Vending machines have long been a
staple in high school, providing students
with easy access to snacks and drinks
during busy school days. At PHS, however,
recent changes to the snack and drink
options in vending machines have caused
varying opinions and discussions among
students and faculty. This shift in snack
choices comes in part as a result of working
with PPS’s new food provider, Pomptonian
Food Services, and a stricter adherence to
state nutrition guidelines.

As administrators strive to balance state
regulations with student preferences, PHS
vending machines have become a testing
ground to find the right mix of health
guidelines, pricing, and taste.

The decisions regarding what goes in the
vending machines are complex, involving
both the school district and third-party
providers who stock the machines.
Pomptonian manages the food in the
cafeteria, but is not directly responsible
for stocking the vending machines.

“It’s just the transition between one
school food service and the next. This
piece of the vending machine has kind
of fallen into a vague area that we are still
trying to figure out,” said Dean of Students
Diana Lygas, one of the main coordinators
between PHS and Pomptonian.

For now, a third party vending machine
company continues to replenish snacks
based on sales trends and overall
availability.

In addition to a change in providers,
state regulations limiting the grams of
sugar in the vending machine products
have resulted in alternative snacks and
drinks such as baked Cheetos, zero-sugar
Gatorade, and reduced-fat Doritos being
stocked in the machines. However, as long
as the food adheres to the regulations, the
school is working to provide what the
students want.

“We are trying to get enough data [for
what] our students’ preferences are,”
said PHS Principal Cecilia Birge. “We
can still bring some of the favorites back
while meeting the guidelines; [those are]
improvements that we’re hoping to make
together with Pomptonian.”

In an effort to gain student input on
the vending machines, Lygas recently
conducted a Canvas survey. In the survey,
many students have expressed that they
would like to see non-diet gatorade, chips,
and fruit snacks back in the machines.
PHS will be working with Pomptonian
Food Services and a third-party vendor
to provide food in the vending machines
that meets everyone’s needs.

“What is popular, what’s not, it takes a
little time for the company to get used to,”
said PPS Business Administrator Matthew
Bouldin. “So we’re definitely listening
to the feedback. We want to hear what
[people] like and what [they] don’t like.”

PHS Investigates: stocking vending machines

Even before the school year begins,
frustration abounds over scheduling. Emails
and students fly into the counseling office
during the first few weeks of school, all
scrambling to switch in and out of classes.

Student scheduling ensures that students
have access to the courses they need for
graduation, while maintaining balanced
class sizes. An effective system helps in
optimizing the use of school resources,
aligning teacher availability with student
needs, and accommodating individual
student requests.

At PHS, it involves a wide range of staff,
including the administrative team, which
consists of the principal, assistant principals,
and the counseling department.

The process begins with reviewing and
modifying the previous year’s Program of
Studies. The curriculum office, the School
Board, Principal Cecilia Birge, and John
McMichael, supervisor of the counseling
department, collaborate on this task starting
as early as October of the previous year.

“October is the time when we begin
to review every single course and say: Is
this outdated? Is there a new thing that
we can add in? Do we need to hire a new
teacher? Do we have the expertise? Maybe
some teachers have a certain passion that
they want to develop in a certain course.
So there’s a lot of reshuffling, refining and
redesigning,” Birge said.

Afterward, beginning in February and
March of the previous year, students and
families submit their course requests. This
data is collected and analyzed to determine
the number of course sections needed.

At the end of April, the supervisors send
the data to Birge and the assistant principals,
who work to create all the students’
schedules. After students and parents
finalize their requests in June, the counseling
team enters the data into Powerschool’s
scheduling algorithm throughout the
summer, fitting students’ requests into the
master schedule. For this year’s scheduling
cycle, Assistant Principal Lauren Freedman
served as the “master scheduler,” managing
staff scheduling and assigning teachers to
courses and classrooms.

Throughout these few months, while
administrators work more on building a
master schedule, counselors meet with
students to help them make course requests
for the next school year.

“We want to make sure that every kid
makes informed decisions. We’re also
tracking each student’s graduation progress
and helping them think about post-high
school as well,” said counselor Meghan
Brennan.

After schedules are finalized and released
to students and families towards the end of
August, the counselors revise any errors or
course changes, beginning in the first week
of school.

“We collect all the schedule change
requests on a Google Form. We do that to
address all requests in a fair and equitable
manner,” Brennan said.

In the time between when schedules
are released and the first day of school,
scheduling changes are restricted exclusively
to freshmen with scheduling errors. Then,
in the first week of school, all other grade
levels are also permitted to schedule changes
in the case of errors.

“For the first few days of school, we don’t
allow schedule changes unless there is an
error. And there’s a few reasons for that,
one of which is so that students will try out
the class. A lot of times, students request a
class change, they spend three days in the
class, and then they realize they want to
stick with it,” Brennan said.

Finally, during the second week of school,
elective, course level, and free period change
requests are granted. These are often more
complex than finding a simple swap between
periods through friends or scheduling tools
such as Saturn, an application that allows
students to visualize their schedules.

“What Saturn doesn’t know is [there are
class] caps. You might say, I just want to flip
and move in, but what if they’re all filled to
the brim?” McMichael said.

In addition, some course requests might
be irreconcilable.

“You might request eight classes, but two
of them are [what] we call singletons. There’s
only one period of each and they’re at the
same time. You can’t be in two places at
once, so you’ll have a hole in your schedule
and end up with a free,” McMichael said.
In order to allow for more scheduling
flexibility this year, P.E. and science classes
were uncoupled. Previously, the two classes
were linked to allow for the P.E. class to be
replaced by a free period and lab period
once every schedule cycle.

“There were less issues this year because
there [were] more variations that the
computer could utilize,” Brennan said.
Brennan emphasizes the importance of
prioritizing mental health, maintaining
balance, and planning ahead while
navigating this process.

“We also want to think about what
[students] want to do post high school, so
that they’re setting themselves up for success
in taking classes that will help them reach
those goals,” Brennan said. 

Tower Investigates: How does PHS schedule classes?

At the conclusion of the 2022-23 school year, long-standing custodian Gary Harris retired, leaving behind an enduring legacy of hard work and kindness in the PHS community. Harris was devoted to promoting recyling at PHS, a passion that began in a previous career at a paper company.
A majority of recylable waste at PHS ends up in the landfill as a result of PHS students’ general lack of environmental awareness when discarding garbage. These findings were part of an investigation by the Tower prompted by claims made by Harris about the substantial ineffectiveness in the PHS waste management system.
Throughout his tenure, Harris observed a reluctance among students and faculty to recycle; there were often recyclable pieces of trash in bins bound for the landfill and vice versa. 
PHS Custodian Jennifer Gonzalez agrees with Harris, adding that this makes her job significantly harder. 
 “When I look at the trash, it’s mixed,”  said Gonzalez. “Students don’t care and don’t recycle correctly.”
While Gonzalez and other custodians try to separate recyclable material from trash, she admits that often there isn’t enough time to sort through everything, so they are forced to throw out all the contents of the recycling bin.
Matt Bouldin, the Princeton Public Schools Business Administrator and Board Secretary, said that the most common factor that causes recycling to go to the landfill is when students improperly throw food waste in with recyclable material. 
“A container of recyclable products contaminated with as little as one food product becomes landfill waste,” Bouldin said.
PHS AP Environmental Science teacher James Smirk has been a significant figure in collecting data on PHS recycling. He and several students conducted a waste audit concerning the PHS recycling process and came to a similar conclusion. 
“Most of our recycling is contaminated with food waste. This creates a situation where recyclable material will be returned to the general waste stream. Most schools solve this by targeting cafeteria waste, but because of our break system and the number of students who eat in classes, focusing on the cafeteria has a limited impact,” Smirk said.
As a result of waste cross-contamination, very little eventually makes it to the district’s recycling processor, Republic Services Recycling Center. PHS has one recycling dumpster, compared to three landfill dumpsters. 
Given the limited impact of sustainable waste management efforts aimed at the cafeteria, PHS has turned to other solutions. Jenny Ludmer, a program manager at Sustainable Princeton, focuses on educating the PPS community regarding sustainable practices in an effort to make its recycling more efficient.
“Education and outreach for everyone in the building is key to achieve a clean recycling stream,” Ludmer said.
Clear signs specifying which waste items to put in the recycling and which to put in the bin bound for the landfill are helpful in countering food waste contamination, it is not a complete solution; students often throw waste in the larger bin that they see first, regardless of the type of waste. Ultimately direct signs combined with a school-wide recycling education program is necessary to realize true progress in sustainable waste management.
“Consistent and sustained education and outreach for everyone in the building is key to achieve a clean recycling stream,” Smirk said.
Sylven Waldman, an incoming leader of the PHS for Climate Action club for the 2024­­–­­25 school year, acknowledged the importance of further education efforts.
“I definitely think that there’s a good amount of students familiar with the recycling process at PHS, but unfortunately I just don’t think it gets out to enough people,” Waldman said.
PHS students also participate in promoting sustainability through conducting waste audits, cleaning up waste, and performing community advocacy. In particular, the PHS for Climate Action Club has led an effort for more sustainability and an effective waste management system. 
“We [have] recycled old scrap paper into new paper to make cards ... we’ve hosted bake sales, planned protests, made petitions, [and] donated to eco-friendly charities and initiatives,” Waldman said.
Several administrative developments have also been made regarding food waste. Every kitchen and cafeteria in the district is equipped with compost containers. PHS has also installed an energy efficient dishwasher. In 2021, the district began a partnership with Trenton Biogas to convert leftover food scraps into renewable energy. This school year, the partnership has collected over three tons of food waste. 
Next year, Smirk and PHS custodian Leslie Vega hope that PHS will invest in clearer signage and more recycling bins. Moreover, a new class, Environmental Systems and Design, will be introduced next year; it aims to encourage students to improve the school’s  outcomes associated with waste as part of a core project for the class. 
Thanks to such efforts, PHS is certified with the statewide program Sustainable Jersey for Schools. Other actions taken by the high school include establishment of a Green Team to oversee sustainable progress and an Energy Savings Improvement Plan to facilitate improvements in energy efficiency. As a district, PPS has made significant progress regarding sustainability.
“In the summer of 2022, the district transitioned to greener cleaning with six different cleaning products,” explains the PrincetonK12 website. “The floor cleaner, glass cleaner, degreaser, hand soap, paper towels, and toilet paper used within PPS are all certified by Green Seal, indicating that they meet the highest standard for protecting the health of students and staff and the environment.”
PHS continues to make significant efforts in accordance with the Sustainable Jersey for Schools Program. Moving into 2024, progress will continue to build a more modern, efficient, and eco-friendly high school.
 “PHS [sustainability] is renewed again at the Bronze level. Dr. Barnes Johnson [the district science supervisor]  is leading the effort to add more actions to the certification this year, with the plan for Smirk to take it on next year,” Ludmer said.

Tower investigates: Is PHS actually recycling?

Now working in an administrative position, Lauren Freedman is one of two Assistant Principals at PHS with Rashone Johnson. A former math teacher at PHS since 2008, Freedman joined the PHS administrative team in September, replacing now-principal Cecilia Birge as one of the Assistant Principals. 
This past summer, before taking the new position, Freedman had just completed her Master’s degree in educational leadership online through the University of Texas Permian Basin when the position of assistant principal opened up. Realizing that she could work with even more students than as a math teacher, Freedman was eager to take the position.
“Over the years, I have served on many, many different committees. I’ve taken on various leadership roles, both in the school and in the surrounding community. For a long time, I was working with about 120 students across my classes, but I realized that in a role like this, I could work with close to 1600 students. So I knew that this would be an opportunity for me to sort of work with the larger community,” Freedman said. 
Freedman believes that her style of teaching was never “traditional” for a high school setting. A self-described quirky and creative person, Freedman often sought to include fun elements in the classes that 	she taught.
“I like to think of myself as someone who thinks outside of the box. … I [liked] to teach using songs and games and doing things that aren’t so traditional and I think it’s really fun to teach math.” said Freedman. “It’s fun to help students to be creative and help students see math in a different way.”
Grace Waldman ’25, a former student of Freedman’s when she taught Geometry I and Pre-Calculus recalls strategies Freedman would create to help maximize the engagement in her students.
“She was a very chill, fun teacher to be around. She would have these things called Freedman Franks or something, it was like her form of currency, and if you did well on an assignment or you were paying attention and raised your hand in class she would give you one, and at the end of each quarter right before break you would have a little party where you got to trade in stuff, so it was pretty fun,” Waldman said. 
Growing up in Princeton, Freedman is grateful for being able to meet so many people of different backgrounds. Later attending PMS and PHS, she was inspired by many of the teachers she grew up with, including Mr. Johnson whom she now works with as Assistant Principal.
“Being part of this community is really special. It’s a special place because there is such a diverse group of people from all around the world and you can learn so much from so many people,” said Freedman. “I had a great education. In middle school, I have memories of being in my math class and having a really strict teacher at the time and that’s actually when I decided I wanted to be a math teacher, because it was a hard class and I felt like it was the one class that I was really successful in.”
After graduating from PHS in 2004, while majoring in math education her senior year at Villanova University, Freedman was hired as a math teacher at PHS, enabling her to move back to her hometown.
“What brought me back to PHS was my love for the town and my love for the community. My roots are here. I’m really close with my family and they all live [in Princeton]. I met my husband in high school [and] both of us have parents who live here, my sister lives here, his sisters live here. We’re family people,” said Freedman. 
With Freedman stepping into the new role, Supervisor of Math and Business Education Tiffany Brennan, who worked with Freedman on organizing Saturday Academies over the summer, praised her colleague’s attentiveness and curiosity. 
“She’s a really good listener, and so she likes to consider more than one person’s point of view. … She’s [also] willing to ask questions, and that’s important for a leader to admit when they don’t know some things because she is new in her role,” Brennan said. 
While Freedman’s former students will not see her on a daily basis for classes anymore, many of them, including Waldman, see her continuing her dedication to PHS students in carrying out her new role as assistant principal.
“I’m very happy for her and I think she’ll do a great job. I don’t really see her very often anymore … but she’s doing a great job as [assistant] principal, so she deserves it,” said Waldman.

Lauren Freedman joins the administration as Assistant Principal

On January 26 and 27, PHS research teacher Mark Eastburn and student Daniela Gonzalez ’24 will attend the Global Education Benchmark Group’s Climate Education Summit at Columbia University to present the PHS Research Program’s efforts to promote diversity while recruiting for their ongoing projects, including their work on using oil derived from black soldier flies to replace the palm oil in soaps and other cosmetics. 
At its core, the program’s goal is to create a climate project that not only attracts more students but also reframes climate change as a solvable problem.

“I've tried to inspire students to take an active role in what they can do within this community to combat climate change. The angle for Columbia is the inclusion-making: finding ways of bringing more students [into the program],” Eastburn said. 

With the black soldier flies soap design, which won first place in the 2021 Mercer County Science Fair and Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Competition, Eastburn and leaders of the research program are currently brainstorming ways to expand soap production to transform it into an entrepreneurial prospect, which would create academically-oriented job opportunities.

“[Samsung] was here yesterday to take a video about how these projects help the students involved [and] how this changed our lives, because this 100 percent [opened] doors for me,” Gonzalez said. 
Gonzalez expresses gratitude for the program and hopes that further presentations will increase the program’s appeal so that her peers can benefit and draw inspiration from it.

“Some students now know that this exists; they [now] know that they can start with
 their own products. This [program] is a way to [make their dreams a reality],” Gonzalez said.

By bringing together people from different passions and interests, the inclusive research community at PHS and the strong support it receives is what allows its participants to flourish together.

“The research program, [is] very successful not only because of the awards that we have gotten, but more importantly … because it includes students who are recent immigrants and students who are really high academic achievers,” said Principal Cecilia Birge.“Not many schools have research programs; it is unique to a handful of schools that are very committed to science.” 

PHS Research Program invited to speak at Columbia University's Climate Education Summit

   This year, Princeton High School welcomed the first cohort of Princeton Middle School students who took part in the Community Park Elementary School’s Dual Language Immersion program. Having been recognized as a model program for Spanish Dual Language Immersion by the New Jersey Department of Education, CP’s full DLI program engages students in the Spanish culture and language from a young age with half of the core instruction taught in English and the other half taught in Spanish. While this program has gained much praise since its inception in 2015, it has also been met with some criticism, as it provokes the more general issue of overcrowding in the other elementary schools in the school district.
   With over 1,000 new housing units projected to be completed in Princeton by 2026 resulting in consistent growth in enrollment, expansion has always been a discussed topic in the community. In recent years, concerns have been raised by many parents, especially those whose children must be rerouted around the unfilled CP elementary school that is currently exclusively for students in the DLI program. 
   “DLI has become an issue [as] … it's not popular enough to consistently fill a whole school. If you don't want to do DLI, you have to go to another school. So we’re busing kids all over the place. kids that would walk to CP, we're busing them to Johnson Park,” Bouldin said.
   Sharing the same view as Bouldin is District Supervisor of World Languages Priscilla Russell, who explains that while CP is indeed experiencing a lack of students in the DLI program, the district’s other elementary schools are not overcrowded, but full. 
   “We need to be careful — [the other schools] are full, but they're not overcrowded,” said Russell. “[CP] does have some empty classrooms … but our goal had always been to create a dual language immersion school, which we were doing pretty well until the pandemic hit and changed just a whole lot of things.”
   CP Principal Dineen Gruchacz further describes the hindering factors brought by the pandemic, detailing how they have contributed to a lower-than-expected number of students in the DLI program.
   “[During the pandemic], lots of people shied away from anything different than a very basic education program,” said Gruchacz. “The recovery time to build back the numbers in the [classrooms] … is definitely something that needs to be addressed.”
   A DLI program at CP was first proposed in 2013 with the hopes of strengthening bilingual and multicultural learning in the district by taking advantage of Princeton’s extensive diversity. Rather than supplementing English classes with a single world language class, the DLI’s aim was to create a more holistic approach to language and culture, immersing students by teaching half of their subjects in Spanish instead of English. 
   DLI programs have become increasingly popular across the country in recent years due to the cognitive benefits associated with learning more than one language from a younger age and in response to the undervaluation of foreign languages in English-speaking countries. In fact, according to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the universality of English is one of the main reasons why English is the most commonly taught language worldwide by a factor of 20, a discrepancy that DLI programs hope to address.
   “Princeton is not a huge town, but it's a town [made up] of really diverse community members and perspectives … [and] a large international community,” said Kimberley Tew, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction. “We want to make sure that we're honoring that being bilingual and biliterate is a superpower … in an increasingly globalized world. [That] is the goal of the program, not just to develop [linguistic] skills, but to develop cultural competency.”
   Along with welcoming DLI program alums at PHS for the first time, the district has extended the DLI program past the elementary and middle school levels by introducing a new horticulture class tailored to teach basic biology principles in Spanish, taught by science and research teacher Mark Eastburn. Eastburn, who is fluent in both Spanish and English, reflects on the tremendous positive impacts that learning a new language can have on a child’s cognitive abilities and consequently believes that many more people should be signing up for the program.
   “I remember, many years ago, the evidence being overwhelmingly strong that dual language immersion programs are a way of supercharging childrens’ brains,” said Eastburn. “The evidence has only gotten better over time, and why we can’t get more people to sign up in a community which truly cares about education is baffling to me.”
   While the district does offer Spanish classes in the traditional route in all the other elementary schools, many parents believe that language education in the traditional method of language learning is not sufficient for students to gain fluency, leading them to choose DLI. Nicole Pezold, a current CP parent, believes that foreign language education is not prioritized in the traditional curriculum. 
   “I think it’s kind of an American approach to learning foreign languages to just not prioritize them at all. And I think that our schools in Princeton are trying to prioritize it way more than schools elsewhere in the nation, but we still are approaching it from an old perspective of language learning. I think immersion is the future, or one potential road for the future of language learning for people who really think that that's an important part of a rounded education,” Pezold said.
   Some parents who compare the immersive education of their children to their own experiences with the traditional method point out the effectiveness of DLI over the traditional method. Georgette Stern, who currently has three kids enrolled in the DLI program, shares her satisfaction with her kids’ improvement in the language. 
   “My husband and I both took Spanish throughout middle and high school, but you don't get the same level. I often speak to [my kids] in broken Spanish and … it’s great to see the level of comprehension,” said Stern. “It’s an amazing opportunity to be able to have your kids hear another language for half of their day, and also get core instruction in those languages.”
   In addition to offering enhanced opportunities for students who may not speak a second language at home to become bilingual, the DLI program intends to aid the large Spanish-speaking population in Princeton by helping them strengthen their bilingual skills and learn about their heritage more deeply.
   “One of the original goals of the program was to close the opportunity gap,” said Tew. “A lot of times when students move to the school district or move to America, they lose some of the foundational skills and pieces in their heritage languages … so we [are] targeting our [Spanish speaking] multilingual learners so that they can strengthen their knowledge base in both languages.”
   Olu Ogunyankin, a CP parent and a native of Guatemala, shared that the main reason her family chose to move to Princeton from South Brunswick was for the DLI program.
   “[Before starting at CP], even though we speak Spanish at home, [my son] would reply in English because he was in a Pre-K where they just spoke English. And [although] it’s been two months since the classes started in kindergarten, I see a huge difference in the amount of Spanish that he uses at home. He’s giving me sentences in Spanish, he’s replying in Spanish, and soon he’s gonna write in that language too,” Ogunyankin said.
The program is intended to help both native Spanish speakers and the already multicultural and multilingual families in Princeton who may not speak Spanish but want their children to continue learning in different languages.
   “We're targeting any family or child who believes in multiculturalism, biliteracy, and bilingualism. We have a lot of families who don't speak Spanish at home, but they might already be a trilingual or bilingual family, and they want their child to have that experience in school as well,” Tew said.
   PHS freshmen who took part in the first cohort of the DLI program highly recommend it for incoming elementary students at CP, finding that in addition to learning a new language from a younger age, the cultural immersion provided by the program has given them a different perspective of the world around them.
   “I feel like you're connected to a different culture. You're more immersed [and] you have a better ability to understand things around the world because you get to know people who were specifically part of that culture,” said Charles Baglio ’27, a member of the first DLI cohort. “[CP] did it really well … and it'’ an experience that you’ll take with you for the rest of your life.”
   For the parents who aren’t considering the DLI program, Milania Kapoor ’27, another freshman who participated in the DLI program, recommends that parents try the program for their children before they make a decision, expressing that the program will provide profound benefits.
   “I would say try it because you can always switch out of it … and ask to go to a different school,” said Kapoor. “It was an incredible experience for me. Not only are you learning a language but it's just a different experience … because you learn math in Spanish, you learn science in Spanish, … and you [become] so smart as a young kid.”
   With a growing Spanish-speaking population in the United States and an increasingly globalized world, learning a second language will become an important skill for future generations. How Princeton schools will balance an immersion program and potential overcrowding issues, however, may require compromise. 
   “It's a matter of everyone getting along and understanding each other better, and then building those bridges to actually move everyone forward as a society, which Princeton has the opportunity to do,” said Eastburn. “We really need to hammer that home to the public, because [an immersion program is] such a unique and important thing that we can offer as a district.”

Eight years on, PPS’s DLI program continues to bridge language gaps

With the Princeton Public Schools Board of Education election taking place on Tuesday, November 7, five candidates have entered the race to fill three open seats: Adam Bierman, Beth A. Behrend, Eleanor Hubbard,  Michele Tuck-Ponder, and Rene Obregon Jr. Current Board member Jean Durbin has decided not to run for reelection, while incumbents Behrend and Tuck-Ponder are both seeking a third term.

Adam Bierman
Native Princetonian and PHS alum, Adam Bierman ’78, is running for the Board of Education for the third time. After an unsuccessful run in the 2020 election, Bierman participated in the BoE’s strategic planning process, in which he hoped to address topics like overcrowding and understaffing in Princeton Public Schools.
“We just talk[ed] about nouns and pronouns and what we wanted a PHS senior to be,” said Bierman. “Discussing metaphors and words is interesting, but how does that translate to something substantial for our vision?”
Not only does Bierman hope to tackle the issues that matter, but as a social studies teacher who’s taught both abroad in Latin America and China, and locally in Mercer County, he believes that he has the experience needed to organize and implement programs proposed by the board.
“When you teach students… you have to learn how to deal with people on so many levels: emotional, educational, academic,” remarked Bierman. “We don’t agree on everything, but we find compromises and are able to move forward.”
If elected, Bierman stresses the importance of making sure that the district’s funding isn’t wasted in insignificant places, but is used where it matters most—education.
“I want to get rid of these distractions—I want to focus on education. Money should be driven back to the classroom … [because] the teachers, they are the front line,” said Bierman.

Beth A. Behrend
Having first joined the Board of Education in 2017 to tackle planning and budget challenges, Beth Behrend is running for re-election with the hope of ensuring that the district continues to offer a diverse set of programs and opportunities to all children, even amidst financial restraints.
“With a budget that's increasingly difficult [in an inflationary environment], we need to continue to be able to offer excellent curricular and extracurricular opportunities for all students,” said Behrend. “We have over half a million dollars in deficit every year if no prices go up … so we have to use the staff we have most effectively … and make sure there’s enough funding [while] teaching what is required and delivering a well-rounded education.”
After six years on the BoE, Behrend recognizes the importance of listening to students and parents, as well as honoring feedback and respecting different perspectives, but stresses the importance of continuing to move forward as stewards of the whole district.
“My focus is to meet the needs of the children as they come to us … to make sure that schools are more integrated [and] that we're not leaving anyone out … so that all kids have what they need to reach their potential” said Behrend. “There's so much to be done. It's a really exciting role and I just like to keep doing the work because it's very meaningful and it makes such an impact on the lives of so many kids.”

Rene Obregon Jr.
Lifelong New Jersey resident and CEO of the U.S. branch of the investment bank Numis Securities, Rene Obregon is one of the first-time candidates running for the Board of Education.
Having attended public school himself in Northern Jersey and with two sons currently enrolled at PHS, Obregon believes that good public school education is fundamental. 
“I don't think our school system is broken, I just think that there are some things that can be improved, [for example] communication to the community,” Obregon said. 
To do so, he hopes to use his background in collaboration and data analysis. Rather than using non-specific experience-based feedback, Obregon wants to introduce a data-based approach to evaluating school performance by, for instance, tracking school-wide percentages of passing grades or by zeroing in on metrics like chronic absenteeism.
“There's a lot of flowery language. But I think [that we] need hard key performance indicators so we can measure the progress of the superintendent and of the Board and what we're trying to do,” Obregon said. 
Obregon hopes to recreate trust between members of the PPS community and the School Board. 
“There's been a breakdown of trust, and it comes down to this communication and transparency. I think you can rebuild this trust with the students, the parents, and the taxpayers if you're just more transparent,” Obregon said. 

Michele Tuck-Ponder
Former Princeton Township mayor and long-time board member, Michele Tuck-Ponder, is the second candidate running for reelection this November. Tuck-Ponder first decided to run in 2017 to help provide more opportunities for disadvantaged students who may not progress to college and instead choose a different path.
“For every student, whether you want to go to an Ivy League school or become a chef, we should be thinking about how we can offer an education that is going to give the skills to be successful, no matter what it is they do,” said Tuck-Ponder. “I'm gonna stay on as long as I think I can make a difference in making sure that every student has an equal opportunity to succeed, and I don't think we're there yet.”
As a former public housing commissioner and affordable housing board member, Tuck-Ponder commends the many new developments in the district, but sees the consequent overcrowding issue in PPS elementary and middle schools as her main priority if she is elected to a third term.
“I know about the need for affordable housing in Princeton, but we have overcrowding in three of our elementary schools [and] in our middle school. We recognize that we can't put so much of a burden on our taxpayers that they can't afford to stay, so it's about being able to reach that balance and accommodate all students … while continu[ing] to aspire to a high quality education for all,” Tuck-Ponder said.

Eleanor Hubbard
Eleanor Hubbard, a former Princeton University assistant professor and author, is one of two new faces seeking election on the Board of Education. With the hope of bringing a teacher’s perspective to the board, Hubbard would focus on providing more academic oversight in terms of curriculum and instruction, as well as being a sensible voice for the Princeton community.
“I think we have board members who are really good at thinking about budgets and facilities … but I don't think that there is necessarily as much expertise in terms of thinking about curriculum and instruction, and those are issues that are very close to my heart,” said Hubbard. “I've taught both [at the] elementary school and college level, and I feel that that hasn't been the focus of the board for the past several years, and I think it's had some unfortunate consequences.”
In addition to revisiting the social studies and science curriculums in elementary schools, as well as solving the issue of rising enrollments and overcrowding, Hubbard hopes to rebuild trust between parents and board members.
“There’s been a lot of drama over the last couple of years. I've been talking to a lot of parents and a lot of people are angry and distrustful,” said Hubbard. “I think it's really important, if we're going to move forward in a positive way, for the district to focus on trust rebuilding work so that we can get to a place where we can work together and move forward.”

Meet the Candidates: 
2023 Princeton Public Schools Board of Education election

   This year, the PHS administration introduced Learning Labs, a supervised study environment during any free periods in freshmens’ schedule, including their P.E. free periods. The Learning Labs aim to help new students get acclimated to the high school schedule, workload, and environment and is held in the recently constructed New Wing. 
   “We really just want to support students [in] the transition [from middle school to high school]. As educators and as parents, we find that [it] can be challenging,” said PHS Assistant Principal Dr. Nicole Mantuano Lacsamana. “We're also providing [guidance on] … some of the soft skills that …  are not explicitly taught in regular classes; anything that will help them be successful in high school.”
  Improving safety at PHS is a priority this year as mentioned in this year’s strategic plan. As part of new safety measures, Learning Labs also provide supervision for freshmen during their free periods so that fewer students are unaccounted for during a given period.

   “When an emergency happens, I [should] know where you are so I can confidently say to parents, ‘you’re safe in this field,’” said PHS Principal Cecilia Birge. “If you wander off during your free time, I can’t do that … Legally, you're getting yourself into trouble. You’re getting your parents into trouble. You’re getting all the teachers you love into trouble.” 
 All freshmen have at least one Learning Lab in the span of one schedule rotation, but Learning Labs can also be assigned to students in other grades to make up for excessive absences. While in their Learning Lab, students can do many of the things they normally would do during a free period, including catching up on homework, doing independent work, and scheduling meetings with teachers. 
   “We're not trying to micromanage, but we are taking attendance, [and] we are responsible for them. For the most part, students work on school-related work,” said PHS special education teacher Adiba Syed, a teacher of a Learning Lab.
   The freshmen of PHS have found the Learning Labs quite helpful. Along with the transition to high school and a heavier workload, the Learning Labs provide them with an environment that’s both efficient and productive.
   “Learning Labs are pretty helpful. …If [students] have work, they [can] focus on their work, but if they don't, then they can just spend time with their friends, [which is also] nice. Everyone's pretty nice and supportive,” said Ivy Cordle ’27.
While the Learning Lab is more monitored than a traditional free period, many freshmen still find that they have enough freedom, and at times, even too much. 
“Because there is so much freedom, I found it very easy to waste the period socializing or otherwise procrastinating. The physical space, from its chairs to the layout of the tables, has been well designed to foster both student collaboration and individual productivity,” said Harry Dweck ‘27.
However, additional opportunities will also be offered in Learning Labs in the future, including lessons in note-taking, executive functioning, social-emotional learning, and cultural proficiency. Since Learning Labs are new this year, the administration and Social and Emotional Learning team are still determining how to organize these activities.
“I think it is actually doing a great job [so far] of supplementing classroom instruction,” said Syed. “Students are utilizing it [and] taking advantage of it to the utmost.” 


Learning Labs debut at PHS

To supplement Holocaust education during Jewish American Heritage Month, Holocaust survivor Eva Wiener shared her story with PHS students in a one-hour presentation on Tuesday, May 16. Sophomores attended the presentation in PHS’ Performing Arts Center, while other grades watched it online from their homerooms. The presentation also allowed time for a Q&A session.
During the event, Wiener described the persecution that she and her family faced as Jews leading up to and during World War II. When Wiener was born, the environment in Germany was becoming increasingly hostile towards Jewish people, and Wiener’s family was forced to leave the country in the aftermath of Kristallnacht (“the Night of Broken Glass”) on November 9, 1938. As a result, in 1939, at ten months old, Wiener became a passenger of the S.S. St. Louis, a cruise liner that was bound for Havana, Cuba. Onboard, it carried almost entirely Jewish refugees escaping persecution in Germany. However, upon its arrival in Cuba, the Cuban government did not permit the ship to dock due to antisemitic sentiment. The ship then traveled to the Florida coast, where it was similarly prevented from landing. Forced to return back to Europe, only four European countries decided to admit passengers. Wiener’s family was admitted to England and stayed there for the rest of the war. Unfortunately, the majority of those who went to the other three countries — France, the Netherlands, and Belgium — did not survive the war.
   Given that racial literacy is one of PHS’ priorities, this event was an important part of the school’s Holocaust education.
“Educational excellence today is no longer limited to just academic excellence; cultural proficiency and racial literacy are priorities as well. … [The] Holocaust was a horrific event in human history. By understanding the historical context and the gradual progression of events that led to the Holocaust, we can work to prevent similar atrocities in the future and promote a more peaceful and tolerant world. … Listening to Mrs. Wiener’s story makes us appreciate the sufferings and biases she endured, [and] it reminds us of the danger of hate,” said PHS Assistant Principal Nicole Mantuano Lacsamana, who conducted the Q&A session.
This event helped to supplement students’ understanding of the Holocaust by providing an opportunity to hear the personal story of someone who was directly impacted. 
“I think oral history is an important component of understanding. When you’re hearing it straight from someone who has a direct, personal connection, I think it’s much more impactful. The more we can do that, the better off we are as a people. It’s hard to encapsulate the Holocaust, [and] that direct connection has more meaning. It becomes much more tangible,” said Christopher De Young, a PHS History Teacher.
Ero Christy ’25, a sophomore who attended the presentation live, expressed that Wiener’s presentation conveyed a touching and an enlightening message. Personally, Christy was motivated to start looking at alternate view points.
“I thought it was really interesting and important for us to hear. It was powerful [and] effective in promoting awareness [of] history. [The] Holocaust [is] very real to me as something that happened in pretty recent history, but it did definitely change my perspective of what a Holocaust survivor [is] because her experience is not one of a concentration camp, and it’s instead one of a political survivor,” Christy said.
Although Wiener had not always considered herself a Holocaust survivor, since she did not fit the typical profile, she later changed her mind about going public with her story when she recognized the historical significance of the S.S. St. Louis.
“This ship became a symbol to the world of what the Nazi government was planning to do. They wanted to show the world that this cargo of Jewish passengers was not wanted [by] any other country [to justify their elimination of] Jewish people, [becoming] a forerunner of what [the Nazis] called ‘The Final Solution,’” Wiener said.
Realizing that she was part of this historical event, Wiener decided that she had an important role to play in passing along a message, with which she concluded her presentation. Wiener left the students in the audience with a task: with the number of Holocaust survivors decreasing, she asked that all students continue to share the stories of Holocaust survivors and pass along her message. 
“If allowed to survive, hate, bigotry, prejudice, and antisemitism will rear their ugly heads and overtake us again. And God forbid we should have another Holocaust,” Wiener said.
More broadly, she encouraged students to be active in bringing about change and to stand up to the injustice that continues to manifest itself today. 
“Don’t be a bystander,” said Wiener. “To be a bystander is as bad as being the perpetrator.”


Relaying messages from history: Holocaust survivor Eva Wiener speaks at PHS

To supplement Holocaust education during Jewish American Heritage Month, Holocaust survivor Eva Wiener shared her story with PHS students in a one-hour presentation on Tuesday, May 16. Sophomores attended the presentation in PHS’s Performing Arts Center, while other grades watched it online from their homerooms. The presentation was followed by a Q&A session.
During the event, Wiener described the persecution that she and her family faced as Jews leading up to and during World War II. When Wiener was born, the environment in Germany was becoming increasingly hostile towards Jewish people, and Wiener’s family was forced to leave the country in the aftermath of Kristallnacht (“the Night of Broken Glass”) on November 9th, 1938. As a result, in 1939, at ten months old, Wiener became a passenger of the S.S. St. Louis, a cruise liner that was bound for Havana, Cuba. Onboard, it carried almost entirely Jewish refugees escaping persecution from Germany. However, upon its arrival in Cuba, the Cuban government did not permit the ship to dock. The ship then traveled to the Florida coast, where it was similarly prevented from landing. Forced to return back to Europe, only four European countries decided to admit passengers. Wiener’s family was admitted to England and stayed there for the rest of the war. Unfortunately, the majority of those who went to the other three countries — France, the Netherlands, and Belgium — did not survive the war.
   Given that racial literacy is one of PHS’s priorities, this event was an important part of the school’s Holocaust education.
“Educational excellence today is no longer limited to just academic excellence; cultural proficiency and racial literacy are priorities as well. … [The] Holocaust was a horrific event in human history. By understanding the historical context and the gradual progression of events that led to the Holocaust, we can work to prevent similar atrocities in the future and promote a more peaceful and tolerant world. … Listening to Mrs. Wiener’s story makes us appreciate the sufferings and biases she endured, [and] it reminds us of the danger of hate,” said PHS Assistant Principal Nicole Mantuano Lacsamana, who conducted the Q&A session.
Nonetheless, this event helped to supplement students’ understanding of the Holocaust by providing an opportunity to hear the personal story of someone who was directly impacted. 
“I think oral history is an important component of understanding. When you’re hearing it straight from someone who has direct personal connection, I think it’s much more impactful. The more we can do that, the better off we are as a people. It’s hard to encapsulate the Holocaust, [and] that direct connection has more meaning. It becomes much more tangible,” said Christopher De Young, a PHS History Teacher.
Ero Christy ’25, a sophomore who attended the presentation live, expressed that Wiener’s presentation conveyed a touching and enlightening message.
“I thought it was really interesting and important for us to hear. It was powerful [and] effective in promoting awareness [of] history. [The] Holocaust [is] very real to me as something that happened in pretty recent history, but it did definitely change my perspective of what a Holocaust survivor [is] because her experience is not one of a concentration camp, and it’s instead one of a political survivor,” Christy said.
Although Wiener had not always considered herself a Holocaust survivor since she did not fit the typical profile of one, she later changed her mind about this in recognizing the historical significance of the S.S. St. Louis.
“This ship became a symbol to the world of what the Nazi government was planning to do. They wanted to show the world that this cargo of Jewish passengers was not wanted [by] any other country [to justify their elimination of] Jewish people, [becoming] a forerunner of what [the Nazis] called ‘The Final Solution,’” Wiener said.
Realizing that she was part of this historical event, Wiener decided that she had an important role to play in passing along a message, with which she concluded her presentation with. Wiener left the students in the audience with a task: with the number of Holocaust survivors decreasing, she asked that all students continue to share the stories of Holocaust survivors and pass along her message. 
“If allowed to survive, hate, bigotry, prejudice, and antisemitism will rear their ugly heads and overtake us again. And God forbid we should have another Holocaust,” Wiener said.
More broadly, she encouraged students to be active in bringing about change and to stand up to the injustice that continues to manifest itself today. 
   “Don’t be a bystander,” said Wiener. “To be a bystander is as bad as being the perpetrator.”


For the first time since 2016, the PHS Science Bowl team took home bronze, placing third in the New Jersey Regional Science Bowl. The team whizzed through rounds, pushing buzzers to answer fast-paced questions in biology, chemistry, earth and space science, energy, mathematics, and physics. 
   The team progressed quickly through initial rounds of elimination, working collaboratively in assembly lines during tough questions. Tensions were high in the final elimination rounds of the tournament. The scores between High Tech High School and PHS sat close, with the other team leading by just a margin of two points.
    “The [round] we got eliminated in [had] a two-point difference. The score was 76 for us and 78 for the other team, and it was on a bonus. If we got this bonus we would advance to the second place, and if we didn’t, we would be in third. It was a very intense bonus,” said team member Benjamin You ’23. 
   With a team consisting exclusively of seniors, most individuals had expertise in a couple specific categories instead of focusing on all five.
“We all have different strengths, like different subjects in science, so we cover our bases pretty well,” said Science Bowl team captain George Kopf ’23. “I am the bio guy, so all of the biological sciences are my jurisdiction.”
   Kopf plays an important role as team captain, leading the team during club meetings and tournaments. During the club meetings leading up to the big day, he created practice rounds of tournaments complete with buzzers. While these club meetings were essential in exercising team members' ability to apply their knowledge, they were also paramount for the team to strengthen their collaboration skills.
   “The [team's] performance is based more on how well we work with each other [than] how well we know each other, things like that,” You said. 
   Though the team will not qualify to compete at the National Science Bowl Tournament in April, their achievements have motivated them and demonstrated how their preparation behind the scenes paid off.
   “We expected to get out pretty much immediately, so this was better than expected. [These were] encouraging results,” said team member Samuel Whitley ’23. 
   Most of the team will graduate this year, leaving behind a lasting legacy on the PHS Science Bowl team. While gaining success at regionals through hard work, the senior veterans still want to preserve the important aspect of having fun. 
   “Join Science Bowl; it’s really fun. Don’t take it too seriously,” said Kopf. “Just do what you’re interested in, and [those topics] will usually come up.”

Flash Features: PHS Science Bowl team fights for success

On March 10, the PHS Student Council held its first annual “Dodge for a Cause” dodgeball tournament. The event, which teams of students from all grades signed up for, had the objective of raising funds for Arm in Arm, a food pantry based in Trenton. 
   As it was the first time it had ever been put on, this event was in the works for months before it took place. Eventually, though, 12 teams, a DJ, and dozens of spectators filled the gym with music, cheers, and squeaks of sliding sneakers.
   “The idea was brought up by the student body council as a whole, and then we brought it to the rest of StuCo,” said PHS Student Body President Ashley Chen ’23, explaining the origin of the tournament.
   Initially, StuCo was considering options like a dance or a game night, but it decided on dodgeball with the goal of beginning a new tradition that would more directly involve students. Members of the Student Council were enthusiastic that students could enjoy themselves while also being able to help the community.
   “We settled on dodgeball because we liked the idea and … how we could support a cause without needing people to pay [the $2] for entry. Bringing cans of food for admission was a nice and different way to do [that],” said Alicia Xu, vice president of the sophomore class. 
   Along with the $20 charged for a team entry, StuCo members ran a table for concessions that participants could buy for a couple of dollars each. 
   “My friends [and I], we all really love playing dodgeball, because it’s really fun. There’s the Corner House dodgeball event and Maddie [Castillo] and I are both actually in Corner House, and we had a lot of fun there,” said Leah Rose-Seiden ’24, a member of Team Maid, explaining her motivation to sign up. 
   Even though her team didn’t end up winning the tournament, Rose-Seiden still recommends participating in StuCo events, especially fundraising opportunities. 
   “It’s a lot of fun to come to these school events, because there aren't a lot of [them], and obviously it goes to a good cause,” Rose-Seiden said. 
   The Student Council also saw “Dodge for a Cause” as a victory, and plans to repeat the tournament in following years. 
  “It is a fun tradition to continue on every year and because of its success, we can definitely expand on the idea next year,” said Xu.

Flash Features: Dodge for a Cause

By June 30, PHS will have completed its transition between the college and career-planning platforms Naviance and Scoir. After several years of using Naviance to help students plan for post-secondary education endeavors, students and parents received notices in early January that the school would be moving to Scoir, a more interactive platform.                                                                                                                                           Previously, Naviance had been used mainly by students in grades ten and up, allowing them to research colleges and track community service hours. Also, when their college list was finalized, applications, letters of recommendation, and transcripts could all be sent through Naviance. The program could also be used to provide students in lower grades a personalized list of possible careers based on their interests, giving them insight for their future.  Despite these many capabilities, Naviance was not very user-friendly, prompting the change to Scoir.                                                                                                                                              
Although the switch was sudden and unexpected, PHS college counselor  Nipurna Shah reassures that not much will change.                                                                                                                                        
“Scoir does pretty much exactly the same thing [as Naviance…]. Scoir is a little bit more modern, and the user experience is much easier [...] Naviance is a little clunky,” Shah said.                                                                                                                                               Immediately after logging into Scoir, students are greeted by an enthusiastic message: “Welcome to the Scoir fam!” The site’s layout is organized to promote a more interactive user experience. Several helpful tools include a page that  allows side-by-side comparison of universities, a calendar for application deadlines and visits, and even a section that displays registration for office hour appointments with Shah. In addition, there are several elements not available on Naviance, including videos and Scoir’s own podcast “Inside College Admissions,” which gives detailed advice about the application process and features guests such as college admissions counselors.
Many schools in the area have already switched to Scoir, making PHS one of the last to get on the Scoir bandwagon. This program will be more accessible, since it can be downloaded as a mobile application on cell phones, allowing  the information on the platform easier to obtain and use for both parents and students.
“We really want to make sure that … counselors, parents, and students are all on the same page [throughout the application process],” Shah said.
Current juniors are the most likely to engage with Scoir, using it to start researching colleges and eventually organizing their college applications directly on the platform. 
 “I haven’t really had that much experience using [Scoir], but it seems to work. I don’t like Naviance [because] I think it’s really annoying to log into, so I say [the change is] great,” said Kailani Harrison ’24. 
Although this platform is most relevant for current juniors, Shah suggests that current freshmen and sophomores should start to interact with the website, as most underclassmen aren’t able to reap the benefits of the programs  that PHS pays for, due to the simple fact that most students aren’t aware of its existence.
“For ninth and tenth grade students, really just start exploring and playing around with it, [so that by next year], you’ll be really familiar with it. The college journey is really one of self exploration and finding those schools. Scoir makes it really easy [to start this process],” Shah said.
Since this is also the time of year when students have to start thinking about their course selections for the upcoming year, Shah suggests using the specialized career profiles and clusters on the platform to choose courses and participate in clubs that align with careers that interest them. These can be accessed by clicking on one of the many surveys present on the home screen or by clicking on the discovery tab located at the top right of the website. 
Meanwhile, there is good news for students who are concerned about how their hard-earned community service hours will transfer to the new program. Because x2VOL, the current software used, is separate from Naviance, community service hours will continue to be stored there, meaning that students won’t need to learn to navigate a new program. As of now, the administration is still working out the logistics of where the site will be accessed through. Whether the login information will be through Scoir or PPS link, Karas assured that students’ hours will not be lost.
“Don’t be afraid of the transition … just have fun with it,” Karas said.


PHS begins transition to Scoir, a new college planning software tool

   As announced in the Chmiel Spiel on November 2, a number of new security measures will soon be introduced at PHS, all with the goal of increasing student safety. Along with requiring all students and staff to wear ID badges, these new measures will prepare the school for an emergency by ensuring that all of the school’s doors and windows are numbered.
   These changes were not prompted by any particular emergency, but are meant to improve the general safety of the school for everyone. PHS Assistant Principal Rashone Johnson stresses that he and the administration strive to make safety a priority for everyone at PHS. 
   “Everything that we do we’re doing for the safety of the entire building … It’s not just one group of kids, we’ve got over 2,000 people that we’re trying to make sure are staying safe,” Johnson said. 
   The primary purpose of the lanyards will be to make it easier for staff to discern between students, visitors, and those who shouldn’t be in the building. Students will be given a colored lanyard and visitors a differently-colored lanyard so that staff can easily tell the difference between the two. 
   According to Johnson, the lanyards will also make it easier for teachers to take attendance by letting students quickly record their attendance using student ID badges.
   “Once we evolve, [students] will have the ability to tap into the rooms that [they are] going to for attendance…We'd be able to see where everybody is, and then we'll be able to sooner know who’s here and who’s not here, accountability-wise, so it makes everything happen a lot quicker,” Johnson said. 
   Another new security measure is that numbers are going to be assigned to all doors and windows, ensuring that in the case of an emergency, emergency workers are able to navigate to where they need to be as fast as possible.
   “When we’re talking about emergencies, time is extremely important, so we want [emergency workers] to be able to get to and know the situation as quickly as possible,” Johnson said. 
   The administration is attempting to have these new policies implemented as soon as possible. While the exact timing of these changes is dependent on when the supplies arrive, they hope to introduce the lanyard policy, specifically, sooner rather than later.
   Johnson hopes that the changes will be instituted smoothly and as a result, benefit PHS’s school climate. However, because of the limited amount of information that has been released about the plan, Johnson feared that it would receive some criticism. 
   Ero Christy ’25 expressed feelings that the new security measures were largely unneeded.
   “I understand that a lot of the security policies were put in place because some kids [might come] in who aren’t supposed to, but I think [the new changes] are really unnecessary … It doesn’t seem like it’s actually that much of a security issue,” Christy said.
   Koen Moulton ’23 on the other hand isn’t as worried about the changes, as long as their impact on day-to-day learning stays small. 
   “To be honest, as long as they don’t keep it too strict, then I’m okay with it, but if I have to constantly show my ID all the time, I think that would be pretty troublesome,” Moulton said. 
   In response to criticism regarding the plan, Johnson argues that student safety should be the biggest priority for the school. He hopes that going forward, students and educators alike will recognize the benefits of the new changes. 
   “We’ve heard some opinions, but everybody’s safety in the building trumps that stuff,” said Johnson.  “[Wearing a lanyard] is not as big of an ask as you might think for the safety that it increases in the building.”

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The Tower