inside this issue: Larwence Township Public School Back-to-School Bulletin
COMMUNITYNEWS.ORG
SEPTEMBER 2020 FREE
Schools to start remote
Deadline latest hurdle to Census accuracy
District commits to provide technology, childcare to those who need it
By MICHele AlPeRIn
As we approach the finish line for the 2020 Census, enumerators in New Jersey are facing serious obstacles to achieving a fair and complete count. A shortened deadline, fewer enumerators (formerly known as census takers) than planned due to the pandemic and fears of completing the census—particularly in the Latino community—sparked by actions and words of the Trump administration, are just a few of the hurdles in the way of an accurate count. The U.S. Census, completed every 10 years, “is designed to count every resident,” to determine apportionment of seats in U.S. House of Representatives and to distribute hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funds to local communities, according to census.gov. “There’s a concern from many, especially in the immigrant population, about privacy and security, especially when our current administration had, in many of our minds, been undermining the process: first, by trying to include the citizenship question, and lately by shortening the deadline,” says Princeton councilwoman Leticia Fraga, who is handling census activities in the town. The Trump administration, Fraga continues, is “also assertSee CENSUS, Page 6
By RoB AnTHeS
Lawrence High School junior Talia Schenck stands with a sculpture on the campus of Cornell University, where Schenck—one of the best players in the state—has committed to continue her academic and athletic career. She has set school scoring records each of her first two seasons at LHS.
On to Ithaca LHS field hockey’s Talia Schenck has two years left to leave her legacy By RoB AnTHeS
Talia Schenck had always figured to be a popular person among college field hockey coaches. A rising junior at Lawrence High School, Schenck set school single season and career scoring records as a freshman and a sophomore. She ranks as one of the 50 best
players in her class nationwide. In 2019, she finished 15th in the nation in goals scored. She is a member of the national team’s U16 Futures program. She has won Mercer County player of the year, along with every other individual honor at the local level. Coming into the final half of her high school career, Schenck surely expected to receive some attention from college coaches wanting her to continue her athletic and academic career at their schools. But what happened on June 15 even took Schenck by surprise. The NCAA—the govern-
ing body for most college athletics programs—-imposes restrictions for when and how its coaches can recruit high school students. In 2020, for the first time, coaches could not contact potential recruits until after June 15 of the student’s sophomore year. For Schenck, that was June 15 of this year, and not even a minute had expired before the first email arrived. Ultimately, 30 schools contacted Schenck, a remarkable number especially when considering only 78 colleges have Division I field hockey teams. See SCHENCK, Page 14
Lawrence Hamnett Soccer Association
Fall Soccer Programs – Ages 3+ See ad on page 16
Lawrence Township Public Schools students will begin the school year fully remote, after the township Board of Education approved the district’s reopening plan Aug. 12. The district broke reopening into five phases, numbered zero through five. LTPS will begin the 202021 academic year Sept. 8 in Phase One, an entirely remote instructional approach. Students will follow a set class schedule remotely, while teachers will provide virtual instruction to their assigned homerooms and courses following a similar schedule. School buildings will be open for staff, but teachers are not required to use the school or their classrooms to provide instruction. The district also said childcare with access to instruction will be offered via learning centers within school buildings. The Capital Area YMCA will provide the childcare, which students may attend daily from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. LTPS was the first school district in Mercer County to announce a switch to allremote. In its “Restart and Reopening Plan,” the district justified the decision by saying that the Department of See SCHOOLS, Page 13
Academy Dental CHILDREN
& ADULTS
Complete Dentistry for the Whole Family
AcademyDentalNJ.com
Currently Open for Emergency Dental Care See our ad on page 3
1179 NEWARK, NJ