Metuchen superintendent lays out five district goals for 2025–26, highlights $167,000 tree grant and AI plan

Superintendent Dr. Anthony Caputo presented the Metuchen Public School District’s five district goals for 2025–26 at the Aug. 26 board meeting, saying the goals will guide day‑to‑day work across classrooms and school operations.

Caputo told the board the district’s new framing—Every Moment Matters—organizes five goals: classroom and community engagement; building forward together (using construction and grade realignment as catalysts); Sky’s the Limit (using New Jersey Sky climate survey data); information literacy (including an AI plan); and “the best me,” which centers tiered behavioral supports and interventions.

Caputo said the goals were developed with input from students, parents, board members, teachers and administrators and will be monitored during the school year. “These are district goals for 25–26,” he said, adding that the goals will be reviewed midyear and again in June with scoring aligned to established school quality indicators.

Among the specific initiatives tied to goal 1 (classroom and community engagement), Caputo announced the district received a $167,000 grant from Sustainable Jersey that will fund the planting of “over a 100” trees across the district’s four schools and support related classroom learning. He said the district worked with the Shade Tree Commission and a landscape architect during the grant application and planning process.

On Sky‑survey work (goal 3), Caputo said the district will use results from the New Jersey Sky climate survey alongside anecdotal information gathered by school leadership teams. He reported participation numbers provided to the district: about 486 third‑to‑fifth graders, more than 1,000 secondary students, roughly 200 staff and almost 400 parents. The survey uses 1–5 and 1–4 scales depending on the item; lower scores will be the focus of school action plans.

Information literacy (goal 4) includes three key actions, Caputo said: engaging students in collecting and interpreting real‑world data; implementing an AI plan (tools to screen and curate resources and staff professional development that includes prompt engineering and “responsible AI use”); and emphasizing civic readiness, including voting rights and primary‑source instruction.

Under the “best me” goal (goal 5), the district will align interventions and character education with the New Jersey Tiered System of Supports (NJTSS). Caputo described a self‑rating system principals will use (1–5) to report progress on each goal and said the district will publish updates before Thanksgiving, at spring break and in a final June report.

Board members and committee chairs praised the clarity of the goals and their links to past work. Board member Mr. Suss noted the district had “ratcheted up our efforts” on the Sky survey and said the district plans to offer the survey again next spring with a wider response window. In response to a question from the board, Caputo confirmed the district will submit specific tree planting sites to Sustainable Jersey by November and would involve students in the selection process before spring planting.

Why this matters: the goals tie ongoing construction and program changes to classroom practice, set measurable checkpoints for school climate and mental‑health work, and explicitly include an AI plan for staff training and classroom practice.

What’s next: Caputo said principals will self‑rate progress during the year and the administration will issue interim reports; the district will submit tree‑planting proposals to the grantor by November and plant in spring 2026.