculum and electives: Middle-school principals described STEAM elective offerings, an enhanced-period technology program (TEP) that gives students choice-based electives such as music, art, Spanish and a STEAM rotation, and partnerships to support inclusion practices and literacy family nights. Principals said electives are graded and tied into curriculum expectations at the middle-school level.
Device deployment and IT: The administration reported estimated recent purchases of roughly 150 devices for the high school and 50 for MLK (the high school and MLK deployments were singled out) and additional smaller orders. ITC and principals inventory devices by classroom and the district said it is now "more than 1-to-1," with Chromebook carts deployed in classrooms to avoid devices leaving the building and to ease repairs and management. Administrators said ITC can remotely disable lost devices and that redeployments after disabling have recovered some units.
Attendance, staffing and extracurriculars: Principals reported attendance rates (one building cited a current student attendance rate around 93%), a drop in chronic absenteeism from about 30% toward district goals under 20% and no current teacher vacancies at one middle school. Programs highlighted included GEAR UP trips, museum visits, STEAM Park academy, college trips to Kean University and Brookdale partnerships for STEM. Principals credited reorganizing grade-level structures and empowering principals to run buildings with improving instruction, test outcomes and reduced numbers of students using portfolio assessments for graduation.
Why it matters: these program updates reflect instruction priorities, early-literacy efforts and device access that affect daily classroom operations, testing preparedness and family engagement. The district said those details will feed into curriculum and budget planning during upcoming sessions and the town-hall on school funding.
Ending: principals invited trustees and community members to upcoming events including Read Across America and a Black History celebration and noted ongoing partnership opportunities being pursued by the curriculum office and community outreach staff.
