Students donate profits, groups donate to self‑contained classrooms at Nutley schools

The Nutley Board of Education meeting opened with recognition of the district’s summer enrichment program and community donations: instructors and student participants in the Let’s Learn program were praised, and the Nutley Parent Advocacy Network presented gift certificates for teachers in self‑contained LLD and ABA classrooms.

Miss Osija, representing Let’s Learn, described the 2025 season and thanked district staff and volunteers, naming 23 educators who taught classes that included cooking, sewing, theater productions, podcasting, tech tools, stop‑motion video, science and engineering, Italian book buddies and a Harry Potter class. She reported that enrollment for the season was about 193 students.

Miss Osija singled out one class, “Kids in Business,” taught by Carla Panichi, and described how student entrepreneurs created products, managed sales and recorded profits. Several student groups chose to donate their profits: one group donated earnings to Joseph and Sonsari Children’s Hospital (part of Hackensack Hospital), and another student used proceeds to purchase supplies for an animal shelter. Board and district leaders invited the students onstage to be recognized publicly.

Separately, Barbara Lovejoy, treasurer of the Nutley Parent Advocacy Network, told the board the group had prepared 14 gift certificates for teachers in the district’s self‑contained LLD and ABA classrooms in grades K–6 to help offset classroom needs and suggested the board distribute them to the identified classrooms.

Why it matters: summer enrichment participation and community donations support student learning and classroom resources and draw public attention to district programs and community partnerships.

Board members and the superintendent publicly thanked the volunteer instructors and donor groups, and the board later approved finance resolutions that, as listed in the agenda, accept key donations from the Nutley Educational Foundation to fund teacher‑proposed projects and materials.

Discussion versus decision: the recognitions and donations were acknowledgments and acceptance items; the finance slate that included acceptance of donations was approved by roll call earlier in the meeting (formal action). The students’ donations were described as voluntary actions by the students during their class sales (discussion/recognition).

Clarifying details: Let’s Learn reported approximately 193 enrolled students for 2025; Nutley Parent Advocacy Network provided 14 gift certificates for K–6 self‑contained LLD and ABA teachers; the students’ donations were given to Joseph and Sonsari Children’s Hospital (identified as part of Hackensack Hospital) and to local animal shelter causes as described on the record.

Speakers quoted are taken directly from the meeting record and attributed to those who made the remarks on the public record.