Schools

Hazlet School District Earns Middle States Accreditation

Announcement on Thursday is the culmination of a two-year self-study and peer review process to improve school quality and student achievement.

A visiting team of professionals will recommend to the Commission of Elementary and Secondary Schools that The Hazlet Township School District be accredited by the Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges. 

The news was met with enthusiastic applause by a large number of school staff and parents who came to hear the announcement at the Raritan High School auditorium Thursday afternoon.

"It's really comforting, as the leader of the school district, to hear other people say what we already know: This is a great place, it's a unique place," said Superintendent Bernard Bragen. "It's a school system where everybody -- to the custodians to the central office and everyone in between -- are committed to doing what's in the best interest of the children."  

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Accreditation is validation of school quality and student achievement by an outside organization, in which a school system sets goals for itself, practices accountability, evaluates its progress and submits to peer review.

As the 7-year accreditation term for Raritan High approached, the Board of Education chose to pursue the Middle States accreditation for its entire district, which encompasses 7 schools. 

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Hazlet Township will be the first school district in Monmouth County to have this "status of excellence," and the second in all of New Jersey, said school officials at the special event.

The preparation process began two years ago, as school community committees set out to perform a self-study to see if the schools meet the 12 Middle States Accreditation standards, and determine areas of improvements. From there they developed a four-part action plan: To improve student achievement in underperforming subgroups; increase enrollment in advanced academic courses to maximize student achievement; maintain and create environments that support optimal student development and performance; and provide new technology to support learning. 

A team of peer-reviewer volunteers came to Hazlet this week to spent 3 1/2 days in the schools and examine the self-study and supporting documents, observe faculty and students in 147 classes, interview members of the school community including board members. A detailed report will be released to the school full in 4-6 weeks. 

In the oral report presented Thursday, Visitation Chairman Kenneth Fischer said Hazlet had done an excellent job maintaining and equipped buildings, cafeterias, gyms, fields and playgrounds.

In an unsettling time of school violence, natural disasters and financial difficulties, the efforts of community organizations like the RAINE Foundation and student-led Drops of RAINE, the National Honor Society, the PTOs and the high school Interact club that helped out Sandy-ravages shore homeowners demonstrates that "The warmth of the community stands out as a positive," said Fischer. 

Fischer said the team took note of the respectfulness of Hazlet students. "Of all the schools I've visited, your students stand out as the most courteous, kind and polite," he said. 

And he said students told the team that they believe their teachers want to help every student, and are "fair, consistent and approachable." 

On the list of items in most need of improvement, Fischer said the school district, like many others, must challenge itself to develop its strategic plans with input from all stakeholders in town.  "We challenge you to find innovative ways to encourage their involvement," he said. "Specifically, we find the absence of students, parents, teachers, community members and business leaders as an obvious next step."

Another improvement to be made is to assess the district's use of new technology, and use it smarter ways. "We challenge you to continue to raise your expectations of students and staff, and encourage you to re-assess, continually, the strength of your cutting-edge educational technologies." 


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