Middletown Schools Superintendent Reassures Community

Superintendent William George tells families of the 10,000 children enrolled in the Middletown district that security is a top concern and that counseling for individual students is available.

The following letter from the Middletown Schools Superintendent was posted to the district website around noon Monday, Dec. 17.  Dear School Community, In the wake of the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut this past Friday, I feel it is important to inform you of the steps taken by our school district to keep our students safe and mitigate theemotional impact of this horrific act. Our central office administration has been in constant communication with our building level principals to review our safety plans, procedures and protocols. Our safety plan was developed in consultation with the Middletown Township PoliceDepartment and the Office of Emergency Management based on recommendations from the Department of Homeland Security. This past …

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On the Road with Dr. William George

With his first month on the job behind him, Middletown's new schools superintendent drives around town to meet educators, parents, students and the community.

If Dr. William O.George's car were an airliner, he would be racking up frequent flyer miles with all his travels around the township. In the 30-plus days that have passed since he became superintendent of the Middletown Township public schools, George has visited all 17 schools, met with most of the building prinicipals, observed hundreds of teachers and other staffers at work, and talked to countless numbers of parents and students. That was in December, a busy month with only about 17 working days. On Thursday, George was scheduled to host his fifth "coffee," a casual night meeting with parents and other township residents inside the Central Administrative Offices at Bayshore Middle School in the Leonardo section. Although his schedule …

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Now and Then

A 100-year-old teaching moment: No lingering goodbyes

A look back and forward at unorthodox versus strict teacher, administrator policies

If you think tenured teachers and administrators are overstaying their welcomes or walking away too easily when the going gets tough, consider this: One hundred years ago, in January of 1911, the principal of the Lincroft school quit after only two days on the job. As the story in the local Red Bank Register reported, he was pretty much run out of town. A century ago, administrators weren’t the only ones who didn’t get a chance to overstay their welcomes, either, it was also reported in the paper. The method for handling teachers the kids didn’t like was a bit, let’s say, more chilling, than fighting for an embattled tenure system or enduring some nasty swipes at a Board of Education meeting. On the matter of the principal who quit pretty …

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