A Snapshot of the McKeown School

The Marian E. McKeown Elementary School has been carefully placed on the charming landscape of northwestern Sussex County. The instructional and support staff of our school number just over seventy-two strong, and they provide direct instruction to 412 students from pre-school to sixth grade every day. The instructional staff are highly trained professionals who offer a high quality educational program under the direction of strong curriculum guidelines that have been developed by educators from around the Kittatinny sending region and custom made to match the students and educational beliefs of the Hampton Township community.

Students at the McKeown School are exposed to an outstanding array of academic programs that are constantly updated and aligned with the Core Curriculum Standards and Frameworks as set forth by the New Jersey State Department of Education. Our programs include the most up-to-date instruction available to elementary students in mathematics, reading, language arts, social studies, technology, science, physical education, health, performing arts, special education programs as well as a gifted and talented or better described as an “Enrichment Program”. Many of our staff have been trained in the Wilson Reading Program. During the 2006-2007 school year the Hampton School District introduced for the first time, a full day kindergarten program with many successful and noteworthy student accomplishments. Each year our staff works on the development and/or revision of a new curriculum. The social studies curriculum was reviewed and updated by the teachers from around the Kittatinny region during the 2006-2007 school year. We will be working on the Language Arts/Literacy program during the 2007-2008 school year.

In 2003, the Hampton Township School District was monitored by the New Jersey Department of Education for Special Education and received a letter of certification with no recommended improvements. In January of 2004, the New Jersey State Department of Education returned to McKeown to review the full school program and facilities under the State Monitoring Regulations. McKeown Elementary School again successfully passed all monitoring regulations. In addition, the district received commendations for student performance and fine student attendance from the New Jersey Department of Education. In July 2005, the New Jersey State Police under the direction of the Governor inspected McKeown School’s security plans and measures and provided a written report indicating that the school building has meet all security measures currently available.

Students enjoy a wide range of programs from kindergarten to sixth grade. Our Performing Arts Program continues to involve over 120 students annually in each of the instrumental and vocal music programs. Our Library Media Center is fully automated and second to none in the elementary field with over 25,945 volumes. In addition, our students enjoy a host of after school clubs including stamp, robotics, project adventure, science and friendship club. Our students enjoy a wide variety of field trips ranging from stage performances to a three-day environmental program at Stokes State Forest for our sixth graders. Our staff and students annually recognize our nation’s veterans with presentations for both Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day. The student Honor Roll recognizes students in grades 5 and 6 for their academic performance.

Our philosophy is to recognize those who perform well academically and are a real role model for the younger students. This year, Corey Wrigley was our sixth grade Roundtable Award Recipient. In the spring of 2007, Jeff Chandler, Connor Deem and Alex Fainis took first place in the Northeast for the Category of Speed in the Northeast Regional Junior Solar Sprint Competition held in Springfield, Ma. The Art Educators of New Jersey for the first time published a Commemorative Booklet containing award winning art pieces from around Sussex County. The following McKeown students had their pieces of art work published: Dana Boeher in grade 5, Julia Charlton in grade 4 and Matt Salerno in grade 3. In February of 2007, the Hampton Township Board of Education did award the following students with the Enthusiastic Readers award: Kelly Insalaco in grade 1, Dylan Snook in grade 2, Ian Wylie in grade 3, Nico Cannone in grade 4, Courtney Bellush in grade 5, and Henry Weiss in grade 6. In a special program offered by our school librarian, the following students received second place in a county wide competition known as the Battle of the Books. The fifth grade students who competed from McKeown were Daniel Mitjans, Brendan Carroll, Isabela Pazdaierski, and Dani Munguia.

The instructional staff has organized a parent volunteer program called the “Page Turners.” Community members, parents or grandparents volunteer for a semester at a time. The volunteers arrive at the school and read to students that have been selected by our instructional staff. The goal is to encourage the life long “Love of Reading.”

As a school district, Hampton truly appreciates the extraordinary efforts of our PTA under the direction of Mrs. Christina Logsdon, President of the McKeown PTA. The PTA actively raises funds for a host of student activities, author visits and assemblies. During the summer of 2007 the PTA purchased the state of the art, new and exciting additional playground equipment.

Our current Board of Education members are: Mrs. Joyce Anderson, Mrs. Roberta Andrews, Mr. Jamie Bellush, Mr. Barry Johnson, Ms. Carol Laffer, Ms. Eleanore Shaffer, Janet Lucas and Mrs.Deidre Metzger. The Board’s Vice President is Mr. Barry Johnson and the President is Dr. Joseph Santora.

The Hampton Township School District has three administrators, and they are:

Mr. Everett C. Burns Superintendent

Mr. Bryan Hensz Principal

Mrs. Kerry Murphy School Business Administrator

We are extremely proud of our staff. Many of our staff have received outstanding awards and recognition over the years. Each year, the President of the United States recognizes outstanding mathematics and science teachers by bestowing upon them the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST). The PAEMST program is administered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) on behalf of the White House. Two of our staff have earned Presidential Awards and traveled to Washington, D.C. to receive them at White House Ceremonies. In 1992, Carol Tremper, now retired, earned the award in mathematics and in 1999, Daniel Weissman earned the award in science. The Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program is designed to introduce participants to Japanese culture and education. Two staff members have earned these grants to travel to Japan for study with follow-up projects at McKeown. These projects were developed and submitted to the New Jersey Department of Education where they were received “Best Practice” Awards. Mrs. Carol Tremper received a Best Practice Award in Mathematics in May 2001 for her project entitled “Math in a Japanese Garden.” In the spring of 2002, Mr. Lewis Ayers received a Best Practice Award in Social Studies for his project entitled, “Spinning a Better World With Clay.” Recently, during the summer of 2007, Ms. Kristen Abernethy, a fifth grade teacher, was awarded a Geraldine R. Doge Foundation’s Earthwatch Fellowship to work with a research team in Idaho to identify the “Wildlife Trails of the American West.”

During the 2006-2007 school year, the entire school community here in Hampton worked diligently to produce a “Look into the Future” through the development of a “Strategic Plan”. The plan takes an in-depth look at the future needs in the areas of curriculum, personnel, and facilities. You may want to scroll down further on our web page and read more about the details of this study.

We hope that you find this information helpful. Our staff and community continues to uphold its pledge to support the quest for a quality education in a safe and nurturing environment.

Back to Home Page FILE: MMINDER/CSA/MARCH a Snapshot of the McKeown School for Website-2005