Five Things: Board of Education Meeting [VIDEO]

The West Orange Board of Education met Monday night at in what was the first meeting of the new year. Here are five things you need to know from the meeting.

1. Students from presented certificates of appreciation to the board of education to thank them for their service to the school district. Brittney Hughs, Kate Berwind, Liam White, Shospyra Mele and Sophia Adelson each gave a short speech and handed a certificate to each of the members of the board of education.

2. Andrew Scheib, 12, sang a beautiful rendition of the star-spangled banner at the beginning of the meeting. See video for more details.

3. Board of education member Paul Petigrow announced that many seniors at are beginning to receive early acceptance letters from various colleges. Some of the colleges that have so far accepted students from West Orange include: Boston College, Georgetown University, MIT, Princeton, Yale, Tulane and Howard.

4. The donated $5,000 to the school district for the purchase of Smart Boards. Of the total, half was given to and half to in memory of . Other donations included $5,000 from Joe and Oriana Palumbo for Mt. Pleasant school to be used for the purchase of Smart Boards, $300 from Slow Food Northern New Jersey for the and $800 from the Aversali family to in honor of Rosanna Aversali, a school aid that passed away. The money was donated for the purchase of Smart Boards.

5. Board member Sandra Mordecai announced that CNN would be filming a special segment at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School on Jan. 11 and Jan. 25. The school was one of six chosen across the country to participate in a special series  that will document how and if race influences children's social interactions with their peers. The series will air on Anderson Cooper 360. Students at the school will be interviewed by Soledad O'Brien.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Anthony Cavanna said producers of the show approached the district and asked if they could film at Mt. Pleasant. Cavanna said the producers had heard of the West Orange school district, "we have a good school system."

Continue to check Patch for more information on Monday night's meeting.