August - September 2001 Edition

Bruce Watson Addresses League   By Sylvia Gaddi   The new Superintendent of Schools for Fair Lawn, Bruce Watson, was the guest speaker at a recent meeting of the League of Women Voters of Fair Lawn. Mr. Watson, formerly the Business Manager under Dr. Robert Byrne, has both classroom and management experience. As superintendent, Mr. Watson told the League members that he will continue to steer Fair Lawn into areas that he feels are important for the future, including:   The importance of early intervention:  The schools will try to resolve potential problems while students are still very young and then follow up with these students.  He also hopes to expand the Alternative High School Program to include 9th graders.  (This program is currently designed for students in the 10th through 12th grade who are at risk of dropping out of school.)    Preparing for changing demographics:  Changing demographics require a new emphasis on issues of diversity. Mr. Watson plans on  reorganizing the ESL (English as a Second Language) program.  ESL teachers will perform more remedial work with ESL children and these teachers will train other teachers to better understand the needs of ESL students.   Involving the entire community:  Mr. Watson will work to obtain support from the entire community for the schools and its goals. In the year 2030, he noted, there will be only two workers for every retiree. It is important that the generations work with and understand each other better.   Piloting a New Computer Lab:  New laptop computers will be used by Warren Point elementary school students during the day and by tuition-paying Community School students at night.  The computers are part of a wireless lab -- the equipment will be on a rolling cart and requires only a place for the cart to plug in, making it possible to use these computers in many different rooms.   In response to questions about security at the high school, Mr. Watson explained to the League members that the students are given ID cards and there will be plain-clothes security guards at the high school.   For more information about the League of Women Voters of Fair Lawn, call 791-2828.   What Do You Think?: Send an e- mail to editor@fairlawnnews.com or post a message on the Fair Lawn News Discussion Forum.