With the age of Collingswood elementary schools an increasing issue, the Board of Education will consider some consolidation plans in the next decade and beyond.
Citing the limitations of age, handicap access and room for growth at its existing elementary schools, the Collingswood Board of Education served notice Monday that the town should begin planning for districtwide changes. “Our edict to the board is: develop something,” said former board Vice President Robin Halpern, who served on the Elementary Education Committee. “Change it as you need to change it, but we need to be looking at how to promote student achievement at the elementary level, which is different than it was 30, 40, 50 years ago,” she said. The committee reported to the board that two of the five existing neighborhood elementary schools in Collingswood are nearly 100 years old and approaching obsolescence. Its recommended course…
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Thomas Sharp Elementary School principal Joe Gurcsik doles out snacks and strategy in equal amounts, teaching fourth- and fifth-grader Chess Club members the joy of the game.
An endgame is unfolding in the library of Thomas Sharp Elementary. In between bites of soft pretzel, Eva Vanlaar, 9, is marshalling her forces against Lourdes Gonzalez, also 9. Seated at the head of their table, crossing guard Don Canning offers advice in equal parts to both. “This one’s got the potential to be a grandmistress,” he says, indicating Vanlaar. Canning knows talent. He used to play against ranked opponents in Collingswood back when there was an active chess club for players his own age. “I took my lumps and learned a lot,” he says. As the three look over the board, Thomas Sharp Principal and Collingswood Elementary Chess Club adviser Joe Gurcsik reminds the room of the afternoon's tutorial on how to avoid a stalemate. But he …
Joanna Mills
10:00 am on Sunday, April 1, 2012
Yes, Collingswood has great small town charm but does that necessitate 5 elementary schools for a total population of ~15,000? Here are some hard Collingswood facts disproving the "smaller classes are better" theory. There is one elementary school in town which; 1) has the best student to teacher ratio, and 2) has the most money spent per student BUT its students are the lowest performing (… more ›