Cranbury School District

Cranbury School District
Address
23 North Main Street Cranbury , Middlesex County , New Jersey , 08512 United States
Coordinates	40°18′43″N74°31′08″W / 40.3120°N 74.5188°W / 40.3120; -74.5188
District information
Grades	PreK to 8
Superintendent	Jennifer K. Diszler
Business administrator	David Weidele
Schools	1
Students and staff
Enrollment	463 (as of 2020–21) [1]
Faculty	55.9 FTEs [1]
Student–teacher ratio	8.3:1 [1]
Other information
District Factor Group	J
Website	www.cranburyschool.org
Ind. Per pupil District spending Rank (*) K-8 average  %± vs. average 1A Total Spending $21,866 56 $18,891 15.7% 1 Budgetary Cost 17,460 57 14,159 23.3% 2 Classroom Instruction 10,495 57 8,659 21.2% 6 Support Services 2,544 47 2,167 17.4% 8 Administrative Cost 1,695 33 1,547 9.6% 10 Operations & Maintenance 2,352 62 1,612 45.9% 13 Extracurricular Activities 348 64 104 234.6% 16 Median Teacher Salary 57,200 19 61,136 Data from NJDoE 2014 Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending. [2] *Of K-8 districts with 401-750 students. Lowest spending=1; Highest=64

Cranbury School District is a public school district located in and serving students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade from Cranbury, in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

As of the 2020–21 school year, the district, comprised of one school, had an enrollment of 463 students and 55.9 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 8.3:1. ^[1]

The district is classified by the New Jersey Department of Education as being in District Factor Group "J", the highest of eight groupings. District Factor Groups organize districts statewide to allow comparison by common socioeconomic characteristics of the local districts. From lowest socioeconomic status to highest, the categories are A, B, CD, DE, FG, GH, I and J. ^[6]

For ninth through twelfth grades, public school students move on to Princeton High School, located in Princeton, as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Princeton Public Schools. ^{[7] [8] [9] [10]} Cranbury Township is granted a seat on the Princeton Regional Schools board of education, with the designated representative restricted to voting on issues pertaining to Princeton High School and district-wide issues. ^[11] As of the 2020–21 school year, the high school had an enrollment of 1,555 students and 125.8 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 12.4:1. ^[12]

History

Old Cranbury School
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
New Jersey Register of Historic Places
Old Cranbury School, now the Town Hall
Show map of Middlesex County, New Jersey Show map of New Jersey Show map of the United States
Location	23 N. Main Street, Cranbury, New Jersey
Coordinates	40°18′42″N74°31′02″W / 40.31167°N 74.51722°W / 40.31167; -74.51722 (Old Cranbury School)
Area	1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built	1897
NRHP reference No.	71000508 [13]
NJRHP No.	1832 [14]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	June 21, 1971
Designated NJRHP	May 6, 1971

Originally two public schools, the Bunker Hill School and the South Cranbury School, were established in 1850. On May 25, 1896, voters approved the construction of a consolidated grade school that would replace the Bunker Hill School and the South Cranbury School. ^[15] Construction on the school began in August 1896 and ended in January 1897. The school opened on January 25, 1897, with a population of 159 students. The school was dedicated on February 22, 1897. The Cranbury School had three departments: primary, grammar, and high school. ^[15]

Cranbury Neck School closed in 1903, and the students who attended Cranbury Neck attended Cranbury School after their school closed. In 1906, a south wing with two classrooms was added to the Cranbury School building. ^[15]

Wyckoff Mills School closed in 1910, and the students also attended Cranbury School after their school closed. ^[15]

In 1922, a North wing was added to the Cranbury School building, bringing enrollment to 200 students. ^[15]

In 1924, the Cranbury Library moved into the Cranbury School building ^[16] The Cranbury Public Library moved into a temporary building outside of the school in 2020. ^[17]

The school building received additions in 1949, 1957, and 1967.

The Old Cranbury School was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 21, 1971 for its significance in architecture and education. It is a two story brick building and features a cupola with the school bell and a clock facing Main Street. ^[18]

In 1969, a new school replaced the old facility. The new facility received an addition in 1997. On October 14, 2001, the old school building was rededicated as Cranbury Township's town hall. ^[15] The old school building also houses the Cranbury Township Board of education offices and the Gourgaud Gallery, an art gallery. ^[19]

Cranbury students had attended Hightstown High School and then Lawrence High School before the relationship was established with Princeton. ^[20]

Awards and recognition

For the 1996–97 school year, Cranbury School was formally designated as a National Blue Ribbon School, the highest honor that an American public school can achieve. ^[21] During the 2009–10 school year, Cranbury School was awarded the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence a second time. ^[22] The school was recognized again in 2016–17. ^[23]

School

Cranbury School had an enrollment of 458 students in grades PreK-8 as of the 2020–21 school year. ^[24]

• Jennifer K. Diszler, principal ^[25]

Administration

Core members of the district's administration are: ^{[25] [26]}

• Jennifer K. Diszler, chief school administrator ^{[27] [28]}
• David Weidele, business administrator and board secretary

Board of education

The district's board of education is comprised of nine members who set policy and oversee the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its administration. As a Type II school district, the board's trustees are elected directly by voters to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with three seats up for election each year held (since 2014) as part of the November general election. The board appoints a superintendent to oversee the district's day-to-day operations and a business administrator to supervise the business functions of the district. ^{[29] [30] [31]}

References

1. District information for Cranbury Township School District, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 15, 2022.
2. Taxpayers' Guide to Education Spending April 2013, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 15, 2013.
3. Cranbury Township Board of Education District Policy 0110 - Identification, Cranbury School District. Accessed February 19, 2020. "Purpose: The Board of Education exists for the purpose of providing a thorough and efficient system of free public education in grades K through 8 in the Cranbury School District. Composition: The Cranbury School District is comprised of all the area within the municipal boundaries of Cranbury Township."
4. School Performance Reports for the Cranbury Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed April 3, 2024.
5. New Jersey School Directory for the Cranbury School District, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
6. NJ Department of Education District Factor Groups (DFG) for School Districts, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed July 7, 2014.
7. Cheslow, Jerry. "Historic, Sparsely Settled -- and Loving It", The New York Times , March 16, 1997. Accessed July 14, 2011. "Cranbury pays tuition to send 106 high school students to nearby Princeton High School. According to Cranbury's Chief School Administrator, Robert J. Bartoletti, 87 percent of the town's youngsters go on to higher education.... As part of the addition, the 28,000-volume Cranbury Public Library, which shares space with the school library, is also being expanded to 6,000 square feet from 4,000 and the school's computers are to be enhanced through the networking of all of the classrooms into the library."
8. Princeton Public Schools 2015 Report Card Narrative, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed June 1, 2016. "As we strive to serve the more than 3500 students from the Princeton and Cranbury communities, we do so knowing that our work with them in the classroom, on the athletic field, and on the stage matters deeply to each one and to the larger society into which they will graduate."
9. Capuzzo, Jill P. "Cranbury, N.J.: One Town, Many Personalities", The New York Times , February 25, 2014. Accessed November 2, 2014. "About 545 students in prekindergarten through Grade 8 attend Cranbury School, which has twice been recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. For grades 9 to 12, they move on to Princeton High School, where there are 1,445 students."
10. Staff. "Cranbury trims 23 jobs in wake of aid reduction", The Times , March 25, 2010. Accessed November 2, 2014. "Cranbury public schools serve about 600 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. The district’s high school students attend Princeton High School."
11. Board of Education Members Archived 2014-11-03 at the Wayback Machine , Princeton Public Schools. Accessed November 2, 2014.
12. School data for Princeton High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 15, 2022.
13. "National Register Information System – (#71000508)". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
14. "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Middlesex County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. September 28, 2021. p. 1.
15. History of Town Hall Building 1896 – 2001, Cranbury Township. Accessed January 14, 2012.
16. Cranbury Schools and Library Archived 2006-06-14 at the Wayback Machine , Cranbury.org. Accessed July 14, 2011.
17. Harrison, Rew; Writer, Staff (July 17, 2020). "Cranbury Public Library will have to find a new home by Aug. 15". centraljersey.com. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
18. Wright, Norman H. (March 1971). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Old Cranbury School". National Park Service. With accompanying photo
19. Gourgaud Gallery, Cranbury Township. Accessed July 16, 2006.
20. Kilby, David. "Cranbury: HHS alumni recalls how school used to be", CentralJersey.com, June 24, 2011. Accessed October 3, 2017. "Cranbury stopped sending its students to HHS in 1965, then it began sending its students to Hightstown-East Windsor High School. Cranbury students soon would go to Lawrence High School, then to Princeton High School, which is where they go today."
21. Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982-1983 through 1999-2002 (PDF), United States Department of Education, p. 52. Accessed May 21, 2021.
22. 2009 Blue Ribbon Schools: All Public and Private Schools, United States Department of Education, p. 13. Accessed July 15, 2011.
23. 2016 National Blue Ribbon Schools All Public and Non‐Public, National Blue Ribbon Schools Program. Accessed November 13, 2016.
24. School Data for Cranbury School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed February 15, 2022.
25. Problem-Solving Contact List, Cranbury School. Accessed March 29, 2022.
26. New Jersey School Directory for Middlesex County, New Jersey Department of Education. Accessed February 1, 2024.
27. About Us, Cranbury School District. Accessed February 28, 2023.
28. Cranbury Board of Education Selects Experienced Educator to Lead District into Promising Future, Cranbury School District. Accessed February 28, 2023.
29. New Jersey Boards of Education by District Election Types - 2018 School Election, New Jersey Department of Education, updated February 16, 2018. Accessed January 26, 2020.
30. Annual Comprehensive Financial Report of the Cranbury Township School District, New Jersey Department of Education, for year ending June 30, 2018. Accessed February 19, 2020. "The Cranbury Township School District ('School District') is a Type II district located in the County of Middlesex, State of New Jersey. As a Type II district, the School District functions independently through a Board of Education. The Board of Education is comprised of nine members elected to three-year terms. Their terms are staggered so that three member's terms expire each year. The purpose of the School District is to provide educational services for resident students in grades K through 8: Students in grades 9 through 12 attend, on a tuition basis, the Princeton Regional High School District."
31. Board of Education, Cranbury School District. Accessed February 19, 2020. "Cranbury Township School District has a nine member Board of Education. Members of the Board are elected for a three year term."

External links

• New Jersey portal
• Schools portal

• Cranbury School
• School Performance Reports for the Cranbury School , New Jersey Department of Education
• Data for Cranbury School, National Center for Education Statistics