Education

Walk Your Child to School Day, October 7

By: Heidi Heleniak | October 6, 2015

John P. Faber Elementary School students, parents, staff and volunteers will be walking in the 16th Annual International Walk Your Child to School Day on October 7 starting at 7:30 a.m.

Participants will meet up at two main starting points, St. John the Evangelist R.C. Church and Columbia Park, and travel together using safety tips they have learned. There will be giveaways for all participating students. The event is co-sponsored by Safe Kids Middlesex County Coalition which is led by Dunellen resident Diana J. Starace. Local residents are advised to use extra caution when traveling during this time. Continue Reading →

DEF 5K Run Cancelled

By: Heidi Heleniak | August 31, 2015

Dunellen Education Foundation’s 18th annual 5K race will not be happening this September. According to the organization’s president Trina Rios, “After 17 years of a successful race, we are taking a year off to focus on fundraising.” The DEF had solicited for volunteers in July but did not receive the response needed for the event to go forward. The 5K race has been the major fundraising event for the nonprofit organization that has as its mission to support “educational, nonprofit, and community related programs that would provide the knowledge and skills to face the challenges of an increasingly complex and technology driven world.” In the past, it has provided grants to bring smart boards to various classrooms, improve the sound system in the high school auditorium, and help with several Dunellen Public Library programs. According to Rios, since the DEF started, they have donated at least $200,000. Although mostly Dunellen residents participate in the 1 mile family fun run component, runners from all over the tri-state area come to compete in the officially timed race. Continue Reading →

Dunellen High School Class of 2015 graduates

By: Heidi Heleniak | June 22, 2015

Herg Zhang, salutatorian addresses the graduating class of Dunellen High School.

Dunellen High School’s Class of 2015 graduated Friday June 19, 2015 in Washington Park. The clouds held back the rain that had been threatening the outdoor ceremony which is a unique tradition that allows extended family, friends, and townsfolk to attend, no admittance tickets required. This year’s class was comprised of 89 seniors. Wearing the school colors of red and blue, they entered the park two-by-two, having walked a block from Dunellen High School. Grace Amodeo, who will be attending Westminster Choir College in the fall sang the Star Spangled Banner and Kevin Bluni, secretary of the senior class led the Pledge of Allegiance. Continue Reading →

Free Tuition Program at MCC for Volunteer Firefighters & EMS Personnel

By: Staff Report | March 18, 2015

Middlesex County Freeholders H. James Polos and Kenneth Armwood have announced that the County will offer volunteer firefighters and Emergency Management Services personnel a free tuition program through Middlesex County College. The Middlesex County Volunteer Tuition Waiver Program will be offered to one eligible volunteer firefighter and one eligible EMS volunteer from each municipality. To qualify, they must be identified and authorized by their individual organizations and must be active members in good standing. Participants may take up to 6 credits per semester at Middlesex County College – and a lifetime maximum of 24 credits. The program covers tuition only. Continue Reading →

DHS Actor Raises Money for Charity

By: Heidi Heleniak | March 6, 2015

Dunellen High School senior Calvin Nemeckay will be starring in its spring musical Annie as Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks. But unlike most actors who play the smooth-pated character, Nemeckay will not be wearing a bald cap. Instead, he shaved his head to raise money for the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, the state’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. Nemeckay has already raised over 40% of his $1000 fundraising campaign goal. For more information regarding Calvin Nemeckay’s fundraising campaign: http://cinjfoundation.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.personalCampaign&participantID=4717

For more information regarding the musical: http://www.dunellen411.com/event/annie-dhs-musical/2015-03-12/ Continue Reading →

DHS Receives Safe Sports School Award

By: Staff Report | February 22, 2015

Dunellen High School received the 1st Team Safe Sports School award from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA). According to NATA’s website, the award was created to “recognize secondary schools around the country that provide safe environments for student athletes, the initiative reinforces the importance of providing the best level of care, injury prevention and treatment.” The application for a Safe Sports School award outlines the specific actions that will lead an athletics program to the highest safety standards for its players. A school may earn a 1st or 2nd Team award; 1st is awarded to schools that act on all of the recommended and required elements. 2nd Team is granted to schools that have completed only required elements. Continue Reading →

Board of Ed to reinstate former School Superintendent

By: Heidi Heleniak | February 22, 2015

The Dunellen Board of Education (BOE) will be holding its regular public meeting in the Dunellen High School Library on Tuesday, February 24, 2015 at 7:30pm. On its agenda is a vote to approve the return of former superintendent Pio Pennisi for next year’s school term and in the interim, hiring him as a special consultant to the Board of Education on an as-needed basis. After 34 years in the Dunellen School District, Pennisi retired as superintendent in June 2014. He was hired three months later, in September, as the interim superintendent of the Netcong school system, and is still listed as “superintendent” on its official website. According to a September 2014 article printed in the NJ Herald regarding the Netcong position, “Pennisi said he will work two days per week at a rate of about $519 per day as the interim superintendent and will focus on setting the district up for future success in addition to his normal administrative duties.” Continue Reading →

Board of Ed to hold Reorganization Meeting Tuesday

By: admin | January 6, 2015

The Dunellen Board of Education will hold its re-organization meeting on January 6, 2015 at 7:30 pm in the Dunellen High School Library, 411 First Street, Dunellen. Among the items to be discussed are annual professional services contracts, textbook approval, and the approval for bank account maintenance. The complete agenda can be found at http://www.dunellenschools.org/dps/Board%20of%20Education/Meeting%20Agendas/January%206%2C%202015.pdf

The following dates are designated as the regular meeting dates of the Dunellen Board of Education. All meetings begin at 7:30 p.m. and are held at Dunellen High School unless otherwise noted… January 20
February 10, 24
March 10, 31 (Budget Hearing)
April 21
May 5 (7:00 pm Executive Session: personnel matters until approximately 8:00 pm), 19
June 9
September 8, 22
October 6, 20
November 3, 17
December 1, 15 Continue Reading →

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