To the Parents, Staff, and Community of the Hackettstown Public School District,

            I’d like to welcome you to a new and exciting school year in Hackettstown Public Schools. I expect that your summer was a relaxing summer filled with some good beach reading, time for enjoying friends and family, and maybe the opportunity to visit new places.  It’s my hope that all of these summer endeavors have prepared you to head into a new school year refreshed, eager to learn, and ready for new experiences.

            The Department of Special Services would like to extend a warm welcome to our new professional teaching staff at Hatchery Hill, Willow Grove, Hackettstown Middle School, as well as Hackettstown High School. We are fortunate to have these professionals join our staff.  We also welcome our two new district social workers, who will serve the district as a whole. 

            The Hackettstown School District Vision is as follows:

To provide a quality education that stimulates intellectual curiosity and strives to develop citizens who can contribute to and succeed in a global society. 

To create a nurturing learning environment that allows all students to maximize their potential and promotes a positive attitude toward lifelong learning. 

            To these ends, the district is committed to further embracing our inclusive education philosophy as we strive to improve learning outcomes for all of our students.  This year, we seek to improve the ways in which teachers collaborate and differentiate instruction and assessment to benefit our students.  Our district administration is committed to supporting our professional staff as we move forward toward our district vision.  We consider our teachers and parents to be partners, and encourage free, open and frequent communication between home and school, regardless of grade level. 

            To further support our vision of inclusion of all families, we will be continuing to hold special education Parent Advisory Council (PAC) meetings this year, and are seeking volunteers to serve on our PAC committee.  We are scheduled to meet three times this year, and depend upon your input, feedback, and suggestions to improve our schools for our students with disabilities.  In addition, we will be forming active English as a Second Language/Bilingual Parent Advisory Council committee to begin the discussion of those educational issues impacting our Limited English Proficiency and Bilingual families.  We invite members of our community - whether you have school-aged children or not - to join our ESL/Bilingual PAC.  We seek leaders in the region who have frequent interaction with our ESL/Bilingual community in the hopes of creating educational processes and opportunities which are responsive to the needs of this growing and important part of our society.  To volunteer for either committee, please email me at mreinknecht@hackettstown.org .

            I thank those members of the Hackettstown School community who have taken the opportunity to stop by to say hello, have called with questions or concerns, or have extended a warm welcome.  I remain accessible to you and encourage your participation as a vital member of our educational team. 

             My best wishes for your children’s success in school this year!

Michael Reinknecht

Director of Special Services