Current Bordentown
MAY 2025 FREE
COMMUNITYNEWS.ORG
Bordentown schools just about average in annual state report By JOE EMANSKi
Connor Collora at the plate for Bordentown High baseball.
Scotties’ Collora enjoying every at bat before going to college to pitch By JuSTiN FEiL Connor Collora is making the most of every opportunity that he gets with the Bordentown Regional High School baseball team. Every inning on the mound, every opportunity in the field, and whatever at bats he gets. Next year, his focus will be narrowed. The bat will be taken
out of his hands when he joins the La Salle University baseball team as a pitcher. College pitchers almost always focus exclusively on pitching. “I’m just trying to enjoy every at bat because this is the end of it,” said Collora, who plans to study business in college. “And I’ve been playing baseball and hitting my whole life, so it’s kind of weird to just think about it all
stopping. But I’m trying to enjoy what’s left of it.” Collora will still have plenty of baseball left as he fulfills his dream to play college ball. And at the high school level, his last year has him taking on a larger role than he’s had in previous seasons for the Scotties, who are the defending Burlington County Scholastic League tourSee COLLORA, Page 18
See our ad on pg 3
Recent focus in Bordentown has understandably been on the regional school district’s tentative 2025-26 budget calling for massive cuts and significant reduction in staff. But in addition to questions of how the district will budget for the upcoming school year, there is also the question of how district students have performed in recent years. The New Jersey Department of Education released its annual reports assessing how students in every school district measure up on key educational metrics, including standardized assessment performance and attendance. So how are the Bordentown Schools doing overall, according to the Department of Education? Overall, district students are meeting state standards in mathematics, but slightly below state standard in English language arts. And at the elementary school levels, these numbers are slightly, but significantly, better. This is according to the state’s measurements of both how students performed on statewide assessments (NJSLA and DLM)
as well as how the state measures “student growth.” Another key metric reported by the DOE is attendance. The state classifies students to be “at risk” if they are chronically absent. Students are considered chronically absent if they miss 10% of school days. In the Bordentown school district, 9.8% of students meet this criterium — below the state median of 14.9%. By this measurement, Bordentown has fewer at-risk students than the median New Jersey district. Across New Jersey, chronic absenteeism is at 14.9%, a decrease from 16.6% in 20222023, but well above the prepandemic rate of 10.6% in 2018-2019. In terms of graduation, Bordentown students are graduating at a 93.3% rate in four years, and 95% in five years. Both figures meet state standards. In terms of readiness for college or a career, the picture for Bordentown students is more of a mixed bag. Student performance on Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses is more than 10% See SCHOOLS, Page 12
Now Open! see our ad on page 18
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID SPRINGFIELD, MA 1179 PERMIT NO. 142 NEWARK, NJ