TOMS RIVER – Leaders from Ocean County College visited Toms River Regional Schools on April 5 to discuss future endeavors, brainstorm ideas, and determine ways to better serve Toms River students.
With the advent of enhanced dual enrollment in 2020, to the college’s role in the district’s Perkins grant and its CTE pathways, to numerous occasions through which the college and K-12 system have combined forces, the partnership has rapidly evolved in the past several years. Rather than stand pat, leaders from each institution gathered to figure out how they can make it even better.
Topics discussed included the increasing role of the Ocean County College Foundation, credits, scholarships, transportation, creative ways to improve student recognition, the impact of satellite campuses, and the increasing number of high school teachers becoming certified for dual enrollment.
Highlighting the seamlessness of the partnership was the fact it brought together district superintendents of past (Tom Gialanella, who temporarily left his position at OCC to serve as interim superintendent in 2020), present (Dr. Genco), and future (Mike Citta). (It also welcomed former TRRS Assistant Superintendent James Hauenstein, who now serves as director of SEC administration for OCC.) And it’s the future that everyone had in mind, and which looks quite bright for Toms River students considering the commitment of all involved.
