Salt Brook Selected as 2011 National School of Character

Six years ago, Principal Jeannie Maier and her dedicated staff worked diligently to implement a Character Education Program at .

Today, the culture and environment of the school have been transformed, and the efforts of Maier and her staff have culminated with , but as a National School of Character.

“I think words can’t even describe how excited we are. We’re just so honored and thrilled, and we worked hard at developing our program,” Maier told Patch Thursday morning. “We spent a lot of time and a lot of thought went behind it. It wasn’t just a program that we opened up from somebody else’s book and said, ‘We’ll just follow this.’ It’s ours, we developed it ourselves, we made it our own; we used the feedback from the students and feedback from the families, and each year, we tweaked it and improved it and made it stronger.”

Superintendent of Schools Dr. David Miceli made the announcement before the entire Salt Brook student body and staff on Wednesday, after Maier learned that the school had indeed been selected as a National School of Character, along with 37 other public schools, three charter schools, two private schools and one school district from across the nation.

“We’re just thrilled. We’ve been anticipating this for a while. Jeannie Maier and the staff and students have really been working extraordinarily hard at this for the past six years,” Miceli told Patch Friday afternoon. “I think it really culminated in the day when we had the site visitation from the Character Education Partnership program and to see how the students, the staff, and the community members engaged in dialogue with the representative from the partnership program, and to watch everyone come together and be able to demonstrate how the program has been infused and incorporated into the day-to-day operations. The program they have created there is very much the culture and climate of the building.”

The yearlong Salt Brook Character Education Program encompasses a new theme each year, but the message always remains the same: “Do the right thing, because it’s the right thing to do.” Maier said the students at Salt Brook have truly internalized that message.

A core team of application writers, which included Maier, School Counselor Erika Ledder, Assistant Principal Joseph Harvey and Technology Coordinator Kelly Villa, along with the help of the entire Salt Brook staff, put together an extensive application for the initial recognition as a State School of Character. This recognition was determined by New Jersey Alliance for Social, Emotional, and Character Development (NJASECD).

Maier said there were 11 principles of Character Education on the application and the team of writers had to explain how Salt Brook achieves each principle, providing specific examples, such as items on the web site, lesson plans and faculty meeting agendas.

Because of Salt Brook’s recognition as a State School of Character, the school was automatically placed into a pool for the Character Education Partnership (CEP) 2011 National Schools of Character (NSOC) program. Salt Brook was named as a finalist on March 1, 2011.

But Maier, her staff and the students still had work to do for the National School of Character recognition, which included a written interview to be completed by Principal Maier, including any data requested in the interview, a letter of recommendation from the NJASECD, and a visit from National School of Character representative, Laurianne Brunetti.

Maier said they had a four-hour window of time for the site visit to show Brunetti all that was written in the initial State School of Character application.

“She wanted some student tours, she wanted to spend some time in the cafeteria, she also wanted to speak with some community members, and I think really what they were looking for was everything we put in our application,” Maier said. “They wanted to make sure that it has been widespread, that the kids internalize the message, that they get it."

The day began with a welcome from Maier, Harvey and Ledder, followed by two fifth and two sixth grade students taking Brunetti on a tour around the school.

“Our fifth and sixth grade tour guides had their maps and their clipboards, and I said to them and Laurianne, ‘Would you like me to go with them?’ She said, ‘Well, I’m comfortable if they are comfortable.’ They were like, ‘We can handle it, Ms. Maier.’ So I gave them my radio and said, 'If you need me, call me,’ and off they went for like an hour and a half,” Maier said. “I’m thinking the whole time, ‘Oh my God, what are they talking about? I’d love to be a fly on the wall.’ But they did a great job and at one time, they radioed me and said, ‘We’re behind schedule because she’s really enjoying her visits in the classrooms.’ I said, ‘That’s okay!’ They did a really great job. They were very professional, they were very excited.”

Maier said Brunetti spent time with a Community Members Focus Group, which included Dr. Miceli, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Dr. Deborah Feinberg, former Superintendent Mrs. Inzano, Board of Education member David Hasenkopf, Sgt. Bobby Carroll, Officer Wilson, local residents Mr. and Mrs. Rivkess, Parent Mrs. Kelly and Parent Mrs. Sarlund.

“She asked them point blank questions and they obviously responded as it applied to them and their position,” Maier said.

Brunetti then moved on to student lunch and recess, where she was able to see, first hand, student initiated programs, such as the Autism Awareness Fundraiser that one student, Patrick, started because his brother has Autism; a Wii Social Group Program, where students with strong social skills are paired with students with weaker social skills in an interactive game environment; and Wonderful Music Wednesdays, where students Deejay a list of pre-approved music for their peers during the lunch period on Wednesdays.

“She didn’t have a lot of time, but she walked around the cafeteria. One child was sitting by herself and she went right over to her,” Maier said. “This child has allergies so she was at the allergen table, but she just loves to read. She has tons of friends, she just loves to read and that’s what she likes to do at lunch. So later on, I went over to the little girl and I said, ‘I’m so glad she came over to talk to you. What did you talk about?’ And she told her exactly what I just said. They were trying to make sure all kids felt included. They were really trying to make sure it was a school-wide initiative and everyone is respectful of others.”

Brunetti then met with the Salt Brook Character Education Committee, followed by a Student Focus Group that included representatives from each grade level, as well as representatives from the Middle School and High School who went through the Character Education program during their time at Salt Brook.

“She asked them questions and they were wonderful. One of my third graders, Jason, he just kept saying, ‘But we just do it because it’s the right thing to do. It doesn’t matter. We don’t need prizes, we don’t get prizes.’ And he kept saying it over and over,” Maier said.

Maier said even the high school students could relate to their time spent at Salt Brook and how the lessons they learned still resound in their lives today.

“[David Barletta] was on the football team and he had a lot of success in one particular game. One of my second graders wrote him a note congratulating him and I didn’t even know that,” Maier said. “So he got the note from Robby, then he figured out who Robby was, and he came and brought him a t-shirt. So he was telling all about that. So just ideas and stories like that, which happen throughout the year, and it’s just who this district is. I think those really came out for her.”

The day came to a conclusion with a “Do the D.A.P.” Celebration, which is the school’s Character Education theme this year, standing for “Dignity and Pride.”

“It was important to me that all students were a part of the site visit and the only way I could do that was have a school-wide assembly because I wanted them all to feel that they contributed,” Maier said. “So for our ‘Do the D.A.P.’ celebration, we put together a multimedia presentation to lively music and it was photos of them doing things all throughout the school year. We put it on, the high school kids were there, the Salt Brook tiger was there, the kids were cheering for each other, clapping, yelling. It was really pretty cool.”

The day officially ended with answering any questions Brunetti had. Although her site visit was supposed to conclude at 2 p.m., she stuck around until after 3 p.m.

“She was hard to read, and we weren’t quite sure. We did the best we could within the time frame we had, and I thought the kids were amazing, the teachers were amazing, there was nothing else we could have done,” Maier said. “She sent a lot of thank you emails, which were wonderful, and I responded and said, ‘At this point, we’d be thrilled to get the award, but it doesn’t even matter. What matters is the program that has been developed here and how it’s working for our students, and to see a community come together.’”

Ultimately, it was a national blue ribbon panel of experts that reviewed Salt Brook's entire application and the site visit review, selecting Salt Brook as a National School of Character.

While the State School of Character designation lasts for three years, Maier said she thinks the National designation will last at least three to five years. But, the school will not receive their packet outlining all the details, including the exact length of the designation, until next week.

So what’s next for Salt Brook? Well, the school will now be a model school for other schools all around the country, where Maier and her staff can have phone conferences with schools to discuss Salt Brook’s Character Education program, as well as share additional ideas for lessons, projects, and materials they use.

Salt Brook can also invite schools to visit and see how the Character Education program works, and visit other schools to help them develop their own Character Education programs.

Maier, along with Dr. Miceli and Ledder, are planning on attending the National Forum on Character Education, which is scheduled for Oct. 19 – 22, in San Francisco. There, Salt Brook, 42 other schools and one district will receive their plaque and banner for their National Schools of Character recognition. Maier and Ledder may also make a presentation on Salt Brook’s Character Education program at the conference as well.

Since the news broke out on Wednesday, Maier sent out an email announcing the recognition to all Salt Brook families. Maier and her staff have also received numerous letters and emails from students, parents, administrators, Board of Education members, faculty throughout the district and community members, expressing their congratulations for a job well done.

“People certainly are appreciative, and as I said to them all, this is a celebration for the entire community. Not just my staff or my students, it’s everybody,” Maier said. “We will be having a big school celebration. I don’t know the date yet, but it will be in June. We’re working on all the final details. It will be outside, a fun kind of family event. It would be a great way to end the year.”

Now, Maier and her staff are working on the Character Education theme for the next school year. Although Maier said the theme has been chosen, sorry Salt Brook families! The theme is top secret and, as always, will not be revealed until the huge kickoff event that the school hosts every October.

But, Maier said the staff may decide to repeat a prior theme, especially since many of them worked out well and because all students who have gone through the prior themes have now moved on to the Middle School and High School.  

“I think the biggest part of the program was that the students have internalized the message and our message is always the same, regardless of the theme: you do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do,” Maier said. “And they have internalized that, and they celebrate the internal reward that comes with doing the right thing. They don’t need the extrinsic rewards. It just shows people that in society, when you put children in a climate such as this and a community such as this, they will embrace it and they will do the right thing.”