Cresskill Public Schools

Dr. Hughes recently spoke as a guest speaker with New Jersey School Boards Association on the topic of Artificial Intelligence in Education. Learn about ways we are incorporating AI in thoughtful ways as a school district. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wOVdSza8YU

Thank you to everyone that came out to celebrate our strategic plan adoption last night. It was a great culmination of a community effort. For those that helped on the committees, please stop into the board office to sign our posters. The best hours to come are between 8-2:30 M-Th, 8-11:30 on Friday this week and next.

Tonight at 6:30 pm is the signing ceremony of our strategic plan, Pathways to Excellence, in the high school student center. All community members are invited, and cake will be served. Those that participated in the plan are welcome to sign the posters that will be hung in all of our buildings.

While July 4th, 1776 is observed as America's independence or freedom from the British, Juneteenth commemorates the first time in history when EVERY American was free! Over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, the final vestiges of slavery were finally stamped out when Union soldiers informed the last groups of slaves of their freedom. As Americans, Juneteenth is a time to celebrate freedom for ALL! Happy Juneteenth!

Community members are invited to help celebrate the completion of our strategic plan, Pathways to Excellence, on Monday, June 24th at 6:30 PM in the CHS Student Center. This event will be immediately before the BOE meeting. Link: https://tinyurl.com/3kuswamh

Congratulations to our MMS graduates. We are so proud of the people you are becoming and wish you an amazing time at CMS! Go Mustangs and Cougars!

Congratulations EHB graduates! We are so proud of the people you are becoming!

Please be advised that there is currently a phishing scam targeting school athletic teams in northern NJ, including our teams in Cresskill. The scam uses text messages sent to parents and community members that imitate online team fundraisers. Please do not click on any links or texts referring to "NIL" fundraising. This is not a school fundraiser. We do have in place safeguards to ensure that you can know what is a scam and what is a genuine fundraiser as we only approve contributions through our district pay app (PaySchools) or through checks made out directly to our business office for specific teams or activities. If you ever get a different link or request, it is not an approved way to directly donate to our programs. Here is a link to the letter for more information: https://shorturl.at/GY8kI

This is an important announcement from Cresskill Schools about a sports fundraising scam targeting our sports teams. If you get a request to support athletics through NIL club, it does not go to our students or programs. Please note that the only donation programs we allow are through the same pay app as our lunch program. Please share.

We are planning two key changes next year to better support our extracurricular programs financially at the middle and high school levels. Please take a moment and read this important notice: https://shorturl.at/QBYeF

Our STEAM Night is going on until 8. Come out and see the amazing robotics, art, and hands-on activities all while supporting our programs.

Our humanities supervisor, Grace Chun, was recently highlighted by News 12 for her work in learning about and promoting Asian American and Pacific Islander history. She is part of a special cohort in the state to ensure visibility and representation of AAIP in our classrooms and schools. In Cresskill, we believe our curriculum should contain "mirrors" where students can see themselves represented and "windows" that allow them to see the experiences of others. We are grateful for the work our entire curriculum department is doing to bring awareness of the diverse world we live in. Here is the article and video: https://newjersey.news12.com/educators-gather-at-fdu-for-program-to-learn-how-to-teach-asian-american-and-pacific-islander-history

Update - Power is restored but the building will remain closed tonight until fully inspected. We expect school to resume in the morning as usual. However, the AC will not be functioning. Students and staff should dress for comfort.

At 5 PM students will no longer be able to access the building and it will be closed until full power is restored. We anticipate this will be the case and school will resume normally tomorrow. However, students and staff are advised to dress comfortably tomorrow as the AC will not be operational in almost all of the building. Thank you again for your understanding and patience. Additionally, thank you again to our first responders and staff for keeping our students safe!

We are now allowing students that are escorted in small groups by fire officials to enter the building and get belongings only if absolutely necessary.

Thank you everyone for your patience. We do have an update on the fire. It was contained in the HVAC chiller on the roof of the high school. There was no additional damage to the roof or school. Our staff will be able to access the building after dismissal but not our students until an electrician is on site. Parents can pick up their children at the rec center.

Students are now being evacuated to the recreation center. We will set up the system for dismissal from there. Students and staff will not be permitted to return to the building until it is fully cleared. All belongings must remain until that time. We appreciate your patience as the situation evolves. Sincere thanks goes out to our emergency services. They have been organized, professional, and timely to ensure our building, students, and staff are safe. They are the best!

In about five minutes, we will be evacuating to the recreation center to dismiss from there. Students will not be permitted back to the building until we fully clear it. We ask parents not to go to the rec center until we complete the evacuation.

Cresskill High School had a small fire that is occurring on the roof of the gym. Police and firefighters are on site and all staff and students have been evacuated safely. We will notify you of any updates. Please do not pull into the driveway until we send further notification. You will only block the driveway.

The board of education approved our budget submission that will now go to the Executive County Superintendent for approval. Thank you to our BA, Ms. Delasandro, the finance committee of the BOE, and the administrative team for their help in ensuring a financially responsible and balanced budget. Here is the presentation for those interested: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1G48qS-4ZioPxPrPtn86rqFcsQqKb5JrB1kUvHJt6hM4/edit?usp=sharing