COLD SPRING – Van Cathcart took over as superintendent of the Lower Township Elementary School District after being in the district for 10 years, and he sees a lot of positives there – except for standardized test scores.

Cathcart, 48, was principal at the Sandman School for 10 years, having served another two years as an assistant principal in Middle Township. He also spent 12 years as a special education teacher in the Absegami and Middle Township schools.

When his predecessor in Lower decided to retire, he put his name in the hat, so to speak. “I was ecstatic when I was chosen,” he said.

Cathcart, 48, grew up in Stone Harbor and left for Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He later earned a master’s in educational leadership from the University of Scranton. He became a special education teacher before transitioning to administration and then to Lower’s superintendent, effective July 1.

On making the change from teaching to administration, he said, “I loved what I was doing, but in a positive way I had supervisors, assistant principals and, later, principals who had a positive affect on me.”

He mentioned former Middle Township High School Principal Rich Falletta, saying, “I loved the way he led. He was a positive influence on me.”

He said moving up to another level is a challenge, but something he wanted to do. “It was a difficult jump, just like now, but in the end it’s a goal, and something I want to be a part of,” he said. “I’m excited to play that part and get the district to move forward,” he said.

To begin with, Cathcart said he has great affinity for the Lower district. “I loved every place I’ve ever been … but I’ve got to say it’s different here, but in a great way,” he said.

By “great,” he said, he feels the community is tighter, smaller, more heavily involved in the schools. He said there are good, solid relationships with community members from top to bottom.

The district has about 1,600 students in its four schools, the David C. Douglass Memorial School, the Mitnick School, the Maud Abrams School and the Sandman Consolidated School.

“It’s a collaborative environment,” he said. “People can freely work and do their best and feel good about it. And I have the opportunity to assist in creating an environment of cooperation.”

Cathcart said one standout program in the district is the music program, which is centered at the Sandman School. He said there are generally 250 students at Sandman, with some from Maud Abrams, participating in the program. He said the 250 number represents about half the students in the building.

“Every winter and every spring they have a concert. I’m a little biased, but they are amazing,” he said.

On the other hand, the standardized test scores for English language arts and mathematics, as published in the Herald, Oct. 1, show the district’s scores are below the state standards. Cathcart, without referring to the Herald chart, said he could identify which school districts performed better, and which less so.

The pattern, he said, is that higher-income communities have better-performing schools, and in moderate- to low-income communities, standardized test scores are lower.

“More affluent districts do better than the districts that have free or reduced lunch, indicating more poverty,” he said, adding that 56% of the students in his district receive a free or reduced lunch.

In that environment, he said, academic achievement remains the district’s ultimate goal, along with developing kids who can become contributors to the community. “But sometimes life gets in the way. It’s a difficult balance,” he said.

Cathcart said the district is trying to give families what they need to get them over the hump and be successful. He said the only way to do that, at times, is to utilize community resources.

He said one such resource is the Kiwanis Club of Cape May, which celebrates students’ academic achievement in grades three through six. The district has its own tutoring program to help raise scores, and he said it is working for some students.

Still, he said they don’t teach for the tests, which are ever-changing.

In addition, he said, it’s a difficult challenge to teach children because they all learn differently, and then educators have to come up with the fairest way to evaluate them. He said testing is a reality, as is the students’ need to succeed, and thus the state makes changes based on the previous year’s results.

Cathcart said that, for the most part, the district has maintained the practice of having two grades per school building, with the exception of keeping pre-K at the Memorial School and moving kindergarten to the Mitnick School, joining first and second grade. He said enrollment has leveled off over the last decade and has remained rather steady.

He said that although he is already familiar with the district he is now really getting to know what everybody’s task is, and he is attempting to provide what they need to do their best.

“We have so many talented people, and if we have to shuffle things we will shuffle things, but the end goal is to put people where their strengths are,” he said.

Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or call 609-886-8600, ext. 128.