Education
By TAPINTO NEWARK STAFF
April 1, 2025
NEWARK - Student debaters and orators from five Newark public high schools took first place in five categories at the New Jersey Speech and Debate League's state championships. Mofoluwa Olagadeyo and Risiqat Adeniji of Science Park High School won the state championship in the tournament’s policy ...
NEWARK - The Board of Education, facing rising charter school payments, contractual salary increases and higher student enrollment, has approved a nearly $1.6 billion budget for the 2025-26 school year that will increase annual property taxes by an average $33.12 despite a 6% increase in state ...
NEWARK - The Newark Board of Education has approved up to $2.8 million for catering and takeout of continental breakfasts, lunches, dinners and afternoon refreshments over the past two years.District catering – ranging from Latino cuisine, assorted baked goods, pizza, buttermilk pancakes, soul and ...
While attending Great Oaks Legacy Charter School in Newark, Aaronae Everson was a member of the Advocacy Club, which provides students with a platform to lead discussions, advocate for their peers, and take meaningful action on local issues.Now a freshman at Rutgers University-Newark, Everson took ...
NEWARK - Civic engagement started at home for Domonique Bateman, a 17-year-old at North Star Academy’s Lincoln Park High School, who learned the importance of voting from her mother. During every election season, Bateman went with her mom to watch her vote. Even after they moved to a new home in ...
NEWARK - Sankofa Academy – the fourth jewel in the Marion P. Thomas Charter School District crown – will officially open its doors this August to meet a growing need in Newark for both an “academically rigorous and culturally affirming” education, charter school officials said. Located at 88-108 ...
NEWARK - Hilma Barrera, a senior at Newark’s Technology High School, was among 47 Essex County high school students who were celebrated last week as unsung heroes. But Barrera couldn’t accept the award herself; she had died of cancer just five days before the March 13 ceremony. She was 18. “It is ...
This story was updated at 9:17 a.m. March 10, 2025 to include comments from the district.When Leroy Mack tried to sign up to speak at a school board meeting recently, he was taken aback when a district staffer called to ask him what he wanted to talk about.“I feel that’s wrong,” Mack said. “I have ...
Newark's public schools, mandated to enroll at least 90% of the city's 3- and 4-year-olds in a free preschool program, surpassed that number at 94% during the 2023-24 school year, spokesperson Paul Brubaker said in a prepared statement.Not so, says a study done by the Education Law Center, which ...
NEWARK - Where you sit matters.The controversy over whether the Newark school board’s general counsel represents the superintendent or the school board members erupted into another showdown on Thursday night when three school board members tried to remove Brenda Liss from sitting on the dais ...
NEWARK - The five-year contract agreement that was reached last May by the Newark Teachers Union (NTU) and the school district was signed on Tuesday, Feb. 11 by Superintendent Roger León, Board of Education President Hasani Council, NTU President John Abeigon, and members of both negotiating ...
Newark Public Schools kicked off Career and Technical Education (CTE) month on Friday, Feb. 7 by hosting a professional development day that attracted educators from the city and outside the district.CTE programs enable students to develop new skills and explore possible career options by working ...
NEWARK - Black History Month opened with the annual raising of the Black Liberation Flag at Weequahic High School in Newark on Friday morning, Feb. 7.The ceremony included a libation to the ancestors, singing of the Black National Anthem ('Lift Every Voice and Sing'), a student speech explaining ...
The legal fees associated with Superintendent Roger Leon’s attempts to have two district properties “unsold” have now exceeded $3 million.The district sold the two buildings for $1.8 million combined–so legal fees in trying to get the buildings back have now dwarfed what the district received from ...
NEWARK - The Newark Public School District is seeking assistance from the New Jersey Department of Education and the School Development Authority (SDA) to help with the $2.5 billion price tag to fix the city’s deteriorating schools, after ruling out asking Newark taxpayers to foot the multi-billion ...
NEWARK - Fear and uncertainty is “palpable” among Newark students and families as a result of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, according to school stakeholders, yet it’s unclear what the district will do to protect undocumented students from this mass deportation push. Questions from ...
NEWARK - Newark Public Safety’s 9th/Metro Precinct Community Service Officer Kristie Felder led a collaborative “Peace Tree” project with Great Oaks Legacy Charter School’s Downtown Elementary School students in a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy on Friday, Jan. 17. The event combined ...
NEWARK - The school administration is gearing up for this year’s Board of Education election, in which 16-year-olds will be able to vote for the first time, by hosting district-wide “15-plus voter registration drives.”“That's why we're calling it 15, because you can technically be 15 years old now ...
Tonight marks the first public convening of the Newark Board of Education since member Dawn Haynes demanded a public apology for the district’s attempt to oust her from her seat.At the last board meeting, Haynes called the effort a “public lynching of a black woman.” The Newark Board of Education ...
NEWARK - Children who don’t learn to read are sentenced to a lifetime of struggle, characterized by trauma, unemployment and health issues, according to the film documentary Sentenced.United Way of Greater Newark presented the screening of Sentenced, which revealed the hidden crisis of adult and ...
NEWARK - Showing that they can take the heat of the kitchen, nine seniors at Newark Vocational High School’s Culinary Arts Academy dressed to the nines on Monday night, Jan. 13, to premiere the first episode of Newark Chops, the latest reality series released by Newark Public Schools.Newark Chops ...
North Star Academy had 11 students accepted to the QuestBridge National College Match this year, which connects high-achieving high school seniors from low-income backgrounds with full four-year scholarships to the nation’s top colleges.These students were selected out of over 25,500 applicants, ...
NEWARK - The Newark Board of Education appears to have ruled out asking Newark taxpayers to help renovate aging school buildings. It would cost roughly $2.5 billion to fix Newark’s school buildings, and the district had signaled it would go to taxpayers to cover the costs. But at a Saturday school ...
The New Jersey Children's Foundation (NJCF) has announced that its annual community grants application process is now open. The organization is calling on groups to apply for nearly $200,000 in available grant funding for Newark-based nonprofits. This year’s grant-making window follows three years ...
NEWARK - Three Technology High School seniors in Newark have earned full QuestBridge scholarships to prestigious northeast universities. Ironbound natives Daren Crespo, Gabriel Espinoza and Henry Umana will attend Brown University, University of Pennsylvania and Boston University, respectively, on ...
New Jersey teachers are no longer required to pass basic skills proficiency tests to stand in front of Garden State classrooms under a new law that took effect on Wednesday, Jan. 1. 2025.Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, signed the measure (A-1699) into law in June 2024. It lifts a requirement for New ...
A behind-the-scenes move to force Dawn Haynes off of the Newark Board of Education caused an outcry at the last public meeting of 2024 on Thursday. In dramatic moments, which included security attempting to forcibly remove an audience member, Haynes called on her board members to take action to ...
The Board of Governors voted on Tuesday to renovate and rename a plaza at the Center for Law and Justice at Rutgers Law School in Newark for one of New Jersey's pioneering women attorneys.Elizabeth Blume-Silverstein Plaza will be located at the front of the center, at 123 Washington St. in ...
A hearing in Trenton on Monday before the state Senate Education Committee looked back on the 30-year history of charter schools, assessing the progress made as well as opportunities for improvement. Charter school advocates highlighted the positive role that charter schools have played in ...
Residents of Newark’s housing authority are being harmed by litigation brought about by the Newark Board of Education, contends Newark Housing Authority Executive Director Leonard Spicer.A day after TAPinto Newark reported that the Newark Housing Authority (NHA) has spent over $1 million in legal ...