New Providence BOE Presents Digital Wellness and Communication Goals Update

NEW PROVIDENCE, NJ – The Board of Education (BOE) continued its deep dive into the board goals at its Thursday, April 30 meeting. This time the board explained “Promoting Digital Wellness” and “Enhancing Family Engagement & Communications” goals. Superintendent Lauren Zirpoli and Director of Special Services Joseph Harvey presented the firstwhile Salt Brook School Principal Natasha Feliciano-Allen,Director of School Counseling Jillian Shadis and District Communication Coordinator Kathryn Mangel joined Zirpoli to discuss the latter.The goal of promoting students’ digital wellness is aligned with the district strategic goal #3 – “Strengthen the District’s commitment to students’ mental health and well-being through a comprehensive social-emotional learning (SEL) framework.” The board’s goal this year has been to create a districtwide wellness initiative that includes workshops for students at various grade levels, a professional development session for teachers, and one family engagement event with focus on the mindful and balanced use of technology, Harvey explained. Zirpoli explained how the district intends to extend this goal into next year. This year the district partnered with “the Mindful Generation” -organization with significant parent and community participation through a three-part series on “Anxious Generation,” a book by Jonathan Haidt. Over 90% of the staff members participated in the “Anxious Generation” book club. In the fall the district also implemented a new policy limiting students’ cell phone use during school hours. The policy has received positive feedback from the staff and allowed students to communicate more with each other face to face. Next year the district intends to bring “Project Reboot” which will start in October with student assemblies. The project is funded by the PTAs as well as the New Providence Education Foundation (NPEF), Zirpoli said. There will also be professional development sessions for the staff. During the public comment session Danielle Gargiulo of Mindful Generation announced that there will be an event for parents regarding parental tools controlling children’s screen time at the Allen W. Roberts School on May 19 at 7 pm. A parent also spoke about her family’s struggle to limit device use at home. She questioned the need for I-Pad use in theschools and suggested “an option to say no to the I-Pad.” “Enhancing Family Engagement & Communications” is linked in the strategic planning goal #5 “Design transparent, inclusive, and effective communication with all constituents” as well as goal #6 “Ensure equitable and sustainable resource allocation to support student access and engagement.” This goal will be revised and extended to the next year, Zirpoli said. The goal was broken into three parts: 1) to produce a community connections video introducing the strategic plan; 2) to hold two joint planning sessions with the board and parent groups to discuss current communications from the district; 3) to begin piloting the use of a QR-code for electronic payments, Shadis explained.Mangel thanked all parent groups that took part in the joint planning sessions for their input. At the first meeting the district outlined the goals for centralizing and consolidating the communications platforms. Based on feedback from the groups the district conducted further research regarding available platforms. The district identified “Parent Square” as the best option for “from school to home communications.” Mangel noted that the move “Parent Square” would be “budget-neutral.” The next meeting with the parent groups and stakeholders is scheduled for May 12, Mangel said. The district has also identified available payment gateways for any online payment capabilities. During the 2026-2027 school year the district will form a committee of stakeholders to explore all the uses of “Parent Square” and pilot its various functionalities at each school. The district’s plan is to roll out the platform during the 2027-2028 school year, Mangel explained.