BRIDGEWATER-RARITAN REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

Serving The Communities of Bridgewater Township And Raritan Borough

Welcome Back

The last week of summer vacation is upon us, and I hope you share my excitement to begin the 2023/24 school year. As we start the new school year, I want to extend greetings to students, parents, guardians, faculty, and staff. Mark your calendars: The first school day is Wednesday, September 6.

With the start of the school year around the corner, our human resource department and building leaders have succeeded in staffing our schools with excellent professionals who will add to the first-rate educational experience offered throughout our district.

Here in the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District, our commitment to enhancing learning environments for our community is unwavering. Last March, voters resoundingly approved a building referendum to transform our district facilities, enriching the learning environment for all. Please keep Tuesday, November 7, highlighted on your calendars, as an additional question will be presented to fund full-day kindergarten operations, aiming for a start in September 2026. Additional details are located in a later section of this newsletter.

The Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District has made substantive progress in enhancing safety protocols. We've brought in additional personnel and fostered a closer collaboration with local police departments, fortifying our commitment to student safety. Ensuring safe travel, we continue to provide courtesy bussing to eligible students within our district.

The district is experimenting with a “new look” for our communications platform. Please check out our monthly newsletters, which will be emailed and posted to our website.

Welcome to a new school year!

Robert Beers

Superintendent of Schools

Congratulations to the Bridgewater-Raritan Class of 2023

On Thursday, June 22, the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District honored 658 graduates in the confines of Vaughn Stapleton Gymnasium. Speeches and remarks were delivered by Student Council President Amanda Hirsh, Senior Class President Avanti Patwardham, Board of Education Member Jennifer Loughran, and Principal Daniel Hemberger.

Please click the button below to see post-graduate plans for our students. Once more, congratulations to the class of 2023!

Destinations for BRRSD Grads

Referendum 2023: Full Day Kindergarten

On November 7, 2023, the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District Board of Education will propose a referendum vote to fund the operating costs of full-day kindergarten for $2,460,000. This dollar amount will cover recurring expenses, including additional teachers, custodians, bus drivers, and utilities associated with adding full-day kindergarten.

In March 2023, voters overwhelmingly approved two bond questions funding renovations throughout the school district. The facilities costs associated with full-day kindergarten have been approved, which includes shifting grades across the school district. Under the new plan, the primary schools will serve grades K-3, Intermediate schools will house grades 4 and 5, and middle school will cover grades 6-8.

Passage of the November question will result in full-day kindergarten with a targeted starting date of September 2026.

For additional information related to the district referendum, please click the link below.

Referendum 2023

Bridgewater-Raritan Welcomes New Staff!

Please join us in welcoming 72 new Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District family members.

The Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District welcomed our new faculty and staff members on Monday, August 28, when the annual introductory breakfast was held at the Somerville Elks Lodge in Bridgewater.

We are grateful that these talented individuals chose Bridgewater-Raritan as their professional home.

New Staff for 2023/24

Bridgewater-Raritan Welcomes New Administration

The Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District hired four new supervisors to lead their respective departments during the 2023/24 school year. Please take a moment to read their bios and click on the links for detailed stories posted over the summer.

Tamara Jean-Jacques: Supervisor of Special Services, Grades 5-8

Dr. Jean-Jacques comes to BRRSD after serving as the Supervisor of Special Services for the Irvington Public Schools. Before being appointed a supervisor, she worked as a School Psychologist in the Child Study Team for the Irvington Public Schools. Dr. Jean-Jacques will work with middle school and intermediate students in her role, supervising special services teachers at both the Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School and the Eisenhower Intermediate School.Tamara Jean-Jacques Article Link

Matthew McCarthy: Supervisor of Fine and Performing Arts

When hired last March, Mr. McCarthy quickly acclimated to the BRRSD's highly acclaimed Fine and Performing Arts department. Within days, he coordinated the Festival of Arts 2023 Chorus, Orchestra, and Band concerts. He helped create four new theater arts courses that will be taught at the high school this year. Before arriving in Bridgewater, Mr. McCarthy was an East Brunswick Public Schools fine arts teacher. Matthew McCarthy Article Link

LeighAnn Matthews: District Supervisor of ESL and World Languages

Ms. Matthews was promoted from her task as the ESL Instructional Coach for K-12 to her new position at a Board of Education meeting on May 23 this year. Ms. Matthews has served as an ESL coach with the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District since 2019. Ms. Matthews also serves as the president of NJTESOL/NJBE and serves on the New Jersey Department of Education Bilingual Advisory LeighAnn Matthews Article Link

Lisa Lattarulo: Supervisor of Counselor and Wellness Pre K-8

Ms. Lattarulo comes to the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District from Chatham, where she served as a teacher, Student Assistance Counselor, and Supervisor of Student Health and Well Being. Ms. Lattarulo held numerous roles throughout her tenure, including the Faculty Advisor for Gay Straight Alliance and Co-Advisor for Teens Against Tobacco Use. Ms. Lattarulo also served as a swim team coach, where she was the Morris County coach of the year in 2004. Ms. Lattarulo is a graduate of Bridgewater-Raritan High School East. Lisa Lattarulo Article Link

Curriculum Corner

Throughout the summer, supervisors, the Office of Curriculum and Instruction, and approximately 150 staff members worked on 65 curriculum projects spanning grades K-12 and multiple content areas. Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District focused on improving our offerings and creating new student opportunities. The team wrote new curricula, modified existing curricula, and created many additional resources.

Specific curricula were developed in response to program evaluation recommendations, including small group investigations and 4th-grade cluster grouping in mathematics that are now part of a continuum of services in our gifted and talented programs. Bridgewater-Raritan has significantly increased the number of students receiving G&T services in each one of our primary schools!

A new English as a Second Language curriculum focused on language-acquisition strategies to effectively support our language learners. The primary schools are excited to welcome ESL in every homeschool this September, thus providing equity for students and families across the district.

The District has also added high school concentrations providing pathways for students to pursue specific interests. Courses in cyber security, theater arts, technical theater, and musical theater were developed and will be implemented during the 2023/24 school year.

Finally, the team revised the pacing of middle school world language courses, developed new literacy units K-12, and aligned our curriculum to our new mathematics resources in grades K-5.

Bridgewater-Raritan Athletics

High school athletic practices officially started during the month of August. The football team kicked off their practices on Monday, August 7,, while the rest of our sports began during the week of August 21.. Bridgewater-Raritan High School offers eight sports during the fall season with over 750 participants. For the most recent athletics information and results, please visit:

Bridgewater Athletics Website: https://hs.brrsd.org/athletics

Follow on Twitter: @BRHSPanthers

Bridgewater-Raritan High School athletics welcomes four new head coaches for the 2023 season, and we are excited to see the positive changes they will bring to their respective programs.

All four new head coaches served their apprenticeships as Bridgewater-Raritan Assistants before they were elevated to head coaching positions for the fall season.

Sami Strathern enters her second year on the field hockey staff at Bridgewater-Raritan. Coach Strathern came from Drew University, where she served as an assistant coach after her playing career. She has adopted a quick approach to the game, encouraging her players to attack the goal. Her team bonding during the hot days of summer workouts has also resulted in an upbeat attitude at the 1000 Turf Field. Sami Strathern Article Link

The football sideline at Basilone Memorial Field in Bridgewater will now be under the command of DJ Catalano. Coach Catalano brings a high energy level as the Head Football Coach at Bridgewater-Raritan. He has instituted a fast-paced style on offense and a swarming defense. He served one year as an assistant at Bridgewater-Raritan after a successful tenure in a similar role at Somerville High School. DJ Catalano Article Link

Joshua Everett not only has been a top assistant on the volleyball staff to the man he replaced, Cory Romanak, but he also played for the hall-of-fame coach at Bridgewater-Raritan High School. Coach Everett, a graduate of Bridgewater-Raritan in 2006, has been an assistant for ten years for the girls' volleyball team. He plans to build on the prior accolades of this successful program, with the main emphasis on building successful student-athletes. Joshua Everett Article Link

Mark Heinbach, who is serving as the new head coach of the boys' soccer team, has been on the staff since 2004. Coach Heinbach will replace a hall-of-fame coach in Rick Szeles, who retired after his 32 seasons last fall. Coach Heinbach played and graduated from Drew University after a stellar career at East Brunswick High School. Mark Heinbach Article Link

Facilities Upgrades

This summer, the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional School District has been busy updating and reinvesting in our facilities in several of our buildings. The projects listed below represent our commitment to excellence and enhancing the learning experience for all students. As we begin bidding out the improvements approved through our March 2023 bond referendum, the number of projects will significantly increase.

Media Center Renovations: Adamsville, Crim, JFK, Van Holten, Bradley Gardens
Sound and lighting system: High School Auditorium
Paving, Walkways, Drainage: Crim School
Back loop paving: High School
Outdoor Patio: High School
Track Resurfacing: Middle School
Painting: John F. Kennedy School, Eisenhower School, High School
Roof Replacements: 500 and 600 buildings: High School
Culinary Arts Rooms: High School
Classroom furniture replacements in several grades throughout the district