Academy of Excellence
170 Hussa Street
Linden, NJ 07036
Phone: 908-587-2417 x8027
jmsmith@lindenps.org
Administration Building
2 East Gibbons Street
Linden, NJ 07036
Phone: 908-486-2800 x8024
Fax: 908-587-9604
ptartivita@lindenps.org
The mission of the Linden Public Schools Language Arts Department is to develop lifelong learners who are inquisitive, engaged, and reflective. Our goal is to foster literacy skills for reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Through a collaborative approach and rigorous curriculum, we promote every student’s creativity, empathy, and self-worth. The students we educate will be effective communicators, equipped to succeed in a global community.
Think Critically. Read Widely. Write Effectively. Speak Thoughtfully.
Course Description Guide pp. 15-16
Linden’s elementary schools provide an extensive education in Language Arts literacy. Our department maintains curriculum aligned to the New Jersey Student and Learning Standards. Our students have an 80-minute uninterrupted reading block which is grounded in a balanced literacy approach. A balanced literacy approach integrates reading, writing, and word study components. The goal is to provide a balance of teacher-directed instruction and student-centered opportunities. Guided reading is an instructional strategy that is used in a small group setting and allows teachers to differentiate reading instruction for all students. Students are also engaged in Writer’s Workshop where students build their fluency in writing through continuous, repeated exposure to the process of writing.
Our mission is to provide students with rich and rigorous learning activities that support them in becoming critical thinkers, proficient readers, writers, and communicators in a global and technological society. We strive to connect student cultures, language, and life experiences to what they learn in school.
Each elementary school has a Remedial Reading Teacher. This teacher services students in first grade and works to reduce the number of students who have severe difficulty in learning to read and write. Students who are identified to participate are monitored closely to ensure academic success. These students receive individualized or small group instruction in the following areas: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary.
Course Description Guide pp. 13-14
Language Arts are the abilities that enable one to think and express ideas logically and creatively; understand and participate meaningfully in spoken, written, and non-verbal communication; formulate and answer questions; and search for, organize, evaluate and apply information. The program is aligned with the New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Language Arts Literacy. The Language Arts program provides inclusion teachers in some classes to help students academically. Honors classes are offered in sixth, seventh and eighth grades as part of the Gifted & Talented Program at the middle school level.
Course Description Guide pp. 53-57
The study of English as a course is a four-year requirement for every high school student in the State of New Jersey. The English courses at Linden High School are designed and aligned with the New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Language Arts Literacy. They are intended to capture language experiences all students need in order to grow intellectually, socially and emotionally and to promote students’ capacities to construct meaning in any arena, with others as well as on their own. The standards also advocate students to learn to read, write, speak, listen and view critically, strategically and creatively in order to use these arts individually and in groups throughout their lives. Honors and International Baccalaureate classes, as well as electives, enhance the student Language Arts experience at the high school level.
