Volume LXXVI, Number 43
Therapy Dog Tiger Gets Ready to Help in PPS . . 5 Police Promotions Approved by Council . 10 Michael Graves Architecture Is Expanding . . . . . . . . 14 Coleridge Makes Room For Wharton, James, And Nicks . . . . . . . . . 20 NJSO Presents Unusual Piano Work with Fiery Soloist. . . . . . . 21 Davey Stars as PU Field Hockey Defeats Harvard in Ivy League Showdown . . 35 With Howes Making Strides, PHS Boys’ Cross Country Wins County Title . . . . . 39
Part One of Readers’ Choice Awards Results . . . . 26, 27 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . 24-25 Best of Fall . . . . . . . . . 2 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 28 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 51 Healthy Living. . . . . 32-33 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 18 New To Us . . . . . . . . . 30 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 49 Performing Arts . . . 22-23 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 8 Princeton Eats . . . . 45-48 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 51 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
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PPS Test Scores Remain Strong Despite U.S. Drops In an environment of national concern over the disastrous effects of the pandemic on students’ education, standardized testing data from Princeton Public Schools (PPS) indicates that local students are continuing to excel, performing well above state averages. Although New Jersey students did better than students in most other states, students in almost all states throughout the country saw significant declines in both math and reading, according to results released Monday on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, which tests fourth and eighth graders and is known as the nation’s report card. PPS administrators, however, had a different story to tell in their presentation last week to the PPS Board of Education, based on standardized testing results just released from the New Jersey Department of Education. “There is much to celebrate here,” said Elementary Education Supervisor Sarah Moore, as quoted in a PPS press release. “The key takeaway is that we had very few elementary students who did not meet or surpass expectations.” Presentation coordinator Kimberly Tew, PPS assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, noted that “while there is always room to improve,” scores had mostly risen over the past three years. “When you look at scores from 2022 and compare them to 2019, we see numbers trending in a positive direction with a few exceptions,” she said. Many standardized tests were not offered in New Jersey in 2020 and 2021, so most districts are comparing the most recent scores to data from 2019. “It’s an interesting comparison,” said Tew. “These are two very different cohorts of students and the data we are looking at now reflects what happened to students who had their education interrupted by the pandemic.” Several department supervisors presented specific parts of the test results, and “across the board, supervisors and administrators said they were pleased that PPS students scored well on the standardized tests,” according to the PPS press release. Tew pointed out some data on third graders, some middle school scores, and other areas that the district was Continued on Page 15
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Wednesday, October 26, 2022
Vigils Held in Memory of Princeton Student Two vigils were held on Monday, October 24 on the Princeton University campus to honor the life of Misrach Ewunetie, the 20-year-old student found dead near the school’s tennis courts last Thursday, October 20 after being missing for six days. A third vigil was scheduled for Tuesday evening, October 25, and a GoFundMe campaign launched to help Ewunetie’s family cover funeral, travel, and other costs had raised almost $96,000 by 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. One of the vigils, at which family members were present, was hosted by the Princeton Ethiopian and Eritrean Student Association at the University Chapel, with some 500 from the University community in attendance, according to an article in The Daily Princetonian. The other was hosted through the Office of Religious Life at Murray-Dodge Hall. Tuesday’s vigil was scheduled for 8 p.m. at Terrace Club, the eating club to which Ewunetie belonged. A junior from Cleveland, Ohio, who lived in Scully Hall and was majoring in sociology with a minor in computer science, Ewunetie helped out at a Terrace Club event on Thursday night, October 13, and was last seen by a suitemate brushing her teeth at about 3 a.m. on Friday, October 14. At 4:30 a.m., her
roommate returned to the dorm and Ewunetie was not there, according to her brother, Universe, in an interview with ABC News. After she failed to show up at an interview for her American citizenship application on Saturday, and was unreachable all weekend, Ewunetie’s family contacted the University’s Department of Public Safety on Sunday, October 16. A Tiger Alert was sent to the campus community the following day asking for information on her
whereabouts. A search of the campus and Lake Carnegie and the surrounding area was launched Wednesday. Ewunetie’s body was found on Thursday afternoon, October 20, by a University facilities worker. Two hours later, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office released a statement that the body had been found, and there were “no obvious signs of injury and her death does not appear suspicious or criminal in nature.” Continued on Page 8
Council Incumbents Look to Second Term; Election Early Voting Begins on Saturday With just two weeks until Election Day 2022, Michelle Pirone Lambros and Mia Sacks, both Democrats, are running unopposed for re-election to three-year terms on Princeton Council. Also on the ballot for Princeton residents is a congressional contest, an election for Mercer County Commissioners, and a race for three seats on the Princeton Public Schools (PPS) Board of Education (BOE). Both seeking their second terms, Lambros and Sacks were asked to share some of their accomplishments over the past three years and what they see as priorities for Council and the town of
Princeton in the upcoming months and years. Lambros wrote the following in her response: “When I ran in 2019, I had two main pillars of my campaign; I promised to help drive economic development, specifically to enhance and restore the vitality of our shopping and dining districts, and I promised to address affordability, which is causing the evaporation of socio-economic diversity in our town. I believe these two goals are synergistic; economic growth makes sense financially as the health of Continued on Page 12
PRINCETON FALL FEST: More than 90 makers and merchants, vendors, live music, and fall-themed offerings from businesses were featured at the Princeton Shopping Center on Saturday. Attendees discuss their favorite stores at the center, and what they would like to see added, in this week’s Town Talk on page 6. (Photo by Weronika A. Plohn)