We’ve had a very successful first half of the 2024-2025 school year.  Early this fall, we received wonderful news that our high school has been named one of “America’s Best High Schools” by US News & World Report for the 8th consecutive year.  Gloucester High School ranked 9th of all South Jersey public high schools -- our highest ranking ever!  We are incredibly proud of and grateful for all of the amazing efforts daily by students, families, and staff to continue to lead us to these levels of achievement.  Work towards this achievement begins much earlier than when a student first enters high school.  It’s a tribute to the cumulative impact of Gloucester City and Brooklawn education and exhibits the pride we all have in our schools being cornerstones of our community.

We continue to make substantial progress in year two of our strategic planning process.  We continue to identify and implement ways to improve traffic flow and safety in all of our school parking lots during arrival and dismissal each day.  The first AVID instructional focus area of the year has been student inquiry.  Our partnerships with alternative education programs continue to expand and help us lead all students to experience academic success and fulfillment.  These alternative educational pathways include the ChaneLight alternative school for behavior support, Camden County College’s Transition to College program for students at risk of not achieving their high school diploma, Camden County College’s Career & Technical Institute for career certifications, and Rowan College’s Early College program for high school seniors.  The school district pays all costs associated with each of these programs to ensure that all of our local students graduate comprehensively prepared to pursue whatever their career “hopes and dreams” consist of.  As our community continues to grow and diversify, we have also made interpreters available at conferences and “Back to School Night” to ensure that all parents have the opportunity to play an active role in their child’s education.  We are proud of all of this progress and more.

School security remains a top priority.  We remain extremely grateful to have partnered with the Gloucester City Police Department to continue to have a full-time GCPD officer assigned to each district school every day of the school year, this includes when our students are on campus for summer learning and enrichment.  Last year, we pursued and were awarded more than $300,000 in the federal COPS grant.  Security upgrades that are in the process of being completed include overhauling our security camera system, adding emergency buttons at each school, adding even more secure door locks and card readers, upgrading our speaker system, and replacing our integrated communication/security system.

Major facility upgrades are happening throughout the district.  Construction has started on Cold Springs School’s outdoor learning spaces & playgrounds and our high school roof replacement has begun. New Jersey’s School Development Authority is fully funding the $7 million high school roof replacement.  We are close to fulfilling all State requirements to begin to implement our plans to complete work needed on the increasingly hazardous conditions of the grass athletic fields behind the high school stadium.  This will not only benefit our school district programs but also the local community’s athletic leagues and programs that utilize this space.  We have also fully refurbished our Special Education Life Skills Classroom.  Our high school main lobby was completely redone, and our Sports Marketing classes and teacher have taken great pride in improving all of our athletic trophy case displays throughout the building.

As our school district flourishes and our community continues to develop, our student enrollment has been steadily climbing.  15 years ago, our district had 2,099 students enrolled.  We are now up to 2,396 students enrolled.  Believe it or not, our middle school has already crossed the formal threshold of “overcrowding.” We are working closely with the School Development Authority of New Jersey as well as the Department of Education’s Office of School Facilities Planning to identify the best ways to navigate growing student enrollment in the years to come.  

Throughout the second half of the school year, we will continue to pursue our vision:  The Gloucester City School District Family empowers our students to be confident, well-rounded, happy individuals who positively impact society.  This worthy pursuit will require daily commitment and contributions from nearly all of us.  Programs such as AVID, Responsive Classroom, and the New Jersey Tiered Reading will continue to play a central role.  We look forward to seeing many of you at our traditions ahead:  GHS & GMS musicals, spring athletics, Cold Springs’ spring concert and 3rd Grade Clap-Out, GMS 8th Grade Graduation, Prom, and High School Commencement.

Sincerely,

Mr. Sean Gorman & Dr. Kimberley Chiodi

Superintendent & Assistant Superintendent of Schools

GHS Graduates (Class of 1998)