Five township schools – East and West High, Carusi Middle School, Joyce Kilmer Elementary and Woodcrest Elementary – have been recognized for promising practices.
The schools submitted applications to have their practices cited by Character.org, a nonprofit formerly known as the Character Education Partnership that encourages people of all ages to practice good ethical values.
Its application asks various questions, including how a school’s practice aligns with Character’s 11 principles, among them creating a caring community and a challenging academic curriculum and promoting shared leadership to the students by administration.
The five township schools are among 35 in New Jersey and 290 in the country that earned the promising practices distinction. Each school was nominated for a certain activity, though West was awarded for three different practices: Multicultural Day, which celebrates students of diverse backgrounds; the Norms and Pillars Group, where the school highlights four different pillars throughout the school year; and Love, West, which has students write letters to senior citizens four times a year.
The other schools were nominated for one practice each, including Carusi for AttenDANCE, an event for students with “strong” attendance; Joyce Kilmer for the Grade Level Morning Meeting, where students meet each month with the principal for activities; and Woodcrest for Shark Squads, where students of different grades collaborate.
Besides promising practices, Character.org also recognizes schools of character, a designation that lasts for five years before it has to be renewed. Joyce Kilmer was recognized from 2021 to 2026, and again this year, while East High School was selected in 2022. A. Russell Knight Elementary and Carusi were also cited, as was Woodcrest Elementary School in 2024.
The entire district was recognized in 2018.
The honor includes a banner that schools can hang to celebrate their recognition. To qualify as a district of character, a school system needs to have 51% of its schools – including at least one secondary school – be schools of character.
Diana Dodson, director of Promising Practices, said Cherry Hill has been involved with Character.org for several years. The organization was founded in 1993.
“The Cherry Hill school district has been a big part of this work for a very long time,” she explained. “They support the mission of the 11 principals through promising practices and through the school of character work.”
Dodson said that while schools get a sign to hang, most care more about the work that went into getting it.
“These schools that are named national school of character … they’re so proud of themselves, they could care less about the banner,” she noted. “Cause it’s just a big acknowledgement … You can’t just be someone that says, ‘Ok, I think I want to have a banner.
“You have to be working toward character development in your school.”
Schools in the township district have been cited by Character.org, a nonprofit that encourages people of all ages to practice good ethical values.
