In February, Eatontown Public Schools recognizes Black History Month through classroom activities, morning announcements, and other special events. On Wednesday, February 26th from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m., Memorial School will host its second annual Black History Expo. We hope you can join us in celebrating this important educational and social event.
In March, each of the schools will highlight Women’s History Month. Again, during this time, Eatontown Public Schools will recognize the achievements of women throughout history. Creating Social Awareness regarding important civic as well as historical issues is important to maintaining our freedoms and way of life.
Equity and Equality are terms our society throws around consistently. Equality, by definition, is about sameness. It focuses on ensuring everyone gets the same thing. On the other hand, Equity is about fairness. It focuses on ensuring everyone gets what he or she needs. This distinction may seem subtle, but in education, the distinction is important. In today’s classroom, students arrive each day with different needs which require different supports.
Over the last ten years, Eatontown Public Schools has worked hard to ensure that the schools and classrooms provide programs, services, and resources that meet the needs of a very diverse student population. On a daily basis, our school system provides programs for Gifted and Talented, Special Education, ELL, Economically Disadvantaged, Homeless, Athletics, as well as STEM. Maintaining these programs is important in order to provide Educational Equity. It also is one of the reasons Eatontown Public Schools was recognized as a “High Performing District” by the NJ Department of Education one year ago.
However, despite these gains, our district, schools, and programs are in jeopardy. Continued cuts and reductions in state funding have made it difficult to maintain these programs. The bottom line is over the next four years our school system will look very different from a program perspective moving forward due to cuts and reductions in state aid. If you have not done so already, please consider signing the petition Save Eatontown Schools, which can be found on Change.org. The Board of Education and Administration will continue to fight for equitable school funding, but your voice is important too. Please visit our website for additional information under Notices and Forms.
I appreciate your consideration and attention. Our goal is not to take funding away from other districts, but rather demand our state government carefully review the school funding formula to ensure it is equitable for all NJ schools. Eatontown wants this. The very definition of equity demands this.
Enjoy the Valentine’s Day and Presidents’ Day holidays. My hope is that in the spirit of the holidays, equity and love will prevail.