Wayne’s Packanack Elementary School Recognized As One of Top Schools in NJ for Post-Pandemic Academic Recovery

WAYNE, NJ – Packanack Elementary School was recognized as one of 52 public and charter schools in New Jersey who “demonstrated exceptional growth in student performance when comparing pre- and post-pandemic performance in English Language Arts and Mathematics.” These schools were selected to participate in a research project aimed at identifying best practices to “improve learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

It was post-pandemic elementary-level assessments carried out under the direction of the New Jersey Department of Education that showed where NJ school districts stood in Math and English Language Arts (ELA). The Wayne Township Public Schools’ overall assessment results identified some areas of concern in these subjects in grades three and five, but as part of a district-wide effort to address this, assessment scores have risen.

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But none more so than at Packanack Elementary School.

Superintendent of the Wayne Schools, Dr. Mark Toback said that all the schools in the district “rose to the occasion” of a “very difficult time,” and “took every action possible to maintain learning under less-than-ideal conditions.” But Packanack students in grades three and five have "in many instances, rebounded to at or above the pre-pandemic scores." For Toback, this demonstrates “the extraordinary efforts of the teachers and administrators while also serving as reassurance that [students] have recovered academically from the pandemic.”

From about 2,000 elementary schools in the state of New Jersey, Packanack Elementary was chosen as one of 52 public and charter elementary schools that participated in this project.

Packanack Principal Ken Doolittle, who took over last year as head of the school, worked with the researchers along with the grade-level educators focusing on strategies the school put in place which helped their students recover-academically at a faster pace than most schools in the state.

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The Promising Practices Project is being run by two groups at Rutgers University - the New Jersey State Policy Lab and the Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies, and the goal is to “identify and spotlight innovative practices that New Jersey schools implemented to accelerate student learning.”

Packanack Principal Ken Doolittle, who took over last year as head of the school, worked with the researchers and said a “theme continued to surface,” that the school’s success was due to a community-wide effort of parents, educators and administrators.

“Teachers, assistant principals, building administrators, and parents worked together to identify students’ needs and gaps and truly worked together to support our kids,” he said. “It was, and continues to be, a team effort where everyone takes ownership of the growth of our children and can share in student success.”

Using data to identify areas of need for grades, classes and students - as well as areas of strength, allowed them to lean on those strengths to bolster learning where it was needed.

“There was not one specific action that led to students’ success but rather a collective effort across the building, district, and community,” said the Packanack Principal.

According to a statement released by Gov. Phil Murphy’s office, “The findings from the study will be presented in a formal report, with the goal of sharing the innovative learning approaches with schools throughout the state via presentations, resources, and convenings, so other educators can effectively replicate the successful programs and initiatives.”

“Working together to identify classroom-tested strategies that address our children’s most pressing academic needs is paramount,” said Murphy . “Through the Promising Practices Project, we are pulling together invaluable first-hand feedback from educators across the state – from Sussex to Cape May – to support accelerated learning and ensure our students are on pace to meet their educational goals.”

“We hope that teachers statewide will be able to capitalize on the information in this initiative to provide students with innovative approaches tailored to their learning needs,” said Kevin Dehmer, Acting Education Commissioner . “We know that students throughout the state have struggled to fully recover academically in the post-pandemic world, and we remain committed to ongoing efforts to support their growth.”

The statement went on to say that, “The research focuses on promising practices in curriculum, and may include other metrics such as school climate, summertime and after-school programs, and unique approaches to meet the needs of student populations. The Promising Practices Project is exploring how individual schools successfully served students’ unique needs. For more information about the project, please visit the Promising Practices webpage .”

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