A look inside: Millburn West School
Millburn West School
Address: 640 Freedom Way, Lindenhurst
Phone: (847) 245-1600
District's name/Web site: Millburn District 24, www.millburn24.net
Number of students/grade levels offered: 553 in kindergarten through eighth grade
Number of staff: 100, including support staff, custodians, secretaries, certified staff
School mascot: Cougar
When was school built: 2005
Principal: Jake Jorgenson
• Jorgenson has been at the school for two years.
• What is your favorite memory of Millburn West? "I really liked the first day of school in our opening year. It was my first day being principal. It was the first time our district had students that walked or biked to school. It was the first day in a new building for the teachers and the students. That is a special memory for me."
• What do you think is an unique aspect of your school? "I think the most unique aspect is that we have low class sizes. We typically have 20 students per homeroom. Teachers and students are able to really get to know one another. Student strengths and weaknesses are easier to identify and address."
• What are you most proud of? "I am most proud of the way in which the staff, students and parents went through the transition to a new K-8 building."
• How has technology changed the way students learn over the past five years? "Technology has changed the way students access information. Technology that is implemented appropriately and with relevancy brings in a much broader scope of knowledge that students and teachers might otherwise not have had available. We find that the students are entrenched in technology outside the school. Our job as educators is to meet the students were they are and teach them how to use the skills they have responsibly and educationally."
• If you can get one thing accomplished between now and the end of May in your school, what would it be? "Currently, we are surveying our parents and students about their desire to add some courses such as foreign language or drama. By the end of the year I would like to decide if and how we should implement courses like this."