Intermediate

About

Serving Students in Grades 6 – 8


The LEAP Intermediate School serves 240 students in grades 7 and 8 and works closely with the High School to ensure that students transition to the upper grades ready to tackle a rigorous college preparation curriculum that includes actual college coursework.

Instructional Programs

Accelerated Curriculum & Varied Learning Opportunities

  • Accelerated curriculum that is benchmarked with ninth-grade college-preparatory standards.
  • Instructional program that reflect high school readiness standards in English/reading, mathematics and science, including Algebra
  • Varied learning opportunities through the use of authentic problems, project-based learning, cooperative learning and technology.
  • High expectations for all students and ongoing support through extended academic support opportunities and differentiated instruction in the classroom.
  • Focus on improving students’ reading and writing skills that engage students in reading grade-level materials specific to each content area — English, Math, Science and Social Studies
  • High expectations for all students and ongoing support through extended academic support opportunities and differentiated instruction in the classroom.
  • School’s culture and daily routines and opportunities that focus on engaging students intellectually, emotionally, socially and behaviorally, high-quality guidance and advisement through the college access center and personal connections with adults and parents.

Principal's Message

Welcome to the LEAP Intermediate School

As principal of grades 7-8, it is my personal commitment to ensure that we prepare students to enter high school prepared and ready to tackle the academic rigor that is required to prepare for college. We are collectively working to ensure that our students enter high school as critical thinkers, lifelong learners and leaders. Our message is clear—how you prepare for high school will determine your chances to enter and succeed in college. Therefore, our commitment is to preparing 7th and 8th graders to succeed and excel in the academic courses they will take in high school.

We stand by our promise that every child will achieve academic excellence, and to do so we have assembled an amazing team of teachers, support staff and a wide variety of educational resources to ensure that every student has everything they need to be successful. This is our commitment to all parents and students.

Our commitment to children goes beyond academics and integrates opportunities for students to develop their own social and emotional capacity. We hold every staff member accountable for the academic future of our students. We have high expectations for all of our staff, students and parents. We expect that all of our students will demonstrate interest, enthusiasm, motivation and pleasure for learning.

Children are our greatest natural resource. As your school principal, I take my educational responsibility to children very seriously. I believe that it is my responsibility to assist teachers and students in their learning journey. High quality instruction and positive engagement is at the core of our school for every student, in every classroom, every day. It is my goal to lead and produce magic!!

Thank you for allowing us to serve you!

Faculty/Staff


Administration

  • Building Administration

Faculty

  • Sixth Grade Teacher
  • Seventh Grade Teacher
  • Eigth Grade Teacher
  • Special Services
  • Special Area Teachers (Arts, Music, Theater, GYM, ESL, & Spanish)

Staff

  • Support Staff

Building Administration

Crystle Walker

Instructional Principal 4-8

cwalker@leap.rutgers.edu

Tamika Rice

Vice Principal

Trice@leap.rutgers.edu

Sixth Grade Teacher

Stephanie Aspenburg

LAL/Social Studies Teacher

saspenburg@leap.rutgers.edu

Robin Vicino

6th Grade ELA teacher

ASHULTICE@LEAP.RUTGERS.EDU

Audrey Deren

6th Grade Math Teacher

ADEREN@LEAP.RUTGERS.EDU

Ross Bear

Social Studies Teacher

rbear@leap.rutgers.edu

Adam Altenbach

6th Grade Social Studies Teacher

AAltenbach@leap.rutgers.edu

Brielle Nieves

6th Grade Math Teacher

Bnieves@leap.rutgers.edu

Amy Schultice

6th Grade Math Teacher

Apekarchik@Leap.Rutgers.Edu

Monserrath Mendoza Martinez

6th Grade Science Teacher

MMendoza@Leap.Rutgers.Edu

Raymond Rossi

6th Grade Social Studies Teacher

Rrossi@leap.rutgers.edu

Bin Liu

ELA Teacher

Bliu@Leap.Rutgers.Edu

Seventh Grade Teacher

Anna Marie Perrone

ELA Teacher

aperrone@leap.rutgers.edu

Patricia Harkins

Creative Writing Teacher

pharkins@leap.rutgers.edu

John Durney

7th Grade Project-Based Math Teacher

JDurney@leap.rutgers.edu

Dionna Hofbauer

7th Grade Math Teacher

dhofbauer@leap.rutgers.edu

Sandra Heintz

7th Grade Math Teacher

SHeintz@leap.rutgers.edu

Nicole Maenner

7th Grade Teacher

Nmaenner@Leap.Rutgers.Edu

Xiomara Rivera

ELA 7th Grade Teacher

xrivera@leap.rutgers.edu

Bin Saed

7th Grade Math Teacher

Ssaed@Leap.Rutgers.Edu

Eigth Grade Teacher

Seclinda Murray

(Español) 8th Grade ELA TeacherProfesor deELA

smurray@leap.rutgers.edu

Patricia Harkins

8th Grade ELA Teacher

Pharkins@Leap.Rutgers.Edu

Brooke Bivona

8th Grade Science Teacher

bbivona@leap.rutgers.edu

Sandra Heintz

8th Grade Math Teacher

sheintz@leap.rutgers.edu

Jhonathan Gorman

8th Grade Social Studies Teacher

jgorman@leap.rutgers.edu

Kyra Jenkins

8th Grade Algebra 1 Teacher

KJenkins@leap.rutgers.edu

Special Services

Alexis Cotton

ESL Teacher

acotton@leap.rutgers.edu

Special Area Teachers (Arts, Music, Theater, GYM, ESL, & Spanish)

Michael DiNuova

Health/P.E. Teacher

mdinuova@leap.rutgers.edu

Kathleen Dunkley

Health/P.E. Teacher

kdunkley@leap.rutgers.edu

Richard Marino

Health/P.E. Teacher

rmarino@leap.rutgers.edu

Support Staff

Jasmin Rivera

Office Manager

856-614-3292Jriveraz@leap.rutgers.edu

Diana Crespo

Director of Enrollment

856-614-3242dcabassa@leap.rutgers.edu

Grace Begley

Enrollment Specialist

856-614-2092gbegley@leap.rutgers.edu

Leda Hernandez Diaz

Director of Family Services & Wellness Center

856-614-5792lhernandezdiaz@leap.rutgers.edu

Nutrition

View & Download Menus for Intermediate Students

Food is cooked daily in each school. The staff works diligently to provide balanced and nutritious meals. Menus are available each week.

ESL & Special Service

English as a Second Language (ESL) Program and Special Services


LEAP Academy’s ESL Program aims to provide culturally and linguistically responsive education for all English language learners to ensure equitable access to opportunities that promote language acquisition, life long learning, and global citizenship.

The office of Special Services supports families, students, and their teachers by providing the necessary tools and resources to ensure that all eligible diverse learners; students with disabilities, students with a 504 plan, and multilingual learners. Under special services, LEAP Academy students receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE) through the provision of special education and/or related services to meet the unique needs of all qualified diverse learners. Rigorous, high-quality instruction is essential to our practice and our teachers and staff are committed to prepare our students for success.