Cranford Township Public Schools

The Cranford Township Public Schools is a comprehensive public school district serving students in pre-Kindergarten through twelfth grade in Cranford in Union County, New Jersey, United States. The district is governed by a nine-member elected board of education.

Cranford Township Public Schools
Address
132 Thomas Street Cranford, NJ 07016 United States
Coordinates	40.65346°N 74.297059°W
District information
Grades	PreK-12
Superintendent	Dr. Scott Rubin
Business administrator	Robert J. Carfagno
Schools	7
Students and staff
Enrollment	3,853 (as of 2018–19)[1]
Faculty	323.0 FTEs[1]
Student–teacher ratio	11.9:1[1]
Other information
District Factor Group	I
Website	District website
Ind. Per pupil District spending Rank (*) K-12 average %± vs. average 1A Total Spending $16,494 23 $18,891 −12.7% 1 Budgetary Cost 13,514 34 14,783 −8.6% 2 Classroom Instruction 8,122 25 8,763 −7.3% 6 Support Services 2,186 46 2,392 −8.6% 8 Administrative Cost 1,482 58 1,485 −0.2% 10 Operations & Maintenance 1,380 24 1,783 −22.6% 13 Extracurricular Activities 315 76 268 17.5% 16 Median Teacher Salary 63,767 45 64,043 Data from NJDoE 2014 Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending.[2] *Of K-12 districts with more than 3,500 students. Lowest spending=1; Highest=103

As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of seven schools, had an enrollment of 3,853 students and 323.0 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.9:1.[1]

The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "I", the second-highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J.[3]

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics[4]) are:[5][6]

Elementary schools

• Bloomingdale Avenue School[7] with 255 students in grades K-2
  • Lourdes Murphy, Principal
• Brookside Place School[8] with 365 students in grades K-5
  • Michael Klimko, Principal
• Hillside Avenue School[9] with 702 students in grades K-8
  • Kevin Deacon, Principal
• Livingston Avenue School[10] with 251 students in grades 3-5
  • Cari Lopez, Principal
• Orange Avenue School[11] with 738 students in grades 3-8
  • Lori Lubieski-Hutmaker, Principal
• Walnut Avenue School[12] with 312 students in grades PreK-2
  • Celine McNally, Principal

High school

• Cranford High School[13] with 1,233 students in grades 9-12
  • Mark Cantagallo, Principal

The system's high school was the 49th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology, after having been ranked 51st in the state out of 328 schools in 2012.[14] Cranford High School has a curriculum which has a strong push for technology in the schools, along with stressing service learning. The high school is recognized for its work in service learning and for being a national school of character. Cranford High School students are regularly admitted to some of the nation's top private and public universities, with over 90% of each graduating class going onto college.

Cranford has two public middle schools, Orange Avenue School and Hillside Avenue School, which are located on each end of the township and serve their local neighborhood. Both also are elementary schools as well. On the north side of Cranford, along with Orange Avenue, are two other elementary schools, Bloomingdale Avenue School and Brookside Place School. On the south side of the township, along with Hillside Avenue, are two other elementary schools, Walnut Avenue School and Livingston Avenue School.

Lincoln School, which is the home of the district's administrative offices, also houses the district's two alternative education programs, CAP and CAMP.[15]

Awards and recognition

The district was selected as one of the top "100 Best Communities for Music Education in America 2005" by the American Music Conference.[16]

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:[17]

• Dr. Scott Rubin, Superintendent[18]
• Robert J. Carfagno, Business Administrator / Board Secretary[19]

Board of education

The district's board of education, comprised of nine members, sets policy and oversees the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration. As a Type II school district, the board's trustees are elected directly by voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with three seats up for election each year held (since 2012) as part of the November general election. The board appoints a superintendent to oversee the day-to-day operation of the district.[20][21][22]

Notable alumni

• William Sperry Beinecke (born 1914), founder of the Central Park Conservancy and former chairman of S&H Green Stamps.[23]
• Carol Blazejowski (born 1956), member of Basketball Hall of Fame and 1974 Cranford High School graduate.[24]
• Robert Ferro (1941–1988), Cranford High School alumnus and author whose work included a gay coming-of-age novel describing a fictionalized version of Cranford centered around the Rahway River.[25]

References

1. District information for Cranford Public School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 1, 2020.
2. Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending April 2013, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 15, 2013.
3. NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed October 15, 2014.
4. School Data for the Cranford Township Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed April 1, 2020.
5. Schools, Cranford Township Public Schools. Accessed July 19, 2020.
6. New Jersey School Directory for the Cranford Township Schools, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 29, 2016.
7. Bloomingdale Avenue School, Cranford Township Public Schools. Accessed July 19, 2020.
8. Brookside Place School, Cranford Township Public Schools. Accessed July 19, 2020.
9. Hillside Avenue School, Cranford Township Public Schools. Accessed July 19, 2020.
10. Livingston Avenue School, Cranford Township Public Schools. Accessed July 19, 2020.
11. Orange Avenue School, Cranford Township Public Schools. Accessed July 19, 2020.
12. Walnut Avenue School, Cranford Township Public Schools. Accessed July 19, 2020.
13. Cranford High School, Cranford Township Public Schools. Accessed July 19, 2020.
14. Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
15. Lincoln School, Cranford Township Public Schools. Accessed July 19, 2020.
16. Best 100 (101!) Communities for Music Education in America, 2005, American Music Conference. Accessed December 5, 2016.
17. New Jersey School Directory for Union County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed December 29, 2016.
18. Superintendent, Cranford Public School District. Accessed July 19, 2020.
19. Business Office, Cranford Public School District. Accessed July 19, 2020.
20. New Jersey Boards of Education by District Election Types - 2018 School Election, New Jersey Department of Education, updated February 16, 2018. Accessed January 26, 2020.
21. Comprehensive Annual Financial Report of the Cranford School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2019. Accessed July 19, 2020. "The Township of Cranford School District is a Type II district located in the County of Union, State of New Jersey. As a Type II district, the School District functions independently through a Board of Education. The board is comprised of nine members elected to three-year terms."
22. Board of Education Information, Cranford Township Public Schools. Accessed July 19, 2020.
23. William Beinecke - 96, Old New York Stories, October 28, 2011. Accessed November 4, 2016. "So we lived in Cranford, New Jersey, in a house, the address was 401 Prospect Street, Cranford, New Jersey and I even remember the phone number. The phone was 47."Old New York Stories, Oct 28, 2011, Interview with William Sperry Beinecke (recalling that he was a student of the Cranford Township Public Schools as a boy, at the corner of Springfield Avenue and Holly Street)
24. "Spotlight: Carol Blazejowski", SI for Women, May 28, 1999. Accessed May 4, 2007. "In 1974, while a student at Cranford High (NJ), Blazejowski told the school's athletic director (who was also the coach of the boys' basketball team) that she would play on boys' basketball team if no girls team was created. It wasn't long before Cranford had a girls' basketball team."
25. Staff. "Robert Ferro, 46, Dies; Wrote Books on Family", The New York Times, July 12, 1988. Accessed December 17, 2016. "Born in Cranford, N.J., Mr. Ferro graduated from Rutgers University and earned a master's degree from the University of Iowa."

External links

• Cranford Township Public Schools
• Cranford Township Public Schools's 2015–16 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
• School Data for the Cranford Township Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics