Jammin’ With Santa. Saturday, December 14, 2024. 10:30 AM - 1:30 PM. PHS Cafeteria
District News
PHS December Big Band Dance. Friday, December 13, 2024. 7:00-10:00 PM. PHS Cafeteria.
PSO Holiday POPS! With PHS Choir. Saturday, December 14, 2024. 3:00 PM and 6:00 PM. Richardson Auditorium.
PHS 79th Annual Winter Concert. Thursday, December 19, 2024, 7:30 PM, Princeton University Chapel.
Registration is now open for fourth grade students who are interested in joining the Music After School program.
On the evening of Tuesday, December 3, the district partnered with Common Sense Media to present a webinar on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in Princeton Public Schools.
During the month of October, Garden State on Your Plate brought carrots to our school cafeterias and invited students to try both raw carrots and a cup of carrot soup.
Click on the link to view the 2023-2024 District Testing Report.
Princeton High School alumni, students, and staff were thrilled to hear of the recent release of Wall Street Journal reporter and PHS gradaute, Evan Gershkovich.
Some of our students spend part of their summer vacation strengthening their skills in a variety of subjects as part of the Extended School Year (ESY) program which if offered at the elementary, middle, and high school level.
Mr. Matthew Halfacre, design and engineering teacher at Princeton Middle School, was recently named the New Jersey Middle School “Advisor of the Year” by the Technology Student Association (TSA). Mr. Halfacre serves as one of the advisors for the Technology Student Association club (TSA).
These highlights are an unofficial summary of actions taken and topics discussed during a public session of the Princeton Board of Education on June 11, 2024. The next Board of Education meeting is scheduled for July 16, 2024.
Congratulations Class of 2024! You are an amazing class! Keep making us proud!
Projects slated for the summer include new security vestibules, additional security cameras, new interior doors at Princeton Middle School and Princeton High School, new roofing, improved playground drainage, HVAC improvements, and a renovation of the Princeton High School cafeteria.
The Spring 2024 Energy Saving Showdown challenged all six Princeton Public Schools to reduce their energy usage. Sponsored by Sustainable Princeton, it was a challenge that sparked excitement at Littelbrook. Congratulations to all the students and staff at Littlebrook for lowering the school's energy use over the past two months. Littlebrook had a 12% drop in energy usage. PHS had a drop of 9%. PMS had a drop of 8%.
Congratulations to our winners who provided art work for the PPS Portrait of a Graduate contest: Tilly Roeser, Mira Aiello, Jessica Liu, Rosemarie Luijendijk, Maya Rogart, and Jeilly Reina Varela.
Parents from across the district recently gathered at the Princeton Middle School Food Lab for an exciting Food Systems Literacy parent potluck and round table discussion with Tomia MacQueen, Food Systems Literacy Coordinator, Monique Graber, Food Service Director, and Dr. Joy Barnes-Johnson, PPS Science Supervisor.
Princeton High School Students Jieruei Chang and Shloka Shiram have earned honors in STEM competitions.
The Princeton Board of Education has approved a motion to submit paperwork to the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) seeking approval for a referendum to fund new classrooms and core spaces at Community Park Elementary, Littlebrook Elementary, Princeton Middle School, and Princeton High School. The referendum vote is planned for December 2024 or January 2025, depending upon the timing of NJDOE approvals.
The Princeton Board of Education has approved a total budget of $119.2 million for the 2024-2025 school year. This includes a $108.6 million operating budget, $4.8 million for debt service and a $5.8 million special revenue fund that includes grants.
Over the next few weeks, many Princeton Public Schools students will take tests to ascertain their mastery of various subjects and their readiness to move forward in the next school year. Standardized tests in recent years have evolved from what some parents saw as superfluous disruptions to more nuanced and valuable snapshots of learning.
Many students from Princeton Public Schools had the opportunity to see the partial eclipse on April 8, and the experience was enriched thanks to community partners, particularly Princeton University’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) and their community outreach team.
Monday: Wear your best gardening gear
Tuesday: Book swap
Wednesday: Reusable lunch bag/bottle day
Thursday: Healthy habits T-shirt day
Friday: PPS Blue goes Green clothing day
As part of programming scheduled for Autism Acceptance Month, students at Princeton Middle School had an exciting opportunity to interact with Dr. Temple Grandin, a prominent author and speaker on both autism and animal behavior. A school-wide Zoom session included a series of questions from PMS students.
We recently caught up with Beth Murrin, Supervisor of Special Education (Grade 6 - Grade 8) to discuss special education and life skills at PMS. Here are some highlights from the conversation. Above: Princeton Middle School staff celebrate Autism Awareness Month
Please join us on Friday, April 19, 7:30 PM or Saturday, April 20, 7:30 PM, in the Princeton High School Black Box Theatre for "Rosaline Wrecked It All!" $5 General Admission Seating. Doors will open at 7:10 PM.
For April, Autism Awareness Month, we had the chance to talk to Eric Csolak, Supervisor of Special Education, Ages 3 to Grade 5, about some of the existing things that are happening at Riverside School.
Wednesday, April 10, is a holiday for PPS students and a professional development day for staff. We would like to wish all who celebrate a happy and prosperous Eid al-Fitr.
Eight Princeton High School students and three Princeton Midle School students have been recognized for their research at the 2024 Mercer County Science and Engineering Fair.
Our very own Princeton High School team is a finalist in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Community Choice Award. The winner will be the school with the most votes and the prize is $10,000. Please vote for our Princeton High School team by clicking on the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow website. After watching the PHS video, the viewer can cast his/her vote. Anyone is allowed one vote per day from March 26 to April 23.
Dates to Remember: Standardized assessments are scheduled at all PPS schools in April and May.
Students and members of all three PPS unions—teachers, administrators and support staff—turned out in force this week to work at the Princeton Mobile Food Pantry (PMFP), packing 576 bags of food for underserved members of the community and donating a total of $1,430 for purchases of chicken, milk, eggs, carrots, bananas, and potatoes.
Congratulations to Princeton High School counselor Adam Rothschild who has been selected as the 2024 Counselor of the County for Mercer County. The award was presented by New Jersey School Counselor Association.
Congratulations to the PHS science students who recently collaborated with the Paul Robeson House and the Arts Council of Princeton to make special tiles using clay from the site of the historic Paul Robeson home.Science students from James Smirk's class worked with the Arts Council of Princeton and Ryan Stark Lilienthal, the Anne Reeves Artist-in-Residence at the Arts Council, to create special tiles molded from clay taken from Paul Robeson’s Princeton residence.
The 15-day celebration of Year of the Dragon got off to a terrific start at Princeton High School with the annual PHS Lunar New Year Parade presented by students of the Mandarin Language and Mandarin teacher Ms. Shwu-Fen Lin. Thank you to all the students who participated and shared this wonderful tradition, which is said to bring good luck and prosperity.
What progress has PPS made in meeting sustainability goals? In this Sustainability Spotlight learn how PPS captures food waste.
The first Equity Committee meeting of the year will be held tonight, Monday, February 12, at 6 PM at 25 Valley Road. The meeting is open to the public and all are welcome.
Princeton Public Schools Now Enrolling For the 2024-2025 School Year
Last year, as Riverside’s green team was gaining momentum, they decided to focus on making their school-wide PTO events more sustainable.
Parent/ Caregiver HiTOPS information night Princeton Middle School November 28, 2023
Math Program Review
View the powerpoint and the recording of 2023-2024 K-5 Report Card Night.
News from the Arts: October 2023 Newsletter
PPS is Now Hiring Substitute Teachers
The Board of Education recently approved two new policies to support sustainable actions across the district.
May 17 was a beautiful day for the official dedication of the revitalized courtyard space at Princeton High School.Thank you to the Princeton Education Foundation, Mr. Bryan Hoffman, Mr. Joe Gargione, Ms. Bridget Schmid, RS Land Design and the many Princeton High School students who conceived, funded, created and developed the elegant and lovely new courtyard space at Princeton High School. Princeton Mayor Mark Freda officiated at the ribbon cutting ceremony.
All schools will have an early dismissal on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, May 26. Enjoy the long weekend!
In early May, Princeton High School welcomed Eva Wiener to speak about her experience as a Holocaust survivor. The 9th, 11th, and 12th graders watched her speaking via live stream in their homerooms and in the auditorium, the 10th graders listened intently in person.
The Princeton Board of Education meeting will hold a special meeting on May 15, 6 PM, at the Princeton Middle School cafeteria. The meeting will be live-streamed.
The RoboCupJunior USA competition challenges students up to 19 years old to work collaboratively as a team to design, create, and code robots to solve problems. The competition is divided into three leagues: Soccer, Rescue, and OnStage.
The competition is open to students with any level of experience, and teams can use any tool or technology they want, from modifying preexisting robotics kits to building everything from scratch.
There will be an early dismissal on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. Princeton High School will dismiss at 12:33 and all other schools will dismiss at 1 PM. Enjoy the long weekend!
Princeton High School Student Research Symposium
Tomia MacQueen recently joined PPS as the Food Systems Literacy Coordinator, a pilot position that the district hopes to establish permanently.
These highlights are an unofficial summary of actions taken and topics discussed during the public session of the Board of Education meeting on April 25, 2023. They are intended to provide timely information to the community, but they do not represent an official accounting of the meeting. Official minutes will be approved by the Board at its next meeting.
Jenna Peluso, Quest Coordinator & Instructor for the district, joined PPS at the end of March. Within a few weeks of starting her new job, she has had the opportunity to Zoom with elementary school parents as well as more than 100 elementary school teachers. She works in all four elementary schools and will soon be starting preliminary assessments for the new QUEST program for Kindergarten through Grade 5. We caught up with Mrs. Peluso last week to discuss her new role at Princeton Public Schools. Ms. Peluso will be conducting CogAT testing at elementary schools starting in late April and early May.
These highlights are an unofficial summary of actions taken and topics discussed during the public session of the Board of Education meeting on March 28, 2023.They are intended to provide timely information to our community, but they do not represent an official accounting of the meeting. Official minutes will be approved by the Board at its next meeting.
Johnson Park Elementary, Riverside Elementary, and Princeton High School were each awarded a $2,000 Sustainable Jersey for Schools grant funded by the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA).
Last summer, roof work was started at two elementary schools: Littlebrook and Community Park, with the plan to continue this effort at other school buildings in the upcoming summers. As part of the roof upgrades, insulation was increased. At Community Park and Littlebrook, the upgrades resulted in average R-values between 45 and 52 for the new roofs. These upgrades are important for a conducive learning and working environment, but an early peak at the data shows signs of another benefit: energy savings.
Thank you to everyone who attended the March 21 meeting on Long-Term Planning. The meeting included presentations which are under consideration. No final decisions have been made. The district administration will continue to look at options.
The Princeton Board of Education will meet Tuesday, March 28, at 7:30 PM at the Princeton Middle School Cafeteria. The meeting will also be live streamed on YouTube, PPS Live Events and also on Facebook Live.
Board Highlights are an unofficial summary of actions taken and topics discussed during the public session of the PPS Board of Education on March 14, 2023.
They are intended to provide timely information to our community, but they do not represent an official accounting of the meeting. Official minutes will be approved by the Board at its next meeting.
On Tuesday, Princeton University announced that it will provide more than $14 million in support to Princeton Public Schools over the next five years. Princeton University will provide the district with an unrestricted payment of $2,250,000 in the first year, an amount that will increase by 4% in each subsequent year.
PHS Research Program students learned valuable lessons recently, while also introducing new garden beds and a shed to campus.
These highlights are an unofficial summary of actions taken and topics discussed during the public session of the PPS Board of Education on February 21, 2023. They are intended to provide timely information to our community, but they do not represent an official accounting of the meeting. Official minutes will be approved by the Board at its next meeting. To see the video of the February 21 meeting, please click here.
To subscribe to Board Highlights please email communications@princetonk12.org.
The Paul Robeson House of Princeton will soon be distributing Paul Robeson Tomato seeds to students in schools and interested families in our community. The goal of the project is to create Freedom Gardens across our town in honor of Paul Robeson.
These highlights are an unofficial summary of actions taken and topics discussed during the public session of the PPS Board of Education on January 24, 2023. They are intended to provide timely information to our community, but they do not represent an official accounting of the meeting. Official minutes will be approved by the Board at its next meeting.
To learn more about the New Jersey Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB) procedures, Dana Karas, Director of School Counseling, asked HIB expert Alicia D'Anella, attorney at Parker McCay. To see the session, please click here.
Si su hijo está comenzando kindergarten o primer grado en las Escuelas Públicas de Princeton, lo invitamos a asistir a una sesión informativa de inmersión bilingüe el miércoles 18 de enero a las 6:30 p. m. o el jueves 19 de enero a las 9 a. m. Las sesiones de información se llevarán a cabo en persona en Community Park School, 372 Witherspoon Street. Todos los estudiantes que ingresen a kindergarten y primer grado serán elegibles para solicitar el Programa de Inmersión Dual de Lenguas (DLI) de PPS, donde a los estudiantes se les enseña tanto en inglés como en español. Para los grados 2do a 8to, los estudiantes que demuestren un dominio adecuado del español pueden inscribirse en el programa DLI. La asistencia a una de varias sesiones informativas que se ofrecerán es un requisito previo para la inscripción en el programa DLI. Llame al 609.806.4230 si tiene preguntas.
Dr. Carol Kelley's regularly scheduled office hours on January 9 at the Princeton Public Library have Monday, January 9, have been postponed.
The CP Dual Language Immersion program is open to all PPS incoming Kindergarten and 1st grade students. Families who are registering a child for Kindergarten or 1st grade for the Spring 2023 or Fall 2023 and are interested in the DLI program should indicate their interest on the online registration “Form H, Home Language Survey” page.
Community Park will be holding two Parent Information Sessions in January 2023. Attendance at a parent information session is required for entry to the program - DLI applications will be provided to families who attend these information sessions.
Please call the Community Park Main Office (609-806-4230) if you have questions.
Princeton Public Schools has received Orton-Gillingham accreditation from the Institute for Multisensory Education. The Orton-Gillingham Approach is a multisensory, structured, sequential way to teach literacy. Fewer than a dozen districts in the country receive this accreditation.
Princeton High School's EcoLab is being restored to allow for regeneration and to encourage native species to flourish. At the same time, PPS has created a new stormwater basin near the football field where grass will be replaced with a native meadow.
The Lunch & Learn presentation about how to use Canvas (Learning Management System) and PowerSchool (Student Information System) was a big success. Parents in middle school and high school found it very helpful. Thank you to the PTOC and to Ms. Krista Galyon, PPS Supervisor of Technology & Innovation. If you missed the Lunch & Learn session, please check the PTOC website to see the recording.
Two schools in the Princeton Public School District, Johnson Park and Littlebrook Elementary, have met the requirements to achieve Sustainable Jersey for Schools certification, bringing the total number of certified schools across New Jersey to 352.
As part of a presentation to the Board of Education on October 18, Princeton Public Schools administrators said that recently released standardized testing data indicated that PPS students continued to outperform state averages by substantial margins.
There have been fantastic events district-wide during Hispanic Heritage Month, Sept. 15 - Oct. 15. But it's not over yet! At Princeton High School, the second annual Hispanic Heritage Assembly was a huge hit with students. Music, dancing and songs were just part of the fun on assembly day. After the assembly the students participated in a series of activities organized by fellow students. Activities included learning how to dance, karaoke, temporary tattoos, a photo booth, Latin-American trivia, soccer and more.
On Tuesday evening, the Princeton Board of Education had the opportunity to welcome (via Zoom) the new PPS therapy dog who will be working at all four elementary schools on a rotating basis once he is fully trained.
Princeton Public School embraces sustainability. Here are some terrific tips from Sustainable Princeton, one of our esteemed community partners.