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Yearbooks are available for pick up through the PHS Main office. Official office hours are 8-3pm, but staff is not in the office all those hours due to staggered schedules resulting from Covid precautions.

Princeton Human Services is seeking donors for its annual backpack and school supplies drive. The drive benefits Princeton children who are low-income and in need of school supplies and new book bags.

For the past eleven years, the Princeton Human Services Commission, Princeton University, municipal employees, local businesses, organizations and residents have donated book bags and school supplies that have benefited many Princeton children. The items are distributed to children from low-income families who attend the Princeton Public Schools and are entering kindergarten through sixth grade.

Princeton Public Schools recently announced two significant technology purchases, a one-to-one computer and tablet initiative and a new Learning Management System (LMS). A study of technology and implementation over the last few months revealed that both devices and delivery systems needed to be replaced. The cost for the new devices falls within the technology department's existing budget due to low-interest financing. 

Celebrate the class of 2020 and watch our virtual graduation ceremony.

Celebrate the class of 2024 with our virtual promotion ceremony.

Princeton Public Schools' students are a talented bunch. So talent, in fact, that in the last month there have been two talent shows, both excellent. The most offering includes only high school students and its for a good cause. The 101: is an organization that provides need-based scholarships to college for Princeton High School Graduates.

The PHS Visual Art Department is happy to present our *Virtual* End-of-Year Art Exhibitions! Each Studio class is represented with a slideshow of work they produced during remote learning. Although we cannot gather in person, I hope you join us in celebrating the students' accomplishments!

Learning to play a musical instrument can be a highly educational and extremely rewarding experience for students. Music programs enrich students’ lives and provide a vehicle for them to communicate and express human emotion and ideas. In addition, music study prepares students to be successful in a twenty-first century world that demands innovative thinking and creativity in an increasingly competitive global society.

June 1, 2020

Here is an important message from Kristina Donovan, Supervisor of School Counseling:

Today is Mindful Monday.  Normally I send a Wellness Wednesday message, but this is too important to wait.

The events that have resulted in the death of many Black Americans in our country is not a new story.  The difference now is that we have cameras, video and unprecedented access to news and media. Black lives matter. It is not my right to speak for or on behalf of our BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) community members, but it is my job to ensure there is a safe space for people to share their lived experiences. It is my job to listen.

Do you have or know a Princeton child who will be turning 5 by October 1st? 

It's time to register for Kindergarten. To register, please click here: online registration forms   

Once you've pre-registered your child(ren) in Registration Gateway, please email the Registration Office (residency@princetonk12.org) to finalize the registration and enroll them remotely.  Once our district offices reopen, you will be asked to bring in original birth certificates/passports and a primary residency document (deed/tax bill) for review.  

PHS faculty and staff members have come together to create The Harry Potter Project. After being inspired by the Littlebrook car parade from a few weeks ago, PHS School Psychologist David Rosenfeld decided that he wanted to organize a community event that involved the PHS faculty and staff for their students.

Last Wednesday, Annie Kosek, our Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, announced that after 17 years with PPS she will be retiring at the end of June.

Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Anna Gonzalez Kosek has announced her retirement from the Princeton Public Schools, effective June 30, 2020. Ms. Kosek made plans to retire from PPS months ago, never imagining how much the school environment would change in 2020.

Lara Sawers, art teacher at Community Park, challenged her students to participate in the global movement known as #museumathome and #betweenartandquarantine, where students recreate famous art works and re-interpret them creatively and then take a photo which is paired with the original artwork.

On Saturday, Michelle Seelenfreund a third-grade teacher at Littlebrook, visited Penn Medicine Princeton Health to donate 90 lunches to the staff. The Littlebrook community joined together and raised over $1,000 to buy the boxed lunches from D'Angelos, a local Italian food store that provides groceries, cheese and prepared foods. The boxed lunches included a sandwich, fruit, chips, cookie and a bottle of water.

As we begin week five, I wanted to let you know that we are thinking about and planning ahead for a variety of possibilities. I speak daily with principals and supervisors who are listening to teachers, students, and parents, and we are working to address concerns and consider suggestions to better the remote learning experience of our students. Your understanding and patience as we make adjustments to refine our teaching practices and the enormous effort required of you to help and support your children in accessing lessons and assignments is recognized and deeply appreciated

PPS has a virtual Facilities Committee meeting scheduled for Monday at 8:30 AM. It's open to the public and here is the Zoom link. 

There will be updates on all projects. See the agenda below.

Here is some important information from the State of New Jersey and something to add to your "just in case" file.

Q. WHAT IF I GET SICK AND CAN'T TAKE CARE OF MY CHILD?

Parents are encouraged to consider temporary guardianship options for their children in the event they become sick or incapacitated with COVID-19.

Princeton Public Schools in collaboration with SHUPP is working to help families who need food during these difficult times. Food will be distributed every Tuesday to families who are part of the federal subsidized meal program.

Here are some of the Tuesday mobile distribution sites:

The public is invited to attend the virtual meeting of the PPS Equity Committee scheduled for April 13 at 7 PM. Among

The truism about predictions regarding the future is that they are (statistically speaking) usually wrong. And the further in the future, the more likely they are to be incorrect. The short-term prediction for New Jersey, however, seems unavoidable: The number of people affected by COVID-19 is going to get worse before it gets better.

After 33 years of work within the district, Assistant Principal of John Witherspoon Middle School, Lynne Harkness, is saying goodbye to Princeton Public Schools. Her last day in the district was Monday, March 30.

Katie McDonnell, a PHS senior in the Science Research Program, has been conducting research on the effect of micro plastics on the health of Poecilia reticulata and Kuhli loaches.

March 15, 2020 

Dear Parents, 

This is an unusual and disconcerting time for everyone.  PPS administrators, teachers, and support staff throughout every department are working hard to support student learning remotely while encouraging a positive and healthy attitude.   

I became a school counselor for Princeton High School because I believed in the power of love, care, connectedness, and compassion when working with students.

PPS buildings are open today (Thursday March 26) until noon to allow teachers to gather materials and supplies that they need. Teachers have emailed ahead of time to make arrangements as necessary and special cleaning procedures in effect.

On Monday, March 23 from 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., PHS Principal, Jessica Baxter and Jon Kleiman from the Challenge Success organization out of Stanford University will host a live-streamed event entitled The Well-Balanced Student. They will explore with parents research based strategies for raising physically and emotionally healthy teenagers. Using as context data from the Challenge Success survey, which our PHS students took in December, they will present strategies for establishing a healthier home environment, reducing academic stress without sacrificing achievement, and increasing children’s resilience, creativity, and well-being.

This afternoon our Department of Health confirmed that one of our staff members at Riverside Elementary School has tested positive for COVID-19. That person is currently in the hospital and beginning to feel better. Our thoughts are with that member of our school family. 

Because of concern about the Coronavirus, Mercer Street Friends food bank has unfortunately closed to Free Community Food Bank programs, such as our Mobile Food Pantry, leaving a large number of families and seniors without the weekly food that they count on. The mobile pantry that is run out of the Pannell Learning Center on Witherspoon Street every Wednesday is in dire need of food/supplies

After consulting this evening with our local health officials, I am announcing that the Princeton Public Schools will be moving forward with the implementation of remote learning beginning Monday, March 16 and extending initially through Friday, March 27.

We will now have an early dismissal tomorrow, March 12 and again on Friday, March 13 for all of our schools. Princeton High School will dismiss at 12:30 p.m. this Thursday and Friday. Our elementary and middle schools will dismiss at 1:00 p.m. 

Seher Abbasi (11th) and Sumuk Anand (9th) presented their research at the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium on March 2nd.

As we continue to face the challenges of a rapidly developing global health problem, we would like to update our school community and reassure everyone that we are taking all necessary steps to protect our students, faculty and staff.

We are developing plans for remote instruction should it become necessary to close our schools for an extended period of time. PPS uses Power School Learning as our platform for digital learning.

Princeton High School guidance counselor, Paulo Velasco, was recently honored by the College Board Counselor Recognition Program. Each year, the College Board program selects middle and high school counselors who excel at their jobs.

NJ Assemblyman Zwicker recently presented the ten members of the Princeton High School Mock Trial Team with a ceremonial resolution passed by the state legislature. PHS students defeated 10 teams to win the Mercer County Title. This is the farthest the PHS Mock Trial team has advanced in 20 years. The team is coached by Kim Groome.

On Monday, February 24, students and staff members at Riverside Elementary school gathered in the gym for a whole school "morning meeting" focused on Black History Month. Led by second-grade co-teachers Ms. Achampong and Ms. Worden, students participated in the Responsive Classroom Morning Meeting format to kick off another great week at Riverside!

Construction is scheduled to begin March 1 at John Witherspoon. Director of Facilities David Harding recently shared this PowerPoint presentation with John Witherspoon parents.

Princeton High School has been named the top traditional public high school in New Jersey by Niche.com, and is ranked 20^th out of all private and public schools in New Jersey.

From Monday through Thursday this week, the Minority Student Achievement Network MSAN/ Pulse students and Mrs. Lenora Keel will be hosting the exhibit “20 or More African American People and Events Everyone Should Know.”

Congratulations to the 10 students of the PHS Mock Trial team for their hard work in the Mercer County Competition on Tuesday, February 3rd 2020. 

With the support of the Princeton Education Foundation and the Dodge Foundation, the elementary schools in Princeton Public Schools hosted Naomi Extra as a poet-in-residence to launch our celebration of Black History Month.

The 2020-2021 school calendar is now available.

Littlebrook Kindergarten students spent three sessions creating a mixed media cityscape with Art Sparks.

There is some exciting news from Riverside: The Riverside Sensory Path is now ready for students! The response so far has been amazing and students and teachers are expressing gratitude to Lynn Spirko, Ashley Kennedy, Alison Unkert and the entire group that worked together to make it happen.

The Princeton Public Schools Visual and Performing Arts Department is pleased to share its winter edition of “News from the Arts,” a quarterly electronic newsletter about recent and upcoming arts events.

The PHS 3-Year Research Program is now accepting applications. This program is geared towards students who are interested in pursuing their own independent scientific research project. All current freshmen are eligible to apply.

Following a smooth reorganization Monday night, the Board of Education is looking ahead to build on the accomplishments of the past year, while capitalizing on the skills and experience of its members to tackle the challenges ahead. 

At a reorganization meeting on Tuesday evening, the Board of Education welcomed three new and returning members, elected leadership and discussed the sharing of various roles through which the board will liaise with school and community partners in the year ahead.

Preschool and Kindergarten Registration for 2020-2021 School Year

Did you know that the breakfast menu at John Witherspoon has been getting good word-of-mouth reviews from students and staff? Meanwhile, breakfast at Princeton High School now starts at 7:45 AM every morning.

Click here to see our most recent standardized assessment report, which includes the New Jersey Student Learning Assessments (NJSLA), SAT, ACT, and AP data for 2018-2019.

Princeton Board of Education recently approved a $1.54 million contract with Shorelands Construction Inc. for security upgrades at all four elementary schools.

In the next two years, Princeton Public Schools will use $27 million in referendum funds for health and safety upgrades to schools. Here are some of the planned improvements at Princeton High School.

The Prince, Princeton High School's yearbook, was recently awarded top honors by The Garden State Scholastic Press Association and received the highest score of any yearbook submitted in New Jersey. The Garden State Scholastic Press Association promotes scholastic journalism in New Jersey. The Prince received the GSSPA "All New Jersey Platinum" award.

After almost ten years of service, Cranbury board representative Evelyn Spann is leaving the Princeton Board of Education.

Students at Community Park School participated in a Mix It Up at Lunch Day, a concept launched by the Teaching Tolerance project, which encourages students to sit with someone new in the cafeteria.

The annual PHS Hackathon will be held Nov 2 and is open to all New Jersey high school students.

It was out with the old, and in with the new last Saturday at the JW Edible Gardens!

PPS teachers recently participated in an author visit with Cornelius Minor at Barnes & Noble.

The district has developed a new visitor protocol scheduled for full implementation beginning in October 2019.

Princeton Public Schools is pleased to announce Free Public Preschool Pending NJ Department of Education Preschool Aid

Thanks to an increase in funding from community partners and supportive grants, students have benefited from the largest menu of summer programs ever being offered at Princeton Public Schools. 

Felicia Spitz of Princeton Children's Fund (PCF) shared some happy news recently: The book clubs at the Princeton Public Library have attracted over 40 John Witherspoon and Princeton High School students.

Riverside School will be the first elementary school to receive new air conditioning and heating units as part of a series of improvements that Princeton Public Schools will make in the next 18 months.

Princeton Public Schools is installing air conditioning in the high school gym, one of several major upgrades in the works this summer.

We are continuing to move forward with our implementation of the projects associated with our facilities referendum, and I want to provide you with some key information about our approach to those projects. 

At its meeting on Tuesday, February 26, 2019, the Board of Education for the Princeton Public Schools took an important next step in the implementation of its school facilities referendum projects by approving a contract to appoint the Piscataway-based firm Epic Management, Inc. (“EPIC”) as its construction manager.

A message from Steve Cochrane Superintendent of Princeton Public Schools.

May 11, 2020

Dear Riverside Families,

I am writing to share with you some information about "Kindness Week" that we are celebrating from today through Friday, and we would love to have all of students participate in one or more activities that dovetail perfectly with our Upstander Code of Values and Behavior. 

As we begin a spring break like no other, I wanted to write to share a few thoughts and notes with all of you in our school community…

Our staff members have been quite busy over the past few days to prepare for our school closure due to the COVID-19 situation, leading to a "remote learning" approach for the next two weeks.  I want to begin by thanking all of those folks for their hard work, flexibility, collaboration, and ingenuity to make this work -- their professionalism and expertise have shone brightly throughout this week! 

In recognition of Teacher Appreciation Week, Johnson Park School’s P.T.O. created a video presentation to celebrate all staff members at our school. 

Fourth-grade teacher Emily Reeg of Johnson Park reached out to the rest of the Johnson Park staff to create a wonderful collage forJohnson Park students and families.

Hello, Friend of JP!

Well, we’re into Week 2 of our new normal.  I hope you and those whom you love are well.

JP’s staff members and I have remained in close touch, so we’re aware of the many successes we’ve had with remote learning.  We’re also aware that we (our educators), our pupils, and the latters’ parents have faced challenges.

During the past week, our staff members, in the face of the corona-virus situation, have been preparing for our school closure, necessitating a "remote-learning" mode for at least the next two weeks, Mar. 16th-20th and Mar. 23rd-27th.  Thank you to our exemplary colleagues for the dedication, flexibility, collaboration, and creativity they’ve invested to make this adventure work; as usual, their professionalism and expertise have shone brightly throughout the week! 

 For the 13^th year, JP has collected food for local families through donations to our annual Turkey Trot.  This year was like no other.

Scholar-athletes from Princeton University's women's softball and ice-hockey teams visited JP classrooms to read to students.

A letter to parents and students from Principal Ginsberg.

As you may know, our JP P.T.O. is building an Amphitheater. We seek to commemorate all current JP pupils and staff members!

We’ll plant trees around our amphitheater with dedications to everyone currently at JP. Whether or not you participate in our brick sale, we’ll still, with your permission, include your child in our class dedications.

JP third graders presented the Princeton History Museum, featuring exhibits on Princeton's education, communication, and transportation systems and town development.

Johnson Park pre-K classes visited Howell Living History Farm, where the children learned about farm life in the 1800's. 

On Fri., Apr. 12th, Johnson Park students and parents gathered in a darkened all-purpose room in anticipation of viewing the second grade's performance of Strega Nona, an original script that the children helped develop, based on the popular children’s Strega Nona series.

The PHS Visual Art Department is happy to present our *Virtual* End-of-Year Art Exhibitions! Each Studio class is represented with a slideshow of work they produced during remote learning. Although we cannot gather in person, I hope you join us in celebrating the students' accomplishments!

Dear Parents and Guardians:

Learning to play a musical instrument can be a highly educational and extremely rewarding experience for students. Music programs enrich students’ lives and provide a vehicle for them to communicate and express human emotion and ideas. In addition, music study prepares students to be successful in a twenty-first century world that demands innovative thinking and creativity in an increasingly competitive global society.

The Princeton Public Schools Visual and Performing Arts Department is pleased to share its winter edition of “News from the Arts,” a quarterly electronic newsletter about recent and upcoming arts events.