Volume LXXVII, Number 19
“Magic and History Of Marquand Park” Walking Tour . . . . . . . 5 Brian Taylor to Highlight WJNA Meeting . . . . . 10 Proposed Food Waste Program Would Start with Two Collection Sites . 11 PU Sinfonia Closes Season with World Premiere . . . . . 16 PU Men’s Lax Tops Yale In Ivy Final, Will Play At Penn State in NCAA Opener . . . . . . 25 Making History in Debut Season, PHS Girls’ Golf Wins MCT, Takes 2nd In Sectional . . . . . . . . 28
Pianist Hélène Grimaud Helps Celebrate Brahms’ 190th Birthday . . . . . 15 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19, 22 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 23 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 36 Luxury Living . . . . . . . 2-3 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . 12-13 Obituaries . . . . . . . 33-35 Performing Arts . . . 17-18 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 36 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
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Math Program at PPS, Always Controversial, Ready to Forge Ahead With two of the world’s great mathematics institutions in Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study, the home of Albert Einstein, and an abundance of other math experts in numerous professions and activities, Princeton is definitely a math hotspot. “Math has always been a hot topic here,” said Princeton Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Kimberly Tew, who has just launched a comprehensive Math Program Review, which will include surveys and focus groups of students, teachers, and the community, as well as classroom observations and review of professional development offerings, schedules, course sequence, and placement processes. Two Princeton University math professor volunteers are assisting with the professional development review. “I’ve been told that since the early 1990s, the Math Program has been a conversation point about the Princeton Public Schools (PPS),” Tew continued. Beset by a host of mostly pandemicrelated challenges in recent years, including some declining test scores, the PPS Math Program has undergone more than its usual dose of criticism from the community, including concerns about the middle school curriculum and criteria for advanced courses, and complaints about lack of transparency and unresponsive administrators. Tew and Elementary Education Supervisor Sarah Moore, both new to the district this year, are decidedly not unresponsive administrators. “A 60-hour work week would be a vacation for them,” said PPS Public Information Officer Elizabeth Collier. “You can tell how many things they’ve implemented in the short time they’ve been here. I can’t imagine two people hitting the ground running the way they have.” Tew and Moore commented on the current state of math at PPS, as the district moves ahead with its program review and its transition to a new supervisor, to be recruited and hired before the start of the next school year. “We believe every child can love mathematics,” said Tew. “Too often we hear people say, ‘I’m not a math person.’ Even if students don’t love mathematical content, the mathematical practices can be Continued on Page 9
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Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Hearing for Dismissed Principal on May 15 Ousted Princeton High School (PHS) Principal Frank Chmiel will present his case for reinstatement at a public hearing, in person and livestreamed on YouTube, before the Princeton Public Schools (PPS) Board of Education (BOE) on Monday, May 15 in the Princeton Middle School cafeteria. Chmiel wrote in an email Tuesday afternoon, “I am grateful and enthusiastic about the chance to meet with the Princeton Public Schools Board of Education and for the community to be present at my Donaldson hearing on Monday night. The Board has been provided with inaccurate, incomplete, and even false information regarding my work as the principal of Princeton High School. This is a vital opportunity for me to share evidence regarding the truth about my performance and to set the record straight.” Starting at 7 p.m., following an hourlong period for public comment, the “Donaldson hearing” will provide Chmiel and his attorneys an opportunity “to convince the Board members that they have made an incorrect determination by not offering reemployment,” according to a New Jersey School Boards Association (NJSBA) document on nonrenewals.
“We are confident that we have a response to everything that the superintendent has used as a basis for Mr. Chmiel’s nonrenewal,” said David Schroth, Chmiel’s attorney. “We will give the Board every reason to reinstate Mr. Chmiel.” Chmiel and his lawyers recently received from PPS Superintendent Carol Kelley a “statement of reasons” for nonrenewal, and in the hearing they are expected to refute those reasons, which have not yet been made public, and to assert
Chmiel’s contributions to PHS and the district. Chmiel is in his second year as PHS principal and does not have tenure. There has been much speculation about what might be the reasons for Chmiel’s nonrenewal. With Chmiel and his lawyers having requested a public hearing, many will be attending Monday night’s session in anticipation of learning what those reasons are. In the form of rallies, petitions, and commentary in public media, support Continued on Page 8
Community Roundtable on Seminary Site Attracts More Than Just the Neighborhood
At a Community Roundtable held by the municipality to discuss the redevelopment of a tract that formerly included Princeton Theological Seminary housing and administrative offices, it became clear that the future of the five-acre site is of concern not only to residents of the surrounding neighborhood, but to those living in other areas of Princeton as well. Some 80 people attended the gathering about the former Tennent-RobertsWhiteley campus at Witherspoon Hall on Saturday morning, May 6. Several spoke
in favor of affordable housing on the site, with many who live near the property requesting that the architecture of the neighborhood, which includes many historic buildings, be respected in the process. Referred to as the “contract purchaser,” Princeton-based developer Jamie Herring was present at the meeting, but did not speak. Princeton Council President Mia Sacks opened the gathering, saying the governing body is committed to bringing a Continued on Page 8
HONORING THE PAUL ROBESON TOMATO: In celebration of Paul Robeson’s 125th birthday, the Arts Council of Princeton (ACP) sought inspiration from the tomatoes for which our region is famous, with a special emphasis on the variety named in his honor. ACP artists Maria Evans and Melissa Kuscin designed and painted this mural — the ninth in this rotating spot on Spring Street that continues despite ongoing area construction — to highlight this milestone and an initiative by the Paul Robeson House of Princeton to distribute Paul Robeson Tomato seeds as part of their Robeson Freedom Garden Campaign. (Photo by Weronika A. Plohn)
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