John A. Carusi Middle School Share

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National School of Character; Promising Practice: Mustang Way; Sustainable Jersey Bronze; Certified School, Symphonic Band - 1st Place, “Superior” Rating, Best Overall Band; Jazz Band - 1st Place, “Superior” Rating, Best Overall Jazz Band; Show Choir - 2nd Place, “Superior” Rating; Orchestra - 2nd Place, “Superior” Rating; Girls Soccer 2018 SJSL Champs

Learn more about John A. Carusi Middle School.

Carusi staff inspire their students to meet the challenges of a globally competitive twenty-first century society; through an innovative curriculum, staff equitably address the academic, social, physical, and emotional well-being of our diverse community. Students must have the opportunity to demonstrate proper respect, responsibility, and positive citizenship in their schools and community. Carusi students “Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve”.

The Cherry Hill Public School (CHPS) District prides itself on providing all children with an education that develops open-minded thinkers with the strong academic and interpersonal skills to thrive in an ever-changing world and make it a better place for all. To meet the challenge of preparing students to be 21st Century learners, the adopted curricula are aligned to the New Jersey Student Learning Standards and supplemented with integrated technology to enhance student learning and overall performance. CHPS curriculum can be viewed on the curriculum platform Rubicon Atlas at https://www.chclc.org/academics/curriculum.

Baseball (Boys), Basketball (Boys & Girls), Bowling (Coed), Cheerleading (Coed), Cross Country (Boys & Girls), Field Hockey (Girls), Soccer (Boys & Girls), Softball (Girls), Track and Field - Spring (Boys & Girls), Wrestling (Boys)

Clubs are offered to encourage student participation in after-school activities. The clubs range from intramural sports to visual and performing arts to activities focused on students' interests and needs.

Our after-school Athletics, Visual and Performing Arts, and Academic support programs continue to be well attended and allow students a litany of extracurricular offerings and co-curricular opportunities.

CHPS prides itself on providing long-term, intensive, and personalized professional development which meets the needs of its entire staff. Professional Development offerings reflect the continuation of many curricular initiatives. Professional learning for staff includes job-embedded, collaborative learning that supports the development of enhanced instructional techniques, the use of assessment for learning and the fostering of learning environments/relationships that are conducive to learning. Over the past few years, the district has refined its work in certain areas and expanded in others through continuously assessing responsiveness of staff to the professional development offered. Professional development decisions are made in conjunction with the DEAC Committee and the building ScIP teams. Opportunities for professional learning are offered both in and out of district, through Flex Options, in-service days, during PLC time, and at the building and district level.

The Cherry Hill Public School District employs full time ELL teachers at all grade levels in designated magnet schools. Students with disabilities receive services in both general and special education classrooms in various types of programs throughout the school district. Every school in the district has an Intervention and Referral Services team responsible for identifying and supporting struggling students. Every school in the district has a school counselor and in addition, each secondary school offers the services of a SAC. Additionally, every school in the district has a school nurse to oversee the health needs of our students. A full explanation of services offered, including Intervention & Referral Services (I&RS) may be found at www.chclc.org/departments/special-education-student-services

The District currently offers breakfast in each building. At the secondary level, a hot breakfast and smoothie options are available. Policy 8505, Wellness Policy and Nutrient Standards for Meals and Other Foods provides details programs, procedures and curriculum as well as the District and School Level Wellness Committees.

Carusi's active PTA supports the needs of our community and offers grants to classrooms and opportunities for parents to become more involved in our school. The district's Special Education PTA is present at school events and collaborates with our local school PTA.

The Carusi Middle School was built in 1961. Renovations and additions took place in 1964, 1994, and 2000. Each day, the school personnel welcome approximately 950 students in sixth through eighth grade.

The District plans to continue security facilities upgrades at the middle schools this year. Campus police staff have been assigned to the middle schools. Security and fire drills are conducted as per DOE regulations.

Access to robust technology platforms and devices empowers our students to meet and exceed academic standards as outlined in the NJ Student Learning Standards for Technology, will support computational thinking, and will prepare CHPS students for life and careers in the 21st Century. Students and staff have access to a variety of technology including virtual reality, chromebooks, laptops, SmartBoards and makerspaces. As outlined on the NJ DOE website, “Readiness in this century demands that students actively engage in critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. Technology empowers students with real-world data, tools, experts and global outreach to actively engage in solving meaningful problems in all areas of their lives.” CHPS recognizes the need to continuously enhance its technology capacity to bolster its academic program K-12 with a forward-thinking “Future Ready” framework already embraced by the educational community nationwide.

The Cherry Hill Public School District is committed to a number of initiatives related to excellence, enhancing school communities and the Cherry Hill community at large. The Cherry Hill Public Schools has been named a National District of Character, including 2019 National Schools of Character Beck MS, Cooper ES, Johnson ES, Kingston ES, and Woodcrest ES. 14 CHPS schools have earned the distinction since 2008. Beginning in the fall of 2017, the district began a 5 year plan devoted to Cultural Proficiency/Equity/Character Education. The plan's purpose is to teach CHPS children and staff to live, learn, and work together in a vibrant and diverse world in which mutual respect is the foundation. In an effort to emphasize and maintain a strong, cohesive community, CHPS launched the district's "WE" brand in 2015, using a purple "W" to signify the school color of Cherry Hill High School West, and a red "E" to signify the color of High School East, brought together literally and figuratively to emphasize the district as one community, West AND East. This brand is used in communications, including the CHPS WEEKLY e-newsletter and all social media platforms. 10 of CHPS 19 schools are Sustainable Jersey for Schools certified in recognition of their work toward sustainability: 9 schools certified at Bronze Level and 1 school certified at Silver Level. The Cherry Hill School District also was named to the 9th Annual AP District Honor Roll in 2018. Joseph D. Sharp Elementary School was named a National Blue Ribbon of Excellence School in 2019.