Friday, May 18, 2012
Eight professionals introduce students to their careers during the first ever career day at Lincoln School.
Children will often hear the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” but they may not have any real idea of what type of career they want to pursue until they get much older. With this in mind, educators at Lincoln School wanted to expose students to some of the careers they may already be taking an interest in. Lincoln School fourth grade teacher Samantha Brander said they wanted to infuse career education into the school’s curriculum to give them a realistic view of what the real world is like. With that they put together the first-ever career day event for students in third, fourth and fifth grade. A lot of planning went into setting up this career day, Brander said adding that the work began in October of last year. She she…
The legislators of New Jersey's 38th district gathered input educators, administrators and parents.
A group of educators, administrators and parents gathered in Paramus Thursday to advise legislators on school tenure reform. But they ended up mostly discussing a related issue: teacher evaluations. The legislators of the state's 38th District convened the group of 16 at Bergen Community College to help inform their vote on Sen. Teresa Ruiz's bill to revamp how teachers gain and lose tenure. "I for one am a very big believer in what we as legislators need to listen to you, the experts," Assemblywoman Connie Wagner said. Ruiz's bill would only grant tenure to teachers who receive positive evaluations three years in a row, and strip tenure after receiving bad reviews two years in a row. Jeffrey Klein, a teacher at Passaic County Technical …
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Wednesday night the Lincoln School gym looked much like a real art gallery complete with an abundance of paintings and sculptures and other forms of artistic creativity made by school students. The 12th annual art festival, sponsored by the Lincoln School PTA, featured works from students in all grades. Any student was welcome to display his or her art. Some students made models out of Legos like Peter Garifalos who built an large model space ship. He said it took him about a day-and-a-half to build it and about two hours to make a smaller ship he also had on display. Some of the kids used art to pay tribute to their favorite sports teams like Diego Mancini who made a NY Giants helmet out of colored pasta and Antonio Mancini who made a NY …
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Collaborative Parents Committee welcomed Julia Scozzafava a behaviorist with the South Bergen Juncture as guest speaker.
Parents had the opportunity Tuesday night to gain in depth knowledge about what types of methods are done to help students with behavioral issues in the classroom. The Collaborative Parents Committee welcomed Julia Scozzafava a behaviorist with the South Bergen Juncture who walked the parents through the process of how behaviors are assessed and what types of methods are used to either decrease a negative behavior or increase a positive one. Throughout the discussion parents also had the opportunity to interact and share some of their own experiences and learn from one another. Scozzafava gave the parents some background on what type of role a behaviorist plays. She works as a consultant with staff members, observing students in a class …
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Joseph Mastropietro has been appointed as the new middle school principal, Catherine Cassidy has been appointed assistant principal to the middle school/high school.
The Board of Education has named Joseph Mastropietro the new middle school principal and Catherine Cassidy as assistant principal to the middle school and high school. After a two-and-a-half hour closed session meeting, the board members voted unanimously to appoint the two educators to their new positions which will go into effect on July 1. A group of parents and teachers who had waited the two plus hours to hear the board's final decision applauded the outcome. Antoinette Vignola, a parent, thanked the board members for their decision stating that they "made the right choice for the kids in our school district." Both Mastropietro and Cassidy have been serving as interim assistant principals for the middle school and high school since …
Monday, May 14, 2012
Euclid School PTA arranges a week full of activities and events for Teacher's Appreciation Week that even get the students involved.
Each day this week the teachers of Euclid School will be treated to a special event, be given a gift, a surprise, all as a token of thanks from the parents for the work they do all year as the school PTA recognizes National Teacher Appreciation Week. All the schools in Hasbrouck Heights recognize teachers appreciation week. Lincoln School celebrated last week and the middle and high school the week before. Denise Buckman of the Euclid PTA says it's a nice way for the parents to show their teachers they really do appreciate what they do all year round. Buckman and Christine Thibault organized all the activities for this week of appreciation. Monday the PTA will serve up a continental breakfast in the teacher's lounge. Tuesday is a fun Bingo…
Board of Education to interview final candidates for middle school principal and assistant high school principal
The Board of Education is expected to name a new middle school principal and assistant high school principal following final interviews Monday night. A special Board of Education meeting has been set for Monday. The interviews will be conducted in closed session. Afterwards the board is expected to open the meeting to the public afterwards to formally name the new principals, explained Dina Messery, business administrator. Over the past 18 months there have been some changes in administration at the schools. Linda Simmons was officially named high school principal by the board of education this past January. She formerly was the middle school principal until she took on an interim role serving as both middle school and high school …
Thursday, May 10, 2012
New Jersey Arts Education Census Project surveys nearly all schools to compare arts education offerings.
A statewide survey of arts education programs in New Jersey schools to be released Thursday finds a correlation between schools with more arts education programs and greater proficiency scores on the language sections of the state's High School Proficiency Assessment. The report is a follow-up to one conducted in 2007, and is a joint project of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the state Department of Education, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, New Jersey Arts Education Partnership, ArtPride New Jersey Foundation, and Quadrant Arts Education Research. According to Robert Morrison, project coordinator of the report and founder of Quadrant Arts Education Research, the report compiled survey responses from about 99 percent of the …
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Euclid School PTA conducted installation of its 2012-2013 executive board this past Tuesday night at the regular monthly meeting. New members to the board are Kristen Schaeffer, corresponding secretary and Lori Bothe, treasurer. Other executive board members for the upcoming school year are: Terri Metz, president; Denise Buckman, first vice president; Lisa Castellano, second vice president; Shannon Porto, recording secretary.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Corpus Christi School takes part in the fifth annual walk event held at the school for multiple sclerosis
Students at Corpus Christi School are not only learning lessons in helping others, they’re living the message. For the fifth straight year, the Corpus Christi students donned their walking shoes to fundraise in hopes of finding a cure for multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease that affects the neuromuscular system. “The children are very excited to participate in the annual walk, even the little ones take part,” said Pre-K teacher Amy Strafford, who organizes the event every year. “It’s amazing that this small school raises the money that it does.” To date, Corpus Christi students have raised approximately $50,000 in five years. This year’s exact amount has not yet been totaled. “It’s remarkable,” said Joe Revello, Strafford’s brother-…
