Hopewell Valley Regional School District Explained

Hopewell Valley Regional School District
Superintendent:Rosetta D. Treece
Businessadmin:Robert Colavita Jr.
Address:425 South Main Street
City:Pennington
County:Mercer County
State:New Jersey
Zipcode:08534
Country:United States
Coordinates:40.3191°N -74.7898°W
Grades:PreK-12
Schools:6
Enrollment:3,467 (as of 2019–20)
Faculty:351.1 FTEs
Ratio:9.9:1
Free Label:District Factor Group
Free Text:I

The Hopewell Valley Regional School District is a comprehensive regional public school district serving students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from three communities in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.[1] [2] The municipalities that are part of this district are Hopewell Borough, Hopewell Township and Pennington Borough.[3] [4]

As of the 2019–20 school year, the district, comprised of six schools, had an enrollment of 3,467 students and 351.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 9.9:1.[5]

The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "I", the second-highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.[6]

Awards and recognition

In 2022, the United States Department of Education announced that Stony Brook Elementary School was named as a National Blue Ribbon School, along with eight other schools in the state and 297 schools nationwide.[7] [8]

In 2011, the district was named to the College Board's AP Honor Roll. The honor roll consists of the 388 U.S. public school districts that simultaneously achieved increases in access to AP courses for a broader number of students and also maintained or improved the rated at which their AP students earned scores of 3 or higher on an AP Exam.[9]

In 2004, the district was named to the American Music Conference's list of the "Best 100 Communities for Music Education in New Jersey". The district has been recognized on multiple occasions for its high-caliber music and performing arts programs.

The NAMM Foundation named the district in its 2009 survey of the "Best Communities for Music Education", which included 124 school districts nationwide.[10]

The district's high school was the 16th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 322 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2018 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", after being ranked 39th in 2008 out of 316 schools.[11] The magazine took into account factors such as class size, teachers with advanced degrees, and socioeconomic factors.

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2019–20 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[12]) are:[13] [14]

Elementary schools
Middle school

High School

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:[21]

Board of education

The district's board of education, comprised of nine members, sets policy and oversees the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration. As a Type II school district, the board's trustees are elected directly by voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with three seats up for election each year held (since 2012) as part of the November general election. The board appoints a superintendent to oversee the district's day-to-day operations and a business administrator to supervise the business functions of the district.[24] [25] The board of education, whose members are elected by the Hopewell Valley community, has nine members allocated to each of the three municipalities based on population, with Hopewell Township assigned seven seats and both Hopewell and Pennington each assigned a single seat.[26]

Members of the board are:[27]

According to Business Practice 9000, the local board of education has full power to operate the local public schools in compliance with state and federal mandates and pertinent to the laws of the municipality. The board functions as a corporate body only when in session.[28]

Controversy and sexual abuse allegations

There have been several allegations made against the Hopewell Valley Regional School District. In 2015, Former Hopewell teacher Matthew Hoffman was found liable for repeated sexual abuse of a student in a classroom.[29] Allegations against a current Hopewell Social Studies teacher were made in a court filing on October 31, 2019.[30] Although initially issuing a press release defending the teacher, further investigation by the school found cause to immediately pull him from the classroom effective November 12, 2019.

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://go.boarddocs.com/nj/hvrsd/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=7ZF3SN084C04 Hopewell Valley Regional Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification
  2. https://www.mercercounty.org/home/showpublisheddocument/19750/637756866125670000 2021-2022 Charter And Public Schools DCP&P Directory
  3. https://rc.doe.state.nj.us/1516/21/2280/000.html Hopewell Valley Regional School District 2016 Report Card Narrative
  4. https://www.hvrsd.org/page/about-hvrsd About Us
  5. https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/districtsearch/district_detail.asp?Search=2&details=1&ID2=3407530&DistrictID=3407530 District information for Hopewell Valley Regional School District
  6. https://www.state.nj.us/education/finance/rda/dfg.shtml NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts
  7. https://nationalblueribbonschools.ed.gov/awardwinners/reports/2022/all_2022_national_blue_ribbon_schools.pdf#page=17 2022 National Blue Ribbon Schools All Public and Non‐Public Schools
  8. https://nationalblueribbonschools.ed.gov/awardwinners/winning/22nj120pu_stony_brook_elementary_school.html Stony Brook Elementary School - Pennington, NJ
  9. http://media.collegeboard.com/homeOrg/content/pdf/11b-3455%20AP%20District%20Achieve%20FINAL%20WEB-PDF%203-11-11.pdf 2011 AP District of the Year Awards
  10. https://www.namm.org/news/press-releases/nationwide-survey-finds-best-communities-music-edu "Nationwide Survey Finds the 'Best Communities for Music Education' in U.S."
  11. Staff. "2018 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, September 4, 2018.
  12. https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_list.asp?Search=1&DistrictID=3407530 School Data for the Hopewell Valley Regional School District
  13. https://rc.doe.state.nj.us/selectreport/2022-2023/21/2280 School Performance Reports for the Hopewell Valley Regional School District
  14. https://homeroom6.doe.state.nj.us/directory/school/districtid/2280 New Jersey School Directory for the Hopewell Valley Regional School District
  15. https://btes.hvrsd.org/o/btes Bear Tavern Elementary School
  16. https://hes.hvrsd.org/ Hopewell Elementary School
  17. https://sbes.hvrsd.org/o/sbes Stony Brook Elementary School
  18. https://tgg.hvrsd.org/o/tgg Toll Gate Grammar School
  19. https://tms.hvrsd.org/o/tms Timberlane Middle School
  20. https://hvchs.hvrsd.org/o/hvchs Hopewell Valley Central High School
  21. https://homeroom6.doe.state.nj.us/directory/district/county/mercer New Jersey School Directory for Mercer County
  22. https://www.hvrsd.org/page/superintendent Superintendent
  23. https://www.hvrsd.org/page/business Business Office
  24. https://www.nj.gov/education/finance/fp/dwb/DistrictByTypeList2018.pdf New Jersey Boards of Education by District Election Types - 2018 School Election
  25. https://www.nj.gov/education/finance/fp/acfr/search/23/2280.pdf#page=10 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for the Hopewell Valley Regional School District
  26. https://www.hvrsd.org/page/about-boe About the Hopewell Valley Regional Board of Education
  27. https://go.boarddocs.com/nj/hvrsd/Board.nsf/Public?open&id=board Board Members
  28. http://www.hvrsd.k12.nj.us/district/policies/9000/BP9000.pdf Business Practice 9000
  29. Web site: After 2nd child-rape lawsuit, NJ strips ex-principal of credentials. Bichao. Sergio. New Jersey 101.5. en. 2019-11-16.
  30. Alexander, Dan. "NJ teacher still teaching as district investigates sex assault accusation", WKXW, November 7, 2019. Accessed December 30, 2020.