T.F. school district nurtures a 'caring community'

T.F. school district nurtures a 'caring community'
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer

TINTON FALLS — Along with math, reading and history, students in the Tinton Falls School District are learning valuable life lessons about character, kindness and integrity.

A group of teachers spoke at a Board of Education meeting Oct. 19 to discuss the National Network of Partnership Schools program through Johns Hopkins University that the district has participated in since 2006.

The program, which began at Johns Hopkins University in 1996, is designed around family values and instilling values of character, honesty and kindness at all levels of schooling.

"The purpose for our participation is to bring our school community and our residents together," said Krissy Montouro, art teacher at the Mahala F. Atchison Elementary School, "to help our children succeed in school and later in life."

She said the program is necessary because children today are exposed to so much negativity on a daily basis.

"Our kids are exposed daily to the same negative social, economic and environmental issues that we are all facing," Montouro said.

She said the effort to help the students must involve many different people.

"When parents and educators and administrators and students view each other as partners in education, a caring community forms around our students, creating an atmosphere that is conducive to learning," she said.

Next to speak was third-grade teacher Katie Konrad, who described the initiatives that the committee has adopted.

"One of Atchison's initiatives was to go read," Konrad said. "Our second initiative was healthy snacks on a shoestring."

She explained the nutrition initiative.

"This evening provided students and their families with nutritional information to create healthy snacks on a low budget," she said.

Konrad also explained the third initiative.

"Our third initiative was animal movie night," she said. "Here the students and their families had an opportunity to learn about pet health care."

An important part of the program is the Panther Paw Acts of Kindness, which involves students being given a paper paw with their name on it when a teacher sees them performing an act of kindness. The paws are then taped to the wall of the cafeteria.

"Each paw represented an act of kindness that was recognized by our staff," said Atchison guidance counselor Ron Leiner.

Leiner explained that the program has changed a little this year.

"This year I really am excited to tell you that we are expanding the program," he said. "We are looking beyond the concept of kindness.

"We are extending it to add acts of character," he added. "Children are being encouraged to show more honesty in admitting mistakes."

At least two teachers said that the results thus far are positive.

"We've seen decreases in defacement of property throughout the school building," Leiner said, "increases in genuine interest and, lastly, children are better focused on academics in the classroom."

"Our success rate is 100 percent," health and physical education teacher Lynne Landis added. "Our goals here would be to keep the momentum going forward, as this program has become a fabric of the [school] community."

The teachers also formed the Panther Paws Players, a troupe that puts on skits and performances for students.

"The Panther Paws Players is a group of staff members who got together and put on some skits for the student body," Landis explained.

The group also discussed what they called the six pillars of character: trustworthiness, responsibility, citizenship, fairness, respect and caring.

"This is going to be our primary focus on how to build character within our community," Leiner said. "We want the children to see that it is not just kindness, it's more than that.

"So we are going to look for a lot of paws being put up this year," he added. "I think the children will be excited and continue on."

The faculty members also discussed some of the goals of the school year.

"Our academic goal is the 100 book challenge," kindergarten teacher Kristine Migliazza said. "We are going to be … allowing parents to come into the classroom to see how we use the 100 book challenge."

"Another goal is a family dinner night," Konrad said. "This is a partnership goal where families will be encouraged to share a meal and play a board game."

"Our final goal will be our own version of the game show 'Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?' " Montouro said. "We are going to challenge the grownups to compete against them."

When the presentation concluded, Board of Education President Peter Karavites lauded the work being done.

"Through the Johns Hopkins Partnership program, our team has helped to create a more meaningful connection to improve the school's social and academic environment," he said. "We have worked hard to establish a solid foundation that we can now build upon."

Contact Kenny Walter at

kwalter@gmnews.com.