BY ANN GENADER
WEST MILFORD — The National PTA School of Excellence is a recognition program that supports and celebrates partnerships between PTAs and schools to enrich the educational experience and overall wellness for all students.
“Upper Greenwood Lake (UGL) School joined an elite group of schools recognized by the National PTA in 2014,” said School of Excellence Chair Heather Commoreto. “The UGL PTA is excited to announce we have begun the journey of once again becoming a National PTA School of Excellence.”
Commoreto explained that to be recognized for the title there is need to gather data, set a goal, and work to achieve it by June.
The goal for the current school year is to “Ensure Health and Safety of Students” with an objective to support their emotional and mental well-being. Building self-esteem to replace any negative/bullying behavior is also part of the effort.
“Mental well-being is a worldwide concern for all,” Commoreto told The West Milford Messenger. “Many important social issues that define your mental health begin in the elementary years. Mental health will never be a quick fix, but starting the conversation with parents and students will be the start to finding balance.”
To keep everyone up to date with the process and progress toward the goal, the PTA committee is publishing a newsletter. The first publication of their “National PTA School of Excellence Newsletter” came out in January. It outlines the plan and invites people to visit their web page to stay up to date with progress toward reaching the goal.
The first part of the plan involves PTA gifted improvements to the social workers room to make it a welcoming environment. Plans by the PTA are to publish before and after pictures of the room.
With a counselor for two schools now available, effort will be made to having the district assign a full-time person at Upper Greenwood Lake School, according to the first newsletter.
Another part of the plan involves helping the self esteem of the students by encouraging thinking about a bigger picture and life plans.
This included a “Teacher College Celebration” in which teachers at Upper Greenwood Lake School shared information with their students about where they went to school – with details about what excited them about those special years.
An assembly program with former students who are now attending colleges was also held.
“Getting the National PTA School of Excellence title would be outstanding, but getting our district and town talking about the importance of mental health would be an asset to the whole town,” said Commoreto. “We invite all members of the community to join us in these very important conversations. If anyone would like to discuss our plan, other ways to raise awareness of mental health or would like to sit on our School of Excellence team, please contact me at 201-602-6683.”
The PTA website is uglpta.org.