Dear Parents, Guardians, Students, Staff and Community Members:
On behalf of the North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District Board of Education, welcome to the 2014-2015 school year. We are looking forward to a great year for our students, staff, parents/guardians, and communities. We are proud to report that both North Hunterdon and Voorhees High Schools were listed this year among America’s Most Challenging High Schools in The Washington Post. 
In addition, both of our schools saw a significant increase in the number of students who scored Advanced Proficient on the Language Arts section of the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA) administered in March 2014. We congratulate our staff and students for all their hard work as it is their commitment that continues to keep our schools ranking among the best in New Jersey and in the country.
As all students head back to school on August 28, we would like to share the district goals towards which our administration, Board of Education, and staff members will be working during the 2014-2015 school year:
- The district will continue to develop and incorporate new technologies to improve productivity and educational opportunities for both students and staff (Strategic Plan and District Technology Plan Goal). This includes our 1:1 mobile computing device initiative, which will be expanded to three grade levels this year. We have also instituted a new student information system, Aspen.
- Over the next two years, all classroom teachers will infuse reading, writing, speaking and listening from the English Language Arts Core Curriculum Content Standards into their lesson plans.
- Over the next two years, the district will develop programs with businesses, corporations, universities, etc. to establish educational opportunities for students inside and outside the classroom. (Strategic Plan Goal)
- Preparing to fully implement the PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) assessment. This assessment replaces the NJASK and HSPA exams and will be administered to all students in kindergarten to grade 11 beginning in the 2014-2015 school year. For more information on PARCC, please visit: http://www.parcconline.org/about-parcc.
Though we are entering a new school year, please take a moment to review some of the accomplishments of the last year, which included:
- Graduation of 422 students from North Hunterdon and 281 from Voorhees on June 13, 2014.
- Implementation of 1:1 mobile computing device initiative with the freshman class in 2013-2014, providing district-issued Chromebooks or allowing freshmen to bring their own device.
- Beginning the changeover to new student information system, Aspen, which is now up and running.
- Administration of PARCC field test at both high schools. North Hunterdon and Voorhees were selected by the NJ Department of Education to participate in the pilot field testing.
- Increased emphasis on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) throughout our curriculum guide.
- Receipt of more than $3.5 million in grants from the New Jersey Department of Education for various capital projects.
- Awarding contract for new food service company (Pomptonian Food Service) to manage the district’s food services program.
- Voorhees High School named a High Performing Rewards School for a third straight year by the New Jersey Department of Education.
- Number of confirmed harassment, intimidation, bullying (HIB) incidents has significantly dropped from 55 in 2011-2012 to 24 in 2013-2014.
- Both high schools used the Standard Response Protocol for all emergencies and security drills as per the initiative from the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office. Reunification plans are being developed and will be finalized in 2014-2015 school year. For more information on the Standard Response Protocol, please visit www.iloveuguys.org.
- North Hunterdon High School once again ranked #1 in most blood donations for a high school in 2013, out of about 500 high schools that work with New Jersey Blood Services. The blood drives held at North collected 1,235 units of blood in one year.
We anticipate that the 2014-2015 school year will be filled with notable accomplishments. Please visit our district website, www.nhvweb.net, periodically for news and updates as well as the individual high school websites. Our Board of Education and administration thank you for your continued interest, involvement, and support of our efforts on behalf of our students. Have a great year!
Sincerely,
Charles M. Shaddow, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Schools
