HUNTERDON CENTRAL REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT

Staff Development
All members of the department completed the District Professional Development programs offered throughout
the year. These District programs afforded teachers the opportunity to work within and across departments. In
addition, they provided opportunities for teachers to work collaboratively in collegial inquiry groups and
experience what students might experience as learners working collaboratively and challenged to construct their
own meaning around content related questions or problems. The departmental teams utilized these experiences
and artifacts of students’ work, data from assessment results and the NJ State Curriculum Core Content
Standards to inform revisions in existing curriculum.
These trainings provided each teacher with the opportunity to read and discuss current research related to the
needs of our students, and to share classroom practice and artifacts of student work that would inform
curriculum revision as we move forward with a shift to a more inquiry-based, problem-based, and standardsbased
approach. This new format was very effective in engaging teachers from across the District in crossdisciplinary
discussions that broadened our base of best-practices, and expanded our pool of human resources
focused on curriculum and instruction. These teacher meetings were complimented by a focus on increased
feedback to the teacher through the use of walkthroughs. These snapshots of practice provided an expanded
look at what was happening in the classroom, and the timeliness of the information enabled more effective
feedback and analysis of teacher work.
Department meetings were used to compliment and scaffold the work targeted in the In-Service, Pathway and
teacher training sessions on UbD. The department level work focused on ensuring the requirements of the
revised NJ State Core Curriculum Content Standards was being addressed in both the “skills’ and “content”
areas of the CPI. Department members worked in teams to align existing course content and skill development
to the revised standards and to identify authentic, problem- and inquiry-based learning opportunities for
students. Assessment practices and tools were reviewed quarterly and data was analyzed to help inform
refinements.
Every department member participated in the scheduled Technology mini workshops during the school year.
This model supported the individualization of training that teachers most appreciate, enabling them to select
courses of interest from a menu of possibilities. This focus enabled teachers to make a connection to the NJ
Technology Standards and the specifics of their content area. Teachers were able to more readily see and
understand why and how the various technologies might be used to support the development of 21 st Century
skills and content mastery.
Staff Recognition
Diane Scarbaci completed a service-learning program that enabled our students to work in partnership with an
urban school in NJ to design and produce reading books for young students, who otherwise would have
extremely limited resources. In addition, these classes created their own three-dimensional books (pop-ups) and
read them to students in Desmares School as part of their Child Development study.
Linda Ruckriegel engaged her Child Development and Early Childhood students in the Read Across America
Program, inviting community members in to see and hear the reading of student-developed books. We continue
to offer student Raritan Valley Tech Prep credit for their participation in these programs.
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