Principal's Page

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Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Friends,

It is with great pleasure and enthusiasm that I welcome you to the J. Harvey Rodgers School for the 2023-2024 school year. I am truly honored to continue my educational career path within the Glassboro Public School District as I enter into my fourth year as principal of the J. Harvey Rodgers School and my fourteenth year in the Glassboro School District. I spent ten years as an elementary classroom teacher and subsequently a district administrator in the Glassboro School District.  During that time, I found that Rodgers School was a place where strong connections are made between home and school and staff members are committed to developing the whole child.

Professionally, I possess over fourteen years of experience in the field of education and I am licensed as an Elementary Teacher, Special Education Teacher, Supervisor and School Principal. I received a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and Sociology from Widener University and began my career in the corporate world analyzing data and marketing trends for a publicly traded, Fortune 1000 company. With my mom being an educator for almost 40 years and motivated by my own positive experiences in school, I knew my path was ultimately to work with children in the field of education.  With that goal in mind, I went on to earn my first Master of Education degree in Elementary Education and Special Education at Holy Family University. Upon graduation, I was hired in Glassboro as a 3rd grade special education teacher in an inclusion classroom. I spent the next seven years teaching 2nd and 3rd grade as a special education teacher at the Dorothy L. Bullock Elementary School. 

While I enjoyed every moment of being in the classroom, I knew there was more I could be doing for our children, for our district and for the community. Once again, I enrolled in school and began working towards my second Master of Education degree in School Administration, this time at Rowan University.  During that time, I gained valuable experience as Head Teacher at the Dorothy L. Bullock Elementary School. Once I received my degree, I became the Supervisor of Basic Skills for the district and I have held that position for the last three years. However, it may be more important for you to know that I am a parent of an 11-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter as well. I fully understand the challenges and rewards you face every day as you work to ensure your child has the best educational experience.

One of the most important aspects of my work here at the J. Harvey Rodgers School will be building strong relationships with the students, teachers, and families. I will be active and engaged.  I will be present, approachable and I will always have an open door.  I will not manage by sitting behind a desk.  You will find me in the hallways, in the classrooms and on the playground.  I will know your child(ren) because their educational success and preparation for the future will be my purpose. My passion has been and always will be educating children. With that in mind, you can expect that I will work diligently with teachers to make sure our students, your children, are exposed to curriculum and instruction that is both engaging and challenging. Remember, I have an open-door policy and welcome your input and ideas. I truly look forward to meeting each one of you as we start this new and exciting year together!

Sincerely,
Melanie Sweeney
Email Melanie Sweeney
J. Harvey Rodgers Principal

About the J. Harvey Rodgers School

The J. Harvey Rodgers School proudly offers diverse and expansive opportunities for our Pre-K and Kindergarten students. It is our goal to provide each student with a comprehensive academic and social foundation that will enable them to meet the challenges of the new millennium. All programming has been designed to meet the requirements of the ESEA-Entitlement Grant, the Preschool Education Expansion Aid and is aligned to the New Jersey Student Learning Standards. In short, the Rodgers faculty provides its students with the latest research-based, cutting edge, data-driven best practices in education. 

The Creative Curriculum has helped our Pre-Kindergarten faculty address the social/emotional and academic needs of our youngest students during our full day programming. Creative Curriculum balances teacher-planned and child-initiated learning, emphasizing responsiveness to children's strengths, interests, needs, and learning styles. It helps teachers plan and implement content-rich, developmentally appropriate programs that support active learning and promote children's progress in all developmental areas that include social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development.

Our Preschool program is a mixed-age grouping model that includes students who are three and four years old in each of our classrooms. This is a model for preschoolers that allows children to be grouped according to different age ranges. The goal is to build confidence in younger children as well as enhance their language and behavioral skills alongside maximizing intellectual potential. Meanwhile, older children benefit from multi-age grouping because it allows them to ‘mentor’ younger children, which builds on their sense of responsibility and empathy skills. Younger children working in mixed-age groups are also capable of contributing to complex activities and mix well with other children as they get to understand each other better. Additional benefits include:

  • Nurtures Early Childhood Learning and Leadership

  • Establishes a Sense of Uniqueness

  • Supports Children Being More Cooperative than Competitive

  • Grows Confidence in Children

  • Introduces New Ways to Develop and Grow

Literacy instruction in the Creative Curriculum classroom focuses on creating an environment and experiences that inspires children to read and write. This includes literacy as a source of enjoyment, vocabulary and language, phonological awareness, knowledge of print, letters and words, comprehension, and books and other texts. The Pre-Kindergarten faculty builds upon children’s interests to promote mathematics learning as well, with the goal of assisting students to fully understand mathematical concepts and skills through application.

Our Kindergarten Language Arts Literacy is a 130-minute LAL block through Wit & Wisdom. The Wit & Wisdom curriculum is built on engaging and high-quality texts and presents strong multimedia options alongside printed texts. The materials provide strong opportunities for students to hone their writing, speaking, and listening skills throughout the content while demonstrating their growing content knowledge. The four modules of Wit & Wisdom that will be explored throughout the year include: The Five Senses; Once Upon a Farm; America Then and Now; The Continents.

Daily instruction will also consist of Phonemic Awareness, Word Studies, and Handwriting (Fundations), Small Group Instruction (Geodes), Whole Group Instruction (Wit & Wisdom) and an opportunity to extend learning through Play-based Knowledge Centers.

Individual student achievement is closely monitored, and data is continuously collected using MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) Reading Fluency. MAP Fluency enables teachers to efficiently measure oral reading fluency with an online, adaptive benchmark and progress monitoring assessment. In addition to fluency, the test measures foundational skills and literal comprehension. This, combined with collaboration among grade level members and our ELA Supervisor, allows the faculty to proactively address student needs.

Math has brought fun back into learning for our Kindergarten students and their teachers through Eureka Math! Kindergarten mathematics is about (1) representing, relating, and operating on whole numbers, initially with sets of objects; and (2) describing shapes and space.  The sequence of the six Kindergarten modules aligns with the New Jersey Student Learning Standards and include: Numbers to 10; Two-Dimensional and Three-Dimensional Shapes; Comparison of Length, Weight, Capacity, and Numbers to 10; Number Pairs, Addition and Subtraction to 10; Numbers 10-20 and Counting to 100; and Analyzing, Comparing, and Composing Shapes. Each lesson throughout the modules has a fluency practice, application problem, concept development, and student debrief.

Each grade level builds upon and extends the previously taught concepts and skills so that children can approach a new challenge with a firmly established foundation. Our teachers consistently bring renewed energy and enthusiasm to provide support to each student to address his/her individual strengths and weaknesses.

To accommodate the needs of all students, the Rodgers School provides many ancillary programs as well. This includes Basic Skills support for Language Arts, English as a Second Language (ESL) programming, and an Extended Year program for our Special Education students. Students at risk (academic and/or behavioral) are serviced through the Intervention & Referral Services Team (I&RS). This team identifies intervention strategies and best practices for teachers to use with the referred students. If it is found that the strategies are not successful, a student may be referred to the Child Study Team for further testing.

At Rodgers School you will also find active, child-centered character education programming based on Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) to ensure the behavioral success of all students. Through this program, we continue to address the emotional and social needs of our students through a variety of activities. This includes the selection of a Student of the Month from every classroom and opportunities for positive reinforcement through the Bulldog Buddies program.

Parents and families also play an active role as members of the Rodgers community. Our PTO meets monthly to discuss any schoolwide issues and to plan fundraising activities that will benefit our students. Parents regularly volunteer to assist staff, dispense fundraising items, chaperone field trips, assist at the Scholastic Book Fair, or help at class parties. Family Participation Nights also happen regularly at Rodgers and are well attended. Previous activities have included Family Dances, Movie Nights, and Family Literacy/Math Nights, just to name a few!