Volume LXXIII, Number 35
Back to School Section Pages 32-39 PSO and McCarter Collaborate on New Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Profiles in Education: Art Teacher Barbara DiLorenzo . . . . . . . . . . 14 Skillman Resident Joins Peace Corps . . . . . . . . 15 Lawrence Ferlinghetti at 100 . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 PU Women’s Soccer Kicking Off 2019 Season . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 PHS Alum Hare Looking To Star for Penn Cross Country . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Part Two of Readers’ Choice Awards Results . . . . . . . . . 18, 19 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Berkshire Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtors . .26, 27 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 30 Classified Ads . . . . . . 47 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Music/Theater . . . . . . 23 New To Us . . . . . . . . . 31 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 46 Police Blotter . . . . . . . 12 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 47 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
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Crossing Guards Are Still Needed As School Begins The fall semester is about to start, and children will be walking and biking to public schools across town. With 24 street crossings to cover, the Princeton Police Department has been scrambling to make sure experienced crossing guards are stationed at each location so that students arrive at school and get home safely each day. Since stepping up its outreach with variable message boards on prominent streets and advertisements in the media, the department has received several applications and is hoping to be fully staffed by the time classes resume on Wednesday, September 4. But there is still a substantial need for those who can be put on a wait list for full-time positions, or fill-in guards who can take over if necessary. “These fill-in positions are invaluable to us, and would be perfect for someone in the Princeton area with some flexibility in their schedule,” said Lieutenant Geoff Maurer, in an email. “I always thought it would be great for a parent who has to get their child to a school, who could arrive ‘early’ to drop their child off and stay there to help for 30 minutes. We certainly welcome applications for fill-ins who might only be able to do a morning or afternoon crossing. These are still very beneficial to us.” The town pays $15 for a 30-minute school crossing and $22.50 for a 45-minute shift. So if a person worked a morning and afternoon shift at a 30-minute crossing, they would make $30 a day. With an average of five school days a week, that averages out to about $600 a month. “We are still accepting applications from those who might want to be put on a wait list for full-time positions, or who would like to be trained as a fill-in guard whom we could call when we have shortages,” Maurer said. “We use a fill-in guard if a regular crossing guard calls out sick or is unable to work. Having a list of fillins that we could call for coverage would allow us to keep officers free to respond to calls, run radar, and do other proactive policing.” The police department is responsible for ensuring coverage for a minimum of 8,640 school crossings a year (24 x 180 school days). Based on a calendar year, in 2017 the police department was responsible for covering 990 vacant school Continued on Page 10
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Wednesday, August 28, 2019
PPS is Ready for the New School Year It’s back to school next Wednesday, September 4 for Princeton Public Schools’ (PPS) 3,865 students, who will be greeted by staff members including 15 new teachers, 17 new support staff employees, and four new-to-the-district administrators. “Knowing Every Child — Supporting Them Together” is the theme for the year, according to PPS Superintendent Steve Cochrane, and at the top of his list of goals for 2019-20 is “advancing equity in the service of student achievement.” Cochrane cited a renewed focus on “collaboration in support of our children,” emphasizing the implementation of “restorative practices, strategies that students and staff can use together to foster a strong sense of community and connection. They create the environments that lead to the highest levels of learning and engagement.” In her welcome back letter to Princeton High School (PHS) students and parents, new PHS Principal Jessica Baxter wrote, “This is an exciting time as we use last year’s momentum of a later start time and schedule revamp to focus on student wellness, engagement, and enjoyment of learning opportunities.” Other district priorities, according to the
superintendent’s list of goals for 2019-20, are facilities stewardship, including implementation of projects associated with the $26.9 million facilities referendum; financial stewardship and sustainability “in an increasingly resource-constrained environment”; transforming child nutrition; and a new, improved communications structure. New staff members this year include a new special education supervisor, a new business administrator, a new math
supervisor, and a new facilities director. At PHS, former assistant principal Baxter begins her tenure as principal, and veteran teacher Rashone Johnson will take over as assistant principal. New District Facilities Director Dave Harding has already been overseeing multiple referendum projects this summer, including air conditioning at Riverside Elementary and the PHS gym, as well as electrical upgrades at all six schools. Continued on Page 8
Council Considers Recycling Plan for Clothing, Electronics
A company that helps keep used clothing and electronics out of landfills is interested in partnering with the municipality. At a meeting of Princeton Council on Monday, August 26, Bob Anderson of Curb My Clutter made a presentation describing the firm’s services, which are in keeping with the goals of the town’s Climate Action Plan. “Traditional methods of curbside collections aren’t effective for clothing and electronics,” Anderson told the Council. “Some 85 percent of clothing in the United
States today ends up in the landfill. And households are chock full of electronic materials, but people are afraid to recycle them because of fear of identity theft.” Most people wear about 30 percent of the clothes in their closet. The idea is to eventually regenerate cotton material back into thread, “so clothing can be made into new clothing,” Anderson said. That technology “is not what’s happening now, but it’s where we want to go.” Residents use software the company Continued on Page 12
VINTAGE JERSEY: The skies were clear last weekend for the Vintage North Jersey Food & Wine Festival, held at Unionville Vineyards in Ringoes . The event featured premium wines, live music, food trucks, and specialty food and craft vendors . Festivalgoers share what they are looking forward to this fall in this week’s Town Talk on page 6 . (Photo by Erica M. Cardenas)