Summary and History
Roosevelt Elementary School is located in the heart of New Brunswick. The school has an enrollment of 900 students in Kindergarten through 5th grade. The town is culturally diverse and the home of Rutgers University. Roosevelt School is committed to Preparing, Empowering and Inspiring life-long learners and leaders. We strive to build strong relationships with students, parents and the community at large.
Our dedicated staff works diligently to ensure that our students are immersed in a learning environment that is engaging, challenging and supportive. We have developed a professional learning community where we share and learn from one another. By doing so, we ensure rigorous high-level tasks during our delivery of instruction, which is aligned to the Common Core Standards. Our teachers are enrolled and engaged in professional development that focuses on the latest educational trends and best practices.
We work to provide Parent Workshops that prepare our parents to better assist their children at home. We encourage our staff, parents, and students to work as a family not only to celebrate our accomplishments but also to learn from our challenges in order to make us stronger and better able to conquer our dreams. It is the core practice of “I Can, I Will, I Must.” The “I Can” represents the affirmation of our professional abilities to deliver meaningful instruction. The “I Will” denotes the desire to improve and achieve school goals. Finally, the “I Must” recognizes the urgency to maximize student achievement and meet our benchmarks.
During our academy periods, students receive both intervention and enrichment in the content areas of Language Arts and Mathematics. Students are identified and placed into groups using various data points that determine the focus of instruction. The academy block remains fluid, as data is analyzed every six weeks and students are regrouped based on their current learning needs.
Our Music department has expanded tremendously over the past two years. Our instrumental music program has increased by 150% since the 2014-2015 school year. In addition, we offer a strings program to our students in fourth and fifth grade. Our third-grade students are introduced to the recorders in the 2nd marking period.
We are fortunate to students to the Arts at Roosevelt School. Our second and third-grade students are the beneficiaries of the Dance Power Program. These students are given explicit dance instruction, by the American Repertory Ballet’s Princeton Ballet School, during their physical education periods and, at the culmination of their training, perform in a recital at the State Theater. George Street Playhouse also hosts a residency for our third and fourth-grade students. The students in this program learn acting skills and finish the program with their own theatrical performance. New Brunswick Public School District also has a partnership with Robert Wood Johnson Fitness and Wellness Center. Because of this relationship, swimming lessons are provided to all fourth-grade students.
There is a vast array of tutoring programs available for our Roosevelt School students. These programs target students at different grade levels. For example, the Youth Empowerment Services Program services first and second-grade students. The Puerto Rican Action Board tutors service third-grade students. Rutgers Tutors service students in fourth and fifth grade. The Youth Service System assists students with their homework and provides recreational activities, which encourage team building.
Chrome Books have been issued to students in the third through fifth-grade classrooms. The kindergarten through second-grade classrooms have access to laptop carts, containing twenty-five laptops in each cart. Children work on programs such as Achieve 3000, RAZ Kids, IXL, and Digital Read Works, to name a few.
Students in grades K-5 attend a weekly Spanish class with a certified Spanish teacher. During this period, students are immersed in the language. For some, it reinforces the Spanish vocabulary they may already have; however, for others, it opens their world to a second language.
Throughout the regular school day students, in grades 1-5, may receive basic skills instruction in language arts and/or mathematics. This intervention is based on students’ needs and the Core Phonics Survey is used to determine what students will be taught. Students in grades 3-5 receive basic skills instruction for up to two periods a day, four days each week.
We have a full-time school guidance counselor and social worker available throughout the day to help students with personal as well as academic issues. Both the school counselor and the social worker provide lunch groups to assist students in problem-solving, social skills development, self-esteem and other issues that may arise. The counselors have trained our teachers to implement lessons in social-emotional learning. They have also supported teachers in creating classroom environments that foster social and emotional growth.