The Hopewell Valley Regional School District is a comprehensive regional public school district

School district

School districts are a form of special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools.-United States:...

 serving students in preschool through twelfth grade from three communities in Mercer County

Mercer County, New Jersey

As of the census of 2000, there were 350,761 people, 125,807 households, and 86,303 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,552 people per square mile . There were 133,280 housing units at an average density of 590 per square mile...

, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

. The municipalities that are part of this district are Hopewell Borough

Hopewell, New Jersey

Hopewell is a Borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the borough population was 1,922.Hopewell was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 14, 1891, from portions of Hopewell Township, based on the results of a...

, Hopewell Township

Hopewell Township, Mercer County, New Jersey

As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 17,304. The racial makeup of the township was 86.7% White, 2.1% African American, 0.1% Native American, 8.9% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 0.5% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races...

 and Pennington Borough

Pennington, New Jersey

Pennington is a Borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 2,585.Pennington was established as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on January 31, 1890, from portions of Hopewell Township, based on the results of...

.

As of the 2010-11 school year, the district's six schools had an enrollment of 3,855 students and 339.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE

Full-time equivalent

Full-time equivalent , is a unit to measure employed persons or students in a way that makes them comparable although they may work or study a different number of hours per week. FTE is often used to measure a worker's involvement in a project, or to track cost reductions in an organization...

 basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 11.8.

The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education

New Jersey Department of Education

The New Jersey Department of Education administers state and federal aid programs affecting more than 1.4 million public and non-public elementary and secondary school children in the state of New Jersey. The department is headquartered in Trenton.The Department is responsible for ensuring that...

 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.

Awards and recognition

In 2011, the district was named to the College Board's AP Honor Roll. The honor roll consists of the 388 U.S. public school districts that simultaneously achieved increases in access to AP courses for a broader number of students and also maintained or improved the rated at which their AP students enarned scores of 3 or higher on an AP Exam.

In 2004, the district was named to the American Music Conference's list of the "Best 100 Communities for Music Education in New Jeresey". The district has been recognized repeatedly for the high-caliber music and performing arts programs it offers.

NAMM named the district in its 2009 survey of the "Best Communities for Music Education", which included 124 school districts nationwide.

The district's high school was the 38th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 322 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly

New Jersey Monthly

New Jersey Monthly is a monthly glossy publication featuring issues of possible interest to residents of the United States state of New Jersey...

magazine's September 2010 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", after being ranked 39th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The magazine took into account factors such as class size, teachers with advanced degrees, and socioeconomic factors.

Schools

Schools in the district (enrollment updates provided by HVRSD, 10/2011) are:

Pre-School Program

• PEECH Pre-School

Elementary Schools (Pre K-5)

• Bear Tavern Elementary School with 428 students
• Hopewell Elementary School with 474 students
• Stony Brook Elementary School with 418 students
• Toll Gate Grammar School with 300 students

Middle School (6-8)

• Timberlane Middle School has 951 students

High School (9-12)

• Hopewell Valley Central High School had an enrollment of 1,225 students

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are:

• Dr. Thomas A. Smith, Superintendent
• Mr. Richard Lang, Assistant Superintendent
• Robert W. Colavita, Jr., Business Administrator

Board of education

The Board of Education, who was elected by the Hopewell Valley community, is composed of the following nine-members.

• Lisa Wolff '12, President;
• Leigh Ann Peterson '12, Vice President;
• Daniel O'Connor '12, Pennington Borough;
• James Wulf '13;
• Gordon Lewis '13, Hopewell Borough;
• Stephen Keen '13;
• Roy Dollard '14;
• Adam Sawicki, Jr. '14;
• Laura Desai '14

According to Business Practice 9000, the local board of education has full power to operate the local public schools in compliance with state and federal mandates and pertinent to the laws of the municipality. The board functions as a corporate body only when in session.

The board of education sees these as its required functions:

• Policy Making
• Provision of Executive Resources
• Appraisal
• Educational Planning
• Financial Resource Provisioning
• Communication
• Dispute Resolution

External links

• Hopewell Valley Regional School District
• Hopewell Valley Regional School District, National Center for Education Statistics
  National Center for Education Statistics
  The National Center for Education Statistics is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance information in the United States...