The Verona Public Schools is a comprehensive community

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public Primary school, primary or Secondary school, secondary schools or both in various countries. It is not to be confused with an attendance zone, which is within a school dis ...

that serves students in

pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

through

twelfth grade Twelfth Grade (also known as Grade 12, Senior Year, Standard 12, 12th Standard, 12th Class, or Class 12th or Class 12) is the twelfth and final Educational stage, year of Formal education, formal or compulsory education. It is typically the final ...

from

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

, in Essex County, in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. The Verona Public Schools (VPS) consist of six campuses: four neighborhood elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprising six schools, had an enrollment of 2,211 students and 182.3 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

student–teacher ratio The student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio refers to the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers or staff in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that ...

of 12.1:1.District information for Verona Public School District

National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the principal federal agency responsible for collecting, analyzing, and reporting data on education in the United States. Established under , it operates within the Institute of Education S ...

. Accessed February 15, 2022. The district is classified by the

New Jersey Department of Education The New Jersey Department of Education (NJ DOE) 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 ...

as being in

District Factor Group {{refimprove, date=February 2013 Membership in a District Factor Group (DFG) is an indicator of the socioeconomic status of citizens in school districts of New Jersey. DFGs were first developed by the New Jersey Department of Education in 1975 for ...

"I", the second-highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common

socioeconomic Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J. The schools provide students with a

liberal education A liberal education is a system or course of education suitable for the cultivation of a free () human being. It is based on the medieval concept of the liberal arts or, more commonly now, the liberalism of the Age of Enlightenment. It has been d ...

that meets and exceeds the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards. With nearly 95% of Verona's graduates pursuing a college education, most curricular offerings are oriented to college preparation. Vocational programs and transitional services are offered through the schools of the Essex County Vocational Technical Schools for those planning on heading directly to the working world. The schools offer special education programs to support students with learning disabilities including one of the state's model pre-school intervention programs.

Awards and recognition

For the 2004-05 school year, Laning Avenue School was named a "Star School" by the

, the highest honor that a New Jersey school can achieve. Other schools in the district recognized as Star Schools are Verona High School for 1995-96 and Forest Avenue Elementary School for 1998-99. The district has been recognized on three occasions with the Best Practice Award, honoring specific practices implemented by a district for exemplary and/or innovative strategies. Initiatives recognized include "Citizenship / Character Education: Teaching Responsibility Through Involvement" in 1997-98, "World Languages: Mandarin and Me" in 1998-99 and "Educational Technology: Rain Forest Robotics" in 2001-02.

Schools

Schools in the district (with 2020–21 enrollment data from the

) are: ;Elementary schools *Brookdale Avenue School with 131 students in grades K-4 **Nicole Stuto, principal *Frederic N. Brown School with 274 students in grades K-4 **Anthony Lanzo, principal *Forest Avenue School with 213 students in grades K-4 **Jeffrey Monacelli, principal *Laning Avenue School with 233 students in grades PreK-4 **Howard Freund, principal ;Middle school *Henry B. Whitehorne Middle School with 643 students in grades 5-8 **David Galbierczyk, principal ;High school * Verona High School with 686 students in grades 9-12 **Joshua Cogdill, principal

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are: *Diane DiGiuseppe, superintendent of schools *Jorge Cruz, school business administrator and board secretarySchool Business Administrator
Verona Public Schools. Accessed July 11, 2022.

Board of education

The district's

board of education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

, composed of five members, sets policy and oversees the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration. As a Type II school district, the board's trustees are elected directly by voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either one or two seats up for election each year held (since 2012) as part of the November general election. The board appoints a superintendent to oversee the district's day-to-day operations and a business administrator to supervise the business functions of the district.Board of Education Members
Verona Public Schools. Accessed July 13, 2022.

References

External links

Verona Public Schools
*
School Data for the Verona Public Schools

{{Essex County, New Jersey School Districts Verona, New Jersey New Jersey District Factor Group I School districts in Essex County, New Jersey