Hoboken High Mag Scores 'EXCELLENT' National Ranking

Order a copy: Sharon.malenda@hoboken.k12.nj.us

How about them apples?

Hoboken High School's literary magazine snags a prestigious 'excellent' ranking from the National Council of Teachers of English- in it's first year of publication.

From Hoboken Redwings' blog on Patch:

Under the tutelage of advisor Sharon Malenda, Hoboken’s Student Literary Magazine “CREATE” received a national rank of “EXCELLENT” from the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English).  

417 schools nationwide entered this prestigious competition and out of those 417 schools only 227 were good enough to be ranked. Hoboken’s magazine faired very well nationwide, with only 159 schools earning a higher ranking of “SUPERIOR” and did even better in New Jersey, where only 22 schools ranked higher.  Falling slightly below mainly large regional New Jersey high schools and private schools, Hoboken’s magazine “CREATE” showcased the immense talent that our small school holds.

GA is not as surprised as you may be, given the intensely negative portrayal of Hoboken public schools by politicos and propagandists working against public school Reform (Kids First and Superintendent Toback).  But I know Hoboken's best kept secret: our public schools have excellent resources, fabulous teachers and will continue to improve as MORE Hoboken residents USE them. 

How do I know this?  GA is a public school parent.

My kid is bright (brag brag brag) and doing 7th grade math in Johns Hopkins Gifted and Talented Program (only available in public (Hoboken district) schools).  Her terrific teacher has the 5th-graders doing PowerPoint presentations for every project along with the written/ visual components.

Here are a few of the 15 slides from LA's first PowerPoint- every child picked a different National Park, contacted their respective Park rangers for information (maps, guides, etc.) then each did presentation boards along with a PowerPoint presentation to the class using a Smart-board.

A holiday-time project had the kids doing Excel spreadsheets with an $800 budget for holiday gifts- likewise presented in PowerPoint to the class.  They did Power-points on Hurricane Sandy, and  are currently working on science projects with PowerPoint.  All of their projects have a data-component, and GA can tell you our public schools classrooms are equipped with the latest hardware (PCs and Smart-boards) and software (more current than mine), and are preparing our kids for a competitive data-driven world.

Here's something interesting.  A friend in real estate tells me that Hoboken is experiencing a new trend- families are staying.  He tells me that larger condo units are being gobbled up everywhere, including those in the areas that flood most- and that combining units for a large, 'family-friendly' space is happening more frequently than ever. 

Which means that people WANT a public school option. 

GA is telling those folks who love Hoboken enough to raise a family here to support our public schools by USING them, and you'll discover our dedicated, talented group of educators are the best kept secret in Hoboken.