RED BANK: CHILD PORN GETS MAN EIGHT YEARS
A Red Bank man who pleaded guilty to federal child pornography possession charges earlier this year was sentenced to more than eight years in prison Tuesday, authorities said in an announcement.
RED BANK: CHARTER SCHOOL WINS GYM OK
A rendering of the proposed charter school gym, which wouldn’t have room for bleachers, an architect said. (Rendering by Erick Wagner. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank Charter School won approval Thursday night to create a gym in part of a commercial building it plans to buy on Monmouth Street.
In the process, the zoning board hearing on the plan re-exposed some long-simmering resentments harbored by parents who contend the charter school’s existence is a drain on the local school district.
RED BANK: GRANT FUNDS KIDS’ OPERA CAMP
Press release from Count Basie Theatre
The nonprofit Count Basie Theatre announced this week the receipt of a generous grant from the Toms River-based OceanFirst Foundation.
According to Maria Sorensen, the Basie’s Vice President of Development, the grant in the amount of $18,750 “will support our school bus-in program, as well as our Performing Arts Academy’s children’s opera camp.”
RBR: HELPING FRESHMEN DROP ANCHOR
Led by KYDS principals Rodney Salomon and Mychal Mills, incoming RBR freshmen learned to lean on one another in a contiguous circle swaying back and forth in a yoga tree pose. (Photo courtesy of Red Bank Regional. Click to enlarge)
(Press release from Red Bank Regional High School)
Little Silver: “What is stressful to you about high school?” Rodney Salomon asked rising Red Bank Regional (RBR) ninth graders.
The students responded with a variety of answers, including: “friendships—breaking ones apart and finding new ones,” “school work,” “the upperclassmen looking down on you.”
RED BANK: CHARTER, RAYRAP ON AGENDA
A view of 135-137 Monmouth Street as seen through windows at the Red Bank Charter School, its prospective next owner. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank zoning board this week takes up two projects that have generated heat in the past, one involving the Red Bank Charter School and the other a townhouse plan by builder Ray Rapcavage.
RED BANK: CHARTER DATA RELEASE ORDERED
Judy DeHaven, below, claims the Red Bank Charter School “continues to operate without transparency or accountability.” (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The New Jersey Government Records Council earlier this week ordered the Red Bank Charter School to release demographic data it failed to provide to a borough resident under an Open Public Records Act request.
The state agency, acting on a complaint filed by Judy DeHaven, found on Tuesday that the school had unlawfully withheld data showing the breakdown of the student population by grade, gender, race, ethnicity and other factors.
RED BANK: EXTRA CASH FUNDS TEACHER HIRES
An increase in state aid enabled the district to add two teachers Tuesday night, with more coming, says the superintendent. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank Board of Education approved the hiring Tuesday of two teachers whose jobs were made possible by an increase of $512,682 in additional state aid.
Up to six more teachers and instructional aides are expected to be added to the district’s payroll for the coming school year under what Superintendent Jared Rumage called a “gigantic” cash infusion from Trenton into the still-underfunded district.
RBR GRAD INTERNS WITH LOCAL SURGEON
Recent Red Bank Regional Chase Hintelmann of Little Silver will soon head off to John Hopkins University, where he will study on a pre-med track preparing for a career as a medical surgeon.
Press release from Red Bank Regional High School
Class of 2017 Red Bank Regional High School graduate Chase Hintelmann can remember talking with his parents about his grandfather’s early passing. At only 61, a heart attack stole his family’s patriarch. Chase was in preschool at the time.
“They say that he may have been saved if he had heart surgery.” He recalls, “I remember saying, ‘I wanted to be one of those people who could have helped him.’”
RED BANK: NEW STINK OVER BELLHAVEN COSTS
A 2012 image outlines the extent of wetlands at Bellhaven Natural Area at the western terminus of Locust Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Two years after abandoning a controversial “sprayground” proposed for the Bellhaven Natural Area, the Red Bank borough council is moving ahead with plans for a playground at the site.
At its semimonthly meeting Wednesday night, the council approved nearly $20,000 in additional engineering costs for the site, a move that prompted fresh objections.
“This is deja vu all over again,” said Bill Meyer, owner of a downtown commercial building. The borough has already spent $73,000 engineering fees on the site, and “that money was burned and wasted,” he said. Read More
LITTLE SILVER: STUDENT FILM A PRIZEWINNER
‘Parallax Dreams,’ directed by and starring Red Bank Regional’s John Tuohy, seen below at the awards ceremony.
An enigmatic short film by a Red Bank Regional sophomore, shot in and around Red Bank, was a double prize winner at a student film festival last month.
John Tuohy, a 16-year-old rising junior from Little Silver took the top prize in the Big Dreams and Silver Screens Festival held in Rahway on June 3.
LITTLE SILVER: RBR HONORS IB GRADS
Pictured are current, past, and future graduates of the International Baccalaureate program at Red Bank Regional: (back row) IB Coordinator Ryan Hilligus, Kevin Burke, Sara Murphy, Katie Moran, Caroline Garth; (middle row) Isabella Ramos, Madison Ciccone, Hannah Haugenes, Skylar Haugenes, Alex Sosa, Cece McCarthy, Amy Lonergan, Summer Smith, Sophie Pouso, Emma Guinnessey, Elise Katz; (front row) Grace Noglows, Sophia Mazzini, Hannah Christensen, Victoria Sullivan, Kristen Wimmer, Sophie Navarro, Ashleigh Lloyd.
Press release from Red Bank Regional High School
Several weeks preceding Red Bank Regional High School’s graduation ceremony, a smaller one was held for a special group of students — those receiving the coveted International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma. RBR is one of only four schools in the county, and 14 in the state of New Jersey, to offer the internationally renowned IB program.
The school’s IB coordinator Ryan Hilligus addressed the seventh RBR IB graduating class, asking that the students reflect on their “two intense years” in which they attended over 1,000 hours of IB classes and approximately 20 hours of exams; wrote thousands of words of extended essays and completed over 4,000 hours of creativity, activity, and service efforts.
FAIR HAVEN: SCHOOL STARTUP SPINS A PROFIT
Hailey Blum shows off a fidget spinner, joined by Milana Strulowitz and Shane Sullivan. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
It’s a rare business that gets to take the summer off. But a startup run by Fair Haven fifth-and sixth-graders has earned some slack time after landing and delivering on a legit $1,000 manufacturing contract this past school year with San Francisco-based Slack.
And it all revolved around a faddish chill-out device called a fidget spinner.
RED BANK: BOOKMARKS MARK FAVORITES
St. James first-grader Declan Duffy chose to draw Red Bank’s Molly Pitcher Inn as his favorite place in town, above. Below, the other winners by grade. (Click to enlarge)
[Press release from the Friends of the Red Bank Public Library]
The Sixth Annual Friends oft he Red Bank Public Library Bookmark Contest has announced this year’s winners! At a well-attended party on May 20, the Friends presented the winners with certificates and gift cards to local businesses.
RED BANK: SCHOOL TO GET 500 BOOKS
Supporting the development and enhancement of student reading skills, First Lady Mary Pat Christie announced today that Red Bank Primary School in Red Bank is receiving 500 books as part of the 11th annual Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge. Last year, 43 Governors’ Spouses, Governors and Lieutenant Governors participated as Reading Ambassadors for the summer program.
RUMSON: RCDS KIDS SPREAD THEIR WINGS
Press release from Rumson Country Day School
Joyful voices rang throughout the commons. Melodic tunes from the band carried down the hall from the auditorium. From outside on the fields came the sound of dramatic sketches, and from the parents came oohing and ahhing of admiration, as children excitedly pointed out their projects that decorated the walls of the school.
On May 18, over 600 parents, students and teachers experienced the infectious passion of The Second Annual RCDS Arts Festival at The Rumson Country Day School.
LINCROFT: CBA SENIORS SHOW RESEARCH
Press release from Christian Brothers Academy
On May 15, just prior to the school’s graduation ceremony, seniors in the Senior Scholars Program at Christian Brothers Academy presented their research as part of the second annual CBA Scholars Colloquium.
The evening featured four presentations, held in the Henderson Theatre, during which members showcased an incredible degree of dedicated research, experimentation, and practical findings. Each senior provided a 30-minute presentation of their topic, led question-and-answer session, and explained their plans for continued study. Senior Manny Lazarro served as master of ceremonies for the event.
LINCROFT: CBA GRADUATES CLASS OF ’17
Press release from Christian Brothers Academy
On Thursday, May 18, Christian Brothers Academy celebrated the 55th graduation exercises inside the Collins Arena at Brookdale Community College.
CBA Principal R. Ross Fales began the ceremony recalling Bishop O’Connell’s message to the seniors at their Baccalaureate Liturgy: to remain men of integrity.
Of the 233 graduating seniors, 220 will be attending four-year schools that rank among the best universities or colleges nationally or regionally in US News & World Report. Two-thirds of the Class of 2017 received merit-based scholarships, totaling $23,576,000.
The Class of 2017 included 27 members of the National Honor Society. This senior class completed over 23,600 community service hours—an average of 102 hours per graduate.
RUMSON: BIG HONOR FOR RFH’S DELLETT
Press release from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School
Special Education teacher Jen Dellett has been selected as Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School Educator of the Year. The announcement was made on May 12 by RFH Principal Dr. Tracy Handerhan, joined by French Teacher Christine Berg, last year’s recipient of the annual honor.
Dellett has been teaching at RFH for ten years, where she started as an Inclusion teacher and then taught Resource English prior to her current assignment in the Multiply Disabled Program.
FIELD DAY FOR RED BANK PRIMARY, RCDS
On May 12, students from Rumson Country Day School and Red Bank Primary helped kick off Horizons’ Giving Day celebration with a special Field Day of activities.
Press release from Rumson Country Day School
The buzz of eager children reverberated across the campus of The Rumson Country Day School last Friday, May 12, as RCDS lower school students gathered on the bleachers to welcome their friends from Red Bank Primary School. After a brief introduction, the Red Bank Eagles and RCDS Gators joined forces to create red and white teams for a friendly competitive field day hosted by RCDS and Horizons Student Enrichment Program.
With the help of dedicated 7th grade volunteers and staff, RCDS and Horizons opened their campus to their Red Bank neighbors, in an efforts to provide a fun experience for the students and to kick off Horizons’ Annual Giving Day, which took place on Wednesday, May 17.
LITTLE SILVER: RBR NAMES 6 TO HALL OF FAME
Pictured left to right are the 2017 inductees for the RBR Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame: RBR teacher Cassandra Dorn; Red Bank Middle School Vice Principal James T. Pierson; Dr. Erin Curtis, Optometrist; Sergeant Joey Fields, Red Bank Police Department; Dr. Carol A. Penn, physician family medicine, and Ramona Johnson, special education teacher, Newark NJ public schools.
Press release from Red Bank Regional High School
On the morning of April 28, an annual highlight of spring took place once again at Red Bank Regional High School,when the BUC Backer Foundation inducted six RBR graduates into its Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame.
State Senator Jennifer Beck, Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna, Red Bank Councilman Michael Whelan, Shrewsbury Mayor Donald Burden, and Little Silver Councilman Daniel O’Hern were among the friends, family members and community neighbors who gathered in the school’s theatre to celebrate the contributions of this year’s honorees. The inductees were introduced by the RBR Buccaneer Newspaper students, who wrote bios on the alumni for a commemorative journal, and musical accompaniment was provided by the piano majors of RBR’s Visual and Performing Arts Academy. The festivities continued with a celebratory luncheon catered by the RBR culinary students.
SHREWSBURY: SEABROOK ZONE ISSUE CITED
The opening of the Seabrook House facility drew protesters last Thursday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Shrewsbury officials have notified representatives of a new addiction-counseling center that a key aspect of the operation appears to conflict with local zoning law, redbankgreen has learned.
Five days after Governor Chris Christie got into a shouting match with protesters at the opening of the Seabrook House outpatient facility on White Street, borough Attorney Martin Barger confirmed the nonprofit has been told by letter that its plan for group counseling sessions is not permitted in the zone.
SHREWSBURY: CHRISTIE IN CLASH OVER REHAB
Protesters attempted to shout down Governor Chris Christie at the opening of the Seabrook House facility. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Governor Chris Christie clashed with protesters at the opening of an addiction-counseling center in Shrewsbury Thursday, taunting them as “ignorant” NIMBYs whose children would someday need the facility.
RED BANK: ELECTRIC CAR SHOW SLATED
Thinking of going electric with your next car? The Red Bank Environmental Commission plans to host Red Bank Electric Car Day later this month to juice awareness of electric vehicles and other alternatives to fossil-fuel burners.
SHREWSBURY: CHRISTIE TO OPEN REHAB UNIT
The new Seabrook House facility on White Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Governor Chris Christie is scheduled to cut ribbon Thursday to open a Shrewsbury addiction-treatment center.
LITTLE SILVER: ESSAY LAUDS “TINY” TOWN
Jack Stamer gets a smooch from his grandmother, Edie Levine, after reading his essay to the Little Silver council Monday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
What’s special about growing up in Little Silver? A Red Bank Regional senior’s essay on that theme earned him $1,000 toward college expenses Monday night.