The Gloucester Township and Pennsauken campuses of Camden County Technical Schools (CCTS) have been awarded the prestigious distinction as 2020 New Jersey Schools of Character (NJSOC). The NJSOC recognition program is sponsored by the New Jersey Alliance for Social, Emotional and Character Development, which includes the Character Education Partnership (CEP), the New Jersey Department of Education, and the Center for Social and Character Development at Rutgers University.

“CCTS strives to be a respectful, inclusive institution that welcomes students from throughout Camden County and helps to develop not only their technical skills, but their character as a leader and as a member of our community,” said Freeholder Carmen Rodriguez, liaison to CCTS. “This is a tremendous honor for our administrators and staff, but also reflects the success and hard work of the student body as a whole.”

Each year, Character.org certifies schools and districts at the state level that demonstrate a dedicated focus on character development which has a positive effect on academic achievement, student behavior, and school climate. For 2020, only four of the New Jersey schools are located in Camden County: the two campuses at Camden County Technical Schools, Cherry Hill High School West, and Horace Mann Elementary School in Cherry Hill. The certification will remain active for five years in each of the schools.

“I am very proud that both of our campuses are once again being honored with this recognition,” said Patricia Fitzgerald, superintendent of CCTS. “We frequently receive feedback from our visitors and employees that our students are very helpful and respectful. This is thanks to our character education program, staff members, and students.”

State Schools of Character will now advance and be considered for Character.org’s highest distinction: National School of Character. The 2020 National Schools of Character will be announced in May and honored during the 2020 National Forum from Oct. 1-3 in Washington, D.C.

The NJSOC program recognizes schools and districts that excel in exemplifying CEP’s Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education, and demonstrate a superb character education program that yields positive results in student behavior, school climate, and academic performance.

CEP’s Eleven Principles of Effective Character Education are:

1. Character education promotes core ethical values as the basis of good character.
2. “Character” must be comprehensively defined to include thinking, feeling and behavior.
3. Effective character education requires an intentional proactive and comprehensive approach that promotes the core values in all phases of school life.
4. The school must be a caring community.
5. To develop character students’ need opportunities for moral action.
6. Effective character education includes a meaningful and challenging academic curriculum that respects all learners and helps them succeed.
7. Character education should strive to develop students’ intrinsic motivation.
8. The school staff must become a learning and moral community in which all share responsibility for character education and attempt to adhere to the same core values that guide the education of students.
9. Character education requires moral leadership from both staff and students.
10. The school must recruit parents and community members as full partners in the character-building effort.
11. Evaluation of character education should assess the character of the school, the school staff’s functioning as character educators, and the extent to which students manifest good character.

The two high schools that comprise the Camden County Technical School District (CCTS) provide career training programs, academic courses, and extracurricular activities to students in grades nine through twelve. The Gloucester Township Campus is located on Berlin Cross Keys Road in Sicklerville. The Pennsauken Campus is located on Browning Road in Pennsauken. Because CCTS is a public high school, there is no charge to attend CCTS for high school students who live in Camden County. To learn more about CCTS, visit ccts.org.

To learn more about the National Forum and the Schools of Character program, visit character.org.