S. Jersey students step into high-tech schools

With new programs and technological advances awaiting them and, in some districts, longer walks to the school bus stop, many South Jersey students began the new school year yesterday.

In Cherry Hill, Woodcrest Elementary School kicked off the new year with its third annual First Day Celebration.

The event, which featured music, a fire truck and students joining their new principal, Beth Anne Kob, in singing their school song, also attracted faculty, parents, and district and community leaders.

Once the hoopla of first day was over, students in many schools could look forward to new tools to help them with learning.

In the Cherry Hill and Delran districts, so-called Smart Boards or Active Boards, a computerized successor to the blackboard, will be put to wider use at the high school and elementary levels.

In Delran, where the district this year is using high-tech measures such as motion and oxygen sensors to cut energy costs, K-12 students will also be using hand-held devices that let their teachers query all students, assess their learning and reteach, if needed.

"No student is left behind because the teacher knows that every student participated," district spokeswoman Lee-Anne Oros said.

In another turn at technology, Black Horse Pike Regional School District, which includes three high schools, is offering new computer-based courses intended to help students prepare for the workplace, college and adult life. In one of the new courses, students will be able to learn computer-assisted design. In another, the pupils will learn about using computers to handle personal finances and other real-life issues.

High fuel and energy prices had many districts this summer trying to come up with ways to contain costs. One of the most common strategies was cutting down on bus stops or consolidating routes.

On the learning front, more districts have established programs to help students successfully transition from grade school to high school - Collingswood and Burlington City and an enhanced program at Delran, to name a few. In all three districts, high school students will be helpingto ease the transition for the younger students.

Some districts are introducing changes to their discipline policies.

Burlington City High School, along with the local government, is starting the Make-A-Change program. An alternative to out-of-school suspension, the students will do their academic work online at the high school in the morning and then do community service from mid-morning until 2 p.m.

In Washington Township, high schoolers are already eager to take a new course, forensic science. One hundred students are signed up to learn about crime-scene investigation methods, finger-printing and DNA evidence seen on many popular television crime shows, according to district spokeswoman Jan Giel.

Middle schoolers are getting attention, as well. In Deptford Township, a counselor has been hired to provide career exploration and counseling, and French is being expanded to the middle school, according to Superintendent Joseph Canataro. The high school will change from a nine-period day to an eight-period day because of increased rigor in math, science, language arts and social studies, he said.

In Collingswood, sixth graders are making the big move out of the district's elementary schools into middle school with a team of teachers Schools Superintendent Scott A. Oswald called "a high-tech, 21st century-focused group." Part of their curriculum is an internal Web site blog called 'MySpot' that is intended to promote collaboration between students and teachers and among peers, he said.

Their first day of school was Wednesday, and students seemed to have taken to their move up.

"The parents, of course, were nervous because that's their babies," Oswald said, "but everything went smoothly."